Disney Too Expensive?

[Mad Dog]

I'm actually becoming a bigger fan of Chapek the more he settles in.

APs are security to theme parks to ensure that a group will always show up. Disney doesn't need that as they...well..are Disney and have a ridiculously large fanbase that will "always show"

An annual pass system can actually become detrimental in Disney's case and I think Bob-O is smart to adjust it

I don't have numbers but I bet ya passholders are more likely to not pay for Genie+, bring a packed lunch, buy less in stores, and all the while clog up the midways and queues

Universal certainly has its busy days, their solution is high capacity attractions...those work to a certain point

Epic will be a blessing for UO in many ways

It's actually kind of interesting because an undercrowded park feels abandoned and an overcrowded park feels uncomfortable...Universal and Disney have to figure out the center point where they can still continue to profit..so...you know...they don't close and stuff

Yes, you're so right on so many counts. Disney doesn't really need AP much in Orlando, but they're essential in Anaheim, so they need to figure that Anaheim equation out. And yes, bet most of those people wearing backpacks filled with beverages and food are probably those local AP's that come to the parks too often for Chapek's liking. A tourist family of four staying at an onsite Disney hotel and eating/drinking there for 7 days is probably easily dropping $10,000 to $12,000, more if staying Deluxe. Conversely an AP, who takes up the same space, is spending significantly less, even if he comes 30 times a year. ....But the AP's do come in handy when times are bad, so it's a juggling act for sure. .... So, lots of Disney AP's fled and discovered Universal. But now Universal needs to deal with too full parks that aren't built for crowds of more than 11 million each, which they'll probably exceed in 2022. . Yeah, Epic might be the saviour.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

lol so if you have more demand than you forecasted you don't react to it?

Well of course you do but Comcast pays super smart people a lot of money to get ahead of it They’re not often surprised by market trends and demand.

But on this topic specifically, if you don't think there are people who have been priced out of Disney that have turned to Universal, you are in denial bro.

I genuinely don’t. Universal is just as expensive as Disney is.

The only thing I’ll concede to is that it’s possible people view the two parks at UO as more doable in a shorter time than the four parks at Disney (regardless of actual attraction count, just going off public perception) which is bringing them to UO, but based on what I’ve seen as I go back more for HHN, UO is greater than/equal to Disney in ticket prices and in-park incremental revenue streams.

 

[Disneyhead]

I'm actually becoming a bigger fan of Chapek the more he settles in.

APs are security to theme parks to ensure that a group will always show up. Disney doesn't need that as they...well..are Disney and have a ridiculously large fanbase that will "always show"

An annual pass system can actually become detrimental in Disney's case and I think Bob-O is smart to adjust it

I don't have numbers but I bet ya passholders are more likely to not pay for Genie+, bring a packed lunch, buy less in stores, and all the while clog up the midways and queues

Universal certainly has its busy days, their solution is high capacity attractions...those work to a certain point

Epic will be a blessing for UO in many ways

It's actually kind of interesting because an undercrowded park feels abandoned and an overcrowded park feels uncomfortable...Universal and Disney have to figure out the center point where they can still continue to profit..so...you know...they don't close and stuff

Bob recognized the problem and acted. And he will achieve his goal of reducing APs. I am not sure his solution is the correct one though. I mean, EVERYONE saw the problem including AP holders. But Bob's approach of pricing people out while simultaneously dissing superfans doesn't seem the best coarse of action. Instead, they should have restructured the AP program with stupid expensive all access APs with mucho perks AND really affordable limited access APs (lots of blackout dates including weekends, holidays, spring break and all of summer). And an even cheaper weekday after 4pm pass. But even the cheaper lotso blackout dates passes would have great perks like good discounts on merchendise and food including quick service. And then be honest with the guests. Say that parks are seeing overwhelming demand and that they truly value you as guests but we need to find a way to provide a better quality experience to everyone including APs. So while they reduce the amount of time APs can access the parks, you will get a better park going experience and much better perks when you are there.

 

[Mad Dog]

Bob recognized the problem and acted. And he will achieve his goal of reducing APs. I am not sure his solution is the correct one though. I mean, EVERYONE saw the problem including AP holders. But Bob's approach of pricing people out while simultaneously dissing superfans doesn't seem the best coarse of action. Instead, they should have restructured the AP program with stupid expensive all access APs with mucho perks AND really affordable limited access APs (lots of blackout dates including weekends, holidays, spring break and all of summer). And an even cheaper weekday after 4pm pass. But even the cheaper lotso blackout dates passes have great perks like good discounts on merchendise and food including quick service. And then be honest with the guests. Say that parks are seeing overwhelming demand and that they truly value you as guests but we need to find a way to provide a better quality experience to everyone including APs. So while the reduce the amount of time APs can spend in the parks, you will get a better park going experience and betters perks when you are there.

