[frontiersman87]

From the Orlando Sentinel

" Walt Disney World announced Friday that it is raising ticket prices — by more than 10 percent in at least one case — in the resort's second round of price increases in less than a year.
Effective Sunday, the base price of a one-day ticket will rise from $82 to $85 before tax, an increase of 3.7 percent.
Prices will rise more steeply on longer-term passes. The price of a five-day ticket — one of Disney World's best-selling ticket options — will jump 5.9 percent, from $237 to $251.
The price of a seven-day pass will jump 8.1 percent to $267. A 10-day pass will soar 11.1 percent to $291.
In addition, the price of adding a "park hopper" feature to a pass — allowing visits to multiple Disney theme parks in a single day — will inch up from $54 to $55 for all multi-day ticket options. The feature will cost an extra $35 for a single-day ticket."

A full list of Disney ticket-price increases:

•1-day: $82 to $85 (+3.7 percent)
•2-day: $162 to $168 (+3.7 percent)
•3-day: $224 to 232 (+3.6 percent)
•4-day: $232 to $243 (+4.7 percent)
•5-day: $237 to $251 (+5.9 percent)
•6-day: $242 to 259 (+7 percent)
•7-day: $247 to 267 (+8.1 percent)
•10-day: $262 to $291 (+11.1 percent)
•"Park hopper" or water-park admission added to a multi-day pass: $54 to $55 (+1.9 percent)

Annual-pass price increases:

•Premium (incl. water parks, etc.), non-resident: $629 to $649 (+3.2%)
•Regular, non-resident: $499 to $519 (+4%)
•Premium, Florida resident: $499 to $509 (+2%)
•Regular, Florida resident: $379 to $389 (+2.6%)
•Seasonal, Florida resident: $259 to $269 (+3.9%)

[IlluminatEpcot]

Dislike. I knew it was coming but I was banking on it coming in August as usual as I was going to get my AP's in the end of summer before the hike.. now I cant get them before price changes.

[COH#1fan]

Dear Di$ney,

If you keep raising your damn prices on your damn tickets, people are going to stop going to your damn parks! SO QUIT IT!!!

Have a Magical Day.

-Me

[QuickGold]

Not surprising that prices went up but I was surprised how much the 5-7 tix will now cost relative to their old price.

[Rinjo]

COH I am just not sure that is the case. The have raised prices every year for as long as I can remember and the parks have always been a major profit center for the company. They may be pricing out a certain demographic, but that has more to do with the state of the economy I think than a 1-5% price increase. The 10%+ increase on the 10 day pass is arbitrary to be honest. When you are paying less than $10 for some of your days does 10% increase really break the bank?

Keep in mind that with the dollar sinking to low levels again against European currencies, Disney will continue to see larger influxes of foreigners as it is.

I am just not sure that raising the lower level ticket prices by a few percent annually is going to make much of a difference. Not when you consider operating cost increases due to inflation. Regardless of official CPI numbers food and fule prices are up almost across the board and in some cases well over 30%. I put very little stock into government inflation statistics, and I am willing to bet that Disney doesn't either.

The company is profit driven... I don't discount that... But I am not sure that raising ticket prices is attributed as much to greed as rising costs.

[HDLady]

Even before moving to FL in 2003, I had annual passes since around 1996 or so. I always went to WDW 9 or 10 days and then usually a long weekend or two so it was cheaper than buying tix for each visit. You just get more bang for the buck, I think. Free parking, discounts at quite a few stores & restaurants (including World of Disney), Passholder exclusives, AP renewal discounts, etc. make the annual pass an exceptional deal for us, anyway. I just can't imagine getting a year's worth of entertainment anywhere else for the money. while I don't like to see anything increase in price, I think those increases are fairly reasonable given cost of fuel, etc.

[COH#1fan]

Rinjo, on 12 June 2011 - 04:51 PM, said:

COH I am just not sure that is the case. The have raised prices every year for as long as I can remember and the parks have always been a major profit center for the company. They may be pricing out a certain demographic, but that has more to do with the state of the economy I think than a 1-5% price increase.

Yes! They area definitely pricing out a certain demographic: those who are not making nearly enough money to enjoy a Disney vacation. Di$ney raises prices on everything, and people like me are eventually priced out. Meanwhile, the doctors, lawyers, executives for small and large businesses, and the like get to enjoy all the parks, resorts, and cruises have to offer at the premium prices. It makes me sick.

Or maybe I've just been to Disney so many times that the magic is just no longer there, and I see it as a big money-vacuuming monster intent on sucking every last dollar from our wallets until our credit cards shrivel up into dust.

