Disney raises ticket prices, crosses $200 for certain dates

Disneyland Paris is pretty affordable too. It's based on demand but off-peak days are sub $100. Americans just have too much disposable income despite not being able to afford eggs.

Well, maybe. A couple differences may be:

• Japan and Europe have significantly less stratified income and wealth than the United States, such that Disney (and other entertainment operators) do not have as large a base of mass affluent (or upperish middle class) families to sell to. One way you might see that is that in Japan/Europe, entertainment budgets are more limited and consumers are more price sensitive. So a 10% ticket price increase that might cause a 5% drop in sales volume in the US (net benefit to the company) would cause a 15% loss in sales volume overseas (net loss to the company). In combination with cultural factors that others have identified above; a Disney vacation not being a pilgrimage the way it is here, apparently.

and/or

• The United States has a much looser credit environment than Japan/Europe, and a more permissive culture when it comes to using credit, which, in combination with Disney's prominence here, means the non-mass affluent are more willing to borrow to afford a vacation than Japanese/European families.

All speculative; no data was harmed in forming these hypotheses.

(This does not, incidentally, contradict the idea that USians have too much disposable income; I'm just considering that the excess disposable income is in the hands of a subset of the population, while others cannot, in fact, afford eggs.)

Three hours at a football game will set you back $160 per person vs. $200 for a full day at Disney. Realistically, the football game is going to cost you $300 a head for a good seat. Have you looked at concert tickets lately? Just saying.

eightdotthree:

Disneyland Paris is pretty affordable too.

And this was apparent this past Saturday as the park was sold out and at capacity. I still enjoyed the day but that is not a park to be at when it's packed.

I am curious. What theme park is the one to be at when it's packed?

Depending on what you want to do with your day, any park that has space is fine when it’s at capacity. Cedar Point, Epcot, USF are all fine with large crowds as it’s still easy to navigate. Disneyland Paris has such small pathways, many of which don’t allow easy flow, making it annoying just to walk the park.

Disneyland Anaheim is small like that too. Some of the pathways are so narrow that crowds accumulate through those areas. I’m quite sure that it was intentional as that kind of thing really lends itself to the cute, storybook vibe, and adds to the sense of discovery. I have a feeling an original Disney edict was to have midways that didn’t look like super freeways. But I have a friend who got trapped in a crushing mob near the castle and seriously started to feel a little panicked.

MK finally bit the bullet and initiated a long renovation project to expand the plaza for better viewing and create an auxiliary exit corridor to ease traffic on Main Street. When one sees the crowds for the parades and shows it’s clear it was necessary. I myself have been caught in a jam in that fantasyland corridor back by small world and Peter Pan, there was no place to move to get away from it.

I don't try to marathon coasters anymore, or have a requirement to achieve the riding of every ride at a park. So even if a park is packed, I can still find enjoyment in just walking around and taking everything in. But a packed park that does not handle guest flow well can make your day suck. So yes, I do believe there are parks you can be at while packed and still have a good time.

Bringing back memories of my grandfather getting claustrophobic in line for Pirates of the Caribbean and going out the fire door … good times.

Doing Disney World with the family for 3 days over Thanksgiving week. Just looked at 2 day tickets plus a Mickeys Christmas Party. Holy Crap with a capital C!