What hurts is that Disney hasn't really increased the four parks capacity by much, certainly nowhere near the attendance increase in the past two decades. Most replacements came at the expense of previous attractions. With no plans to increase capacity in the near future, Disney has boxed themselves in a corner with no good way out. At the present moment, the reservation system is the only tool they have. So the low hanging fruit that doesn't spend a lot gets targeted. Money is king.

 

[GA-MBIT]

What hurts is that Disney hasn't really increased the four parks capacity by much, certainly nowhere near the attendance increase in the past two decades. Most replacements came at the expense of previous attractions. With no plans to increase capacity in the near future, Disney has boxed themselves in a corner with no good way out. At the present moment, the reservation system is the only tool they have.

These parks are huge and sprawling and have so much room to grow, yet I really doubt I'll ever see much of that potential ever be realized within a reasonable span of my life. You can add a ton of capacity to these parks with crazy new additions that change the theme park game, or you can price people out and enjoy the same, if not better results crowd-wise. It's...unfortunate really. It's why after experiencing Rise/Guardians for the first time this past week and loving them, my thought quickly passed over the possibility of getting a Disney AP in lieu of eagerly anticipating Epic Universe even more than I already was. There's just nothing to look forward to on the Disney side of things. Hatbox Ghost, Splash Mountain retheme that'll be open after the brand new park, Moana-themed water features and trees in about a full year's time, a clone coaster from 2016 in about half a year's time. I just wanna be thrilled by Disney again. This week has proved to me that it's still possible, but I just don't know when I will get that feeling from them again, or even if that feeling will be within this decade.

 

[Mad Dog]

These parks are huge and sprawling and have so much room to grow, yet I really doubt I'll ever see much of that potential ever be realized within a reasonable span of my life. You can add a ton of capacity to these parks with crazy new additions that change the theme park game, or you can price people out and enjoy the same, if not better results crowd-wise. It's...unfortunate really. It's why after experiencing Rise/Guardians for the first time this past week and loving them, my thought quickly passed over the possibility of getting a Disney AP in lieu of eagerly anticipating Epic Universe even more than I already was. There's just nothing to look forward to on the Disney side of things. Hatbox Ghost, Splash Mountain retheme that'll be open after the brand new park, Moana-themed water features and trees in about a full year's time, a clone coaster from 2016. I just wanna be thrilled by Disney again. This week has proved to me it's possible, but I don't know when I will get that feeling from them again, or even if that feeling will be within this decade.

Yeah, not much truly new coming for a long long time after Tron , and Disney builds slowly to boot.

 

[GA-MBIT]

Because of those long build times I was hoping for a decent showing at D23 to illuminate what the decade could end up bringing, budget cuts and cancellations notwithstanding. But uh, I guess we see where that went. It's just crazy, they really don't look like they're going to open any new rides for the next 4 years after Tron, which isn't even fully new itself. Just kind of sad honestly.

 

[UNIrd]

Interesting that this thread comes up now when Universal just made the news for a viral TikTok about how expensive Universal was for a family from the UK's recent visit.

Family of four’s $1,113 trip to Universal Studios shocks internet

Miranda Pearce, a British marketing expert, flew with her husband and their two young sons to the Orlando theme park.

nypost.com

 

[Mad Dog]

Interesting that this thread comes up now when Universal just made the news for a viral TikTok about how expensive Universal was for a family from the UK's recent visit.

Family of four’s $1,113 trip to Universal Studios shocks internet

Miranda Pearce, a British marketing expert, flew with her husband and their two young sons to the Orlando theme park.

nypost.com

Those Express passes surely inflated the day's cost. Universal has gotten more expensive, primarily due to higher hotel costs that may not carry over a year from now, but this looks more like a poorly planned vacation than anything else.
Not much of a 'marketing expert' with that plan . I guess money is not an issue for this family.

 

[belloq87]

Is the expectation that a single day at a WDW park, broken down like that, would be... cheaper? I doubt it. And nobody made them buy Express, and I'm almost 100% sure they could have had a great time without it.

I always laugh at comments like "You could have rented a villa in Turkey!" or "You could have spent a week in Portugal!" Yes, they could have. But they wanted to go to theme parks. Do Turkey and Portugal have The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man?

"Universal really fleeces guests." I've taken over a dozen vacations in Orlando that involved Universal, and I've always felt I was getting a good value from them.

 

[Mad Dog]

Is the expectation that a single day at a WDW park, broken down like that, would be... cheaper? I doubt it. And nobody made them buy Express, and I'm almost 100% sure they could have had a great time without it.

I always laugh at comments like "You could have rented a villa in Turkey!" or "You could have spent a week in Portugal!" Yes, they could have. But they wanted to go to theme parks. Do Turkey and Portugal have The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man?

"Universal really fleeces guests." I've taken over a dozen vacations in Orlando that involved Universal, and I've always felt I was getting a good value from them.

:thumbsup:

 

[Kevin38]

Interesting that this thread comes up now when Universal just made the news for a viral TikTok about how expensive Universal was for a family from the UK's recent visit.

Family of four’s $1,113 trip to Universal Studios shocks internet

Miranda Pearce, a British marketing expert, flew with her husband and their two young sons to the Orlando theme park.

nypost.com

I normally go for FIVE days onsite for about what they paid for 1 day ie: Cabana Bay 750 W/AP discount and 500 food and drinks .We bring frozen breakfast sandwich's or cereal.Lunch meat and wraps .Eat Dinner in Citywalk or I Drive, refill cups for drinks, Our AP's renew (2) different months So I can afford to renew them I did get Cabana for 100.00 a night and they waved parking fee. just out of shutdown from Corna .Hope price drops next year to that again as people put off trip until Epic opens.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

Those Express passes surely inflated the day's cost. Universal has gotten more expensive, primarily due to higher hotel costs that may not carry over a year from now, but this looks more like a poorly planned vacation than anything else.
Not much of a 'marketing expert' with that plan . I guess money is not an issue for this family.

I actually thought those souvenir/meal estimates came in pretty conservative lol. I feel like a burger these days is $18+, multiply that by four and you’re already over what he quoted for lunch.

And sure you don’t need Express but the original post’s point was that Disney prices were driving people to UO…I dont know, coming from $15 (plus maybe another $17*4) for Lightning Lanes is a far cry from $100+ for each Express Pass.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Universal and Disney are pretty much equal in pricing nowadays with Universal having the pricing advantage in table service restaurants and hotels.

The big difference is the value you receive. Universal has the best value resorts with great amenities and rooms. Universal has the best premium resorts with premium amenities and offerings. Disney has value resorts with motel rooms and decent amenities. Disney has premium resorts with premium pricing and standard amenities.

The park experience at both is about the same honestly, except for the planning part at Disney.

 

[DeadSexeh]

The thing to remember about these stories is a 1 day visit is supposed to be very expensive and not a good deal. If they went with two or more days you would see the cost per day fall quickly.

 

[HandsomePete]

The problem is Disney doesn't actually follow an actual dynamic pricing structure. They NEVER backtrack on room rack rates. The Marriott Key Largo reacts to post pandemic revenge travel by raising the $225/night room to $650/night knowing that after they burn through the pent up demand they will go back to around where it was pre-pandemic. Universal, too, will drop their rack rates. It will be interesting to see what Disney does.

Disney doesn’t dynamically price but they achieve it by dynamically discounting. Two similar but definitely different concepts, mostly driven by the fact that they’re probably using the same systems as day 1 of the Polynesian in 1971. Disney’s rack rates have always been off in the stratosphere - maybe the rubes have paid that but not many else.

Personally, and I know this is going to sound weird, but I think Disney is the best value in town right now. Granted, I got in on the pirate pass and I could dial back from the Premier at Universal (actually will be cancelling that), and SeaWorld couldn’t pay me to go at this point.

 

[OrlLover]

Disney doesn’t need to necessarily respond to Epic in my opinion. Despite what the reports say they are still king in the theme park game. In the Orlando market Universal definitely gives them a run for their money but I don’t think they are equally matched yet until the new park opens.

 

[Mad Dog]

Disney doesn’t need to necessarily respond to Epic in my opinion. Despite what the reports say they are still king in theme park game. In the Orlando market Universal definitely gives them a run for their money but I don’t think they are equally matched yet until the new park opens.

It might depend on what the Disney Board thinks when they inevitably check out Epic when it opens. Supposedly, when they toured the newly opened terrific Diagon Alley they gave marching orders to Disney management
to significantly upgrade their original lackluster Star Wars Land plans.

 

[OrlLover]

It might depend on what the Disney Board thinks when they inevitably check out Epic when it opens. Supposedly, when they toured the newly opened terrific Diagon Alley they gave marching orders to Disney management
to significantly upgrade their original lackluster Star Wars Land plans.

Oh they definitely will be watching how this this new expansion turns out for Universal. According to someone on the WDWMagic forums Disney has approved over $6 billion in Capex. So I guess over the next 5-10 years we will see if they are serious about these “blue sky” concepts.

 

[DeadSexeh]

According to someone on the WDWMagic forums Disney has approved over $6 billion in Capex.

So Princess and the Frog plus one more ride. Impressive