With the Price Increases and Cuts, Are you Delaying your Visit?

[Minnesota disney fan]

The one alarming problem I can see that has Not been mentioned here is: I'm afraid people will feel even more "entitled" to a magical vacation. Afterall, they are paying more than ever, so there better not be any breakdowns, dirty bathrooms, tired CM's, etc, etc. I have seen so many entitled people at the parks lately, and am sure there will be more now with the price increase, limited hours, more paid parties, etc, etc. I hope Disney is ready for this!

 

[DarthMileZ]

annoyed about the cuts and price increase. however. im a mug and will pay anything. as much as i dont want to say this. i am the target audience for them. especially now star wars is a big part of disney.

and now that im getting married in orlando, it puts way much more meaning to the place.

 

[KeithVH]

So. There are 3 segments - people who already had plans, people who are waffling or delaying a little, and those who are walking away (bravo!).

For those of you sucking down the kool-aid, or even those thinking of taking a sip in the future, think ahead 4-5 years. Figure ~3% increase/year. By 2020, you're looking at $120 for "value" time. Can't imagine what the rate of increase might be for the other periods.

When will it be too much for you?

 

[Mickey81]

last trip to WDW was sept/oct 2015 and we did a dec/Jan trip to DL. Wasn't planning on going back until spring of 2017 anyway, and will be sticking with that.

 

[Goofyernmost]

So. There are 3 segments - people who already had plans, people who are waffling or delaying a little, and those who are walking away (bravo!).

For those of you sucking down the kool-aid, or even those thinking of taking a sip in the future, think ahead 4-5 years. Figure ~3% increase/year. By 2020, you're looking at $120 for "value" time. Can't imagine what the rate of increase might be for the other periods.

When will it be too much for you?

I'll let you know when it gets here!

 

[cjack300zx]

We go once a year for the fifth year in a row now, no change here.

 

[Brad Bishop]

The thing is, there is a point where they'll turn people off and people will just stay away. Maybe Disney will cross that threshold or maybe they won't. Right now it seems like they're really trying to find out where that threshold is.

Once people start to stay away then you run into the problem of: How do you get them to come back?

When your business is a premium enterprise and it's built on the experience and you're charging more but offering less - yeah, folks are going to figure that out.

I mentioned Six Flags in a recent thread (may have been this one) and it took them years of having crappy parks until they were in the panic situation of, "Where are the customers?" It was a slow day-to-day, season-to-season degradation. It wasn't like you walked out one season and it was great and walked in the next season and it was crappy. Eventually their parks were disgusting, their employees rude and inattentive, and the prices were a bit nuts (not the Season Pass price which I've always thought they held oddly low but to buy a drink or park or do anything).

 

[DarthVader]

For me its not deferring a vacation as we have one on the books for next month. Going back again is the 64,000 dollar question. I'm having a hard time justifying on last visit this fall to use up our Annual Passes before they expire. So while the cost increase does not affect me (yet) the cuts backs do.

 

[WishStar]

We have a trip planned for August 2016 so we are still going. We will have to watch and see if they start tiering the multi day tickets for people who stay on site and what that will mean for our budget. We have been going for many years. We used to stay at a moderate resort and now pay about the same price to stay at a value resort (AOA Little Mermaid room). I feel disappointment with Disney for slowing pricing our family out of our favorite place on earth to vacation.

 

[erasure fan1]

I've said before, The biggest problem with the increases is the lack of justification. Nothing new cutbacks all around.... That is why what we had planned for next year (our on again year) now is getting great consideration for a week in DVC and Uni for a couple days Lego land Seaworld... with down time around the pool. And before anyone says it won't be cheaper, it's more about doing new things. If we are going to spend the money, I would much prefer doing things I have not done before.

 

[Figgy1]

Got my tickets for this year prior to 2015 increase. So 2016 is safe. Maybe and only maybe if we can upgrade to APs without spending too much my dh and I will be back 2017 sans children. Otherwise it will be a UNI only trip for us. We've been planning a sans kids trip since 2013

 

[Figgy1]

We have a trip planned for August 2016 so we are still going. We will have to watch and see if they start tiering the multi day tickets for people who stay on site and what that will mean for our budget. We have been going for many years. We used to stay at a moderate resort and now pay about the same price to stay at a value resort (AOA Little Mermaid room). I feel disappointment with Disney for slowing pricing our family out of our favorite place on earth to vacation.

Welcome aboard.

 

[Weather_Lady]

We're going at the end of 2016 (calculated to fall after Soarin' and TSMM are back up, and after the AK night-time show and some other things are up and running). We won't go again until after Avatar, Star Wars Land, and the expanded Pixar Place are open, even if it takes a few more years. Life is short, money is tight and there are too many other places to go and things to see, to keep going back to WDW when there's nothing new. It's not that I don't love WDW (because I do!), but it does keep getting more expensive - enough that you have no choice but to take notice, because the increase far outstrips any increase in our salaries from year to year. A Disney vacation is no longer a little splurge, but a deep-cutting financial hit. When a trip to Europe or Scandinavia costs only slightly more than a trip to Florida, you start to think differently about where to spend your vacation dollars...

 

[AshaNeOmah]

I remember the post 9/11 cuts like it was yesterday. Then Fantasmic only showed three days a week. The cuts don't really concern me at all.

As for tickets, I usually buy an AP every other year and make 3-4 trips the year I have it. I plan on visiting this Winter and again for two of the RunDisney events next Spring. To think prices aren't going to rise is shortsighted.

I'm one of those mean people who hope some people are deciding not to go. Less crowds mean a better time for those of us who are there.

Not going is not an option for me. WDW is as much a part of my life as any place can possibly be.

 

[PhilharMagician]

Used to spend a minimum of 2 weeks @ WDW each year. Stopped a few years ago when our daughter hit high school since we did not want her to take any time off during those 4 important years. She graduate this year and we were planning on a late September trip, but I we are not going. Not sure when we will go. Looking at pricing for a trip and it is every bit of 20% more expensive since our last trip with DHS in a shambles. Not sure how much the recent cuts would effect our trip, but we will probably hear about more cuts in the near future.

Not sure when the next trip to WDW will be. If the prices keep increasing at the rate they have been, then the answer may be never.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

We're DVC members, so the increase costs aren't affecting us too much at the moment, although we used to have premium APs and that is no longer the case (we still have APs, but ours have blackout dates for when we're not there). My younger brother is on the autism spectrum, so not going would probably be devastating for him. We have our usual August trip planned, and we're also going to DL in June

I am thinking about taking a friend there, but we might wait a few years before going so that Star Wars Land is open. Since it is quite an investment on her part and Star Wars is a huge draw for us.

 

[PhilharMagician]

I remember the post 9/11 cuts like it was yesterday. Then Fantasmic only showed three days a week. The cuts don't really concern me at all.

As for tickets, I usually buy an AP every other year and make 3-4 trips the year I have it. I plan on visiting this Winter and again for two of the RunDisney events next Spring. To think prices aren't going to rise is shortsighted.

I'm one of those mean people who hope some people are deciding not to go. Less crowds mean a better time for those of us who are there.

Not going is not an option for me. WDW is as much a part of my life as any place can possibly be.

The 911 comparison is not even close. The difference in the cuts after 911 is that the parks were empty and today the parks are near capacity consistently. I fully understand that when it's slow you have to cut you workforce. It just is not normal to cut your workforce after reporting record attendance. In TWDC's fiscal 2015 a +7% increase in domestic theme park attendance was reported in Disney's SEC 10K as well as a +3% increase in occupancy, a +4% increase in guest spending as well +13% increase in domestic theme park revenues. From the outside, these cuts do not seem necessary unless your trying to squeeze out a few more pennies out. Hope they don't squeeze too hard.

BTW 1st fiscal quarter 2016 those numbers soared up +10% on the attendance and another +5% increase in occupancy compared to same time last year.

 

[Roakor]

We have gone every three years for a while now. This years trip and the one in 2019 we have had planned since our last trip in 2013. Beyond that though we are unsure. Its getting close to the point where cost vs enjoyment is swaying too much toward cost. Maybe in 2022 we will do that European vacation we always talked about instead. Its far to long off to say for sure but its the first time we have even considered skipping the 3 year trip to WDW.

 

[KeithVH]

I won't jump on the "they're just doing it to make a buck" bandwagon until I see accurate gross sales numbers for tickets broken down by type. Unless single day ticket days are a majority, or at least a decent percent of total sales (anyone know?), it's tough to make the call it's all about the profit.

 

[docdebbi]

since we already have our april trip booked, long ago btw, we are going. but that is it for us. will be a looong time before we go back. and we are an every year family. And it's not just that they are pricing us out, although that is borderline, it's a general feeling of anger and resentment at this point. I am angry at all the cuts and price increases,($25-$50 increase for the wishes dessert party in one price jump!!!!) and upcharges for everything.
I know it's a business and they have a responsibility to earn profits for the shareholders, but they now are officially greedy. there is a difference between making a profit and gouging.
I think their recent actions are short sighted and detrimental, and other people besides us will begin to find other wonderful vacations sites. Supply and demand will find a price point, right now it is this high, but if we all stop demanding, price comes down.