[QuickGold]

I don't blame you Peter for being upset. At the end of the day, Disney is a business and their priority will always be to maximize their profits. I don't love it and I do think Disney Parks have lost their way in terms of being too focused on making a buck and not enough on the guest experience, but the best way you can voice your displeasure is to not spend your money at WDW.

[sarahzy]

Disney increasing ticket price is an inevitability every year, but each time I'm annoyed by it. I'm surprised at the percentage hike on the most popular options (5 - 7 days).

[HDLady]

Rather than getting annoyed at increases in anything (gasoline, taxes, Disney, etc.) I prefer to be thankful that I can still afford an annual pass and that I have been to Disney so many times. There are many, many families/people that can't afford to go on even a cheap vacation each year let alone a once in a lifetime Disney trip. Thos eof us who have been numerous times are very fortunate.

[COH#1fan]

HDLady, on 14 June 2011 - 06:02 PM, said:

Rather than getting annoyed at increases in anything (gasoline, taxes, Disney, etc.) I prefer to be thankful that I can still afford an annual pass and that I have been to Disney so many times. There are many, many families/people that can't afford to go on even a cheap vacation each year let alone a once in a lifetime Disney trip. Thos eof us who have been numerous times are very fortunate.

I fall into that category of "those who can't afford to go on even a cheap vacation". I dread to see what my next credit card bill will look like this month, since I squeezed in a DHS trip alongside my Fringe trip. And with this latest ticket price increase, I just may not give WDW my money. In fact, I challenge Di$ney to provide the WDW Experience right to my doorstep for free or best offer. I'm not talking about that free travel DVD, I want Character visits, dining opportunities, rides, the whole nine... wait a minute, didn't I get Toy Story Mania for the Wii for that one purpose?

[Rinjo]

I understand your frustration. But I still hold to the position that it is more due to the general state of the United States than to Greed. I agree with Matt in that profit maximising has gone to far with the company, but I also don't think the company should really be a public company. Once you hand a company over to shareholders you get what you ask for.

I long for the days when Quality was foremost. When I got free souveneir cups with my kids meals. Every resort had it's own swizzle sticks... All of the unique merchandise at each shop... I would gladly take the old quality in place of lower ticket prices.

Based on all of the available information I am not sure a 10% price decrease would have made Disney any easier to budget for... To be hoenst I am in the same boat. I won't be able to make my projected September trip this year. Had I known they would open free dining up again I might have been able to swing it... but I wont make it this year mainly due to finances. But it was not the price increases. It is just flat out expensive to take a vacation.

I still think that for your money and annual pass is a tremendous value. If you live in Florida it is probably one of the best entertainment values you can get. I think at a Thousand Dollars you could still do far more than break even. Though they wouldn't sell many at that price I admit.

Anyway... this is not really a rebuttal to anything in particular. I agree that Disney is expensive. Without getting into politics or economics... the fact of the matter is the prices at Disney haven't changed much all things considered. It is the general income of the American Consumer that has changed. Back when everyone was taking out home equity loans and buying 2nd and 3rd 'investment' houses America was flowing with 'discretionary' income. Everyone was spending money and taking vacations.

Now that well is dry and our credit cards are maxed and we are all upset that we can't live the life that we could previously. I am right there with you brother. I understand. But it isn't Disney's fault... at least not mainly their fault.

[ADP]

I've said this before, but price hikes are going to happen. There's little we can do about it. My complaint has to do with how frequent the increases occur; too much too fast. At this rate going to Disney will be like attending a pro sporting event. Corporations are the primary group supporting pro sports these days. Will that ever happen at Disney parks...I don't know? My hope is the ticket price hikes will slow down. Instead of every year it will be every 2 years or the percentage of increases will drop. The hope is Disney won't go beyond their tipping point like pro baseball. I've seen a lot of empty seats in pro baseball stadiums this year because prices have become too steep. Could the same happen to Disney's theme parks?

[Rinjo]

I think it could happen. I would still argue that Disney is a good value at $85 per day. At 10 hours of entertainment you are looking at roughly $8.5 per hour. While a little more expensive than the priec of an average movie, I would argue the entertainment value is higher on average. Though I wouldn't say that about an hour standing in line.

Still... when you factor in the new price of a ten day pass... $291. That is $29.10 per day. Or $2.91 per hour if you spend 10 hours per day per park. I understand that $291 is a lot of money... but I challenge anyone to find on par entertainment for $2.91 per hour.

Disney is expensive... and when you start factoring in things like hotels, food and souveys... it can start to be the equivelent of a downpayment on a house. But no one says you have to stay on property or buy meals in the park. If we do not do Free dining we typicall eat one meal or less on property per day and stay off site. At that point Disney is no different pricewise than any other vacation. Off site hotels are not much more expensive, and in some cases cheaper, than their continental US counterparts. So is off site dining.

