Ticket Price Increase - Feb 2014

[EpcotCenter82]

1983 was even better.

So, we got an entire new theme park and lower ticket prices.

Back in those days, Disney leadership actually worried about what the public thought and wanted to provide their customers with good value for their money, a philosophy expounded by Walt Disney himself.

How things change.

Yes, those were the days. A three day "World Passport" was $35, a four day pass was $45. ....and that included park hopping and the days never expired.

 

[ford91exploder]

If something makes you happy, why do you have to be a mentally ill lifestyler? Disney makes some families very happy along with making lifetime memories. If the price bothers you and it is a barrier to going, then stop going. At some point Disney will get the message if attendance declines or they will keep increasing as the laws of supply and demand dictate.

You don't have to be,

The Lifestylers are in large part Disney's social media brigade who Disney showers with free stuff so they can put out a falsely positive view of the current state of WDW, Their entire LIFE revolves around their relationship with Disney hence the name.

Different class of people than most of us who simply enjoy visiting Disney with our families and find it to be one of our happy places.

 

[raymusiccity]

Yes, those were the days. A three day "World Passport" was $35, a four day pass was $45. ....and that included park hopping and the days never expired.

Ah, yes...those were the days. The days when the minimum wage in Florida was $3.15 and the U.S. nominal salary was $19,000! Purchasing tickets for a family vacation to the Magic Kingdom was never a casual expense. You can compare ticket prices across the board: NFL, movies, theater, hockey, concerts....but people still go to all of these events. It will always be supply and demand.

 

[PhotoDave219]

You don't have to be,

The Lifestylers are in large part Disney's social media brigade who Disney showers with free stuff so they can put out a falsely positive view of the current state of WDW, Their entire LIFE revolves around their relationship with Disney hence the name.

Different class of people than most of us who simply enjoy visiting Disney with our families and find it to be one of our happy places.

There's been some culling of their social media brigade...

 

[Future Guy]

You're new here; you'll learn. For a message board dedicated to "The Happiest Place on Earth", there's an awful lot of name-calling.

It wasn't name-calling. I was referring to WDW1974's frequent assertion that the "lifestylers" who continue to spend money at WDW and defend everything it does are mentally ill, not making that assertion myself.

 

[lunchbox1175]

You suck! I had this song stuck in my head for 3 days and had just gotten it out!

 

[sshindel]

My local news covered the ticket price increase this morning around 6:20am. The comment from the anchor was "...increased their prices to $99 a day for the Magic Kingdom, ehhh, it's only $4".

 

[willtravel]

So instead I should continue paying ever-increasing prices for a rapidly-diminishing experience that I don't enjoy? Isn't that what those mentally-ill Lifestylers do, the ones you're always criticizing for being so ridiculously loyal to a BRAND that doesn't love them back?

I don't believe that there's any realistic way for us to change the entire corporate culture in Disney's Orlando division, or make the top executives stop being shortsighted and greedy. After all, they're just behaving the same way that corporate executives everywhere behave. All you can do is not fork over your hard-earned money for things you don't like. It won't make any difference to Disney's execs, but it'll be better for your personal finances.

I agree with you. I think if you feel you are not getting your moneys worth you should not go to WDW. This is with any product your considering to purchase. And yes, there will always be someone else taking your place. Just like everything in life.

My only brain fart is when people say they are going to DL instead. I have not been to DL since 1980. And from what I am reading the place is fantastic and you get your moneys worth there. But to me you are still giving Disney your money and in turn still bank rolling the company. It is a win/win for them no matter where you go. Yes, WDW and those bonuses may be less but the company in general still wins out.

Personally I think the only people who loose out are the CM's and us. AS with any company's loss it is always passed on by firing employees and then made up by higher prices to the consumer.

 

[kucarachi]

I think the part that is alarming is how much it's gone up in the last decade...almost 40 dollars a day per person difference. Not many people buy single day tickets that are going for a week that would be insane. But if you live in the area and want to go for your birthday a family of 4 or 5 is going to have to pay 500 bucks to ride for 12 hours maybe less? thats beyond insane and kind of makes me feel they don't care anymore about making it the happiest place on earth for anyone with kids....just ones with lots of extra money. It does keep the rift raft out but where is it going to end? You can't tell me Epcot is worth 100 a day when 70 percent of it is gift shops and restaraunts. Im a DVC timeshare owner and its getting to be too much...not for the timeshare but to actually step foot into the parks every year. But if your going to charge 100 dollars for 1 day in any park you better make sure there is enough time to ride everything...can you imagine spending 500 dollars at magic kingdom on a day they close at 7pm for another event that cost 55 dollars for a mere 5 hours of being open. Someone there has to have a heart


http://blogs.orlandoweekly.com/bloggytown/rising-walt-disney-world-ticket-prices-1971-2013/

