John park hopper
Well-Known Member
I thought this was about Disney's problems not Universal
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WSJ: Even Disney Is Worried About The High Cost Of A Disney Vacation (gift link)
- Thread starter lentesta
- Start date
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
SteamboatJoe
Well-Known Member
LSLS
Well-Known Member
It would not let me change the 3 park hopper tickets funny enough for a package. We are down there this summer, so I'm looking at while we are down there (not in the next month), which would not include this promo. But even pricing out with the cheapest tickets, 4 day, 1 park per day tickets for 4 of us are $2,362. Cheapest room I found was Endless Summer, which came out to $1,071. And of course, over $100 for parking.
LSLS
Well-Known Member
Parks downturn. Didn't they say Orlando had a record number of visitors last year? Which is very telling when Disney and Universal are not seeing record attendance.
flynnibus
Premium Member
Cheap is not the dictionary there… except when comparing long stays (which few do) or ‘value’ aka what the price gets you (like express pass for a full family with your room).
The problem is anyone who wants to goto uni for just 1 or 2 days basically pays the extreme… and if they look at hotels like HRH… its again… extreme.
So adlib’ing uni is EXPENSIVE. But if you commit, it can be good value.
Book 2 nights in a expresspass hotel with 4 people… do 3 days of parks etc.. and thats when the discounting starts to be in your favor.
We would ABSOLUTELY buy a restricted Annual Pass in our family. We live in SWGA and are about 4.5 hours from the park. We are roughly 30 minutes further than Tallahassee, 2 hours closer than Pensacola, and an hour further than Miami. All of those people are eligible for discounted AP's because they live within Florida, but there are plenty of people in Georgia and Alabama that live just as close.
We would be at Disney probably once a month just for a short weekend and a quick stay in a value hotel if we had the option to purchase an annual pass that wasn't $1600 a person - we have no desire to travel during peak periods. But, they don't see the value in this and won't offer it so it will never happen.
The crazy thing to me is that if Disney is truly worried about the cost of a Disney vacation, what are they doing at this moment to correct that? Not 5 years from now when they open new expansions that "add" value to the cost of things (when we know the prices will be even more than they are right now). They've stripped so much away from the on-property experience between removing Extra Magic Hours for all on-site guests equitably, removal of Magical Express (which was a guaranteed way to keep people IN the bubble and made it convenient for families with small children to fly into Orlando), removal of airline check-in and baggage drop at the hotels, removal of so many resort activities/amenities that they're too numerous to name, dumbing down of menu's across the property (the bar menu's in particular are almost always the same 10 drinks recycled), making FP/FP+ a paid add-on, insane increases on the party tickets, insane increases on daytime tickets, charging for magic bands for on-site guests, and a litany of other items.
I remember thinking in 2016-2019 how EASY it was to go to Disney, especially if we flew. I used to rave about it to co-workers (and this was before we had kids so the ones that had kids I would tell them how easy it would be to take them and not to worry) because if you flew, you simply tagged your luggage, checked it at the airport and never had to see it again until you got to your room at your resort - then when you left you dropped it off at the airport check-in desk, and you didn't worry about it until you got home. Need a ride to the resort? Don't worry - Disney's got you covered. Your park admission and staying even at the cheapest bed on property covers all of these things, including x, y, and z. It's such a great value. Sure you need to do a bit of planning with your fast pass and dining reservations, but other than that it's pretty much just go and enjoy. Oh, and if you don't get the FP you want don't fret - they'll often become available during the day if you really want to ride something.
Now, I don't even try to discuss it anymore - while we go still and do love it, it's so complicated and has gotten so expensive for everything. My wife and I make close to $250K in a low cost of living area roughly 4.5 hours from the parks and have a 4 year old and a 2 year old. We love Disney, love the nostalgia and the way we feel when we walk our kids down MSUSA even for the 5th time. WE are the ideal repeat guest - but they've started to lose us to the point where I'm not sure when we will go back. We've considered the cruise but don't want to do that until our youngest is 3 and completely potty trained so she can enjoy the kids club (and my wife is somewhat eh on cruises as the only one she went on she got Norovirus and was sick for 3 of the five days).
They are eroding their brand loyalty and simply, they really don't care. They want the guest who comes one time and spends $10,000 - not the guest who comes multiple times a year and spends the equivalent of that. What they fail to see (or simply don't believe it will eventually hurt them) is that those of us that love/loved vacationing at Disney are no longer raving about it to friends and family, and people are more and more frequently coming back from Orlando asking "was that really worth the money?" - That is not a good thing.
