Prices up…profits down…

[Disstevefan1]

It doesn’t cost too much for everyone.

This is true. There are still a lot of folks with a lot of money.
Look at the wait times. Some may look at the wait times and say they are trending downward and therefore there are less folks in the parks but overall the wait times still suck and there are still a lot of folks in the parks with wallets open!

 

[lewisc]

My point is those resorts are great for resort only stays despite their unique location and proximity to parks in the same way Disney resorts are great for resort only stays.

The Universal resorts I mentioned are priced way lower then WDW resorts

I've seen Gaylord pricing below Disney deluxe. Is that no longer true?

 

[Disneylover69]

The Universal resorts I mentioned are priced way lower then WDW resorts

I've seen Gaylord pricing below Disney deluxe. Is that no longer true?

They are priced similarly to Disney value and moderate resorts, especially sapphire. Gaylord palms pricing is heavily influenced by conventions since it is basically a convention hotel, but yes it is routinely priced below Disney deluxe hotels. But again the vibe at the Gaylord palms will differ from that of Disney.

 

[Goofyernmost]

My point is those resorts are great for resort only stays despite their unique location and proximity to parks in the same way Disney resorts are great for resort only stays.

I've stayed in Universal resorts when I was splitting my park visits. I wouldn't dream of doing that if I were only going to the opposite parks. It also hinges on who has the best rates and even if Disney had the best rates that would probably be the same day the sun crashes into the earth.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Some of the best Disney has to offer is in the resorts. I believe the magic in the resorts is way higher than the parks. At the resorts everyone is in vacation mode and the same can’t be said at the parks. People are also a lot less stressed at the resorts, I’m not sure why resort only stays are so widely unpopular

It is hard to justify the pricing for a resort-only stay at WDW these days, when there are so many great options in Orlando that cost less.

I mean, not to get into comparing the two, but when it comes to hotels, Universal's Sapphire Falls costs hundreds less/night, and has a considerably better pool/water slide than the Contemporary. A room in the CR tower now often costs over $700, whereas SF is approx. $350-400 less/night.

Keeping in mind, guests who stay at Universal are allowed to pool hop to any Universal resort pool. It is a short walk to go between Aventura, Cabana Bay and Sapphire Falls. Aventura and SF are so close together that they share a parking garage.

[ Just to throw this out there, a US Preferred AP costs $671 or $300 above the cost of 2-4 day park hopper (current ticket promo is buy a 2-day hopper get a 4-day US hopper ticket.

The AP discount at SF is about $80/night. So just 3 nights at SF w/AP discount nearly pays for a Universal Annual Pass.

Even crazier, the AP discount completely covers the cost of the AP in just 3 nights for a stay at Portofino.

Flat out: BUY a Universal AP + book Portofino for 3 nights with the AP discount, and it will likely cost less than 3 hotel-only nights at the Contemporary. You don't have to go to the parks at all.

 

[Disneylover69]

It is hard to justify the pricing for a resort-only stay at WDW these days, when there are so many great options in Orlando that cost less.

I mean, not to get into comparing the two, but when it comes to hotels, Universal's Sapphire Falls costs hundreds less/night, and has a considerably better pool/water slide than the Contemporary. A room in the CR tower now often costs over $700, whereas SF is approx. $350-400 less/night.

Keeping in mind, guests who stay at Universal are allowed to pool hop to any Universal resort pool. It is a short walk to go between Aventura, Cabana Bay and Sapphire Falls. Aventura and SF are so close together that they share a parking garage.

[ Just to throw this out there, a US Preferred AP costs $671 or $300 above the cost of 2-4 day park hopper (current ticket promo is buy a 2-day hopper get a 4-day US hopper ticket.

The AP discount at SF is about $80/night. So just 3 nights at SF w/AP discount nearly pays for a Universal Annual Pass.

Even crazier, the AP discount completely covers the cost of the AP in just 3 nights for a stay at Portofino.

Flat out: BUY a Universal AP + book Portofino for 3 nights with the AP discount, and it will likely cost less than 3 hotel-only nights at the Contemporary. You don't have to go to the parks at all.

