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

[New Mouse]

they have added more, saying that they have charged more without acknowledging the additions that are already in place is foolish at best.

They haven't added close to enough in comparison. To ignore decades of stagnance is foolish at best. Costs have skyrocketed. What the guest gets for that has plummeted.

 

[LAS2AMS]

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Add more and charge more. We've got the charge more point down and weve reaped the finanical benefits of charging more without expenditures. Time to add more.

Capacity for something like lights motors Is definitely different. You suck thousands in for 30 minutes at a time, it really relieves stress on the entire park for predetermined stretches of time. Ditto Indy. Indy has run its course but when that place is filled it sucks up people.

You’re living in the past. What worked 25+ years ago, doesn’t work today. Back then, gigs at Disney paid slightly above minimum wage and weee seen as resume builders. Today, they pay some of the highest wages in the industry and ate highly coveted jobs. There’s a reason entertainment experiences are declining not only ar Disney, but Universal, etc. as well.

These use to be inexpensive alternatives ro fixed attractions. High labor, tighter regulations and other soaring costs have lead to Disney (and Universal) turning to alternative experiences.

 

[Minnie1222]

New ones seem neat and have some fun features but that’s a tough price to swallow. Actually think Disney needs to get more involved in this sort of interactive space.

I know this sounds minor when compared to the wands, but I'm having a blast with the new Magic Band+. Light pulsating to the same beat as the fireworks. Hilarious!

 

[LAS2AMS]

They haven't added close to enough in comparison. To ignore decades of stagnance is foolish at best. Costs have skyrocketed. What the guest gets for that has plummeted.

You ignored the comments I’ve posted on this. People want to go back to 2010 when, off peak, rhey could get $49 room rates at Pop Century and $199 four day park tickets. These deals were below cost and existed because Disney had overcapacity for years. Since attendance began to soar, they have been more aggressive in expansion plans.

But it’s not true they were stagnant for years. The MGM Studios and Animal Kingdom barely had any attractions when they opened.

 

[New Mouse]

You ignored the comments I’ve posted on this. People want to go back to 2010 when, off peak, rhey could get $49 room rates at Pop Century and $199 four day park tickets. These deals were below cost and existed because Disney had overcapacity for years. Since attendance began to soar, they have been more aggressive in expansion plans.

But it’s not true they were stagnant for years. The MGM Studios and Animal Kingdom barely had any attractions when they opened.

You're proving the point. Had they actually added enough worthwhile stuff they could have filled more rooms and sold more tickets. The biggest attendance spikes tend to be when new things are introduced.

There's a reason Universal (and then Six Flags etc) rotate things or add things on the regular.

It does indeed take money to make money.

 

[LAS2AMS]

You're proving the point. Had they actually added enough worthwhile stuff they could have filled more rooms and sold more tickets. The biggest attendance spikes tend to be when new things are introduced.

There's a reason Universal (and then Six Flags etc) rotate things or add things on the regular.

It does indeed take money to make money.

Huh? Disney over expanded in the 1990s and had to retort to heavy discounting for years to get people into the parks and their resorts. And you think the remedy was to build even more?!?

Almost every year they opened up a new attraction or headlining show. That’s a better pace than Six Flags and Universal.

 

[BrianL]

You’re living in the past. What worked 25+ years ago, doesn’t work today. Back then, gigs at Disney paid slightly above minimum wage and weee seen as resume builders. Today, they pay some of the highest wages in the industry and ate highly coveted jobs. There’s a reason entertainment experiences are declining not only ar Disney, but Universal, etc. as well.

These use to be inexpensive alternatives ro fixed attractions. High labor, tighter regulations and other soaring costs have lead to Disney (and Universal) turning to alternative experiences.

This is a good point. Most of the problems we are talking about here are NOT exclusive to Disney, or even Universal. The value proposisition has changed dramatically in many areas.

 

[Minnie1222]

It doesn't matter if Disney has been adding new lands and attractions, some people will never justify paying the asking price and will keep demanding for more.

 

[RivShore]

You’re stretching. Less than 10 years ago, most WDW positions were near minimum wage. Today, employees earn some of the strongest wages in Central Florida. What’s there to be angry about?

To say that Disney employees that historically earned min wage went the extra mile to make things magical is just hocus pocus. I spent a lot of time at WDW in the 1990s and 2000s. I have an excellent memory and I know that while the demeanor was always excellent, it wasn’t much different than it is today. You’re remembering things as they weren’t, most likely because WDW isn’t as much of a happy place as it once was.

I read a post the other day from a high school senior who was planning her first trip ever to WDW. When she goes, she’ll experience the same magic that you did for years. If she keeps going, she will grow older as a person and the magic will wear off, just like you me and most everyone else.

So you see no difference in pre/post covid employees, not just at WDW but at all public facing businesses? I beg to differ and I think there are plenty of surveys and data (and experiances we have all had) that would prove it's not just a feeling or mis-remebering.

