What is Disney doing to its customer life cycle?

[Sith196]

My children would probably fit into that perspective, since they grew up going to Disney. I did not. I was a married mother of 2 before I enjoyed Disney for the first time.

Making a valid criticism (as a long time disney-goer) does not make me ungrateful for the trips I've had or the memories I've made with my family.

It is disingenuous to come on here as someone who just had their very first visit ever and screech "how dare you criticize this place, I had the best time ever! You should be thankful you were able to visit, you ungrateful brats!" Oh, don't forget the #blessed hashtag.

That's fair. My apologies.

 

[Ayla]

While clearly Disney is targeting wealthier guests to come into the parks, money definitely cannot buy class.

EXHIBIT A: Woman decided to relieve herself somewhere other than a bathroom on Disney property (peed in a cup) and was asked to leave the park. She even "flexed" that she went to Aulani LOL!

Apparently, there is a bathroom less than 200 yards away from where she is sitting. Trash.

 

[eliza61nyc]

Lol, I'm here now and no one, I've been chatting with is as upset about genie +. Now if course it's currently 91° out so pretty much, the general comments have been "yeah I'll pay the extra $60 to nit wait in this heat.

My general thought is this, fir the 10 years I've been a member here we've complained about the price increases, decreases in product and overall decrease in value. Yet the mouse house stays packed. I wish I had a dollar every time we predicted that wdw is shooting itself in the foot.

We are having a great trip and are already talking about where we want to stay in 2023 God willing.

Folks here are probably not a representative sample of disney visitors,
Now there is a lot of chatter about what Disney management is trying to do, I have absolutely no idea but they are still making money

 

[eliza61nyc]

The answer is that guests arent going to act in mass, or in enough numbers to affect Disney to the point where they will be affected and have to alter their way of doing business.
You have Guest #1 The one time guests. They will go on the once in a life dream trip and spend whatever it takes. They arent planning on coming back. One and done. Disney can count on these different guests coming every year and bringing profits.
You have guest #2 These will go multiple times with their children and return until they are grown up and leave the nest. They see no reason to continue going after that. As long as parents have kids, they will continue to come. They are drawn by the new attractions, events and shows. The amount spent may vary but theres a lengthy amount of time these families will go on Disney trips bringing in profits.
You have Guest #3 These are Adults who after going with their kids now go as Adult couples only trips. They have money to splurge on themselves and without the burden of kids they can spend on better resorts, longer or more frequent trips. They will then bing their grandchildren to Disney to relive their children filled days.
You have Guest #4 Locals who enjoy the parks, the festivities and the nightlife. They may or may not stay onsite. They spend money for their entertainment and enjoyment after working all week. This will not change.
And then you have guest #5. These are the minority who will boycott Disney over things they cant stand. Policies they dont accept, price changes they see as excessive, CEO's and managers who they disagree with, the way attractions and parks are set up, dining plans they see as price gouging, and so many other faults they gripe about.
Anyone who thinks Disney will price themselves out or bad policy change themselves out of enough guests doing business with them are wishing on a fantasy. Disney is here and will stay here no matter who the CEO is and no matter what bumbling they do with Disney policies. They can lose customers and will lose customers... only never enough to hurt them badly.
The things that can hurt Disney would be terrorist attacks as in 9/11, inflation and economic disaster, or a continued pandemic. And theyve shown already that they can weather these things and bounce back.

Best answer on the internet

 

[Jeff4272]

Long time lurker here (10+ years) and love the info and insight. What a wealth of knowledge some of the veterans bring.

I finally felt compelled to post a perspective and question.

I am stunned by the Disney parks business model over the last 15+ years. The Decline in value has been stunning and accelerating. The causes seem obvious, but Disney continues to accelerate down this path. I’m clearly not alone in in this view (anecdotally, this website and all of my family / friends that are/were huge Disney fans)

I’ve begun to wonder what the lag time is for their actions. WHEN will customers leave the business. The 5 stage customer life cycle leads me to believe that their are 5-10 years (??) between actions and consequence to the parks…sort of like car shoppers? The negative experience has to erode (4) retention and (5) advocacy. But if Disney thinks it’s much shorter than that, they will be far Down the wrong path and in a huge hole before they really feel it (Not unlike the domestic auto brands)..

