WSJ: Even Disney Is Worried About The High Cost Of A Disney Vacation (gift link)

[John park hopper]

It's easy to see Disney uses the parks as cash cows for all their failed enterprises. The only thing in Bob's vocabulary is "raise prices" 2019 was the last and final time for us. Even my grandkids when asked --go to WDW of skiing in CO --- they are skiing in CO as I type this

 

[Disstevefan1]

Dockside’s walls are paper thin. I couldn’t sleep and it basically ruined my trip.

Hey, just like Disney resorts

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

I picked the cheapest rooms at both resorts available to anybody, not just APs, which is genuinely a fair comparison.

AP's aren't available to everyone?


As I already showed a ways back, the AP discount at Universal for Dockside is often $100+/night, that savings covers the difference in price between a Power AP and a 3day park hopper in less than 3 nights (2nights gets you within $30 for most dates in March).

IMO, it is always smart to check the price/perks of an AP when visiting any tourist spot. Sometimes the bonus perks more than cover the difference on the first visit, because they often include things like free parking, discounts on additional tickets (or free companion allowances), plus merchandise/food discounts.

 

[JD80]

AP's aren't available to everyone?


As I already showed a ways back, the AP discount at Universal for Dockside is often $100+/night, that savings covers the difference in price between a Power AP and a 3day park hopper in less than 3 nights (2nights gets you within $30 for most dates in March).

IMO, it is always smart to check the price/perks of an AP when visiting any tourist spot. Sometimes the bonus perks more than cover the difference on the first visit, because they often include things like free parking, discounts on additional tickets (or free companion allowances), plus merchandise/food discounts.

So add in the cost of the AP to the hotel room.

 

[flynnibus]

AP's aren't available to everyone?

But it's an additional cost above and beyond the room - so comparing one AP rate to a non-AP rate is not really objective..
plus.. AP rates aren't indicative of 'norms' - they are limited discounts. So again, when discussing norms of pricing.. it's incredibly distorting and basically disingenuous.

It's cherry picking at best.. unless the discussion from the get go is AP hotel rates.. which this wasn't.

 

[MrPromey]

Compounding all this isn’t just the increasing prices of everything- it’s that the baseline price of admission has gotten excessively more expensive, and the non-LL or non-premium experience (or baseline experience) has gotten demonstrably worse and much more unpleasant.

It's like them not raising the price of a tiny number of days when they raise everything else and saying "we haven't changed minimum pricing".

While factually true, it's transparently obvious that keeping 2-3 throwaway days a year at the lowest price for a marketing talking point is a deflection. It's the Jurassic Park "Coupon Day" line.

When people watch the movie, they laugh because the joke is obvious. Disney's saying it with a straight face and expecting people not to laugh, though.

Just like saying that they are sensitive to guest budgets and don't raise the ticket price that much at a time while degrading that base experience more and more, as you allude.

They talk a good game but it's just marketing and it falls apart as soon as someone who fell for the marketing enters the parks unprepared to fork out for the up-sells they didn't think they needed because they believed Disney when they said that they were working to keep the parks "accessible" to the middle class.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Dockside’s walls are paper thin. I couldn’t sleep and it basically ruined my trip.

Huh. I've had this problem at WDW's Poly, and those rooms now usually go for $1000+/night.

And don't get me started on the music they play at Chef Mickey's. Or did. It was REALLY bad. Starting around 6:30am every morning the song was the word Celebrate! repeated over and over, loud enough to wake us up every morning! (until 9pm!) It was a widely reported problem. I haven't stayed in a room in that part of CR in quite a while. I'm not willing to risk having to deal with that annoyance at CR's (tower) prices which also now run in the $1000+/night range.

 

[MrPromey]

Aren't AP holders allowed to buy single day tickets? As far as I understand, there is a transaction limit of 6 tickets per order, but passholders can place multiple orders if they want to visit multiple days and the dates are available. I think the price for AP holders runs about $140-170ish per day, for any 2025 date past June 7.

