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

[Disstevefan1]

And I also think many people still find value in it and enjoy it - even if the value is lower than in the past

We vacations lots of places but always seem to return to WDW as it still works the best for our family and has something for everyone

Now, in the past perhaps we felt we were paying $100 and got $200 worth of "value" and now maybe paying $140 and getting $175 in value - definitely a loss of value but still good return for us

If it gets to the point we feel we are paying $209 and into getting $150 in value we will stop going - and j am sure some people are already there.

But just because something isn't as good as the past doesn't mean I automatically is terrible to everyone

There is real, actual value that can we reflected in a spreadsheet and is objective.

There is also "the feeling of value" that is very subjective. Disney needs to hold on to these folks.

 

[Chi84]

There is real, actual value that can we reflected in a spreadsheet and is objective.

There is also "the feeling of value" that is very subjective. Disney needs to hold on to these folks.

What something is worth is objective. Value is subjective. When someone says something is "worth it to me" they are referring to their subjective determination of value.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

There is real, actual value that can we reflected in a spreadsheet and is objective.

There is also "the feeling of value" that is very subjective. Disney needs to hold on to these folks.

For sure and kinda what I was getting at ... At least for us we still have the "feeling of value" even if oin some areas not as strong a feeling.

If we lose that value feeling (whoooaa) then we will pause/stop going but definitely not there yet

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

For sure and kinda what I was getting at ... At least for us we still have the "feeling of value" even if oin some areas not as strong a feeling.

If we lose that value feeling (whoooaa) then we will pause/stop going but definitely not there yet

I think it’s a sliding scale also, back when we paid $700 for our no limitations AP the price to value ratio was “an amazing deal”, when our AP hit $1200 (with limits) it became a “break even” scenario, now that that same AP is $1400 it’s “not worth it” anymore (to us), we still see value in the once or twice a year out of pocket trip though. There may come a time when we don’t even find value in a yearly trip though, that’s when we’ll likely call it quits on Disney.

This is the danger of a company always trying to maximize returns and always trying to find the absolute max price people will pay for a product, push it a bit too far and the whole model collapses.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I think it’s a sliding scale also, back when we paid $700 for our no limitations AP the price to value ratio was “an amazing deal”, when our AP hit $1200 (with limits) it became a “break even” scenario, now that that same AP is $1400 it’s “not worth it” anymore (to us)

Totally agree!

Its important to note. Disney (mostly Iger) HATES APs

 

[Jrb1979]

And I also think many people still find value in it and enjoy it - even if the value is lower than in the past

We vacations lots of places but always seem to return to WDW as it still works the best for our family and has something for everyone

Now, in the past perhaps we felt we were paying $100 and got $200 worth of "value" and now maybe paying $140 and getting $175 in value - definitely a loss of value but still good return for us

If it gets to the point we feel we are paying $209 and into getting $150 in value we will stop going - and j am sure some people are already there.

But just because something isn't as good as the past doesn't mean I automatically is terrible to everyone

I agree with you. For many families, especially multi generational ones, Disney has good value as they have something for everyone. If you are families that have gone a lot recently you can look past price increases as it's been more gradual for you.

For my family the value isn't there anymore as we haven't been since COVID. A lot of that at first was due to travel not being allowed and having a new child. Since then with increase in ticket prices, the Canadian exchange rate, it's hard to look past that.

I know Cedar Fair parks are not the same but our season passes for all parks with dining hasn't gone up much since 2020. That pass gets us into 27 parks and gives us 8 months of fun. It's hard for us to justify paying 10x the amount of our passes to a one week at Disney.

 

[UNCgolf]

Capacity that goes unused, is not capacity at all.

I think the budgets are a problem for their attraction development as a whole, but it's hard to make a case for people to get excited for smaller tier spinner/theater attractions. People know that they are lesser experiences and are just filler and when the "cost" to visit them is the same as visiting a major attraction (in time) it really hurts the comparison between them.

It makes more sense, if you're chasing value, to wait 40 minutes for a big attraction, than to spend 20 minutes waiting for a 20 minute theater show.

Value is subjective, though. If someone enjoys the theater show more than the big attraction (and that's not a wild hypothetical, these people exist and attend Disney parks), the latter is a better value for them. What you're suggesting only works if every single person that visits a theme park wants to A. experience every single attraction (which is obviously not true) and B. values every attraction exactly the same as every single other person; i.e., every single person visiting EPCOT thinks Cosmic Rewind is the #1 attraction, Soarin' the #2 attraction, etc., and that's clearly not the case either.

Also, saying unused capacity isn't capacity at all doesn't really make sense. If that's the standard, then essentially everything in the parks should be shut down for not sufficiently utilizing capacity, because even normally popular attractions can end up as a walk-on on days that aren't busy (this can even happen on busy days, especially close to closing).

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Internet ruins a lot of those things

1 - They are less suprises when everyone reads about them everywhere and its viral everywhere
2 - When they are less suprises, they become 'expectations' and bad customers abuse staff and the perk itself
3 - Common knowledge means abuse impacts scale - it expands from annoyance to 'disruptive'

TLDR - everything painful about a perk becomes worse when the Internet talks about it. And it usually leads to reduction in service as a result.

That seems like a bit of a broad assumption, since they were readily around 5-10 years ago.

You are blaming the customers here, when we all know that isn't the case.

But as I said, hard to discuss on an internet forum. I only mentioned them because those little perks were a big part of WDW's customer service, and what made the place seem magical.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

See for instance people wanting refunds at town hall over some show or weather issue, etc.

People have long said weather = they did not get the thing they bought at WDW, that is not new. I've been reading about that here since I joined the forum.

Still, the more WDW charges for a specific service, the more customers are going to expect them to actually provide the product WDW sold to them.

Customers are not wrong to dislike getting scammed (paying for something they did not get).