Disney and Universal over the Top
 

Yesterday, Disney followed Universal's recent price increase and is now the most expensive park in Florida. At $95.00 plus tax, it will now cost a family of four (over 10 years old) over $400.00 just to get into the Park. Add food to that cost and you have a very expensive outing for sure. My last trip to Disney cost three of us nearly $300.00, stood in lines for hours and hours and was only able to ride four rides and watch the parade. The entry fee to Disney has doubles since 2000. This price increases concerns me because I believe there are many average families with children who might never have the funds to attend either of the parks.

I agree. If Walt was still alive he would never allow such high prices.

If you are a Florida resident, you get real savings by purchasing a Florida resident annual pass. The price is $309 and you have access to all the Disney World Resort Parks for an entire year.

I'm always amazed at the number of people in the parks. I was in the parks several times last year when they closed the parking lots and didn't allow anyone else inside because they were at capacity.

As to eating, I've seen people people inside the various parks sitting down and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Where there's a will, there's a way. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/fa...ood-and-drink/

No matter what the price there will always be families that can't afford to bring their kids there.
Millions of people come from all over the world to experience these parks. The price doesn't seem to be driving anyone away. It's, like everything in business, simple supply and demand. If the price was too high, people would stop coming. As long as the parks fill up, the prices will increase.

The other thing is that there seems to be thousands of discount programs available. It seems that every time share operation gives out Disney tickets. I'm sure they are not paying full price. If you stay in the resorts you get a reduced price. Florida residents have numerous options to pay very low prices to vist the parks. The entrance fees are also bundled into vacation "packages" which I assume that most people visiting from out of state are buying. If you vist more than one park over a few days the price is reduced. I have to wonder how many people actually pay the $95.00 advertised price. It may be a case of marking it up so that they can offer discounts.

I also wonder what the cost is of running and maintaining these parks. They are always beautiful and clean. There seems to be constant expansion going on. Operating costs must be huge. I wouldn't want to see the quality reduced.

What was the cost of the parks when they first opened and what is the cost today adjusted for inflation? Also what are you getting today in terms of technology and experiences that you weren't getting 25 years ago.

People will always complain about prices, but we need to look at all of the factors when it comes to setting a price.

And, Disney made the Orlando area what it is today. The other parks and attractions wouldn't exist today if not for Walt's vision, Orlando would be the sleepy little horse town it was before The Magic Kingdom opened. When people hear the name Orlando, they immediately think Disney World. They are the biggest, and most famous park in the world. They should have the highest prices compared to other parks in the area. If it wasn't for Disney, Universal wouldn't exist. Or it might exist in Los Angeles.

Well said
 

Nicely done! :agree:

It is very expensive and I cringe when I have to pony up the $$$, but I believe in free enterprise. And if the prices were in fact too high, they would see a significant drop in attendance, my GUESS is that they do not over time.

I went to Disney the first day they opened in Oct. 1971. General admission without any "Adventure Book A - E" ride tickets was only $3.75. With the ride tickets a little more. When Epcot opened in 1982, tickets were $15 to either park. By then they had stopped the A - E tickets.

When Disney World first opened (and for many years thereafter), guests purchased a book of ride tickets (similar to what you would get at a carnival or fair). The book consisted of A through E tickets, with the E tickets being the best rides. E ticket attractions included 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Small World and the Hall of Presidents.

Seven Adventure Ticket Book: Adult $4.75, Junior $4.25, Children $3.75
(included transportation, admission to MK and seven adventures)

Eleven Adventure Ticket Book: Adult $5.75, Junior $5.25, Children $4.75
(included transportation, admission to MK and eleven adventures)

General Admission: Adult $3.50, Junior $2.50, Children $1.00 (inlcuded unlimited use for one day of transportation system, admission to MK and all
free shows, exhibits and entertainment)

Parking: 50 cents per automobile

Source: Disney World's Grand Opening

I believe that anyone that has taken Economics in college would recognize the comment Dr. Boogie said about supply & demand as one of the laws of economics and how especially in this case the prices are influenced to be as high as they are. I'm thinking that there is a lesser factor that could also affect the price. That put simply is demand satisfaction. If the prices were more economical, would the demand skyrocket way beyond Disney's ability to satisfy that demand? Probably not a provable idea, but it is a thought to ponder!

Oh, and if you want to do the math, try this: CPI Inflation Calculator

The reason Disney and Universal are raising prices is - as the wise Dr. O'Boogie said - it's supply and demand.

