Bean Counters and shortsightedness

[Rileygirl]

It’s been a long while since I have been on the boards, have not travelled to Disney for years. First Covid and then the absolute expense of going to Disney AND the level of difficulty trying to plan a trip for a family of 6.

I flirted with the idea about a year ago, and came to the theme parks forum to get a feel, and one of the top threads was ‘if I budget 1000 usd will that be enough for the genie fast passes, we are going for five days and a family of 4. Wow.

I read that Disney parks is still making a pile of money, but more money from fewer guests. I also had friends who travelled to Disney over the 4th of July, and they told me the morning of July 3, the crowds were low and they walked on to many rides. I don’t know if crowds are still thin at Disney, but if they are I am going to say Disney is in big trouble for long term survival.

What the bean counters forget, is that they are not creating a new massive generation of nostalgic Disney goers. They are shrinking the base of people who are going to think, ‘I can’t wait to take my kid to Disney and let them experience the magic of PeterPan’. They have priced disney out of the range of any average family (in my opinion of course) and the fan base is shrinking. Over time, this attrition is going to kill Disney.

Do you think the direction Disney is going is going to be sustainable in the long run? Maybe the bean counters just figure that is the next guys problem? I don’t know. But I think what they are doing is crippling a giant I use to love so much.

 

[mom2rtk]

Current generations are building more nostalgia for Nintendo than Disney. Yes I think it’s going to be a problem.

 

[MillauFr]

How else are they going to balance supply and demand if they keep pricing low?

 

[mom2rtk]

How else are they going to balance supply and demand if they keep pricing low?

Add net new attractions? As opposed to just replacing things while attendance grows.

 

[robinb]

I am shopping for passes now and saw on Undercover Tourist that a promotional 5-Day Park to Park pass at Universal Studios is $285. A 5-Day PH at WDW is $588, over twice as much as Universal. I was shocked.

 

[john7994]

I am shopping for passes now and saw on Undercover Tourist that a promotional 5-Day Park to Park pass at Universal Studios is $285. A 5-Day PH at WDW is $588, over twice as much as Universal. I was shocked.

What dates were those for at UO - I could find a one park per day rate on their 2 for 5 day promo for around what you are quoting- but the park to park was minimum $350

 

[fatmanatee]

I am shopping for passes now and saw on Undercover Tourist that a promotional 5-Day Park to Park pass at Universal Studios is $285. A 5-Day PH at WDW is $588, over twice as much as Universal. I was shocked.

I suspect they won’t be offering this deal once EU is open. They’re offering it to encourage longer stays because for a lot of people it’s still doable as a one day set of parks.

(BTW I’ve been seeing a similar deal, although they frame it as buy two get three free)

 

[MillauFr]

Add net new attractions? As opposed to just replacing things while attendance grows.

That might work. It could attract even more guests though. Just like widening freeways never reduces congestion.

 

[robinb]

What dates were those for at UO - I could find a one park per day rate on their 2 for 5 day promo for around what you are quoting- but the park to park was minimum $350

I am going in mid-September this year.

 

[RivShore]

I am shopping for passes now and saw on Undercover Tourist that a promotional 5-Day Park to Park pass at Universal Studios is $285. A 5-Day PH at WDW is $588, over twice as much as Universal. I was shocked.

WDW is more than twice as large as UO, why would you not expect to pay something like twice as much?

 

[robinb]

WDW is more than twice as large as UO, why would you not expect to pay something like twice as much?

Because UO has raised their prices up to WDW levels in the last few years. I was shocked that they are offering such a great deal while Disney continues to price people out of going.

 

[Illinois76]

It’s been a long while since I have been on the boards, have not travelled to Disney for years. First Covid and then the absolute expense of going to Disney AND the level of difficulty trying to plan a trip for a family of 6.

I flirted with the idea about a year ago, and came to the theme parks forum to get a feel, and one of the top threads was ‘if I budget 1000 usd will that be enough for the genie fast passes, we are going for five days and a family of 4. Wow.

I read that Disney parks is still making a pile of money, but more money from fewer guests. I also had friends who travelled to Disney over the 4th of July, and they told me the morning of July 3, the crowds were low and they walked on to many rides. I don’t know if crowds are still thin at Disney, but if they are I am going to say Disney is in big trouble for long term survival.

