Is attendance really down at WDW this or…

[Disstevefan1]

I put WDW vacations on my credit card to earn the points, but pay it off immediately. So, I'm not going into any sort of debt when we take a vacation down there, but I'd guess that that puts me in the 90th percentile of WDW visitors (and that's probably being too liberal).

I have no data, but I doubt most folks are borrow to pay for their WDW vacations and only 10 percent actually pay for their vacations up front.

 

[Chi84]

While I agree with you as a free-market advocate, I'm also super cynical to "believe" natural market forces, since society as a whole is incredibly fiscally irresponsible.

I put WDW vacations on my credit card to earn the points, but pay it off immediately. So, I'm not going into any sort of debt when we take a vacation down there, but I'd guess that that puts me in the 90th percentile of WDW visitors (and that's probably being too liberal).

I know that's twisting hairs, but I also don't believe it to be sustainable, and therefore find it hard to call it market-driven (even though it technically is).

But you admit it technically is.

 

[DisneyNittany]

But you admit it technically is.

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

I’d say the paid fastpass around the same time amplified it quite a bit

But supposedly emperor sweater was “livid” they cancelled magical express…
…so get it back

I’d say the paid fastpass around the same time amplified it quite a bit

But supposedly emperor sweater was “livid” they cancelled magical express…
…so get it back

The loss of Magical Express, and the G+/ILL likely meant an increase of ~$500 per family of four/five per trip (on top of room and ticket price increases).

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

But you admit it technically is.

I believe he’s saying we don’t live in some type of fine tuned capitalist/consumer machine…a lot of it is crap and people are just dumb

 

[Nubs70]

That’s been a trend for 20 years…it’s still down on the whole

Ride lines are 100% managements fault…they caused it…they encouraged it… and make money from it...now they can’t fix it

 

[Disstevefan1]

Ride lines are 100% managements fault…they caused it…they encouraged it…now they can’t fix it

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I have no data, but I doubt most folks are borrow to pay for their WDW vacations and only 10 percent actually pay for their vacations up front.

As in go to the bank and finance it? No

But use high interest credit on the vacation or other things as a substitute?

Absolutely. Nothing tastes better than bacon you expelled months ago at 18.99% APR

 

[Disstevefan1]

As in go to the bank and finance it? No

But use high interest credit on the vacation or other things as a substitute?

Absolutely. Nothing tastes better than bacon you expelled months ago at 18.99% APR

You think 90 percent of folks use CC (money they don’t have) to pay for their entire WDW vacation?

I could see putting a few hundred on a CC from a trip to pay for unexpected Genie+ and ILLs, but the entire vacation?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

You think 90 percent of folks use CC (money they don’t have) to pay for their entire WDW vacation?

I could see putting a few hundred on a CC from a trip to pay for unexpected Genie+ and ILLs, but the entire vacation?

We could probably extrapolate that without too much trouble…
Just based on what people average as far as credit payoff rates.

Since everything is tied to CC in wdw…that statistic for normal everyday life is true…within a margin of error

Every generation is worse at saving/budgeting/discipline. The Great Depression and WW2 were 80-90 years ago…so the rest of the 20th century and the development of largesse has taken over

 

[Jrb1979]

You think 90 percent of folks use CC (money they don’t have) to pay for their entire WDW vacation?

I could see putting a few hundred on a CC from a trip to pay for unexpected Genie+ and ILLs, but the entire vacation?

You would be surprised at the lengths people go to pay for a vacation they can't really afford.

A friend is constantly traveling somewhere and I knew they don't have to money to afford it. Their answer is you only live once and travel while you can as you don't know what the future brings

 

[SourcererMark79]

Magical Express was a huge incentive. The value that the service added to the vacation package for Disney was a lot. Once you got to Orlando International, go to the Magical Express area and everything from there on out was taken care of. Simple, no hassles, no preplanning etc. I can speak to my own experience and thought it was a great service and I never had a problem with it at all. The biggest thing for the guest though was the ease factor. You didnt have to figure out any logistics of how you would get your family to the resort, how much it would cost, was it safe, etc. It was all done for you. It was a win for the resort too, in that it incentivized onsite stays and staying in the Disney Bubble. I'd love to see this return. Marie

This should have been kept and operated as a "loss leader" if necessary.

 

[DisneyNittany]

You would be surprised at the lengths people go to pay for a vacation they can't really afford.

A friend is constantly traveling somewhere and I knew they don't have to money to afford it. Their answer is you only live once and travel while you can as you don't know what the future brings

Is your friend too big to fail? They might be on to something…

 

[Lilofan]

Is your friend too big to fail? They might be on to something…

Seems like the friend doesn't care about accumulating late fees, account closed, collections come calling or even being sued in court. That's a foolish way to live. They will never be part of the FIRE ( financially independent retire early ) crowd.

 

[Disstevefan1]

You would be surprised at the lengths people go to pay for a vacation they can't really afford.

A friend is constantly traveling somewhere and I knew they don't have to money to afford it. Their answer is you only live once and travel while you can as you don't know what the future brings

My comment was that I did not think 90 percent of folks pay for their WDW with CCs they they intend to pay with monthly CC minimum payments, that's all.

 

[Splash4eva]

Disney screwed themselves when they got rid of Magical Express. Maybe just a coincidence, but the second they took that away and gave guests a look outside the bubble, an impactful percentage of them decided to stay outside or discovered there was more to central Florida than just Disney.

One of the biggest mistakes they made… why would any company allow guests to potentially explore other ways to spend disposable income… especially when people at the time made it clear no price was too high to pay for a Disney trip. Not to mention im sure they were baking in that cost into hotels already and if not it really wouldnt have been too difficult to do so… its a decision that will haunt them

 

[el_super]

One of the biggest mistakes they made… why would any company allow guests to potentially explore other ways to spend disposable income…

Wasn't Disney the only company offering the service? Is every other company just stupid then?

I honestly don't think it was entirely a Disney decision.

 

[Splash4eva]

Wasn't Disney the only company offering the service? Is every other company just stupid then?

I honestly don't think it was entirely a Disney decision.

Who cares what other companies offered for starters… but to answer your question i dont think Uni or SW was offering that so yes i would say they were stupid to not try and lure people in. Ill be honest i never used the service (dropping luggage day of leaving yes) but ive asked people who go like i do annually etc and most of them pretty much were in the same boat that losing the service was a stupid decision didnt really phase them that Disney started ro charge for FP bc most if not all other parks did. The idea of having to find a way to the hotel either made them rent a car (took them outside bubble now bc they had a car) or made them say hey lets stay outside bubble and visit other parks.

 

[SamusAranX]

Wasn't Disney the only company offering the service? Is every other company just stupid then?

I honestly don't think it was entirely a Disney decision.

They may have been but other companies aren’t stupid, they just don’t have the kind of resort and bubble infrastructure WDW has, although US is getting there.

Defending the loss of ME would be one of your worst takes here, if that’s what you’re getting at. If not, my parents always said I wasn’t the sharpest flower in the bathroom

 

[el_super]

Defending the loss of ME would be one of your worst takes here, if that’s what you’re getting at. If not, my parents always said I wasn’t the sharpest flower in the bathroom

Not defending but maybe excusing. I loved Magical Express, but I'm also able to understand when something as complicated as that goes away, it isn't always due to just money.

I'm also not so cynical to believe Disney wouldn't have brought it back already if it was just a matter of money.