I'm less concerned with the price than the value for the price. As crowds increase at Disney, ride waiting times are huge and for your dollar you get a certain degree of misery. We are lucky living down here as we can attend during low crowd periods (after Labor day is best). If Disney wants to raise prices - fine. Create another park to absorb crowds. Disney Seas in Japan is fantastic...the technology and designs already exist. Add Car Land from Disneyland here (the Mouse Studio is perfect for it). Get Avatar built.
All of these will absorb crowds and add value.

At least Universal is adding a new Harry Potter land.

The bottom line is value - not cost.

and there is no longer non expiring tickets

I agree with you Gary. You get what you pay for and if you want quality you gotta pay for it. However, standing in lines for 2 hours is not my idea of fun or a good value.

Since we have lived down here (5 years now) we have been to Disney once. For just the 2 of us to walk through the gates (not to mention parking!), get a Hopper and buy meals, I believe we spent upwards of $400 just for a day!! I'm not talking gourmet food either. Burgers,fries and a couple of drinks came to over $35. I don't know how families can afford to stay in a hotel and do the theme parks for a week with 4 kids. They must have to save up for years.

Magic Your Way: Facts on 2013 Walt Disney World Resort Prices « Disney Parks Blog

The above is a link to all current prices. Non expiration tickets are still available

Yes there is.

Disney Magic Your Way Tickets

I'm still paying 2005 prices because I bought a 10 admission hopper ticket for $350 which included 5 water parks and 5 ESPN admissions.

From 1999 to 2004 my wife & I owned a vacation home very close to Disney that we rented out. Rental homes near Disney can be a better alternative to Disney hotels. We had a few times where potential renters would call and want to rent but complain that Disney prices were high for their family and asked us to lower our rent. Our answer was always the same "Please check with Disney and see if they will lower their prices and then we will".

Good answer.

Are you aware that you can buy a Florida Resident Weekday Season Pass for $211. I does have most of June, all of July and much of August blacked out, but if you go three times, you are way ahead of the game.
Why get a Park Hopper? I can't imagine seeing everything in any one of the parks in one day. Plus the time that you will spend going from one park to another is wasted.
Food prices are absurd but it's no different than a sporting event. We went to a Rays game and a 12 ounce beer is $10.00. If I recall correctly, hot dogs were
$8.00.
We bought the weekend passes and have gone three times so far. We will go about once a month beginning in August. If we go ten times, that will be about $21 for each visit. Add in $14.00 for parking. (and there is a way to get around this if you want to go through the trouble) and about $40.00 for food and it less than $100 for the two of us to go to Disney for a day.
We also plan to go and stay over night at a hotel down there. That will eliminate the parking fee.

That's an excellent point. Buy raising the prices that are actually benefitting the people who go there. Higher prices may mean fewer patrons and shorter lines.

If you want to avoid the lines, you should go in Sept and Oct.

I think that the demand has already gotten to the point where they have difficulty satisfying it. As Doug said, a lot of people are very disenchanted with waiting in line for hours for a 90 second ride.
They have got to be thinking about having less people in the park while maintaining there current income.

We have season passes and go at the very least once a month. We went to nearly all of the Flower Power concerts at Epcot. We go to meet friends, have a few adult beverages, see the concerts, have dinner and head home. The summer concerts are starting at Epcot and we'll go down for a few of those. We have guests in the summer and it makes it a lot cheaper to already have our tickets if we go to the parks with them.

With a season pass you don't feel rushed to get your money's worth out of the day. You can go for just a few hours, eat somewhere nice in Orlando and come home. We feel blessed to be able to do that. The proximity to the theme parks in Orlando is just another added thing we love about living in The Villages.

Ohhh...good suggestions!! I also heard parking is free at the resorts and then you hop on the shuttle to the parks.

DW and I have been doing Disney together since 2002. We have FL premium passes (which have no blackout dates and include parking plus water parks and discounts at some shops and restaurants. Proximity to Disney was one of the factors in moving to the Villages. We are still young enough that we can drive down in the morning and be in the park when it opens. We do what we want and usually head for the exit around 3 (when the crowds are moving into peak mode).

As to price, consider that Disneyland (California) has about 10% first time visitors and 90% repeat guests. Disney World has about 90% 1st time visitors and 10% repeat guests.

We normally carry a backpack with ponchos (rain and water rides), a lunch box sized soft cooler with soft drinks and sandwiches. This will save money, but more importantly saves time and lets you simply stop and eat when you want to.

If you want to avoid crowds, I recommend TouringPlans.com - for a modest annual subscription, you can see crowd projections a year in advance.