What the bean counters forget, is that they are not creating a new massive generation of nostalgic Disney goers. They are shrinking the base of people who are going to think, ‘I can’t wait to take my kid to Disney and let them experience the magic of PeterPan’. They have priced disney out of the range of any average family (in my opinion of course) and the fan base is shrinking. Over time, this attrition is going to kill Disney.

Do you think the direction Disney is going is going to be sustainable in the long run? Maybe the bean counters just figure that is the next guys problem? I don’t know. But I think what they are doing is crippling a giant I use to love so much.

The old helping a company make money makes you a “bean counter” argument.

It’s very sustainable.

Toy Story, Frozen, Moana, Incredibles, Encanto - they are 100% creating a new generation of Disney lovers.

 

[Dcgc28]

Current generations are building more nostalgia for Nintendo than Disney. Yes I think it’s going to be a problem.

What is that first claim based on exactly? Universal Hollywood and Japan are far less visited than DL or DW with the only 2 Nintendo Lands on the planet.

I get if you have a legit complaint that you can prove factually. But if you’re basing this opinion off of 1 movie, that is about to get rolled by 2 other movies and some excitement about the lands I’d say that’s a bit of an overreach.

 

[New Mouse]

What is that first claim based on exactly? Universal Hollywood and Japan are far less visited than DL or DW with the only 2 Nintendo Lands on the planet.

I get if you have a legit complaint that you can prove factually. But if you’re basing this opinion off of 1 movie, that is about to get rolled by 2 other movies and some excitement about the lands I’d say that’s a bit of an overreach.

I think the point is that Disney no longer has the IT factor compared to the past.

 

[RivShore]

Because UO has raised their prices up to WDW levels in the last few years. I was shocked that they are offering such a great deal while Disney continues to price people out of going.

That's right, single day tickets have been close, but I think size matters as the vacation gets longer.

I think the deal kind of makes sense because UO has always been thought of as needing 2-3 days to do everything while WDW has been a 5-7 day resort. Therefore WDW probably has much more demand for 5 plus day packages than UO, so UO throws in a couple days for basically free to try and get a bit more out of that visitor.

 

[Cfabar1]

Disney Parks are singlehandedly keeping this company profitable.... I find it funny when people point to the parks as the problem. It's Disney+/DTC coupled with a film industry in transition. The two things are not unrelated by the way, though they are often presented that way.

 

[MillauFr]

Because UO has raised their prices up to WDW levels in the last few years. I was shocked that they are offering such a great deal while Disney continues to price people out of going.

If Disney prices people out why is it still packed?

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

That's right, single day tickets have been close, but I think size matters as the vacation gets longer.

I think the deal kind of makes sense because UO has always been thought of as needing 2-3 days to do everything while WDW has been a 5-7 day resort. Therefore WDW probably has much more demand for 5 plus day packages than UO, so UO throws in a couple days for basically free to try and get a bit more out of that visitor.

Yeah - the theme parks know how many days their visitors go to the parks, and how much they’re willing to pay.

For Universal Hollywood, it’s a two to three day max visit. So the annual passes have been essentially the price of 3 days worth of tickets. While the average visitor would go two days, or maybe 3 days a year, letting them get an AP for the same price suddenly makes it worth it to go more often. And any days beyond the 3 days is revenue (from games, food, souvenirs, and parking) that they wouldn’t have gotten anyway. We made one of our LA trips a Universal trip instead of DL because we already had the AP, so why not?

For Universal Orlando, until the new gate opens, I’m guessing the average stay is 3 days. If you go only for two days, it’s because you’re also doing a Disney visit. So offering 5 for the price of two is to try to get people to treat UO as their “main” parks for the vacation, instead of the two day add on. And if you were going primarily for UO with a long weekend, maybe you’ll plan for an extra day (or two) because the tickets are free and paid for anyway.

It definitely worked on us. We were going to do 7 days at WDW, and 2 at UO. With the cost of tickets, we decided to cut back one day at WDW, and added a day (or two, if we go one less resort day) at UO.

 

[New Mouse]

If Disney prices people out why is it still packed?

It's not. Attendance is dropping and with that service is dropping which is why it feels packed.

 

[john7994]

It's not. Attendance is dropping and with that service is dropping which is why it feels packed.

When were you last there? Heading back in three weeks myself.