Disney planning dynamic pricing for domestic parks

There's been a lot of talk around here about economics and how affordable Disney is...

He noted that Disney park-goers tends “to be at the higher-income deciles, and those consumers continue to do well. So we certainly broadly feel good about where the consumer is.”

I would be curious about how broadly they're defining "higher-income". I still contend that there's no way the parks are being filled with only the wealthy.

And aren't they already dynamic with their gate, lodging, and virtual queue prices? I guess maybe the story is that they are looking at expanding or going beyond that. Or is what they're doing now not truly dynamic.

He said deciles (plural). So, divide everyone up into 10 groups. Multiple deciles means at least to 20%. Top 30% and top 40% would also be high income deciles though 40% would be a stretch to me to say it fits.

And there is some subjectivity when it comes to determining who is "rich" or "wealthy." To a certain extent, its someone who makes more than the given person making the determination. I know people worth north of $10 million who think you need to have at least $100 million to be wealthy. Sure there are people worth $100 million who view the threshold as hundreds of millions. And someone making $50,000 may well have a different view of rich/wealthy than someone making $150,000 or $250,000.

They have something of a hybrid dynamic pricing model now. More popular dates come with higher prices. But those are established in advance. Sounds like they are looking at making it more dynamic meaning prices would change on the fly as the given day approaches. If demand is higher than expected for a given date, they would increase the prices for that date. Could reduce them as well if demand is less (though some visitors paying the higher price may balk when they see lower prices being offered).

GoBucks89:

Could reduce them as well

Ha ha. Good one.

bigboy:
I still contend that there's no way the parks are being filled with only the wealthy.

I asked ChatGPT what he meant by higher-income deciles.

Bottom line: I think “higher-income deciles” in that piece most likely refers to the top 10% (or maybe top 20%) of U.S. households by income — people who make well above the median, likely $200,000+ annually, depending on the exact metric.

Top 20% starts at around $175K. The source is census.gov.

So I think GoBucks is right. It depends on what you consider wealthy. My household is in the top 10% but I don't feel wealthy. I feel comfortable but I can't just spend whatever I want whenever I want.

I can't just spend whatever I want whenever I want.

I think of that not as wealthy, but "post-economic." That's a whole different kettle of fish.

Using these stats, I'd say the top half can probably do Disney, at least in a basic way. It just depends on your priorities.

Elsewhere in the results, or maybe it was the call, they said domestic attendance is down 1%, and honestly I expected more just by eyeballing the crowds.

I imagine this lets them more precisely calibrate exactly how high they can raise prices and the consumer will still tolerate it.