Greenfield1984
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2007
Loved the discussion on the latest show regarding the ever increasing Disney prices. There was a variety of opinions that were offered up, discussed, challenged and thought over. Was great. Many different angles were discussed.
Thought i'd share my thoughts on the topic.
I agree that the price to go to Disney in the last 5 to 10 years has gone up dramatically. As a result I have been priced out of staying on site and have found many different ways to cut costs.
So while I completely understand Rhyno's Pete style rant about Disney no longer being affordable for the common folk I do think it is still doable.
For example.
-I now drive down instead of fly. (drive straight through the night and day from ottawa for a total drive time of 27 hours!)
-I now stay offsite at a house/condo that offers up tons of additional space,room,amenities such as our own private pool and most importantly a fully equipped kitchen that leads to:
-I cook, prepare and bring in much of my food into the parks and use the Disney restaurants far less then I used to.
I'm going to the World for 10 days with 7 park tickets and 2 water park tickets in early September.
For a family of 5 it will cost us apx $4000 canadian. That will include our gas, lodging, park tickets and much of the food costs.
This is a trip that we were for a time doing every year that now we are spreading to maybe every 2nd or 3rd year.
Keep in mind if 4k sounds like alot (it is), that is over 10 days. You could also reduce your trip to the standard 5 or 6 night Disney trip.
So I would argue that while I do agree that the prices have gone up way higher then inflation over the last decade, with some tweaks and tricks you can still manage to have an affordable trip.
Furthermore I also agree with I believe it was Steve that said that you are still getting a ton of value from disney.
I couldn't agree more.
My closest theme park is La Ronde in Montreal. It costs nearly the same price to go to La Ronde as it is to go to a Disney park.
But La Ronde doesn't have fireworks, tripple A attractions, characters, theming and won't even allow guests to bring in their own food so you have to also pay high prices for very poor quality food. Essentially the experience is awfully sub par to Disney. You don't get those goose bumps or tearing eyed moments of awe, wonder and pure joy that you get from a DIsney park.
Same comparisons can be made when going to the movies, the theater, a concert etc.
I still believe that you are getting incredible value for a Disney World trip.
Now this all being said. I have also noticed that the experience has gone down in recent years. The crowds are overwhelming, the insane ammount of planning with FP+ is daunting, the cast members service is no longer consistently amazing, and the parks upkeep is now questionable both for ride closures and cleanliness in the park.
While I do believe the value is still there it doesn't mean we shouldn't still be demanding the Disney difference that we all fell in love with and have come to expect.
One other thing i'm kind of curious about.
I was very briefly and amateurishly looking into the Disney financials. I was surprised that their TV division makes such a high percentage of the Disney company profits. But I also became very concerned when I started to look at the different margins of the Disney branches.
The theme parks are in fact making a good chunk of profit for the company at the moment but the margins (difference between the money coming in - the cost for running operations) are actually considerably lower then the other Disney divisions.
This concerns me greatly because right now the economy is doing about as good as it can be. What happens when the economy tanks as it very cyclically does. What happens when this record level attendance drops drastically?
That will be a huge hit to the company. Especially when the company is committing so much money currently to expanding its parks across the world.
If i'm concerned about this there is no doubt that Disney is also concerned and its no surprise that they will be looking at each and every avenue to increase the bottom line. I'm just concerned that they may have already reached that tipping point for what the consumer is willing to spend.
Disney is a good value because they are putting a ton of money into the parks. Like Steve (or was it Shawn?) said. Those fireworks arn't cheap.
It's going to be mighty costly to maintain this value if the market tanks.
So I wonder if Disney is being proactive now during the good times to shelter themselves during the bad.
I'm no economist so i'm curious if there are some other Disers here who may have better insight regarding their margins with their theme park divison as it pertains to the cyclical nature of the market.
Anyhow.
Once again great discussion from everyone on the panel. Was really great to hear all different views on the topic.
Thought i'd share my thoughts on the topic.
I agree that the price to go to Disney in the last 5 to 10 years has gone up dramatically. As a result I have been priced out of staying on site and have found many different ways to cut costs.
So while I completely understand Rhyno's Pete style rant about Disney no longer being affordable for the common folk I do think it is still doable.
For example.
-I now drive down instead of fly. (drive straight through the night and day from ottawa for a total drive time of 27 hours!)
-I now stay offsite at a house/condo that offers up tons of additional space,room,amenities such as our own private pool and most importantly a fully equipped kitchen that leads to:
-I cook, prepare and bring in much of my food into the parks and use the Disney restaurants far less then I used to.
I'm going to the World for 10 days with 7 park tickets and 2 water park tickets in early September.
For a family of 5 it will cost us apx $4000 canadian. That will include our gas, lodging, park tickets and much of the food costs.
This is a trip that we were for a time doing every year that now we are spreading to maybe every 2nd or 3rd year.
Keep in mind if 4k sounds like alot (it is), that is over 10 days. You could also reduce your trip to the standard 5 or 6 night Disney trip.
So I would argue that while I do agree that the prices have gone up way higher then inflation over the last decade, with some tweaks and tricks you can still manage to have an affordable trip.
Furthermore I also agree with I believe it was Steve that said that you are still getting a ton of value from disney.
I couldn't agree more.
My closest theme park is La Ronde in Montreal. It costs nearly the same price to go to La Ronde as it is to go to a Disney park.
But La Ronde doesn't have fireworks, tripple A attractions, characters, theming and won't even allow guests to bring in their own food so you have to also pay high prices for very poor quality food. Essentially the experience is awfully sub par to Disney. You don't get those goose bumps or tearing eyed moments of awe, wonder and pure joy that you get from a DIsney park.
Same comparisons can be made when going to the movies, the theater, a concert etc.
I still believe that you are getting incredible value for a Disney World trip.
Now this all being said. I have also noticed that the experience has gone down in recent years. The crowds are overwhelming, the insane ammount of planning with FP+ is daunting, the cast members service is no longer consistently amazing, and the parks upkeep is now questionable both for ride closures and cleanliness in the park.
While I do believe the value is still there it doesn't mean we shouldn't still be demanding the Disney difference that we all fell in love with and have come to expect.
One other thing i'm kind of curious about.
I was very briefly and amateurishly looking into the Disney financials. I was surprised that their TV division makes such a high percentage of the Disney company profits. But I also became very concerned when I started to look at the different margins of the Disney branches.
The theme parks are in fact making a good chunk of profit for the company at the moment but the margins (difference between the money coming in - the cost for running operations) are actually considerably lower then the other Disney divisions.
This concerns me greatly because right now the economy is doing about as good as it can be. What happens when the economy tanks as it very cyclically does. What happens when this record level attendance drops drastically?
That will be a huge hit to the company. Especially when the company is committing so much money currently to expanding its parks across the world.
If i'm concerned about this there is no doubt that Disney is also concerned and its no surprise that they will be looking at each and every avenue to increase the bottom line. I'm just concerned that they may have already reached that tipping point for what the consumer is willing to spend.
Disney is a good value because they are putting a ton of money into the parks. Like Steve (or was it Shawn?) said. Those fireworks arn't cheap.
It's going to be mighty costly to maintain this value if the market tanks.
So I wonder if Disney is being proactive now during the good times to shelter themselves during the bad.
I'm no economist so i'm curious if there are some other Disers here who may have better insight regarding their margins with their theme park divison as it pertains to the cyclical nature of the market.
Anyhow.
Once again great discussion from everyone on the panel. Was really great to hear all different views on the topic.