Passholder, here

This is true but passholders already have access to the other two parks so it makes sense we wouldn't be forced to buy combo tickets for access we've already paid for.

Given they announced this when tickets first went on sale, essentially saying "passholders, hold on for more details on buying tickets" and then released tickets a couple weeks later, it seems this was a planned rollout from the start rather than a reaction to soft sales - giving a small head-start to people rushing to buy the 3-day before opening it up to passholders (who Universal still actively markets to in a way Disney doesn't, anymore) and then, much further down the line, opening single day purchases to the general public for what's left.

It makes sense because if they were going to sell out early days, let that be for the people willing to buy the 3-pack. Passholders aren't as likely to go crazy buying a week for Epic because many are local, not going on an actual vacation to visit and the rest are price-sensitive which is why they opted for an AP to begin with. Waiting to open up the anything-goes single tickets at the end to fill in the capacity that remains seems like a smart strategy.

That's not to say ticket sales aren't soft - just that their current strategy seems to be planned and not any reaction to ticket sales, good or bad.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Outside of these forums I have never run across anyone who goes to WDW multiple times a year outside of locals.

I live a couple of states away and I frequently meet people who regularly visit WDW and DL.
My vintage Disneyland hat always gets noticed. Haha

 

[Dranth]

I live a couple of states away and I frequently meet people who regularly visit WDW and DL.
My vintage Disneyland hat always gets noticed. Haha

Oh, I meet people that go, just not any that go multiple times a year.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Oh, I meet people that go, just not any that go multiple times a year.

I also see lots of passholder magnets - which make me jealous since I no longer am one. Haha.

 

[JoeCamel]

Huh. I've had this problem at WDW's Poly, and those rooms now usually go for $1000+/night.

And don't get me started on the music they play at Chef Mickey's. Or did. It was REALLY bad. Starting around 6:30am every morning the song was the word Celebrate! repeated over and over, loud enough to wake us up every morning! (until 9pm!) It was a widely reported problem. I haven't stayed in a room in that part of CR in quite a while. I'm not willing to risk having to deal with that annoyance at CR's (tower) prices which also now run in the $1000+/night range.

Try staying in the Volcano Towers at Cabana Bay, the wave drums start at 7AM and go all day, bring your headphones if you are sensitive but I still do it for the view.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

But it's an additional cost above and beyond the room - so comparing one AP rate to a non-AP rate is not really objective..
plus.. AP rates aren't indicative of 'norms' - they are limited discounts. So again, when discussing norms of pricing.. it's incredibly distorting and basically disingenuous.

It's cherry picking at best.. unless the discussion from the get go is AP hotel rates.. which this wasn't.

Don't most people who choose to stay onsite at a theme park hotel usually buy a package stay of some kind? (Buying both a hotel stay and theme park tickets.)

Why wouldn't visitors spend 30 seconds looking through the various discount options posted on Universal's webpage?

That seems sorta silly to say in 2025, especially given how rampant DAS cheating allegedly was. A large % of WDW visitors are savvy and immoral enough to cheat their way to a DAS, but they aren't savvy enough to navigate Universal's website?


Maybe, but that seems a bit unrealistic to me.

 

[Laketravis]

But it's an additional cost above and beyond the room

So are park tickets.

AP rates aren't indicative of 'norms' - they are limited discounts. So again, when discussing norms of pricing.. it's incredibly distorting and basically disingenuous.

And all discounts are "limited".

Granted the difference between 5 day park tickets and an annual pass at WDW is substantial, the difference was only $360 for two of us at USO - which was recouped on the first visit with the AP room discount and then available to substantially reduce costs over the next year. In either case you can't ignore the future savings provided over the year if you plan to return. And I'm beginning to think the "typical" guest does.

So again, when discussing norms of pricing.. it's incredibly distorting and basically disingenuous.

