Does Disney have a price problem?

ApolloAndy:

However, I do also want to point out that salaries have not kept up with cost of living...

I'm not convinced that this is true. It's a frequent talking point, but depending on the data source, it varies. The Google AI says that, "Between 1979 and 2019, real wages grew by 0.1%," and during the pandemic it was 2.9%. The nuance is that different things cost in different ways. Single-family homes are way up, for example, and that's largely a supply and demand problem. The other nuanced bit is that the middle range of earners continues to thin out, and while it's also a talking point that this is "gutting" the middle class, the reality is that more people are "graduating" up than failing down. I guess what I'm getting at here is that these factors do no superscede the sometimes unrealistic expectations.

Touchdown:
I’m much more of a Hilton/Embassy Suites guy then a Hampton guy now...

This is me. I'm such a hotel snob.

Jeff:

This is me. I'm such a hotel snob.

All rooms look the same when you're asleep.

I'd rather stay in a Holiday Inn Express and put the extra money aside for a business class upgrade on my next long haul flight.

Nicer mattresses, better breakfasts, nicer location, bigger rooms. There is a significant difference bumping from the $100-200 night places to the $200+ places. It’s the first lifestyle creep I had in travel, next creep will be better airline seats but that’s still a few years away.

Yep. Maybe it's because I'm old, but I understand sleep to be the key to generally better mental and physical health. And the cheaper the place is, unless recently renovated, the crappier the soft goods are, and the less clean. You get what you pay for, and that extends to service and amenities. And I'll buy the better plane seat too. I guess I'm officially a 2%-er or whatever.

Touchdown:

Next creep will be better airline seats but that’s still a few years away.

We just took our first business class international flight and it's going to be so hard going back to economy... But unless you grab a deal (we actually only spent something like $500 extra each for these over our original economy plus seats...) spending 400-500% more is a tough pill to swallow... These seats often run $4-6K which is insane.

That being said, economy plus and/or premium works for me most of the time depending on the aircraft used. Often times an economy plus seat in an exit row or bulkhead is plenty fine with tons of legroom... But it's hard to beat a nice premium economy or business class seat if you can snag one for a decent price!

Being able to lay my 6'6" frame completely straight in bed mode is a game changer! Not to mention the much better food/drink, attention by the flight crew, comfort of course, etc... The epic KLM crew on this flight after chatting with us and finding out I was a big aviation nerd even got us a tour of the cockpit at the end of the flight. Being able to geek out with the pilots a bit was just an awesome experience... I'm a bigger aviation nut as I am parks/coasters, and I don't think I'll ever have as good of a flight experience as this was, it was just too perfect start to finish. Needless to say, the ~9 hour flight seemed too short... haha

But anyway, at some point I plan to write up a TR for this trip (Stockholm -> Gothenburg -> Copenhagen)

God I love Copenhagen, and I only spent a day there. Desperately want to to go back.

It is a great city! We spent about three full days in each. Expected to like Copenhagen the most, but Stockholm just won us over. It was similar, but more beautiful and had a slightly more marine/coastal vibe with boat being a pretty primary method of public transportation around the islands. Highly recommend Stockholm if you enjoyed Copenhagen!

And Sweden was cheaper to boot, thanks to the Swedish Krona being not as strong as the Danish variant... haha

Thinking about doing Europe next year and I have a ton of Chase points I’ve been saving up for just such an occasion.

How much of this softness is attributable to International travel not coming back yet? We went to Disneyland this year, and on our last visit it seemed like there were more international visitors there (Japan, Korea, China, etc.) than we saw this visit. I also know that international visitors were very present the last time we were in Florida at Disneyworld. Has that segment returned yet?

Anecdotally it seems similar to me as pre-pandemic, but obviously I have no formal measurement. Epcot is once again staffed by people from the representative countries again, does that count?

Walt S:

How much of this softness is attributable to International travel not coming back yet?

It's been back with record international travelers?

"Global passenger traffic in 2024 is predicted to surpass the 2019 level for the first time since COVID-19, reaching 9.7 billion passengers or 106% of the 2019 level (12% YoY growth rate)."

https://aci.aero/2024/02/13...d-updates/

There is no softness anymore with travel.

This came up in memories today. This (and the electronic version) were definitely more guest-friendly than Lightning Lane.

I loved those little pieces of paper. I also liked that they let ride even after your return window had closed. I remember coming back for some rides like 6-7 hours after the window closed.

Current day Lightning Lanes will turn Mickey green 119 min after the end of the window. And most of the time, it will still work at cast members discretion whenever.

I hesitate to say that this is a trend after coming to the states twice this year, but there is a perception in the UK that our inflation in recent years and general 'cost of living crisis' means that people should reign in their spending a little and travel more locally.

It is not helped by the strength of the dollar against sterling, when I first came to the US I got ~$2 for £1, now I get $1.30.

@SteveWoA - Boeing? Gross.

As someone who spends a quarter of my life in mediocre to good hotels, (actually working in aviation is not glamorous at all,) I'll say that the hotel you stay in is absolutely critical. Do your research and spend the extra money to be away from highway noise, downtown noise, etc. Especially near theme parks (on topic) you'll find so many cheap with thin walls and floors and kids running up and down the halls.

So yeah, I'm with Jeff on this one.