Quote:

Ohhh...good suggestions!! I also heard parking is free at the resorts and then you hop on the shuttle to the parks.

Sorry but no, The Resorts are all gated and require a parking pass, except for dining reservations. You can park at downtown Disney and catch a bus to a resort and from there get to the parks. (some you can walk from others you need a second bus) But the buses don't run from downtown until 10:30 ish so if your plan is to be there at opening you get to pay for parking

if we go we always stay a night still have our passes from 2002

You are absolutely correct, but IMHO there are only two effective solutions that can substantially help fix the problem. Raise prices to reduce demand or expand further to help meet it. Seems to me like they have been using a balanced approach by using both solutions in the past and will probably continue to do the same well into the future.

Boogie
 

Is it so hard to understand that there is a whole group of people out there that will never be able to afford these theme parks. These folk would like to enjoy the theme parks just as much as anyone. Half of our nation live at or below the poverty line, These folk have nearly no chance of visiting Disney. I also find it strange that the Florida theme parks have price increases always within a few days of each other. The cost for Disney has doubled since 2000.

Alas, the park is expensive. Getting to the park, either by car or plane, is also an expense. Personally, I think the cost to use the park is high, especially when you might not be able to get on many rides. Maintaining the rides and the park is far from inexpensive. There are some kids who might not be able to see either Disney in CA or Disney in FL at the present time, but it doesn't mean they won't ever. I was in my mid 20's when I first visited Disneyland in CA....and immediately on passing into that magical place, I was that young person who watched Walt Disney World, The Mickey Mouse Club on TV years and years ago. I smiled, shed some happy tears and then was off to enjoy something I didn't ever think I'd ever see.

Remember you started this thread....were you just making an observation or....?

The problem with raising the entrance fee in order to reduce the number of patrons is that you'll lose a significant amount of ancillary income. The gift shops and food concessions will have a drop in sales. Those businesses are dependent on high traffic volume. The only solution to that would be to raise all the prices of the souvenirs and food.

There a whole bunch of people out there that can't afford their next meal or decent clothes to send their kids to school in. I worry more about them than the cost of Disney or any theme park.

Consider joining the Florida Farm Bureau. You do not have to be a farmer to join. One of their perks is that you can get Disney & Universal tickets at a discount, and by joining you help a good organization.

There is a whole group of people out there who wouldn't be able to come to these parks if they were free. People that are living in poverty can't afford the airfare, lodging and food costs. I would think that people living in poverty hopefully would have higher priorities than visiting Disney World.

I know that people that can't afford it really would like to go there as much as everyone else. There are a lot of things that I would like to do that I can't afford. I have zero chance of owning my own private jet or living in a ten million dollar mansion. I have zero chance of summering in the south of France. Here's a little bit of reality for you. Not everyone in the world can do everything that they want.

And where do you get that half of the people in the United States are living at or below the poverty line?

Disney's Overhead is HUGE!
 

I was a Vendor for Disney for about 15 years until I sold my business. I sold Disney dozens of Automobile Lifts to maintain their enormous fleet of vehicles. I did the preventative maintenance on the lifts also. If you could go behind the scenes and see the day to day operation as I had for years, You would be mind boggled. Disney, in my opinion is the most safety conscious Company that I have ever worked for in my 30 some years in this business. To run a first class operation as Disney, it costs big bucks and with costs on everything rising, so must the admission cost. Hopefully this will "Splain" why this is happening.:spoken:

warren - i saw no complaint in the post that you site. i saw a rational and well thought out response.

i was one of those kids who had no shot at going to disney world as a kid - felt bad about it - but that was life! matter of fact - there was a lot i did without when growing up. might be what made me apply myself, get good jobs, work hard at them and achieve all that i have today. it's a great lessson to learn.

what is wrong with some folks not having a chance to visit disney or any other theme park? i think dougb has a better idea for being concerned about something [and i'll throw in sandy storm/tornado/wildfire/earthquake victims to his list].

I have no idea what the real stats are as far as the "poverty" level in America. However, there has been a lot of jockeying and massaging of the goal posts for what now constitutes "poverty" in America, so there may be a possibility that "on paper" the poster might be right.

However, many people who are labeled as being in "poverty" in the USA live like kings compared to those in poverty in many other places in the world.

Amen to that.

According to Wikipedia:
16% is a far cry from half.

As I said..I did not know.

I hope that you didn't take my post as an attack on you or your post. You said that you didn't know and I provided the answer. My comment was aimed more toward the poster who claimed that we have a 50% poverty rate.

Ok, that factoid about poverty levels is resolved.

Back on topic to Disney/Universal prices....