 

[Jabbas]

For the people talking about one day park people. I am one of them. It's more costly yes but it works better with my schedule. I am about 3 hours away but with my work schedule, I just cannot go for a week right now ( I'd rather take time off to go somewhere I've never been if I get that chance). Not to Mention, a second night be a hotel stay, which to me about evens the price out a bit if I don't stay overnight.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I think the part that is alarming is how much it's gone up in the last decade...almost 40 dollars a day per person difference. Not many people buy single day tickets that are going for a week that would be insane. But if you live in the area and want to go for your birthday a family of 4 or 5 is going to have to pay 500 bucks to ride for 12 hours maybe less? thats beyond insane and kind of makes me feel they don't care anymore about making it the happiest place on earth for anyone with kids....just ones with lots of extra money. It does keep the rift raft out but where is it going to end? You can't tell me Epcot is worth 100 a day when 70 percent of it is gift shops and restaraunts. Im a DVC timeshare owner and its getting to be too much...not for the timeshare but to actually step foot into the parks every year. But if your going to charge 100 dollars for 1 day in any park you better make sure there is enough time to ride everything...can you imagine spending 500 dollars at magic kingdom on a day they close at 7pm for another event that cost 55 dollars for a mere 5 hours of being open. Someone there has to have a heart


http://blogs.orlandoweekly.com/bloggytown/rising-walt-disney-world-ticket-prices-1971-2013/

See there, you have accidentally stumbled on why WDW hasn't been building new things (other than NFL). They want to allow you time to ride everything. If they added more attractions it would just put more pressure on you to try and be everywhere in a day.

Yes, that was sarcasm!

 

[willtravel]

I am sure there was some number crunching on this ticket increase. With MK being the only most visited park in WDW and spring break coming up. Good timing.

 

[PhilharMagician]

I've met several families who have stayed offsite who were unaware of this benefit. The worst...a woman who took her family for 8 days. They bought single day tickets each day upon arriving at the parks. She looked sick when I showed her how much she could have saved.

That is crazy. They have those brightly colored signs showing the price breakdown for multi-day tickets right at the ticket booths.

 

[note2001]

That is crazy. They have those brightly colored signs showing the price breakdown for multi-day tickets right at the ticket booths.

Some folk just don't want to think about the numbers.

I took a friend with us back in 2005, an educated teacher. I'm very budget conscious, rented DVC points for $5/pt, we stayed in studios. I booked rt airfare from Boston for less than $100 per person. I strongly encouraged her buy multi-day passes through UT before we left home to save her money. She was insistent that she wanted to buy a pass at the window for each day her and the kids wanted to go into the park (which ended up being every day). I created a spreadsheet to show her the savings and it floored her. She bought them online, but blamed me for her credit card bill for a full two years afterward.

 

[DBF John]

well i just got to say that my $5.50 a month (x2) annual passes for seaworld is looking pertty darn good right now. bought them when they started ez-pay about 14 years ago, cant say i really regret it.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

That is crazy. They have those brightly colored signs showing the price breakdown for multi-day tickets right at the ticket booths.

Yeah- I have no clue how they could miss any of this. It's right there. Still, she looked like she was going to be sick when I enlightened her. Oh well...hopefully this stuck with her so she doesn't make this same mistake again.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Ah, yes...those were the days. The days when the minimum wage in Florida was $3.15 and the U.S. nominal salary was $19,000! Purchasing tickets for a family vacation to the Magic Kingdom was never a casual expense. You can compare ticket prices across the board: NFL, movies, theater, hockey, concerts....but people still go to all of these events. It will always be supply and demand.

It’s not about supply-and-demand. WDW can print millions more tickets. WDW has over 5,000 empty hotel rooms every night. Hundreds of WDW restaurant tables are empty every day.

WDW has plenty of supply.

It’s about what consumers can afford.

You really should evaluate the full implication of the numbers you used.

In 1983, a 3-day WDW ticket with park hopping was $35 (with tax). Minimum wage was $3.35/hr so that’s 11 hours of work. Median household income (MHI) was $19,500 so a WDW ticket cost 0.18% of MHI.

In 2013, a 3-day WDW ticket with park hopping was $342 (with tax). Minimum wage was $7.25/hr so that’s 47 hours of work. MHI was $51,400 so a WDW ticket cost 0.67% of MHI.

In the 1980s, a family might be able to afford both NFL season tickets and a WDW vacation.

They can't anymore so now they have to make decisions. What “want” gets sacrificed?

Do I drop my NFL season tickets? Do I buy a car or a 60” HDTV? Do I get rid of my smart phone? Do I go on vacation to WDW? Maybe I vacation locally instead?

Based on WDW's reported numbers, it looks like the first thing to go has been onsite stays. WDW's hotel occupancy rate is down from 89% in 2008 to 79% in 2013.

WDW already is seeing the effect of its higher prices.

What happens as WDW ticket prices continue to increase?

What “want” does a family forgo next?

"Perpetual price increase" is not a long-term business strategy for any company.

Not even Disney.

 

[willtravel]

It’s not about supply-and-demand. WDW can print millions more tickets. WDW has over 5,000 empty hotel rooms every night. Hundreds of WDW restaurant tables are empty every day.

WDW has plenty of supply.

It’s about what consumers can afford.

You really should evaluate the full implication of the numbers you used.

In 1983, a 3-day WDW ticket with park hopping was $35 (with tax). Minimum wage was $3.35/hr so that’s 11 hours of work. Median household income (MHI) was $19,500 so a WDW ticket cost 0.18% of MHI.

In 2013, a 3-day WDW ticket with park hopping was $342 (with tax). Minimum wage was $7.25/hr so that’s 47 hours of work. MHI was $51,400 so a WDW ticket cost 0.67% of MHI.

In the 1980s, a family might be able to afford both NFL season tickets and a WDW vacation.

They can't anymore so now they have to make decisions. What “want” gets sacrificed?

Do I drop my NFL season tickets? Do I buy a car or a 60” HDTV? Do I get rid of my smart phone? Do I go on vacation to WDW? Maybe I vacation locally instead?

Based on WDW's reported numbers, it looks like the first thing to go has been onsite stays. WDW's hotel occupancy rate is down from 89% in 2008 to 79% in 2013.

WDW already is seeing the effect of its higher prices.

What happens as WDW ticket prices continue to increase?

What “want” does a family forgo next?

"Perpetual price increase" is not a long-term business strategy for any company.

Not even Disney.

Now, now, now, but the shareholders are happy.

 

[PhotoDave219]

This.

And people who stay off property are more likely to do something else with their vacation time. Be it the beach, Kennedy Centre, Universal, SeaWorld, mini golf, whatever, if you want to do all that in a 5 day trip, are you going to give much time to Disney?

The entire strategy by Disney is to keep you trapped on property and only spend your money on property. And to give them all of your money at once.

This gets down to the debate about whether you want to get all somebody's money once… Which keeps Wall Street very happy because it impacts bottom line right now in this corner…

Or…

Do you want to leech them for the rest of their lives? Do you want a lifetime of their money? Look at the most successful entrepreneurs in the history of the world: drug dealers. The first taste is always free… And they get you hooked. They get you coming back in paying more over and over again. Granted, the product is something that just gives you a feeling of ecstasy and a high… There's some parallels here I give you that, but their overall business practice is to keep you coming back for more and get all of your money over a extended period of time.

So Disney's current economic strategy involves essentially keeping you want an island. That's why they have the magical express that takes you from the airport to your hotel… And thanks to Jason Garcia's numbercrunching, looks like ridership on that is down. @ParentsOf4 's Numbercrunching is showing that hotel room occupancy is down. Fewer people are staying on this island.

While it keeps Wall Street happy for one quarter… That's three months folks. All of you people were screaming about the "market"? It's three months. I don't want three months of economic success, I want companies that have 30 years of economic success; I want long-term domination.

Right now Disney is heading towards a financial cliff, and it's being driven by the quarterly earnings conference call.

 

[note2001]

Look at the most successful entrepreneurs in the history of the world: drug dealers. The first taste is always free… And they get you hooked. They get you coming back in paying more over and over again. Granted, the product is something that just gives you a feeling of ecstasy and a high… There's some parallels here I give you that, but their overall business practice is to keep you coming back for more and get all of your money over a extended period of time.

I'll agree with this analogy. It worked very well for myself and family for many decades.

Universal broke the drug habit for my parents.
DVC broke it for me. I can now inhale the smoke from other folks partaking of the drug and get just enough Disney in my blood to satisfy while we head off in other directions. This of course requires a car, something it took me years to break down and try as I hate traffic and roads that I'm unfamiliar with.