Josh D'Amaro comments on rising prices and "additional" or removed services: "An inevitable result of progress"

[GhostHost1000]

I know more and more people who are saying "It's just not worth it"
That can't be an isolated thing, give it middle of next year and it should be apparent they've hit the ceiling.

and there are ALOT more dvc resales than ever before which means they are losing many loyal guests

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I know more and more people who are saying "It's just not worth it"
That can't be an isolated thing, give it middle of next year and it should be apparent they've hit the ceiling.

I don’t know about the timeframe or IF it ever happens…

But I do know that the pricing strategy was carefully crafted…as was capex…for decades (bout 5) to avoid exactly what you are describing.

Remember: Bob and Josh get paid regardless of if the house is on fire when they leave it or not…
Welcome to the new world.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

and there are ALOT more dvc resales than ever before which means they are losing many loyal guests

I’ve been wondering about this…can’t quite “read” it?

 

[GhostHost1000]

I’ve been wondering about this…can’t quite “read” it?

I think it’s a combination of things. Some DVC contracts have increased in value from when they purchased (I know mine have) and that combined with the it’s just not worth all the hassle and/or cost anymore crowds…that is why we are seeing so many resales

The lack of selling APs right now and DVC guests feeling like they are no longer important to Disney doesn’t help things either

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think it’s a combination of things. Some DVC contracts have increased in value from when they purchased (I know mine have) and that combined with the it’s just not worth all the hassle and/or cost anymore crowds…that is why we are seeing so many resales

The lack of selling APs right now and DVC guests feeling like they are no longer important to Disney doesn’t help things either

I agree…

I also think the “sunk” cost and mandatory “fees” (talking the ticket and food and bev rates while on the ground) have exceeded the practical value of going there…for many.

Also…and this gets little play…DVC was meant to be a “leisure” club…it’s not supposed to be a subscription to hassle like a cable or phone bill. They’ve lost that.

 

[SorcererDonald16]

I know more and more people who are saying "It's just not worth it"
That can't be an isolated thing, give it middle of next year and it should be apparent they've hit the ceiling.

I know we’re done. Annual trip for almost 15 years straight of 8-12 days, and many trips before it became an annual thing. Never been more than 3 years between trips. Been 4 & 1/2 years now since our last trip and we have no plans to even consider returning.

They were already pushing us too hard and too far with the costs and the declining quality and experience, and then the pandemic happened, further hammering the point home to us that we know longer were going to be okay with wasting valuable time and money for increasingly inferior experiences. If they vastly improve the guest experience, cut prices, and clean house from the top on down, maybe one day we will go back. It will take a prolonged major culture change amongst a large number of the diehard and casual fans for any of that to happen, so I am doubtful.

I miss it, yes, but I know what I miss really doesn’t exist anymore anyway. I’m not going to thank them for “allowing” me to pay them more money for an experience I view now as lousy and based on nothing but greed and psychological manipulation. They can’t take my happy memories of the parks from me, but they can’t take any more of my money either.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Disney Parks will stay packed. for every person thats "done with disney" there are 10 more than will replace them. Thas just the way it is.

Then why aren’t those “10 more people for every consumer who is done with Disney” already visiting the parks? Despite what many, including yourself, want to believe, there is not an inexhaustible supply of consumers who are ready, willing, and able to visit the parks *and* spend the kind of money that many of those who have had enough spent.

I read that someone thought 90k people were at MK every day the park reservations say it is “at capacity”. I didn’t have the heart to destroy their delusion.

 

[Lilofan]

Disney Parks will stay packed. for every person thats "done with disney" there are 10 more than will replace them. Thas just the way it is.

The done with Disney is a common tune in these forums. The making more money than ever from the article is what makes the 10 more seem somewhat conservative. Josh's comment may have riled up the critics but the momentum of the parks staying packed,

 

[bcoachable]

I know more and more people who are saying "It's just not worth it"
That can't be an isolated thing, give it middle of next year and it should be apparent they've hit the ceiling.

But all they really need to do is offer that free dining or 25% discount- and we will all come running back… I’m afraid

 

[Andrew C]

He’s carefully cultivated an image of caring in a way that the fandom lets him skate. The notion he’s reluctantly just following orders is laughable. He’s been a loyal Iger/Chapek lieutenant and has been at the parks executing all of these highly unpopular initiatives.

Don’t fall for the performative empathy.

