"Greedflation" at Disney?

[starlite_]

I'll be honest, i get excited when we start planning these trips, i start to remember all the fun we used to have and the freedom the parks offered, then we get there, and everything is so planned out, and the meals arent nearly as good as they used to be, and i get annoyed.

The reason I haven't planned out a trip over there and keep going back to DLR (besides Florida being Florida recently) is exactly that. Having a super planned out vacation like that sounds so tiring.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

It doesnt effect you, and that's great, but I wish you would be accepting to the fact that some people have changed the way they vacation because disney has increased the pricing a lot over the past few years.

I personally dont think the model that disney was using was sustainable for forever, but then again, i'm not in their meetings and see their numbers. I just know that for my family, it was a strategy that forced us to take a look at how we vacation, and decrease the amount of time we spend at disney.

I understand all of what you're saying, and i'm not disagreeing with most of your points. All i've been attempting to say is that WDW especially has a lot of 1 and done visitors, (the majority of park goers) and they are clearly lining up their strategy around those guests. Is it great for repeat visitors, no. that doesn't mean that the model is wrong, it just means you do not like it.
Like i said, the moment foot traffic dropped, a lot of people on these boards felt vindicated, and to me that is just wrong. By all means enjoy the victory lap, i just don't think the reason you're stating is correct

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

$3 is a freakin steal though. the $1 beer thing is unheard of it, i was shocked by it.

$2 longneck PBRs on the strip in Nashville a few weeks ago.

Free pitcher of beer if you participated in Triva last weekend in Florida........one catch though only Bud Light. Seems they had an excess of unsold Bud Light for some strange reason.

$2 domestic draft beer is still very common around here during happy hour. Or more common is buy one get one free at $3.50 or so.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

The reason I haven't planned out a trip over there and keep going back to DLR (besides Florida being Florida recently) is exactly that. Having a super planned out vacation like that sounds so tiring.

For me, that is the part i love. I just like planning more than spontaneity. I totally get the other end of it though

 

[gmi3804]

For me, that is the part i love. I just like planning more than spontaneity. I totally get the other end of it though

I like planning more than actually following the plan. Even with a plan I usually chuck most of it and go with the general flow.

 

[ChipnDale79]

For me, that is the part i love. I just like planning more than spontaneity. I totally get the other end of it though

I'm a PM, so is my wife, our daily lives are planned, for the absolute most part we have to have it planned, we cant function. but i did like the ability to change things on the fly at disney.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I like planning more than actually following the plan. Even with a plan I usually chuck most of it and go with the general flow.

Haha, same here! It's a lot more fluid once you're in the parks, especially is a certain dining reservation i want comes up randomly

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I'm a PM, so is my wife, our daily lives are planned, for the absolute most part we have to have it planned, we cant function. but i did like the ability to change things on the fly at disney.

i still think you can for the most part at Disney, Park reservations are a joke, dining is easily maneuvered. The one gripe is park hopping, it doesn't affect my family, but i can definitely see where it can cause issues for others

 

[SL6827]

Have a trip planned for January and the ONLY reason it is planned is because of the tickets in my account I bought back in 2021. After this, not planning on going back for a very long time. Why? $$$$$$

 

[Brian Noble]

I've already given up a lot of the planning. I don't make most dining reservations until the night before, and other than making park reservations, there isn't much else. The days of having a touring plan are long behind me at this point. I do have an idea of what attractions I want to prioritize with G+ or LL, but that's not really planning so much as "I know I want to do that."

However, I am starting to find that the doing is a hassle. Some of the things that make WDW unique--and in particular the scale of the place--also makes dealing with it something of a pain. It's never easy to get from one thing to another (Transportation Board motto: there is no pixie dust in transportation) and the attractions are all spread out across four parks that themselves are physically large. DLR packs almost the same attraction count into two parks, five minutes walk from each other, each of which is smaller than the smallest park at WDW.

It's not that my other vacations are not active. I spent a week in the Smoky Mountains hiking and bouncing around Dollywood. We just got back from an extended visit to Hawaii with lots of snorkeling and hiking. (Aside: the manta ray night snorkel on the Big Island is fantastic. Do that.) We put on plenty of mileage when we spent a week at Universal Orlando this past March.

But somehow a visit to WDW is physically and mentally tiring in ways those are not.

I'm part of the Exodus. My last visit to WDW was March of '22. I won't be back until May '24 at the very earliest, and more likely February of '25. It's not that it is too expensive--we are happy to spend money on vacation. I think a lot of it is that I've Been There Done That, and there are just other things I'd rather do. Those aren't necessarily non-Disney--we are toying with DLRP in May of '24. We are planning the Shanghai-Hong Kong-Tokyo tour when my daughter finishes her doctorate. I'd like to get back to DLR. But I don't have a burning desire to get back to WDW right now.

 

[BrianL]

I've already given up a lot of the planning. I don't make most dining reservations until the night before, and other than making park reservations, there isn't much else. The days of having a touring plan are long behind me at this point. I do have an idea of what attractions I want to prioritize with G+ or LL, but that's not really planning so much as "I know I want to do that."

However, I am starting to find that the doing is a hassle. Some of the things that make WDW unique--and in particular the scale of the place--also makes dealing with it something of a pain. It's never easy to get from one thing to another (Transportation Board motto: there is no pixie dust in transportation) and the attractions are all spread out across four parks that themselves are physically large. DLR packs almost the same attraction count into two parks, five minutes walk from each other, each of which is smaller than the smallest park at WDW.

