Even Disney Is Worried About the High Cost of a Disney Vacation

[BrianL]

You’re seeing things that never existed. People are people - they’re going to have their good days and their bad days. Some will give more attention to certain guests (maybe kids, or somebody with a pin or accessory that caught their attention ton, or maybe young males flirting with young females, etc.) that make us feel left out. But ultimately, if you’re not up to Disney’s standards, you’re not going to maintain employment.

My brother and I grew up in the 90s and a running joke between us was the power trips Disney operators sometimes displayed - for example, on an attraction like Space Mountain where it’s hard to hear, we might have thought they asked us how many and I’d blurt out two and the ride operator would scream “I didn’t ask you!” Books like Mouse Tales series had interviews with CM where they bragged they’d give priority to pretty girls and make guest of size/etc. wait extra longer.

A few weeks ago, a Reddit user claimed they just got back from DLR and the employees did not meet Disney standards - they all seemed to hate their job whereas they never felt that about a WDW CM, who are always perfect. Meanwhile, the same week, somebody started a thread on these forums claiming the exact opposite.

Sometimes when we’re more invested in the fantasy and magic… we see things for how they’re not. At the end of the day, people are people.

This is true, and anecdotal evidence aside, Disney still generally offers a high level of customer service. Of course, when we have several exceptional experiences, the problematic encounters become heightened. I've run into a CM or two who didn't have a great attitude, but I'd say it's not common - at WDW nor DLR. I see more guests being rude than I do CM's. I could hardly blame them for snapping ocassionally.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

This is true, and anecdotal evidence aside, Disney still generally offers a high level of customer service. Of course, when we have several exceptional experiences, the problematic encounters become heightened. I've run into a CM or two who didn't have a great attitude, but I'd say it's not common - at WDW nor DLR. I see more guests being rude than I do CM's. I could hardly blame them for snapping occasionally.

Sad but true, it's like if they gave subpar service the good experiences would shine a lot brighter, but because they have so few blemishes the bad ones stand out so much more. Not to mention people are a lot more willing to complain and lament to people they know then pay a compliment.

 

[BrianL]

Sad but true, it's like if they gave subpar service the good experiences would shine a lot brighter, but because they have so few blemishes the bad ones stand out so much more. Not to mention people are a lot more willing to complain and lament to people they know then pay a compliment.

Also, something to consider is that the more you go, the more likely it is that you will run into a subpar exeperince or less-than-courteous cast member. If they are the vast minority - and I believe they are - you could go on your first trip and never witness that. You could go again in a year and still miss it. Then when you go again, and hit one, you will notice. If you go all the time, you will notice more. Then you start to see it as a decline in customer service, when really it's just that you are constantly in the space where it can possibly happen to you.

Does that make any sense? It does to me, but I may not be explaining it right.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

Also, something to consider is that the more you go, the more likely it is that you will run into a subpar exeperince or less-than-courteous cast member. If they are the vast minority - and I believe they are - you could go on your first trip and never witness that. You could go again in a year and still miss it. Then when you go again, and hit one, you will notice. If you go all the time, you will notice more. Then you start to see it as a decline in customer service, when really it's just that you are constantly in the space where it can possibly happen to you.

Does that make any sense? It does to me, but I may not be explaining it right.

makes sense, just a small adder i view it like golf. when you first start out it's fun you're just learning and no matter what happens you can brush it off, the more you play the more the little things dig into you and you overreact. It's just part of human nature the more familiar you are with something the more you expect whether it's fair or nor

All this to say that I think the more people go, the more expectations they have for Disney and when those unfair expectations are not met they lash out about how the "magic is gone".

 

[LAS2AMS]

makes sense, just a small adder i view it like golf. when you first start out it's fun you're just learning and no matter what happens you can brush it off, the more you play the more the little things dig into you and you overreact. It's just part of human nature the more familiar you are with something the more you expect whether it's fair or nor

All this to say that I think the more people go, the more expectations they have for Disney and when those unfair expectations are not met they lash out about how the "magic is gone".

People get into the moment. Think of it this way… we’ve all been infatuated with somebody that we deemed perfect and as we got older, we look back and think ‘what was I thinking?’

Disney sells nostalgia. Which is manny people get upset with every change Disney makes. It’s pretty ridiculous, for example, that Chef Mickey’s looks the same as it did when it opened nearly 30 years ago. But if Disney modernized the space today, people would go nuts. “Nooooo…. My daughter is 24 and that’s the same corner we took her picture when she was 2!! How dare Disney ruin.” Meanwhile that same family stopped going to Denny’s because they haven’t updated their menu or restaurant in the same time period…

 

[clarker99]

People get into the moment. Think of it this way… we’ve all been infatuated with somebody that we deemed perfect and as we got older, we look back and think ‘what was I thinking?’

Disney sells nostalgia. Which is manny people get upset with every change Disney makes. It’s pretty ridiculous, for example, that Chef Mickey’s looks the same as it did when it opened nearly 30 years ago. But if Disney modernized the space today, people would go nuts. “Nooooo…. My daughter is 24 and that’s the same corner we took her picture when she was 2!! How dare Disney ruin.” Meanwhile that same family stopped going to Denny’s because they haven’t updated their menu or restaurant in the same time period…

Lots of people clutching their pearls.

