With a turn on the global economy very much on the cards, some people have started to consider their options on how they spend their money. Post pandemic, travel took a huge leap in passenger numbers and theme park visitors enacting a bit of ‘revenge travel’, spending considerably more than they usually would on their theme park or travel experience.
However, these travel companies (along with pretty much every company in any industry) have pushed the price up and up, well outpacing inflation, to maximise profits and shareholder profits. That sounds like a bit of hearsay, but these words have come out of Bob Iger and in fairness, are the remit of any CEO in the 21st century. The result has been that satisfying the more ‘profitable’ family and protecting shareholder interests are the main focus of Disney for the past few years, looking to make every cent out of families and visitors with constistent price raises for hotels, park tickets, and most dramatically the price increases in food. When these raises were announced, ‘inflation’ or ‘supply lines’ were the main reason given (if any reason was every given) to raise prices. However, extremely quickly it was obvious that Disney was doing what they could to recoup some of their pandemic losses – price gouging is now clearly the name of the game at Disney parks and resorts. $4.50 for a bottle of Coke plus tax in WDW? €10 for a ham and cheese sandwich in DLP? Get the boat. This just shows that the any visitor, rich or poor, should watch their dollars or euros a bit more carefully and consider what is most important to them. Maybe spend that bit more time at the train station in Paris to get your bottle of coke or water.
What it has resulted in, is now people voting with their feet. In a post-pandemic world, where the price of literally everything has skyrocketed, it is now emerging that travel companies like Delta have cut forecasts due to lack of demand. Prices are still sky high and they cannot fill their planes.
Disney World is looking at something similar – if you go to their website right now, it has 20% off entrance tickets. Twenty percent! When a family of 4 can cost nearly €2000 just for the park tickets, thats a hefty difference. Plus free dining plan and free nights accomodation.
Why are Disney doing this? It must be because they can’t fill their parks, and their usual visitors are doing something else (Epic Universe anyone?). Even myself, someone who would once visit Disney World once a year for about 2 weeks, hasnt been back there in 4 years now. Disneyland Paris became the easier park with small children, but even that has lost its value and lustre – the construction yard of Walt Disney Studios for literal years is a huge downer, and that park is now only a 1/4 day park (not even the 1/2 day park it gets laughed about). That wont be solved till 2026, and should have been addressed two decades ago. The merchandise is poor in Paris, but in the same vein, also very expensive. Similar problems in Walt Disney World, with Big Thunder closed currently in Magic Kingdom due to a huge redevelopment, WallCot only just finished after literal years, and now Animal Kingdom getting big changes in Dinoland. Im not against progress, but the pace is constantly slow (Tron…) and takes a lot away from the experience. It didnt used to be like this, but Disney have now (too late) realised they need to update their parks significantly.
The cruise industry for Disney also suffers from this – the same Carribean cruise I went on 3 years ago is now nearly €2000 more expensive for a family of 4. And the Meditteranean one we did 2 years ago? €1400 more expensive now. And these were from the RELEASE prices, not the current prices. Compared to many other cruise lines, Disney has always been more expensive, but Disney is using its positioning of family friendly cruising to inflate prices hugely – thing is, cruises are still selling well. But at what cost?
A lot of people are losing faith with Disney and the Disney experience. The last time I went to Disney World, I truly felt nickled and dimed. The cost of food was astronomical, to stay on site for 2 nights before our cruise in the Contemporary was over €500 a night (a treat I absolutely regretted) and the actual costs of the park tickets (we did 4x 1 day parks + 1 night of Halloween) just blew my mind away. I dont want to say that I was spoiled for choice and price in the mid to late 2010s, but todays market just doesnt feel feasible to me, the average international traveller. With rising costs of everything, absolutely everything, Disney is the one that is going to lose here. In fact in my mind, it already has lost – we cancelled our Disney+ subscription, havent been to Florida for 3 years, and Paris has lost its charm and we’ve no desire to return immediately. And that is a genuine sadness to me.
How do we fix this? Well, its pretty simple, and something that is happening already – people are voting with their feet. They’re just not going to Disney as regularly, or at all, compared to what they used to. People are feeling that the price raises have been unjustifiable and frankly, insulting to the normal individual. Disney wants to have a class system in its parks – those that will pay through the nose for the ‘experiences’ and those that will have to wait or suffer to experience that.
It is clear with the offers that Disney are now having to put out, that all is not well in the world of travel. With forecasts indicating a global recession more now than ever, this may leave Disney in a very awkward place – pandering to a very few rich people who often just have a ‘one and done’ mentality, instead of making this the ‘happiest place on earth’, and forcing its core market away.
I’ve already voted with my feet on the parks. Will you?
Disney From Ireland 