Will the recent changes push away the long-time diehard fans? I'll admit, I'm worn out.
To add some contrast, I'm the opposite currently. I'm more eager to go to Disney than ever before. I've had spectacular theme park experiences since the dawn of Covid, and have more trips in planning than ever before.
The majority of outsiders perceive Disney as just some tacky place to bring your kids. The fans know better, having helped elevate the popularity of WDW through word of mouth and their fervent devotion to the product. Yet, the company is doubling down on turning the place into exactly what people think it is, attempting to target the rich parents of the elementary school demographic and throwing dedicated theme park fans to the wayside. I suspect it's unsustainable despite their record profits, and we've seen a pretty significant shift in positive buzz towards Universal over the last year. Things may look good for them now, but how will poor word of mouth and a decline of "pent up demand" affect them over the next few years?
My professor took her family to Disney this past year for the first time. They absolutely loved it and are booked again for next year. They stayed at Poly (a hotel whose renovations received a tsunami of criticism) and are looking to stay at the Riviera for their next vacation due to the Skyliner access.
I mean, it’s large enough to convince Comcast, a company every bit as greedy and soulless as Disney, that investing aggressively in their parks, maintaining a higher level of customer service, and challenging WDW head on is worth the investment.
I absolutely love Universal. I've previously been a UOAP holder, and plan to be again in the future, but if they're lacking in anything, it's their customer service. There are tens of thousands of wonderful employees working for Universal Orlando but, without fail, there always seems to be a few having a poor day. Obviously, that happens everywhere, Disney included, but I've noticed a much higher frequency of negative interactions at Universal Orlando. And I must add, for every one negative interaction, there are five positive, but regardless, from my perspective, Universal Orlando's customer service is substantially weaker when compared to WDW.
Universal's investments are a wonderful thing for Disney fans because we can enjoy them. We can take a day, or an entire trip to Universal and enjoy ourselves, but it also forces Disney to invest. There's a limit to how much Disney can raise prices, but currently, the demand far outweighs the supply. In the short term, they should increase prices. In the long term, if demand falters, they can offer more economical promotions.
I believe that the majority of tourists visiting WDW perceive it as some sort of cultural milestone, something that they need to check off of their list for things that make them feel accomplished in life.
- Graduate highschool
- Go to college
- Get into a decent profession
- Get married
- Have kids
- Take kids to Walt Disney World
Making Disney more expensive likely magnifies the milestone aspect. The more expensive Disney becomes the greater commitment is needed to cross that barrier. It'll be too big an obstacle for most, but so is buying a Lamborghini. Ask most college-aged males and they'd tell you they dream of purchasing a sports car, but fast-forward twenty years and only a minute margin has, which makes the novelty and status of owning a Lamborghini that much greater. Products like Apple AirPods, are objectively comparable to products a third of their price, but they still carry massive demand because of the status and brand association carried with them. Disney doesn't need to provide a premium product to charge premium prices while granting people the status they desire.
The main issue with purposefully lowering attendance through price increases is a lack of brainwashing. My mom grew up going to Disneyland in its first years of operations. She loves Disney. I grew up going to all the WDW parks. I love Disney. In an ideal world, Disney's parks would have sufficient capacity to completely match their demand while delivering an enjoyable product, but that's impossible. But people are still going to the parks, so there will still be kids (like myself) that are brainwashed to the Disney brand, so it's only a minor hit, especially when you consider the kids going now, are on average, more affluent than the kids that, on average, would be going if demand was met perfectly by supply. And on average, wealthier children will grow up to be wealthier, and in turn, will bring their wealthier kids to Disney while leveraging deeper pockets.
All in all, the long-term impact on the Disney brand by price increases is likely very minor, especially with Disney products, like Disney+ reaching previously unexposed or underexposed audiences.
