Disney News, Discussion & an Element of Fun - 2023 Edition

[Smugpugmug]

A sincere question. At what price point do us die-hard DIS fanatics cut the cord on Disney +. The price increased, IIRC, abut thirty percent earlier this year. Will another 30 or 40 percent hike be too much?

I never had Disney+ in the first place. I never saw value in it for me personally and the price increase solidfies that decision.

 

[kylenne]

A sincere question. At what price point do us die-hard DIS fanatics cut the cord on Disney +. The price increased, IIRC, abut thirty percent earlier this year. Will another 30 or 40 percent hike be too much?

I don’t pay for it, I get it for free through Verizon. But I would still pay for it if I had to tbh because I watch it more than any other streaming service.

 

[Suger Mag]

A sincere question. At what price point do us die-hard DIS fanatics cut the cord on Disney +. The price increased, IIRC, abut thirty percent earlier this year. Will another 30 or 40 percent hike be too much?

We would pay that. I hate theaters, much prefer to stream at home and we get our money's worth for sure. 4 adults in our household use it daily. In addition to watching (and loving) all the Star Wars new shows.... I am currently catching up on the Clone Wars.... and then plan to watch Rebels before the new Ahsoka starts.
Edited to add... still very sad that Willow was canceled, Also started the Electric Mayhem.

 

[jpeterson]

Doesn’t seem to have hit the Poly yet...our reservation still says Pool or Marina View.

It may only affect 2024 packages.

 

[kylenne]

It's why I really feel for this first time ever guests that don't have a PHD in Disney planning like people here do. I don't know if I would even go back if I was there for the first time and had to juggle all of these systems PLUS the crowds.

In terms of this summer, I think Memorial day weekend will be the indicator of what the rest of the season will be like. Last week and this week are weird times for crowds so I don't think they're a true reflection of what it's actually like.

I’m not too sure about that…I go around this time of year most often because of my birthday falling near/on Memorial Day and the holiday weekend sees a spike that nearly always tapers off right after the actual holiday. 2021 it was absolutely dead in the parks that week. Keep in mind a lot of schools are still not out yet in the first week of June. NYC doesn’t get out until the 3rd week. And if availability is any indication stuff is wide open. There is still discount availability under several offers and this has probably been the easiest trip for ADRs I’ve ever had, even with a split stay. We were able to get our pick of times for ‘Ohana dinner at 60+3 even. Similar results in our June thread.

I would say week 3 of June would be a better gauge.

 

[kylenne]

It may only affect 2024 packages.

The changes are active now for 2023 dates if you check the website.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I’m not too sure about that…I go around this time of year most often because of my birthday falling near/on Memorial Day and the holiday weekend sees a spike that nearly always tapers off right after the actual holiday. 2021 it was absolutely dead in the parks that week. Keep in mind a lot of schools are still not out yet in the first week of June. NYC doesn’t get out until the 3rd week. And if availability is any indication stuff is wide open. There is still discount availability under several offers and this has probably been the easiest trip for ADRs I’ve ever had, even with a split stay. We were able to get our pick of times for ‘Ohana dinner at 60+3 even. Similar results in our June thread.

I would say week 3 of June would be a better gauge.

I'm going for the weekend second week of June, so let's hope you're right! I was just thinking that Memorial day weekend would be a better reflection than now or last week which aren't really great times to gauge how crowds normally are. Kids are still in school or doing standardized testing so parents may be less willing to take them out. I was at Universal over the weekend and heard A LOT of British accents so they may be out of school right now.

 

[Brocktoon]

Don't think I saw this posted yet ...

DISNEY GALLERY: MANDALORIAN SEASON 3 COMING JUNE 28th ON D+

https://twitter.com/x/status/1658140192304427008

 

[Brocktoon]

For me it would be. Anything higher then $20 and I'm out. It's the same for all of them. At $20 each when you have 4-5 different ones you basically are back to paying cable prices. I personally would never pay for an ad tier as I don't see the value in it when I can get streaming services with ads for free.

If they bundle D+ and Hulu add-free ... $20 would be my limit.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Haunted Mansion - Official Trailer - In Theaters July 28

 

[Brian Noble]

I'm not entirely sure the economic headwinds are as dire as some folks here seem to think. For example, the U-M Consumer Sentiment and Expectation surveys (link: http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/) seem to suggest that sentiment and expectation for the first five months of 2023 are just about where it was in the first five months of 2022, year-over-year.

In other words, this year vs. last year may be more of a return to "normal travel patterns" compared to the post-pandemic travel surge, as opposed to "the bottom is falling out."

But, sentiment and expectation this year and last year are drastically below, say 2019. It's hard to make comparisons to 2020 and 2021 because, well, you know.

 

[artesian]

A sincere question. At what price point do us die-hard DIS fanatics cut the cord on Disney +. The price increased, IIRC, abut thirty percent earlier this year. Will another 30 or 40 percent hike be too much?

Honestly had it not been for the verizon offer where it's included I was getting ready to cut it off. I like the content but there is a lack of frequency makes it a bit stale imho. I was about to cut Netflix too recently but again VZW gave me an offer I couldn't refuse to keep it. Streaming fatigue is a real thing for me now. I'm tired of paying for these services

 

[kylenne]

I'm not entirely sure the economic headwinds are as dire as some folks here seem to think. For example, the U-M Consumer Sentiment and Expectation surveys (link: http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/) seem to suggest that sentiment and expectation for the first five months of 2023 are just about where it was in the first five months of 2022, year-over-year.

In other words, this year vs. last year may be more of a return to "normal travel patterns" compared to the post-pandemic travel surge, as opposed to "the bottom is falling out."

But, sentiment and expectation this year and last year are drastically below, say 2019. It's hard to make comparisons to 2020 and 2021 because, well, you know.

I’m not basing my statements on anything besides my own observations going the same time of year going back to 2019 and the general patterns I’ve seen. Things are absolutely not just going back 2019 levels. In 2019 none of the services I regularly use were sending emails about cutting their prices and adding cheaper items and running sales because they understand people are going through hardships. I’ve gotten 2 just from Butcherbox in the last month. JetBlue has been advertising flash sales with app push notifications literally every month whereas in 2019 you had to be on Twitter for the most part to catch them and they weren’t nearly this frequent or steep. It’s not about things being “dire”, people are cutting back whether surveys are reflecting it or not. These companies wouldn’t be scrambling like this if they weren’t.

 

[Brian Noble]

I don't doubt the broader trends (which is why I included the 2019 comparison) but rather than 2023 doesn't look that different from 2022. The difference between those is something else, not consumer opinion.

In macro terms, the last time sentiment looked like this was...2008.
http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/files/chicsh.pdf

(So maybe it is dire.)

 

[HokieRaven5]

Disney World to Host the 2023 FIFG FootGolf World Cup

Fans of the burgeoning sport of FootGolf, a hybrid between soccer and golf, can look forward to international competition at its very best when the 4th FIFG FootGolf World Cup is hosted in Orlando from May 27th– June 6th.


Around 1,000 players from 40 countries will compete in three categories (men, senior men, and women) in two different formats (individual stroke play and team match play). The individual and team competitions will take place on 18-hole FootGolf courses at Disney’s Palm Golf Course and the new Evermore Orlando Resort.

 

[flipflopmom]

I would say week 3 of June would be a better gauge.

I'm sure that's a typo and you meant to say Week 4 of June, right? You obviously didn't mean to imply that MY WEEK will be the busy one. Tink's gonna fix it for you. HAHAHA

 

[SkyGuy]

We would pay that. I hate theaters, much prefer to stream at home and we get our money's worth for sure. 4 adults in our household use it daily. In addition to watching (and loving) all the Star Wars new shows.... I am currently catching up on the Clone Wars.... and then plan to watch Rebels before the new Ahsoka starts.
Edited to add... still very sad that Willow was canceled, Also started the Electric Mayhem.

I’m currently on my fifth Clone Wars rewatch, so…um…yeah, we won’t be cancelling Disney+ in this household. (We also have the complete DVD set but can’t watch that on the treadmill on the iPad in the morning.)

 

[Smugpugmug]

I’m not basing my statements on anything besides my own observations going the same time of year going back to 2019 and the general patterns I’ve seen. Things are absolutely not just going back 2019 levels. In 2019 none of the services I regularly use were sending emails about cutting their prices and adding cheaper items and running sales because they understand people are going through hardships. I’ve gotten 2 just from Butcherbox in the last month. JetBlue has been advertising flash sales with app push notifications literally every month whereas in 2019 you had to be on Twitter for the most part to catch them and they weren’t nearly this frequent or steep. It’s not about things being “dire”, people are cutting back whether surveys are reflecting it or not. These companies wouldn’t be scrambling like this if they weren’t.

A hotel that I stayed at in Rehoboth Beach, DE a few years ago constantly sends me emails practically begging me to book a stay. I get similar offers from United and Amtrak. I agree that if companies like Disney and Universal were doing well with attendance they wouldn't be offering the deals that they are. I even saw that Typhoon Lagoon is offering a 2 day water park ticket for $69 for Florida residents.

On the flip side I'm seeing a lot of articles and people talking about how demand for European travel is off the charts right now.

 

[SkyGuy]

I'm going for the weekend second week of June, so let's hope you're right! I was just thinking that Memorial day weekend would be a better reflection than now or last week which aren't really great times to gauge how crowds normally are. Kids are still in school or doing standardized testing so parents may be less willing to take them out. I was at Universal over the weekend and heard A LOT of British accents so they may be out of school right now.

We were at Universal the first week of May and commented that British, Scottish, and Irish accents were the majority of what we heard. We had preferred seating at VB and all the seats around us were UK accents; it was kind of lovely. We wondered if it was holiday over there.

 

[BrianL]

We would pay that. I hate theaters, much prefer to stream at home and we get our money's worth for sure. 4 adults in our household use it daily. In addition to watching (and loving) all the Star Wars new shows.... I am currently catching up on the Clone Wars.... and then plan to watch Rebels before the new Ahsoka starts.
Edited to add... still very sad that Willow was canceled, Also started the Electric Mayhem.

There is actually hope for Willow. The producer stated that it is on hiatus but not oficially cancelled. Now, personally I have doubts that it will come back, expecially if the writer's strike is protracted, but it is possible. It's borderline anyway. It might be possible that they regroup and do just a movie or something.

I did watch the first episode of Electric Mayhem and it was great!