And you keep saying the magic of parks and CM's hasn't changed, it us that have changed. And I agree that it applies to a lot of complaints we have seen in this thread. But I'm not talking about employees lacking "magic", I am talking about ones that lack the most basic common courtesy and the most basic customer service skills - no smiles, no please, thank you, hello or goodbye...nothing. And don't even get me started on the one who yelled, yes yelled, at guests waiting on line at a register because they were not standing in the right place. Yelling at your customers who are standing in a long line to give you money is acceptable and magical (maybe in Villains Land it will be. lol)? And this was not just a one-off bad day, we have seen that person act that way more than once. Those examples are just over the last 6 months to a year. These attitudes don't belong in a Walmart let alone the Happiest Place on Earth that literately used to train other companies on how to provide excellent customer service.

And we are actually back at the point where we see that special magic every time we go with our young grandkid. And a few weeks ago we went with a 10 year old grand niece who was absolutely bursting with joy at her first visit to WDW/MK (and we were too, just watching her). The magic is very much still there for us but it does not blind us to issues we see that certainly are more prevalent than in the past.

 

[RivShore]

Today, employees earn some of the strongest wages in Central Florida. What’s there to be angry about?

I assume @Brian Noble was being a bit facetious when he said that (and I repeated it). I assume he was talking about the more widespread anger about everything from politics to climate change to the outrage of the day, not specifically anything job related or even Disney related (and it would apply to both customers and employees).

 

[NickC]

It goes back to my central argument: Disney hasn’t changed, you have.

Sure, people have changed. But, WDW is a lot different now than even 10 years ago. Whether that's good or bad is debatable, but WDW has certainly made a ton of changes. Some people decided that the value is there. Some haven't. There's no right or wrong answer...it just comes down to personal preference. I think I said it earlier in this thread, but if I paid the same amount and got to chose, I would pick DME and the original CBJ over SWGE and Pandora.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

This is a good point. Most of the problems we are talking about here are NOT exclusive to Disney, or even Universal. The value proposisition has changed dramatically in many areas.

I think a large part of that problem is that technology has caught up to theme parks innovation at break neck pace, the new "cool" thing parks can offer is going obsolete within the span of a few years and doesn't feel special. The amount of access people have on the consumer level alone makes Disney innovation feel lesser than it used to, and i think drives people to ask for more or complain about the "new" because it feel outdated almost upon completion. Just think about the tech in the 90's v today, Tamagotchi's have nothing on VR Headsets

 

[LAS2AMS]

Sure, people have changed. But, WDW is a lot different now than even 10 years ago. Whether that's good or bad is debatable, but WDW has certainly made a ton of changes. Some people decided that the value is there. Some haven't. There's no right or wrong answer...it just comes down to personal preference. I think I said it earlier in this thread, but if I paid the same amount and got to chose, I would pick DME and the original CBJ over SWGE and Pandora.

WDW hasn’t changed much in 10 years.

The value proposition has changed, sure, but that’s an industry trend not limited to wdw, fueled by Boomers and young Millennials/Gen Z spending. Somebody brought up Cedar Point - it’s commonplace for a weekend night at their onsite hotel to go for over $400/night, which is more than double what one would’ve paid less than a decade ago.

 

[BrianL]

I think a large part of that problem is that technology has caught up to theme parks innovation at break neck pace, the new "cool" thing parks can offer is going obsolete within the span of a few years and doesn't feel special. The amount of access people have on the consumer level alone makes Disney innovation feel lesser than it used to, and i think drives people to ask for more or complain about the "new" because it feel outdated almost upon completion. Just think about the tech in the 90's v today, Tamagotchi's have nothing on VR Headsets

Yeah, which is why I say it's not about the tech. Whatever the latest, most advanced, technical wonder they can pull off is still hard pressed to match the artistry of something like the Haunted Mansion.

 

[Brian Noble]

I assume @Brian Noble was being a bit facetious when he said that (and I repeated it).

I was not being facetious. I meant what I said: everyone is angry.

This isn't some speculative guess or opinion. Survey after survey, study after study, consistently show people reporting and/or measured indicators of anger and stress at higher levels than five years ago---and that was already higher than the five or ten years before that.

So, this is not a statement about the WDW workforce. It is a statement about all of us---the Guests, the Cast, and everyone around us.

I don't particularly care about why this is true.* And this is not a judgement.** It is just a statement of the world at this moment in time.

-----
*: I very much do care, but that is not relevant to a DISboards discussion---at least, not outside the controversial topics board.

**: This part is 100% true. I do not judge people for being in a constant state of stress and experiencing anger more often as a result. There is no sense blaming people for emotional reactions to the things they are experiencing.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Yeah, which is why I say it's not about the tech. Whatever the latest, most advanced, technical wonder they can pull off is still hard pressed to match the artistry of something like the Haunted Mansion.

HM was developed over many years with any Disney Legends having input in it. That makes it perhaps the most unique attention on the Disney roster. Many of the attractions built in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s had budget constraints that handicap their potential. They were able to develop some masterpieces like Indy, Star Tours and ToT, which may not have the unique story of HM but are very worthy.