I can't agree about Disney raising their prices too frequently. My main hobby is economics. I tend to spend a lot of time following prices, and I spend a large ammount of time focusing on commodity prices. When you look at year over year price increases on commodities, Disney is BEHIND the curve on price increases. The US is able to export a lot of our inflation overseas for the time being, but not all of it.

Here is a quick Blurb on year over year increases as of October of last year:

http://solari.com/blog/?p=9139

If you look at this year... Prices on average for raw materials are up a whopping 20.7 percent. It is so easy to look at governmnet CPI numbers and think... Government says CPI is 1% why is Disney raising prices so much higher. I understand that Raw Material and final product prices are not perfect parralels (see below) but there is a correlation. This chart fot eh alst 6 months should help.

http://www.indexmund...ity-price-index

This one shows Fuel prices alone are up 28.8% this year

http://www.indexmund...rgy-price-index

Beverages are up 16%

http://www.indexmund...age-price-index

Food is up over 13%

http://www.indexmund...age-price-index

Suffice it to say commodities (ie. Raw material) prices are up higher still this year. Retailers (i.e. Disney) typically do not raise prices parralel to raw material price increases because they would shock the market and see huge declines in sales. Initially they will eat some of the costs (profits go down... stock prices decrease) but that can only take them so far. So they typically begin sacrificing quaility because consumers are slower to catch on to a loss in quality. This tends to happen in ways that you don't notice at first. For example the paper used in cereal boxes has been declining in quality for a while... the packaging of the food will change. Quality enrichment ingredients will be sacrificed for lower quality (for example calcium from milk byproducts will be replaced with calcium from sea shells)...

You can easily look at Disney and pick out these changes. How many of us remember having die-cast toys as a child, and now see the same toys made out of cheap plastic (not even quality plastic) and being sold at a relatively higher price. This isn't greed. It is easier for a producer to pass along price increases via a lower quality product than it is to raise the products price.

As commodity prices continue, and will continue to go through the roof thanks in particular to financial 'policy', you will continue to see both a decline in quality and increase in prices across the board. Disney is not immune to this. They are unique in that they have a fan base that is fervent, and in some cases zealous about the quality that we demand. The company has given up so much of the quality in their product over the years that I am not sure how much more they could stand to water it down.

Cost increases have to be passed on to the consumer somehow. We want to blame the greedy capitalist but in this case it has more to do with monetary policy and rising operating costs. Lets not forget that Disney, even in these rough times is still revamping the Magic Kingdom... redoing DCA... adding carsland... refurbing Star Tours... they are increasing the quality of their product and adding things to make the parks more attractive. Stop raising ticket prices when operating costs are increasing and not only do these things stop, but maintaining the level of service and quality that we demand stops as well.

[COH#1fan]

Be that as it may, Rinjo, I am NOT paying $100 per day to visit a Disney park or two... that is, if it ever gets to that point.

[Rinjo]

Neither will I brother! I will never pay for a single day park ticket. Even when I go to Paris Disney I buy 2 days passes on ebay typically and get them for about 35e apeice. People buying one day tickets need to do research, or havetheir heads examined.

[COH#1fan]

Rinjo, on 15 June 2011 - 07:03 PM, said:

Neither will I brother! I will never pay for a single day park ticket. Even when I go to Paris Disney I buy 2 days passes on ebay typically and get them for about 35e apeice. People buying one day tickets need to do research, or havetheir heads examined.

Actually, I meant that about the multi-day park hopper passes. If they get to the point where it's practically 100+ per day, that's where I draw the line.

[QuickGold]

Great stats Mark, but the issue is WDW prices were already high to start with...not like they were a bargain, so the increased costs are merely cutting away at their profits, so forgive me if I don't shed a tear for their plight

[Rinjo]

COH - Man... if that ever happened... whew! I mean someday we will get there... but ticket prices would literally have to more than tripple. If my salary hasn't trippled by that point there would be no chance. I dont think I would want to buy a 10 day pass at $50 per day to be honest. Some annual passes are cheaper than that.

I think there will be market pushback long before that.



Matty Cakes - I am in Korea right now and I didn't get to see my stock reports this year. The real question is, how much is gate attendence down due to prices and how much due to the state of the economy. My understanding is that the gate sales were strong during the economies peak and havent been as strong since.

If the company was not public I dont think ticket prices would be as high. I would much rather live int he days where Walt was constntly bringing the company to the point of bankruptcy... refusing to raise even the price of coffee... but unless one of us comes up with enough money to become majority share holders I doubt that will ever happen again.

Unfortunately once the company is not run by an idealogist that is not primarily focused on numbers, numbers will tend to dominate. Its the downside of going public.