I have been loyal, patient and and strong advocate Of Disney Parks. But I no longer advocate (at all) and we are actively shifting vacation patterns away from Disney (retention). The last few years and this one in particular have finally crossed the line. No need to go into extra detail, but the short list of observations…
- pricing increases seem far higher than inflation
- from “free” to “fee” changes all over the place…nickel and diming on a grand scale
- constant cuts of the “little things” like shows, entertainment
- investment in digital overlays (DME, fp+, etc) instead of rides and attractions
- investment in tent pole rides in mediocre lands with limited capacity or reliability
- direction of EPCOT is a mess…world showcase lagoon barges are hideous
- hard to believe the huge Hollywood studios investment yielded a smaller park with few rides
- deluxe hotel pricing is bizarro-world and seem to be a feeder to their DVC sales…which I think is ultimately killing their gross operating margins.
I could go on…admittedly some of this is personal preference…

So when do customers react en mass? What is the timespan for that positive/negative feedback loop (retention, advocacy)?

Its frustrating........And I think the frustrating part is, you want to push back to try and make changes but you cannot do that without the masses and WDW attendance is up 20% in the last 10 years alone from approximately 50mm to 60mm..........

The people that get frustrated are the ones like you and I who love it a lot but feel like we are getting taken advantage of. But for every one of us that gets fed up and drops out it seems like WDW has been able to replace them (and then some)

Oh well, maybe i will go back one day when im a grandfather and my kids pay the $120k for me to go with them for the week to help out with their kids...........

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Lol, I'm here now and no one, I've been chatting with is as upset about genie +. Now if course it's currently 91° out so pretty much, the general comments have been "yeah I'll pay the extra $60 to nit wait in this heat.

My general thought is this, fir the 10 years I've been a member here we've complained about the price increases, decreases in product and overall decrease in value. Yet the mouse house stays packed. I wish I had a dollar every time we predicted that wdw is shooting itself in the foot.

We are having a great trip and are already talking about where we want to stay in 2023 God willing.

Folks here are probably not a representative sample of disney visitors,
Now there is a lot of chatter about what Disney management is trying to do, I have absolutely no idea but they are still making money

So you are saying most Disney visitors come away happy and don't mind more for less. Ok I give them more credit than that.

 

[eliza61nyc]

So you are saying most Disney visitors come away happy and don't mind more for less. Ok I give them more credit than that.

Actually club, and nope not saying that because I can't pretend I spoke with "most". Lol these are totally unscientific, standing in line conversations. The visitors I spoke with 1) only come once or twice so they aren't comparing what they "used" to get. Most wanted to see what was new.
2) they probably really haven't examined the total cost of Genie+ but they do know they are standing in a 40 minute lines with small tired kids in 90° heat so are admitting that yeah $60 bucks to not do that might not be that bad.

And yes everyone I've been chatting up are silly happy and having a great time. Tons of family reunions, never saw so many color coordinated outfits in my life.

 

[threvester]

I used to think I would be shopping at Sears and JC Penny forever...it will catch up to them

 

[John park hopper]

Disney Customer Neglect

 

[spock8113]

Consequently and accidentally perfectly timed, my last trip to Disney in 2015 was about the last time the parks were fully open before all the "upgrades" and additions. Galaxy's Edge was a slightly plowed plot, trees were coming down behind Space Mountain, the Gravestones in front of Spaceship Earth were standing for their last days, Communicore and lunch at the Electric Umbrella was in the schedule, one final ride on Ellen's Energy Adventure and a ride on Pirates brought the lines, "Shift your cargo, deary, show them your larboard side"
I am in no rush to go back to the "Most Unaffordable Family Ivy league Theme Park" and prefer to stay in my Ivy League Frat house home of the overcharged fraternity, Tappa Kegga Beeya.

 

[WishIWasRetired]

I had been going an average of twice a year for about 25 years. Our last time was just before the mask mandates. I did not renew my family's AP's and I have no intentions of going back until there are no mask requirements and all the live show's and entertainment come back to the parks and the springs. By then I will know what the Genie + and LL are all about and how much it is really going to cost me to do the things I want to do. I have a trip scheduled for Universal in January as long as they don't have a mask requirement so the earliest I will consider going to Disney is late 22 or 2023. Maybe this is exactly what they want me to do.

 

[Spookie2018]

Long time lurker here (10+ years) and love the info and insight. What a wealth of knowledge some of the veterans bring.

I finally felt compelled to post a perspective and question.