It's not that my other vacations are not active. I spent a week in the Smoky Mountains hiking and bouncing around Dollywood. We just got back from an extended visit to Hawaii with lots of snorkeling and hiking. (Aside: the manta ray night snorkel on the Big Island is fantastic. Do that.) We put on plenty of mileage when we spent a week at Universal Orlando this past March.

But somehow a visit to WDW is physically and mentally tiring in ways those are not.

I'm part of the Exodus. My last visit to WDW was March of '22. I won't be back until May '24 at the very earliest, and more likely February of '25. It's not that it is too expensive--we are happy to spend money on vacation. I think a lot of it is that I've Been There Done That, and there are just other things I'd rather do. Those aren't necessarily non-Disney--we are toying with DLRP in May of '24. We are planning the Shanghai-Hong Kong-Tokyo tour when my daughter finishes her doctorate. I'd like to get back to DLR. But I don't have a burning desire to get back to WDW right now.

I can't say that I agree with that, though I do understand the sentiment. On my most recent trips, I had two transportation pixie-dust moments - one on my way to AKL for dinner, the bus to AK let me off right next to the one leaving. I was the only person on the bus. The other was on the way to Typhoon Lagoon, which should have taken ust o Disney Springs where we would transfer, but the driver asked if we were all going to TL and we said yes, so it was direct.

The best time though was a few years back when I boarded a boat at Fort Wilderness. I was the only person on the boat and the skipper got ont he PA and sang "Brandy" to me the entire way. It was great!

It is true that there aren't really any shortcuts though - it's more like getting lucky.

 

[Brian Noble]

The Brandy thing is pretty cool.

 

[BrianL]

The Brandy thing is pretty cool.

It was fun. When I got off at the Wilderness Lodge, I told the guy, "You make me feel like a VIP." He replied to me, "You are a VIP, sir." Yeah, that dude got a cast member comment sent to their recognition team! It was one of my best days ever at WDW - I went to Villains After Hours later that night, which was spectacular!

 

[jimmymc]

Speaking of cheap beer, I visited Keweenaw Brewing in Michigan last week and was shocked that pints are still only $3.50 for good craft beer. Where I live, $6 is pretty standard for good stuff, although you can still get $2 pints at some sports bars.

 

[Disney Bobby]

For me, that is the part i love. I just like planning more than spontaneity. I totally get the other end of it though

Same for us. It wasn't that everything was planned and set in stone. It just gave some structure to our visit. Without it, we would just end up wasting a lot of time. We would have a fine dining scheduled every night soon after booking, and we would get fast passes booked either around those reservations or at a different park that morning. The rest of the day was often spontaneous. Almost always two parks in a day. Sometimes 3 if we grabbed an early dinner at Epcot. A park in the morning as soon as they open up until lunch at a quick service or casual dining. After lunch, we would usually go back to the resort in the heat of midday and either rest or lay around the pool while the kids play. Then the fine dining reservation and another park at night. Other than the fine dining and the fast passes, everything else was pretty much up for grabs. We were assured of getting a lot of the big things we wanted to do every day, with the possibility of getting some things in that we hadn't planned on. A good mix of structure and spontaneity that worked for us. No park reservations and worrying about if I can hop to the park I want. No getting up a 7am in a mad rush to your phone to try to out-browser refresh everyone else to try to plan something, anything for the day. I'm on vacation, not trying to purchase the latest XBox. In the immortal words of Sweet Brown...

 

[Disney Bobby]

I know Disney wants to charge for every person going into the lightning lane. So be it. Let people purchase and schedule 3 of them every day. And let them do that 60 days before arrival. Even tie it to a resort reservation. Maybe even do one for a value, 2 for a moderate, and 3 for a deluxe. Could even be used as a marketing tool, like free dining. All kinds of possibilities. Would even allow them to forecast some revenue a little easier. Sometimes I wonder if the people making the decisions about the parks have actually ever vacationed in the parks. Doesn't feel like it. Feels like some accountant behind a desk somewhere just looking at customer touchpoint data and trying to figure out how to monetize those touchpoints without any consideration to how people like to vacation.

 

[New Mouse]

I know Disney wants to charge for every person going into the lightning lane. So be it. Let people purchase and schedule 3 of them every day. And let them do that 60 days before arrival. Even tie it to a resort reservation. Maybe even do one for a value, 2 for a moderate, and 3 for a deluxe. Could even be used as a marketing tool, like free dining. All kinds of possibilities. Would even allow them to forecast some revenue a little easier. Sometimes I wonder if the people making the decisions about the parks have actually ever vacationed in the parks. Doesn't feel like it. Feels like some accountant behind a desk somewhere just looking at customer touchpoint data and trying to figure out how to monetize those touchpoints without any consideration to how people like to vacation.

There's also 0 reason to have individual lightning lanes. Bake it into the main system with one purchase and you solve a lot of problems. Trying to upcharge on top of an upcharge, in most cases just because we can, really kills the company reputation.

 

[Disney Bobby]

There's also 0 reason to have individual lightning lanes. Bake it into the main system with one purchase and you solve a lot of problems. Trying to upcharge on top of an upcharge, in most cases just because we can, really kills the company reputation.

I agree, but I just don't see it happening. If they are going to monetize it, at least make it more convenient than the previous free product, not less.

 

[jade1]

I was the only person on the boat and the skipper got ont he PA and sang "Brandy" to me the entire way. It was great!

Cool, but the entire way? No.

 

[jade1]

I agree, but I just don't see it happening. If they are going to monetize it, at least make it more convenient than the previous free product, not less.

I agree, but doing the math on the ILL-they can pay off huge attractions like GotG and Tron in less than 10 years.

Just build more, like one a year even.

We get new options (half the riders are no extra charge), and they get attractions built for free.