 

[New Mouse]

Walt never built Disneyland for everyone to experience it, there's always been a cost associated with it. The fact that the parks are so popular that Disney can charge "astronomical" prices speaks to the "magic" they're able to provide.

Think of it this way, if Disney decided to charge less, even more people would buy tickets, ticket sales translate to foot traffic (a problem many of people have called out ie it's too crowded). Remember that there is only a finite amount of tickets to be sold because of capacity in the parks. To combat this problem Disney charges more for tickets (Supply and Demand) which in turn gives them a number of guests they are more comfortable with.

In a perfect world everyone would enjoy an affordable vacation. In the real world it's not practical. In general people shouldn't let idealism cloud them to reality, and we shouldn't hold a company to an impossible standard

Capacity in the parks is an issue created by Disney. Nothing more nothing less.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Capacity in the parks is an issue created by Disney. Nothing more nothing less.

So you think Disney should spend $6B+ building a huge, new theme park so they can lower ticket prices? Disney has a responsibility to maximize ROI and has been gradually adding capacity to their theme parks. It isn’t like they’re intentionally leaving capacity flat.

 

[New Mouse]

So you think Disney should spend $6B+ building a huge, new theme park so they can lower ticket prices? Disney has a responsibility to maximize ROI and has been gradually adding capacity to their theme parks. It isn’t like they’re intentionally leaving capacity flat.

No, they should have been appropriately managing capacity at existing parks for decades. Managing capacity isn't something that should have price hikes as the center point.

 

[LAS2AMS]

No, they should have been appropriately managing capacity at existing parks for decades. Managing capacity isn't something that should have price hikes as the center point.

For decade? They over expanded kn the 1990s. Deep discounting on parks and hotels, especially during the offseason, was commonplace until just over a decade ago. And in between then and now, Covid sucked the cash flow out of the Company. No doubt crowds continue to exceed expectations. Disney’s showing a willingness to spend more to grow capacity at its parks while also renewing them.

My bet is Disney has teams of people actively developing expansion plans, including a fifth park at WDW. How many of these projects get off the ground will depend heavily on the economy etc.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

No, they should have been appropriately managing capacity at existing parks for decades. Managing capacity isn't something that should have price hikes as the center point.

just trying to understand, what you're saying here is that Disney should drop their capacity at the parks but not charge in addition for the loss in revenue? I'm pretty sure they'd be sued by their shareholders if that was the case

 

[RivShore]

People are people - they’re going to have their good days and their bad days. Some will give more attention to certain guests (maybe kids, or somebody with a pin or accessory that caught their attention ton, or maybe young males flirting with young females, etc.) that make us feel left out. But ultimately, if you’re not up to Disney’s standards, you’re not going to maintain employment.

Also, something to consider is that the more you go, the more likely it is that you will run into a subpar exeperince or less-than-courteous cast member.

Here's the flip-side to that - now that we go more often, we start to see the same cast members again and again, and the few I am thinking of are not just having a bad day, they are surly and lack basic customer service skills every single day. And again i ask how any decent manager can ignore that day after day and not find a better fit for those very few employees.

 

[SL6827]

The only reason they are expanding the parks now is because of EU. But at least it is happening.

 

[Brian Noble]

Because firing people is hard, and no one wants to do it.

 

[LAS2AMS]

The only reason they are expanding the parks now is because of EU. But at least it is happening.

They’ve been expanding the parks since Universal sold off the plot of land they later had to repurchase for EU. They got more aggressive shortly before Covid following several years of strong attendance growth.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Here's the flip-side to that - now that we go more often, we start to see the same cast members again and again, and the few I am thinking of are not just having a bad day, they are surly and lack basic customer service skills every single day. And again i ask how any decent manager can ignore that day after day and not find a better fit for those very few employees

The same argument has been made for years. I can recall being a kid in the early 1990s, reading the same arguments on the Disney forum on Prodigy - pre-Internet days. Reality is, there never was a time when Disney employees acted pristine 24/7 - people are people, that’s impossible.

It goes back to my central argument: Disney hasn’t changed, you have. The magic starts to wear off when Disney is no longer an escape. When it is, the magic will be there.

Because firing people is hard, and no one wants to do it.

For most people yes, but there are plenty of people who enjoy doing it.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Disney has pretty consistently shown and said they couldn’t care less about Epic Universe.

Aside Sea World announced their earnings today and also attributed a drop in attendance to Hurricanes: https://s1.q4cdn.com/392447382/file...urth-Quarter-and-Fiscal-2024-Results-2025.pdf

 

[RivShore]

Because firing people is hard, and no one wants to do it.

Agreed! That's why i said find a better fit for them, something that isn't 100% customer facing - there should be lots of options like some food services, stocking, janitorial, etc.

 

[RivShore]

The same argument has been made for years. I can recall being a kid in the early 1990s, reading the same arguments on the Disney forum on Prodigy - pre-Internet days. Reality is, there never was a time when Disney employees acted pristine 24/7 - people are people, that’s impossible.

It goes back to my central argument: Disney hasn’t changed, you have. The magic starts to wear off when Disney is no longer an escape. When it is, the magic will be there.

In this case, i disagree. Again, it is a tiny number of people but it is more than it used to be. I think since Covid, it became so much more difficult to hire people for jobs like this, they got stuck with more poor performers than in the past. And as Brian said earlier, everyone is angry now, which I blame squarely on social media amplifying everything out of proportion and really damaging young people. This is also a problem that was not there in the past.