I am stunned by the Disney parks business model over the last 15+ years. The Decline in value has been stunning and accelerating. The causes seem obvious, but Disney continues to accelerate down this path. I’m clearly not alone in in this view (anecdotally, this website and all of my family / friends that are/were huge Disney fans)

I’ve begun to wonder what the lag time is for their actions. WHEN will customers leave the business. The 5 stage customer life cycle leads me to believe that their are 5-10 years (??) between actions and consequence to the parks…sort of like car shoppers? The negative experience has to erode (4) retention and (5) advocacy. But if Disney thinks it’s much shorter than that, they will be far Down the wrong path and in a huge hole before they really feel it (Not unlike the domestic auto brands)..

I have been loyal, patient and and strong advocate Of Disney Parks. But I no longer advocate (at all) and we are actively shifting vacation patterns away from Disney (retention). The last few years and this one in particular have finally crossed the line. No need to go into extra detail, but the short list of observations…
- pricing increases seem far higher than inflation
- from “free” to “fee” changes all over the place…nickel and diming on a grand scale
- constant cuts of the “little things” like shows, entertainment
- investment in digital overlays (DME, fp+, etc) instead of rides and attractions
- investment in tent pole rides in mediocre lands with limited capacity or reliability
- direction of EPCOT is a mess…world showcase lagoon barges are hideous
- hard to believe the huge Hollywood studios investment yielded a smaller park with few rides
- deluxe hotel pricing is bizarro-world and seem to be a feeder to their DVC sales…which I think is ultimately killing their gross operating margins.
I could go on…admittedly some of this is personal preference…

So when do customers react en mass? What is the timespan for that positive/negative feedback loop (retention, advocacy)?

"- from “free” to “fee” changes all over the place…nickel and diming on a grand scale"

What has gone from free to fee, other than FastPass +?

 

[SteveAZee]

"- from “free” to “fee” changes all over the place…nickel and diming on a grand scale"

What has gone from free to fee, other than FastPass +?

Overnight parking at resorts and DME (free transportation to/from airport) discontinued to name two?

 

[larryz]

You’re right. You should not be helping anyone book a Disney trip. Refer them to a travel agent with a positive attitude profit motive so they have a shot at a good time.

FTFY

 

[larryz]

Have a magical day!

Oh, no! The dreaded CM "Bless your heart!"

 

[mysto]

Birth School Work Death

The customer life cycle has not changed.

 

[larryz]

While clearly Disney is targeting wealthier guests to come into the parks, money definitely cannot buy class.

EXHIBIT A: Woman decided to relieve herself somewhere other than a bathroom on Disney property (peed in a cup) and was asked to leave the park. She even "flexed" that she went to Aulani LOL!

How dare she pee in a cup in the park!?!?!

That's an upcharge, and she obviously didn't pay for it through her MDE account.

 

[Brian]

Oh, no! The dreaded CM "Bless your heart!"

While some CMs use "Have a magical day" in a... less than genuine manner, I never did.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

"- from “free” to “fee” changes all over the place…nickel and diming on a grand scale"

What has gone from free to fee, other than FastPass +?

Parking, as another said, miss a reservation 10 dollars a head penalty, not that this one bothers me so much as people did abuse ressies, but the extra hours extra dollars. Good seat for fireworks, buy some bad drinks and $80 cupcakes, and we'll Genie is like Nicole and filing you from ride to ride. "Hey I got the genie fast line for me" Not so fast, this coaster requires an extra fee....

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

"- from “free” to “fee” changes all over the place…nickel and diming on a grand scale"

What has gone from free to fee, other than FastPass +?

Glad you asked....

Up through at least 2019/early 2020, penny press machines were $0.51. Insert your two quarters plus the penny to be pressed and turn the crank! (WDW started slowly replacing them - I think - in 2019.)

In MK, there is a covered walkway/set of bathrooms that connect Adventureland to the edge of Liberty Square and Frontierland.
(On the current park map, it is between #17 Jungle Nav Co Skipper Canteen, and #31 Diamond Horseshoe.)

Just outside that bathroom was a brown change machine like the kind found in old arcades. Except this one was special. If you inserted a $1 dollar bill, the machine gave back $1.02! If you inserted $5, the machine gave back $5.10. So the machine actually GAVE out money!

There used to also be a couple of the old pressed penny machines in that tunnel. (The $.51 kind).

Now there is only one machine. It is the one of the new machines. No need for quarters. It now swallows dollar bills and even takes credit cards, but the pressed pennies now cost $1 each!

Below is an image of the old machine: