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

[mimitchi33]

I'm still going! In fact, I'm booking my park tickets in three days' time!

 

[UncleMike101]

I found out my Son and his Family are only going to be at WDW for three days this year instead of their usual week long visit.
They're going to spend the rest of their time at a beach and Universal.
They're also using non expiring tickets that they had left over from years ago.
These are people who have their entire house decorated with Disney items, have Disney plates, silverware, salt/pepper shakers, dozens of other Disney paraphernalia, and have almost all of the Disney Christmas decorations.
They had their Honeymoon at WDW and have gone there almost every year for the past eighteen or so years.
They were the most loyal Disney fans possible but they think their money would be better spent on places other than WDW this year.
It appears that Disney has just about bled some of the Cash Cows to death.

 

[lebeau]

I'm pretty close to what you said. My kids are 11 and 12. We went to the dark side and bought Universal AP's this year, more bang for the buck but also been there done that time to move on. My favorite was staying at the Wilderness Lodge for a long weekend, like the boats etc.

Last summer we went on a Disney cruise and spent a day at Universal. Definitely looking forward to doing both again. Our next big trip will likely be to spend more time at Universal. As the kids are getting older, it appeals to them as much or more than Disney. The Mrs. loves it because the layout makes it so much easier to navigate than Disney.

 

[lebeau]

I'm still going! In fact, I'm booking my park tickets in three days' time!

Oooo. Bad timing there. Sorry about that.

 

[disneyfirstLJ]

I have been to WDW in 2014, 2015 and 2016. We want to go to Disneyland and explore California in 2017, not sure that will happen but it is the dream. I don't think we will head back to WDW until all of the construction is complete. We "might" take a trip to Universal at some point because I really want to experience Harry Potter but that wouldn't be until 2018 most likely. I am not going to lie, I will miss planning and going to WDW but we are going to take a break at least that is the way things are looking for now. With eighth grade expenses, high school and then college in the near future for my daughter I think big vacations will be taking a back seat.

 

[DarthVader]

It's actually a really good plan for WDW.

Definitely is a good plan for WDW, they're maximizing their profits, they're probably correctly determining that the people that go to the parks during the holidays and busy times will pay the higher prices thus increasing their profits.

I'm not against companies making a profit but this move does seem a bit excessive. As I mentioned, the wife and I are re-thinking some of our long term plans. Perhaps its time to vacation somewhere else

 

[Spoxy]

Posted this in the other forum on the ticket price increase thread, but we canceled our WDW trip and we're going to Japan instead. We're spending the same amount to go to Japan and we're even throwing in two TDR days.

 

[Witchy Chick]

Just for some background, here's our family history of Disney trips:

• Aug 2007 Disneymoon
  • Deluxe hotel (Grand Floridian), Deluxe Dining Plan, week long stay (I think)
• Jan 2013 family trip -- me, DH, DD4, DS2 (at the time)
  • DS2 was ~ 3 weeks from turning 3, so saved some $$$$ there
  • Deluxe hotel (Poly), Deluxe Dining Plan could not talk DH out of that one, 6 day stay (5 day park hopper tickets)
• Sep 2013 solo trip for me (Villains Friday 13th bash at DHS)
  • hotel Swan, no dining plan (obviously), 3 day park hopper + 1 day Universal ticket (Tickets at Work)

So three visits for me in a 6 year timeframe. 2 visits for DH. 1 visit for the kids.


Upcoming/possible trips

• April 2016 runDisney Darkside family trip (already planned, paid for, etc.)
  • hotel Swan, no dining plan (obviously), 3 day Disney park hopper

• Summer 2017 DisneyLand (deferred from summer 2016)

• Summer (or some other "peak" timeframe) 2020 or 2021 WDW trip for Star Wars and other "new" stuff
  • Hotel Swan (or even off site), no dining plan, likely no park hoppers
  • DD will be in middle school 2020 (both kids will be in middle school year 2021), and we are unlikely to pull them from school so peak is it for us
  • This trip will probably even be a combined Universal trip as the kids will be older, and probably more into Uni rides/attractions than Disney stuff

So overall in a 13-14 year time period, our family is downsizing from Disneymoon in GF with the full ride of dining plan + park hoppers to (highly likely) staying offsite, minimal day non-hopper tickets to WDW (2-3 days), and splitting the trip by visiting a Disney competitor.

So yeah, looks like we are changing our method of travel/resort stays.

 

[Capsin4]

Disney is no longer an affordable vacation destination except for the 1%. If that's where you're coming from? Thats all i need to know about you, honey.

Well, "The Walt Disney Parks" is an anagram for "Wealthy parents' kids". Aint that nice.

 

[Figments Friend]

No plans...and no interest currently.
Disneyland has been my 'home' since moving on from WDW in 2013.
I just feel i get far more 'bang' for my buck in CA then in FL these days.

I will admit that i will likely look into a possible short visit to WDW once the World of Pandora opens at DAK.
I would like to see that in person.

 

[ford91exploder]

Nope no plans to visit any longer the value is no longer there, We gave up our premier passports in August even before the price increases hit, I'm DVC but this years plans have been cancelled and I'm on the fence about selling my DVC interest.

 

[ford91exploder]

I found out my Son and his Family are only going to be at WDW for three days this year instead of their usual week long visit.
They're going to spend the rest of their time at a beach and Universal.
They're also using non expiring tickets that they had left over from years ago.
These are people who have their entire house decorated with Disney items, have Disney plates, silverware, salt/pepper shakers, dozens of other Disney paraphernalia, and have almost all of the Disney Christmas decorations.
They had their Honeymoon at WDW and have gone there almost every year for the past eighteen or so years.
They were the most loyal Disney fans possible but they think their money would be better spent on places other than WDW this year.
It appears that Disney has just about bled some of the Cash Cows to death.

That kind of describes us as well, Heck there are even Figment plushies on my lab benches in my lab reminding me what a lab is for. When a company manages to 'turn off' it's most loyal customers history shows bad things are in store in the future for the company, Because those are the customers who sustain companies through rough patches.

 

[Brad Bishop]

Definitely is a good plan for WDW, they're maximizing their profits, they're probably correctly determining that the people that go to the parks during the holidays and busy times will pay the higher prices thus increasing their profits.

I'm not against companies making a profit but this move does seem a bit excessive. As I mentioned, the wife and I are re-thinking some of our long term plans. Perhaps its time to vacation somewhere else

That's the beautiful thing about the free market: If Disney is right, it may price some of us out or mean that we go a lot less often or even not at all (can afford it but it's just not worth it with the expense and cuts). If Disney is wrong, though, they may experience a few years of uptick but the crowds should start petering out.

 

[ford91exploder]

I will just ask you all this: Would you rather go to a less crowded Disney park once every two years or go an overcrowded park once a year?

At the current levels of service and quality - neither.

 

[ford91exploder]

That's the beautiful thing about the free market: If Disney is right, it may price some of us out or mean that we go a lot less often or even not at all (can afford it but it's just not worth it with the expense and cuts). If Disney is wrong, though, they may experience a few years of uptick but the crowds should start petering out.

Or they will hit an inflection point and rapidly go downhill

 

[Brad Bishop]

Or they will hit an inflection point and rapidly go downhill

That's what I'm kind of wondering.. They're packing people in now and cutting services while charging a premium.

If people go and don't experience that "premium" that's going to hurt them long-term. It may take 5-10 years to really work through the people who are going to get there but once it starts dying off, it's going to be really hard to recover. I think people will even accept a bad experience for a WDW vacation and consider it a one-off (based on the good and nostalgia Disney has fostered over the years). On the other hand, if people feel like they're paying a premium and then, when they get there, they feel fleeced by all of the up-charges (like the MNSSHP special ticketed event and then the upcharge for M&Gs on top of that), and they continue to see things dormant (Epcot) or down (Monorail) or just the general state of the park starting to look dirtier because of cuts int he custodial staff it's going to leave them scratching their head as to why they paid so much for a mediocre vacation.

Now, there will always be the die-hard who will go no matter what. They've drunk the kool-aid and they're no talking them out of it. Even those,though, when they do switch because of a series of (costly) bad experiences, tend to switch really hard (goes from love to hate).

Anyway.. It'll be interesting to see how it all pans out.. They've kind of lost me as a customer, for the most part. I don't hate them or anything, I just don't want to pay a premium and experience dirty/down monorails or packed stagnant parks (because of some festival) or 1/2 day parks and it kind of bugs me that to see the MK at night after around Sept 1 I typically have to buy a second ticket. All of that plus dining went from being pretty expensive (which I just accepted) to really expensive (which now makes me feel like a chump for paying for it). Oh, and everything has to be planned now. There's a lot of little things that have just added up to me going elsewhere. Not never visiting again, just normally going elsewhere from now on.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Posted this in the other forum on the ticket price increase thread, but we canceled our WDW trip and we're going to Japan instead. We're spending the same amount to go to Japan and we're even throwing in two TDR days.

Tokyo is one of my favorite destinations in the world. It is cheaper to get in the Disney parks there, but crowds in Tokyo are pretty incredible.

I went to DisneySea and the waits for everything were literally 4+ hours, not exaggerating. Tower of Terror was 5 hours.

 

[Chef Mickey]

I tried telling people Disney will increase prices at least in PART to control crowds. Disney themselves even confirmed that is part of the goal here (something like "reduce congestion during peak times").

This will deter people at least in part, but I still think prices need and will be going higher. The expansion will likely do nothing to mitigate crowds and will probably offset any reduction in crowds from increased pricing due to a new wave of visitors to see Star Wars, Avatar, and Toy Story.

Life is expensive and entertainment is expensive everywhere. Disney is not alone in price increases and they have to do what they have to do with the limited space. Iger should have invested a lot more in expansion and not doing so forced their hand to increase prices to ensure a quality experience.

Make no mistake...they want you to have a good time, come back, and tell others how great it is. They are starting to see that insane crowds are good for business on the day, but probably aren't great for the brand long term. Happy guests = more spending.

 

[Herdman]

We are planning to go in November of this year. Our last visit was in the summer of 2013. Our daughter starts college in the fall so who knows how many more times we will travel to WDW together, until at least she is married and has kids of her own. She is a thrill seeker so we go to Universal for a couple days during our week long stay. She still loves the princesses and the Disney feel of things, but we definitely don't do everything in the parks that we used to.

 

[Spoxy]

Tokyo is one of my favorite destinations in the world. It is cheaper to get in the Disney parks there, but crowds in Tokyo are pretty incredible.

I went to DisneySea and the waits for everything were literally 4+ hours, not exaggerating. Tower of Terror was 5 hours.

Yeah, we're definitely prepared for the crowds. The crowd calendar for our dates is in the moderately crowded range, but we'll be flexible and just enjoy the experience of being there in the likely event of massive crowds.