I mean you are comparing SF which is not even considered a premium resort by universal to one of the most expensive resorts at Disney a fairer comparison would be Caribbean beach resort or port New Orleans

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

I mean you are comparing SF which is not even considered a premium resort by universal to one of the most expensive resorts at Disney a fairer comparison would be Caribbean beach resort or port New Orleans

You asked why resort only stays aren't more popular at WDW. My answer is to say the Orlando area has a slew of nice hotels at better prices. I'm comparing those specific two because (I think) SF is a nicer hotel than CR. And those two just popped in my head.

SFalls is much newer, has a much better pool slide, a much better pool, a better arcade, better poolside activities, better outdoor dining, comparable free shuttle boats, better parking, and arguably better dining/bar options.

I've stayed at both hotels a number of times. If I'm not going to go to the theme parks, I'd choose SF over CR, even if they were the same price. The main selling point of CR is that it is next to MK. (things like broken elevators, etc.) The garden wing very much looks like 1970's office buildings. For a hotel-only vacation, CR is a bit of a depressing choice.

Alas though, I also mentioned Portofino. If I only planned to visit the hotel, and my choices were the WDW deluxes or Portofino, I might choose Portofino even if the prices were all the same. Portofino has a great layout, great rooms, nice pools, decent food options, great shuttle boats, and is easy walking distance to Citywalk.

For reference, I've stayed at nearly every WDW, most Universal, and many offsite hotels. I dislike the layout of CBR and POR, though it has been some time since I have stayed at either one. The new tower at Coronado is nice, but the food options outside of the tower leave much to be desired.

If they were priced the same, and it was a short stay, I might choose a tower club room at CSR over Portofino.

I just came back from a short stay at the new Endless Summer. I gotta say, for the price, it was AMAZING! The suite room layout is really nice. The only small drawback was it took a while for the shower water to get warm on our first day. The food court could also be a bit bigger, but they serve fresh berries as an option, which is nearly impossible to find at any WDW hotel, at any price point. For the price, I was very impressed with how nice the hotel is.

 

[lewisc]

I mean you are comparing SF which is not even considered a premium resort by universal to one of the most expensive resorts at Disney a fairer comparison would be Caribbean beach resort or port New Orleans

SF is not considered premium by Universal because guests SF don't receive complimentary express passes. Irrelevant for a resort only stays.

 

[AVeryDifferentDisneyDad]

I tried to read all they way through this thread so I could reply to all my notes in one post... LOL

That would take an 8,539 character post, so lets try something different.

The amount a FAMILY of five pay for 4 or more days at a Disney Resort visiting parks daily is no longer "affordable" to the AVERAGE family. Case in point: this Disney Family visited seven times over a twenty year span. Three visits were a group of seven. The other four were varying sizes and lengths of stays. But our last trip was 3 years ago, and will probably be our last until my DW and I bring a grand child (if we are blessed with any).

The cost of the resorts (even the cheapest), admission (with or without Hopper), and food was bad enough. I haven't had the joyous experience of paying for Genie + and the extra amounts to get in shorter lines, though I simply cringe at the thoughts of what that expense would have done to our trip budgets in the past.

My personal experience has been "higher cost, less fun" at a growing rate for the last few trips. Based on the posts, I am CERTAINLY not alone in my thoughts.

It was once "magical." It was INCREDIBLY obvious Disney was focused on your experience and your joy. These were paramount in their hopes of you returning to their parks time and time, again.

Unfortunately, I (nor any of the other 6 family members I just texted or asked) have felt that "magic" during our most recent visits. The worst of which was my once over joyous DW who crushed my heart with, "I'm really not sure I would ever like to go, again."

Please, do BETTER Disney. We could ALL use some magic and joy nowadays....

 

[John park hopper]

Oh but you forget Disney relinquished the magic to the guest ----you are the magic-----if you don't feel the magic don't blame Disney it's your fault your are just not spending enough(sarcasm)

 

[Goofyernmost]

Oh but you forget Disney relinquished the magic to the guest ----you are the magic-----if you don't feel the magic don't blame Disney it's your fault your are just not spending enough(sarcasm)

Does that mean that I can afford to go, I just can't afford the magic part? That is so true though, I might be able to scrap together enough money to get in the parks, I just can't afford to see or do anything fun after that

A small story from back in the 1980's. I was working at a place and one of my coworkers heard me talking about WDW and decided they wanted to go. I lent them all my Vacation videos and whatever literature I had on it at the time. They went on a WDW vacation and when they got back I asked them about their trip. The response was..."what a waste of money that was" All there was there were souvenir stores and snack places." I asked... didn't they enjoy any of the rides? She replied... "What rides, I didn't see any rides, all I saw where stores".

She said, "never again". We decided that next year they were going to take a cruise instead. My guess is they probably just stood at the dock and watched the ship leave and then complained about it when they got home. You can't fix stupid!

 

[thomas998]

This is true. There are still a lot of folks with a lot of money.
Look at the wait times. Some may look at the wait times and say they are trending downward and therefore there are less folks in the parks but overall the wait times still suck and there are still a lot of folks in the parks with wallets open!

The problem is the wait times are rarely accurate. Disney seems to use them to try and herd people to an from particular ride by posting wait times that are intended to attract people or scare them away. And while people can still afford them, even people that can afford them aren't willing to pay the crazy prices for food and merch. Besides their decision to go after smaller crowds that pay more doesn't make a lot of sense when you realize things like mouse ears and turkey legs depend on large crowds and sales will fall when you cut the crowd levels down.

 

[thomas998]

I tried to read all they way through this thread so I could reply to all my notes in one post... LOL

That would take an 8,539 character post, so lets try something different.

The amount a FAMILY of five pay for 4 or more days at a Disney Resort visiting parks daily is no longer "affordable" to the AVERAGE family. Case in point: this Disney Family visited seven times over a twenty year span. Three visits were a group of seven. The other four were varying sizes and lengths of stays. But our last trip was 3 years ago, and will probably be our last until my DW and I bring a grand child (if we are blessed with any).

The cost of the resorts (even the cheapest), admission (with or without Hopper), and food was bad enough. I haven't had the joyous experience of paying for Genie + and the extra amounts to get in shorter lines, though I simply cringe at the thoughts of what that expense would have done to our trip budgets in the past.

My personal experience has been "higher cost, less fun" at a growing rate for the last few trips. Based on the posts, I am CERTAINLY not alone in my thoughts.

It was once "magical." It was INCREDIBLY obvious Disney was focused on your experience and your joy. These were paramount in their hopes of you returning to their parks time and time, again.

Unfortunately, I (nor any of the other 6 family members I just texted or asked) have felt that "magic" during our most recent visits. The worst of which was my once over joyous DW who crushed my heart with, "I'm really not sure I would ever like to go, again."

Please, do BETTER Disney. We could ALL use some magic and joy nowadays....

Once upon a time we were a Disney only family... then we sampled Universal... and soon we realized it was simply better. While we've stayed at every type of resort Disney has, we not only find it to be more economical to stay at Universal we also find it more enjoyable. Our trips now are Universal with maybe a day or special event at DIsney. Disney just isn't worth it anymore and a large part of it is the decline in service across the board... From food that's gotten worse, service that has gotten worse, or the thing that turned me off Disney resorts - the damned AC that stops working when the motion sensors think everyone is asleep.

 

[Chef Mickey]

I tried to read all they way through this thread so I could reply to all my notes in one post... LOL

That would take an 8,539 character post, so lets try something different.

The amount a FAMILY of five pay for 4 or more days at a Disney Resort visiting parks daily is no longer "affordable" to the AVERAGE family. Case in point: this Disney Family visited seven times over a twenty year span. Three visits were a group of seven. The other four were varying sizes and lengths of stays. But our last trip was 3 years ago, and will probably be our last until my DW and I bring a grand child (if we are blessed with any).

The cost of the resorts (even the cheapest), admission (with or without Hopper), and food was bad enough. I haven't had the joyous experience of paying for Genie + and the extra amounts to get in shorter lines, though I simply cringe at the thoughts of what that expense would have done to our trip budgets in the past.

My personal experience has been "higher cost, less fun" at a growing rate for the last few trips. Based on the posts, I am CERTAINLY not alone in my thoughts.

It was once "magical." It was INCREDIBLY obvious Disney was focused on your experience and your joy. These were paramount in their hopes of you returning to their parks time and time, again.

Unfortunately, I (nor any of the other 6 family members I just texted or asked) have felt that "magic" during our most recent visits. The worst of which was my once over joyous DW who crushed my heart with, "I'm really not sure I would ever like to go, again."

Please, do BETTER Disney. We could ALL use some magic and joy nowadays....

I dunno, I’m pretty joyous lately, but Disney certainly hasn’t helped.

Much of what ruined Disney spread into other areas of life too and perhaps now that will change.

The price you pay versus what you get is ridiculous. I’ve long supported price increase and still do, but Disney forgot the other side of that equation. Value. They increased prices but actually lowered the quality and experience.

Disney’s management has ruined the company more than anything. All of them are terrible and need to be changed, immediately. Sadly, this won’t happen so you’ll have to suffer with Iger at least another year. Then, they’ll pick the wrong person.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The problem is the wait times are rarely accurate. Disney seems to use them to try and herd people to an from particular ride by posting wait times that are intended to attract people or scare them away. And while people can still afford them, even people that can afford them aren't willing to pay the crazy prices for food and merch. Besides their decision to go after smaller crowds that pay more doesn't make a lot of sense when you realize things like mouse ears and turkey legs depend on large crowds and sales will fall when you cut the crowd levels down.

The profits are at the food stands and gift shops…that’s the model

That’s why their profits can’t really gain with huge price increases. Not enough stuff is being bought

Halloween parties and paid fastpasses won’t outrun that

 

[Nubs70]

The profits are at the food stands and gift shops…that’s the model

That’s why their profits can’t really gain with huge price increases. Not enough stuff is being bought

Halloween parties and paid fastpasses won’t outrun that

Just as the attractions are a cost not revenue stream (until paid FoL passes).

Attractions got you in the park to buy food and merch. Unpaid FP and FP+ were to keep you out of lines so you could buy food and merch.

Now paid FP costs keep you out of lines but you have less money for food and merch.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Just as the attractions are a cost not revenue stream (until paid FoL passes).

Attractions got you in the park to buy food and merch. Unpaid FP and FP+ were to keep you out of lines so you could buy food and merch.

Now paid FP costs keep you out of lines but you have less money for food and merch.

Correct…

The reason for fastpass was to get you into the stores in a better mood. That was it…full stop

Now as that reality fades we will read millions of posts prognosticating that fastpass makes them “so much money”

…but of course every quarterly they have to hide (in plain site) that every cent they “make” is at cost of more customers and in park spending…which is easy money. Such a sustainable idea for a media empire

 

[Jrb1979]

Correct…

The reason for fastpass was to get you into the stores in a better mood. That was it…full stop

Now as that reality fades we will read millions of posts prognosticating that fastpass makes them “so much money”

…but of course every quarterly they have to hide (in plain site) that every cent they “make” is at cost of more customers and in park spending…which is easy money. Such a sustainable idea for a media empire

Agreed. IMO it feels like they looked at Universal and other parks charging for skip the line passes. Figured they could do the same and not understanding why or how other parks do it. Iger just saw the $$$$. They really don't understand the parks and to Iger and his friends they are the ATM for the rest of the company

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Agreed. IMO it feels like they looked at Universal and other parks charging for skip the line passes. Figured they could do the same and not understanding why or how other parks do it. Iger just saw the $$$$. They really don't understand the parks and to Iger and his friends they are the ATM for the rest of the company

Correct…

But the missing ingredient for Disney is hubris…

They convince themselves that in addition to charging twice across the board for tickets…sometimes 3 Times each day…which is what they do…

That they will be irresistible to a larger, growing customer base that will also continue to buy larger amounts of consumables at any price they wish to charge.

It’s really borderline insane from a business standpoint

 

[Nubs70]

Correct…

The reason for fastpass was to get you into the stores in a better mood. That was it…full stop

Now as that reality fades we will read millions of posts prognosticating that fastpass makes them “so much money”

…but of course every quarterly they have to hide (in plain site) that every cent they “make” is at cost of more customers and in park spending…which is easy money. Such a sustainable idea for a media empire