Anecdotal evidence of Disney dissatisfaction and discounting

Our most recent trip to WDW was in 2022 (right before a hurricane, but they didn't know that at the time of booking) and we stayed (or originally planned to stay) at the Dolphin for 6 nights with 7 people (2 rooms), park hopping for 6 days and it was around $8k (before food). Granted, we got a pretty decent deal at the Dolphin on lodging, but I thought that was already pretty steep. Even with all the hacking and corner cutting and how much I love Disney, I'm not sure I can justify the cost when you add in transportation and food.

ApolloAndy:

it was around $8k (before food)

Yeah. I am so far from Disney's Audience that the light from Disney's Audience will take a million years to reach me.

Along the lines of this thread:

https://variety.com/2024/tv...236098290/

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08...index.html

> Disney’s TV business, excluding ESPN, continued to decline.

All hail live sports! It's the only reason I am even considering renewing my "linear bundle". I thought I'd do that for the Olympics, but I get Peacock comped by Xfinity as my internet provider, so I didn't have to do it event for that.

Sports seem more a la carte than ever, which I'm fine with, because I don't watch them. Well, I'm an Olympics junkie, but $20 one time for a year of Peacock is fine. Meanwhile, the Disney+, Hulu, Max bundle with no ads for $30 is a steal, in my opinion. I get a ton of value out of that.

A lot of secondary sports are a la carte, but until the ESPN + <I forget who> thing comes out, the primary carriers (ESPN, most broadcast networks, Fox Sports, etc.) are not available separately from a cable/cable-replacement bundle. I also saw the ESPN + <I forget who> crossover thing is going to be $43/month.

Things are changing fast, but what won't be changing is that media companies are going to want to get $X per year, collectively, and that number is not going to go down.

From today's New York Times: Is A Disney Theme Park Vacation Still Worth The Price?

TheMillenniumRider:

I'm leaving the country instead.

Yup. Theya re on the same page as me. Why eat pseudo-international food at Epcot when I can sit in a Brasserie in France along a quaint side street with proper atmosphere.

I've had Pimm's and ginger in London and Epcot. Both were served by nice British ladies and they tasted the same. I'd prefer London, but it's a little more expensive and time consuming to get to.

Some thoughts about the Times article... It feels so long ago, I forgot about Magical Express. Back in the day, that along with a value resort made it so that it was kinda dumb to stay off-property if you were only doing Disney stuff. I guess I can see how a tourist looks at it. At least they brought back the meal plans. Not sure how much they're being utilized, but I loved those as an out-of-towner.

I'm also amused by the comment that people realize they could do other things. Yeah, that's always been the case. I don't think I ever looked at Disney as the aspirational trip that some folks do. I think I went to Hawaii before I got to WDW as an adult. (Universal, on the other hand, was insanely cheap in those days.)

So after reading the article, the conclusion I got was that prices have increased over the past 10 years. Crazy.

Jeff:

I'm also amused by the comment that people realize they could do other things. Yeah, that's always been the case.

I read the article to mean that while people could always do other things, those other things are now gaining attention because the cost of Disney has gone up in price much more so than the other things.

Jeff:
I've had Pimm's and ginger in London and Epcot. Both were served by nice British ladies and they tasted the same. I'd prefer London, but it's a little more expensive and time consuming to get to.

I guess the good news is that I have had drinks on a pontoon boat so I do not need to ever go on a cruise since the drink will taste the same no matter what boat I am on!

I can certainly understand your example from a local's perspective, but if I am going to book a vacation 6-12 months out and it involves flying, I do not see an appreciable difference between planning a Disney trip versus a Europe trip.

Even when I lived in Seattle, it was still cheaper to go to Florida than Europe, especially with a kid.

But is it now? I have not looked into Europe for at least a year now, let alone comparing it to Disney, but if we are to believe the article it may be that Europe and Disney are close in cost, and Europe may even be cheaper.

“I’ve had a number of people in the last few years say, ‘We priced it out and we could take our children to eat pizza in the Italy pavilion in Epcot or for the same money we could actually go to Italy for two weeks. We’re going to go to Italy for two weeks.’”

Specifying no dates, Google says SEA -> MCO starts at $219 round trip on Delta (before carry-on charges). SEA -> LHR starts at $604 on Aer Lingus. Add passport cost, if you don't have one. If hotels are what they were a year ago when I went, they're competitive. Attractions, I suppose it depends on what you want to do there. But regardless, a family of four in Seattle is in it for $2,400 just on flights.

Which equates to a delta of $1,540 for flights, and that is going to go down when the baggage fees are added. Now looking at a 6 day, 1 park/day ticket (2 adults, 2 kids) and that is just under $2,400. So getting to England versus getting to Orlando with Disney tickets means that England is $860 less. Assume hotels and meals are a wash. The family has $860 to spend during their week in England doing stuff. And they are in England eating fish-n-chips, not Orlando eating Disney fish-n-chips.

I don't think Europe is that much of a stretch as compared to Disney.

Do any of the comparisons matter though if you goal is to got to Disney? Depending on the time of the year, a flight from New York to London is cheaper than a flight from New York to Los Angeles. But that cheaper flight doesn't matter if you are going to Los Angeles and don't care about London.

The Frontier $29 MCO to CLE special for the upcoming Halloweekends season says "hold my beer"

Yeah, as long as you can wait a few day to get there or back when they cancel that flight. I just can’t trust frontier. I don’t need fancy, but I just need to know I’ll get there.

man I wish we had Ryanair.

Agreed. If the family is set on going to Disney then they are not going to Europe, even if it is cheaper. But if the family is open to other vacation ideas then I think it matters.