I agree, as would anyone, that crowds are detrimental to guest experience; I agree, as would anyone, that lowering prices to $40 a day would increase crowds; and I agree, as would anyone, that jacking up prices to $300 a day (!) for peak season is prohibitively high for many and would lower crowds.
My point, and I think others', is that Disney has absolutely no interest whatsoever in lowering attendance to solve the crowd problem. The more people, the more money for them, no matter what the ticket price. Even if they found that magic number where lower attendance was offset by higher admission, they would still lose money on food, souvenirs, lodging, etc. Tiffany and Company may be able to stay afloat by the catering to the super rich, but a place like Disney World cannot. It's all about big crowds for this kind of business, not a small number of select clientele.
And I question your implication that Disney has raised prices in the past and is considering the need to go to demand based pricing TO DETER CROWDS. Maybe they raised prices, and will raise prices in the future, because they have had no negative effect on attendance. And if they go to demand based pricing and jack up prices at peak times maybe it will be because that's the highest price they can ask that people are still willing to pay without decreasing attendance--not because they want to LOWER attendance. Isn't this why one day tickets to the Magic Kingdom are slightly higher than the other parks? It's not to deter people from going the Magic Kingdom. It's because they know they can charge more and people will pay it.
Disney World will never do anything to depress attendance. On the contrary, I'm sure the executives and accountants cheer every time an attendance record is broken or one of the parks reaches maximum capacity. When the parks become too crowded and reach maximum capacity, they stop letting people in. That's the point at which crowds become a problem for them and that's what they do to solve the problem.
When a movie sells out and people get turned away, the cinema doesn't raise ticket prices to $50 a seat to deter people from coming because the theater is too crowded. It may expand and increase capacity to accommodate more moviegoers (and make more money), but it would not raise prices so fewer people bought tickets in order that those who were willing (and able) to pay higher prices could have a better experience with less crowded auditoriums and shorter lines at the concession stand and ticket window. And if you think theme park and movie theater are a terrible comparisons, as you did with the department store comparison, give us a valid comparison. Please give us an example of a company that relies on attendance that has increased prices to lower attendance.
I am sure there are people at Disney who want to solve the crowd problem but they will do so by expansion to ACCOMMODATE the crowds, (in fact to encourage more crowds) NOT by prohibitive pricing to deter crowds.