I remember thinking in 2016-2019 how EASY it was to go to Disney, especially if we flew. I used to rave about it to co-workers (and this was before we had kids so the ones that had kids I would tell them how easy it would be to take them and not to worry) because if you flew, you simply tagged your luggage, checked it at the airport and never had to see it again until you got to your room at your resort - then when you left you dropped it off at the airport check-in desk, and you didn't worry about it until you got home. Need a ride to the resort? Don't worry - Disney's got you covered. Your park admission and staying even at the cheapest bed on property covers all of these things, including x, y, and z. It's such a great value. Sure you need to do a bit of planning with your fast pass and dining reservations, but other than that it's pretty much just go and enjoy. Oh, and if you don't get the FP you want don't fret - they'll often become available during the day if you really want to ride something.
Now, I don't even try to discuss it anymore - while we go still and do love it, it's so complicated and has gotten so expensive for everything. My wife and I make close to $250K in a low cost of living area roughly 4.5 hours from the parks and have a 4 year old and a 2 year old. We love Disney, love the nostalgia and the way we feel when we walk our kids down MSUSA even for the 5th time. WE are the ideal repeat guest - but they've started to lose us to the point where I'm not sure when we will go back. We've considered the cruise but don't want to do that until our youngest is 3 and completely potty trained so she can enjoy the kids club (and my wife is somewhat eh on cruises as the only one she went on she got Norovirus and was sick for 3 of the five days).
They are eroding their brand loyalty and simply, they really don't care. They want the guest who comes one time and spends $10,000 - not the guest who comes multiple times a year and spends the equivalent of that. What they fail to see (or simply don't believe it will eventually hurt them) is that those of us that love/loved vacationing at Disney are no longer raving about it to friends and family, and people are more and more frequently coming back from Orlando asking "was that really worth the money?" - That is not a good thing.
ChrisRobin124
Active Member
And exactly how concerned is Disney about the prices?
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lightning Lane Multi Pass price is jumping to $29 on March 3rd. That is a $10 increase from the previous day! The last time the price for Lightning Lane Multi Pass was $29 was December 24th-31st, 2024. Animal Kingdom isn’t the only park that will see an increase in Lightning Lane Multi Pass prices.
EPCOT and Magic Kingdom will also return to prices that haven’t been seen since the end of 2024. Magic Kingdom will cost you $39 per person on both March 2nd and March 3rd. EPCOT is jumping up to $32 on March 3rd.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios will also be increasing in price, but it won’t be returning to the same prices as the end of 2024. Hollywood Studios will cost you $32 per person for Lightning Lane Multi Pass.
Gee...and I am old enough to remember $15 Lightning Lane.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lightning Lane Multi Pass price is jumping to $29 on March 3rd. That is a $10 increase from the previous day! The last time the price for Lightning Lane Multi Pass was $29 was December 24th-31st, 2024. Animal Kingdom isn’t the only park that will see an increase in Lightning Lane Multi Pass prices.
EPCOT and Magic Kingdom will also return to prices that haven’t been seen since the end of 2024. Magic Kingdom will cost you $39 per person on both March 2nd and March 3rd. EPCOT is jumping up to $32 on March 3rd.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios will also be increasing in price, but it won’t be returning to the same prices as the end of 2024. Hollywood Studios will cost you $32 per person for Lightning Lane Multi Pass.
Gee...and I am old enough to remember $15 Lightning Lane.
TalkingHead
Well-Known Member
Absolutely feels primed for the theme park equivalent of a flopbuster.
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
I might not be as successful as planed but I don't think it's going to be a flop. It has a lot of hype in the amusement park community.
Ayla
Well-Known Member
It’s dynamic pricing. That is the start of Spring Break.
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
Wait, are we talking about EPIC Universe?
ChrisRobin124
Active Member
I'd say $15 from the introduction of LL to $39 a day is dynamic indeed!
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
The only concern Disney has about pricing is how high can they raise prices and still get away with it.
MickeyLuv'r
Well-Known Member
I looked today, and didn't see the offer, so this might be a moot point.
When I initially tried to change the tickets, I got a pop-up warning that removing them was not allowed. So I added the other tickets (before removing the others). Despite getting the pop-up warning, which still came up, that worked. I also called and they verified over the phone that the 2-park hoppers were okay.
DarkMetroid567
Well-Known Member
The community is niche enough that that doesn’t really matter. In fact it’s probably likely that the “Disney Park” community is larger than the general theme park community.
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
Let’s be clear: Disney is worried about the perception of the all-in cost of a Disney vacation.
They are also worried - some would so, more fixated - on not leaving any money on the table from their actual or prospective guests.
Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
Maybe but IMO one thing that the theme park community does better than the Disney one is promoting parks with social media.