I don't think it's distorting or disingenuous that I booked the same room shown for less than $85 a night - that's reality, and I wasn't the only one able to do that, it wasn't a programming error, and it wasn't based on purchasing additional items or services. And that is perhaps why WDW is worried about the high cost of WDW.

 

[Laketravis]

Try staying in the Volcano Towers at Cabana Bay, the wave drums start at 7AM and go all day, bring your headphones if you are sensitive but I still do it for the view.

View attachment 844973

What a beautifully themed pool

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

It's like them not raising the price of a tiny number of days when they raise everything else and saying "we haven't changed minimum pricing".

Also, WDW's hotel discounts are now, "up to 30% off"

(Where the actual rate is considerably higher than the advertised discount.)

 

[MrPromey]

I miss those shows.

That and the Murder She Wrote one at Universal always cracked me up.

Tom Selleck with pizza!

 

[MrPromey]

Same. First visit 1972 when it was just the Poly, Contemporary, and MK. Not even Space Mountain yet. But it was so cool.

To put the "billions invested over the next 10 years" in perspective, it cost $6B to build Epic Universe. I think nut for nut Disney's build costs are higher so it will be interesting to see how much those billions bring to WDW.

Or how little.

... and how much of it will be replacement vs. true addition and how much of the addition will be capacity helpers vs. crowd drivers?

It boggles my mind that AK is getting replacements instead of additions at this point but looking at what they're doing, I think they are more focused on driving attendance at MK than anywhere else. Despite there being only so much capacity for transportation to the front gates of the MK, only so much space down the middle of Main Street for entering/exiting and so much space in front of the castle to watch fireworks shows designed to only be viewed in front of the castle, they really want to pull people into this park.

They must because they're focused on additions that'll only make it more crowded.

Why?

My guess is someone has determined it's more profitable to stuff that one park to the brim with guests and staff it for that, selling separate abbreviated daytime and nighttime (premium) tickets for the same days than it is to build out the other three more and pay the costs associated with maintaining/staffing that extra build-out, including making later park hours the norm at AK as an "all day" park.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Passholder, here

This is true but passholders already have access to the other two parks so it makes sense we wouldn't be forced to buy combo tickets for access we've already paid for.

Given they announced this when tickets first went on sale, essentially saying "passholders, hold on for more details on buying tickets" and then released tickets a couple weeks later, it seems this was a planned rollout from the start rather than a reaction to soft sales - giving a small head-start to people rushing to buy the 3-day before opening it up to passholders (who Universal still actively markets to in a way Disney doesn't, anymore) and then, much further down the line, opening single day purchases to the general public for what's left.

It makes sense because if they were going to sell out early days, let that be for the people willing to buy the 3-pack. Passholders aren't as likely to go crazy buying a week for Epic because many are local, not going on an actual vacation to visit and the rest are price-sensitive which is why they opted for an AP to begin with. Waiting to open up the anything-goes single tickets at the end to fill in the capacity that remains seems like a smart strategy.

That's not to say ticket sales aren't soft - just that their current strategy seems to be planned and not any reaction to ticket sales, good or bad.

My earlier post was a reaction to another post. The claim was that it would cost $450 times 10 to get 10 days of admission to Epic.

I was explaining that Universal very clearly advertises AP+tix = better option for those who want multiple days in Epic.

Where WDW has tried to discourage parkgoers from buying AP's, Universal has actively been encouraging parkgoers to buy AP's with various incentives.

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

Even with Epic, Universal isn’t a week long vacation. Also, none of those ticket packages are a week long.

Let’s call it what it is: a way to massively upcharge for Epic tickets.

I'll add that I do not think Disney considers Universal the competitor that most people want to think that they are. Its a fun place to go for a couple of days but that it. Even tacking on a Seaworld day does not compare to a Disney Vacation. Epic will get them closer but they still have a ways to go. I, and others I know could do 3 or 4 days in the bubble and never even enter a park.**

I've had a short stay where I never even left Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge.

**All in my opinion of course.