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Snack price increases?
- Thread starter HauntedPirate
- Start date
Of course, it's not just the pretzel you're paying for. There's the transport to get it there. The storage facility. The CM who takes it out of the box. The CM who carries it out to the cart/CS location. The CM who sells it to you. The tissue the CM wraps it in. The power that runs the box that it hangs in. The mandatory cheese sauce. The CM who empties the trashcan you threw half of it in when you got in line for your 2:45 FP+. The plastic bag in the trash can. The trash truck that hauls it away. The waste processing fee. And the salaries of all the Executives, managers, team leads, administrators, and other people who support that effort -- even the CM who cleans the toilet where you dispose of that part of the pretzel you didn't throw away (admittedly, it's probably the next day or so)...
But your point is valid... stop paying $6 for pretzels, and they'll cut the price to $5 -- and possibly fire a third of the trash crew CMs.
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Laketravis
Well-Known Member
njDizFan
Well-Known Member
You are correct there is no straight line in consumables. As a retailer you have to add into the equation, labor, utilities, maintenance, shrink, rent, taxes and many other factors. You can't just say they are robbing us for selling a .06 pretzel for $6.00.
BUT every item has a different margin. And a lot of those costs are shared costs. Each establishment inside the parks have their own P&L. By pushing the limits on the high volume items(pretzels, Mickey Bars) is a great way to pad that bottom line, selling nostalgia proves to be very elastic.
Biff215
Well-Known Member
We dropped the second trip this year. It's the first winter in 15 years we won't visit WDW, last year we went in December and January. Like you we'll continue a summer trip for now to use our DVC points. I hope it never happens but the next step would be to sell our membership.
Our vacation dollars are going to a cruise this January, and not DCL as it's so overpriced. Royal Caribbean will cost us roughly $100/day per person, which includes room, meals, and entertainment. Even with owning DVC, we were spending more than that at WDW.
I've defended many of their decisions over the years and likely would have been considered a "pixie duster", but those days are over for me. I still love the place and will visit when I can, but the days of two trips a year are simply over. There's better value and experiences out there for my money.
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
On that note, I wonder how much money is lost every day at WDW when they comp guests to keep them quiet instead of solving their problems or addressing their concerns. I know when you're dealing with 150,000 guests a day you only have so much time, but it seems more like the default option for CMs who have few resources and fear they might get fired if they encounter confrontation.
NearTheEars
Well-Known Member
That mentality has probably been around since the doors opened. Plenty of people see the CMs as their vacation servants.
The skyrocketing prices just brings more typically reasonable people into the fold.
I think people (who didn't take numerous WDW vacations) forget sometimes that when they went as a child, their parents likely were trying to make that "once in a lifetime trip" as cost effective as possible. Driving instead of flying, staying on 192 instead of the GF, eating PB&Js instead of table service.
Today, many a credit card is being maxed out in an effort to give their kids the perfect WDW trip with all the bells and whistles. Because it's seen as some right of passage. And when something goes wrong, a meltdown ensues.
flynnibus
Premium Member
Well... "lost money" can be really difficult to qualify here. You might talk about how much they "spend".. but they call it guest recovery for a reason
. If the situation is saved and it doesn't derail future spends.. it's probably an investment that pays for itself.But I'm sure it's a ton
. As long as it's for valid stuff... I think it's great. When people set out to abuse it... I hope karma catches up to them
ford91exploder
Resident Curmudgeon
This is new, Before they would just say 'sorry can't run your card do you have cash'. If it happened 2-3 times in a row they would close the cart at least that's how it was in 2015
ford91exploder
Resident Curmudgeon
@ParentsOf4 had a great graph a while back which correlated the number of hours a minimum wage worker needed to work to buy a Disney ticket, In the Iger era the curve went asymptotic (Think 'Hockey Stick') which was quite disturbing.
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't call it a hockey stick but ticket price increases have accelerated a bit since Iger became CEO in 2005:
But, but , but, isn't this at the same rate as inflation? ( just kidding)
This is a big increase fo sho. But how does the increase on multiday tickets or AP prices compare ?
ford91exploder
Resident Curmudgeon
We've had multiple ticketing CM's report over the years that the one day single admission ticket is still the most popular ticket choice. I would love to see the breakdown though.
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
In the graph, "Walt Disney World Tickets" is a summary of all tickets offered in the United States.
Strange as most travellers from outside the US get length of stay deals and i know that's a big chunk of Disneyworld's guests
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
It is. Please look at the graph again.
ford91exploder
Resident Curmudgeon
Sorry @ParentsOf4 I see it now, I currently still have too much blood in the caffeine system, Posting before the 3'd mug of coffee is a no-no.
ford91exploder
Resident Curmudgeon
Disney is counting on merchandise sales for non-US guests to make up for the deals given or at least that's how it's been explained to me.
I've seen that explanation too. But really, how many T-shirts and Plush toys can a person buy? Also, aren't the non-US guests going to the outlet stores like everyone else?