We should probably dial it back a notch on some of the rhetoric. He’s not some evil villain sitting in his tower thinking of ways to destroy the lives of WDW fans. Nothing is so black and white at a company such as this. Like any human and leader, he has ideas that may or may not be popular with guests. They may or may not be popular with Bob. We don’t specifically know what occurs behind the scenes. Lots of politics I bet. We always want to assume the worst in people for some reason.

 

[Lilofan]

Change starts with your wallet folks

The campaign to convince others to stop going to parks seem to be falling on deaf ears ( ie read article on first post ).

 

[JoeCamel]

The done with Disney is a common tune in these forums. The making more money than ever from the article is what makes the 10 more seem somewhat conservative. Josh's comment may have riled up the critics but the momentum of the parks staying packed,

Umm, it's not more people in the parks that is driving record earnings but more spending per mark. Ya' boys said this......

 

[Lilofan]

Umm, it's not more people in the parks that is driving record earnings but more spending per mark. Ya' boys said this......

Yes and the think tank groups dreaming up more ways to extract more money from guests are doing what they are paid to do and doing their jobs well. The sky is the limit when someone dreamed up the sold out 75 guests Parks around the world private jet adventure including other landmarks ( Eiffel Tower, Pyramids , Taj Mahal ) with chef and doctor for $110K per person 24 days.

 

[celluloid]

I am grateful there is Universal Orlando and now I can focus on Japan

 

[Tha Realest]

We should probably dial it back a notch on some of the rhetoric. He’s not some evil villain sitting in his tower thinking of ways to destroy the lives of WDW fans. Nothing is so black and white at a company such as this. Like any human and leader, he has ideas that may or may not be popular with guests. They may or may not be popular with Bob. We don’t specifically know what occurs behind the scenes. Lots of politics I bet. We always want to assume the worst in people for some reason.

I didn’t say he was a villain. I said his carefully crafted persona has given him a pass despite ostensibly being in charge of the division where many of these wildly unpopular decisions have originated. How is pointing out this incongruence ratcheting up the rhetoric?

 

[Tha Realest]

Umm, it's not more people in the parks that is driving record earnings but more spending per mark. Ya' boys said this......

IIRC raw attendance is down compared to 2019, but spending per guest is way up

 

[Den Carter]

This is how I see it. Right now Disney is still capitalising on revenge tourism, with the post-pandemic pent up demand in full swing. Until recently that revenge tourism was driven exclusively by the US domestic market, and other markets have slowly began to ease in. From the UK alone there are simply not enough flights to handle the demand, since due to the Brexit shambles we currently have a modest cap on airport capacity. So people are paying higher prices right now. But that pent up demand will fizzle out. And we're heading towards a massive global recession within the next 12 months. So Disney are holding back on intensive discounting, DDP returning, hotel package deals and such until they actually need it. Same for new attractions and the return of F! etc. They're going to need those incentives down the line. Come 2024 we'll be looking at a very different WDW to the one we see today (from a commercial standpoint, at least)

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

If your position is that Chapek gets no credit for major investments initiated while he was head of the freaking Parks division just because he wasn't CEO yet, while simultaneously arguing that he's to blame for the lack of major projects initiated in the midst of the most disruptive event to hit The Walt Disney Company since the death of Walt himself, then bias has clouded your judgment beyond all reason and I have no interest in debating further. Bob Chapek has been CEO for exactly zero days in which COVID and its aftermath haven't been the most important forces in the hospitality and tourism industry. We have no data whatsoever to judge what his tenure as CEO will look like in terms of long term strategic investment in Domestic Parks & Resorts.

I think this is a fair argument that will be largely answered in a few weeks at D23, Disney just posted record profits and announced $6 billion in capital expenditures, if they don’t hint at how they’re going to spend that money in the parks we’ll know exactly what Chapeks vision for the parks will be.

With Epic universe in full construction mode there will never be a better time to announce future plans, if they don’t announce something big we’ll have our answer.

The fact there’s been no leaks or rumors doesn’t give me much hope though.

 

[crazy4disney]

At least this might make some people realize that ol’ Josh ain’t gonna be the one to fix things.

But hey, great hair!

Been saying this for a longggg time. Wolf in sheeps clothing. People hate Chapek but Josh honestly is just as bad…

 

[JoeCamel]

announced $6 billion in capital expenditures

Where was this said again?