Sooooo while the theme park press was over at Universal, Disney quietly raised the prices $4 a day so Magic kingdom is now $99 for a one day pass. That is now 50% higher than Tokyo Disneyland (or Tokyo is 33% less depending on how you look at it). While they have every right to raise prices, it has been less than nine months since the last increase. Have they provided more services? ; How about parades? (Oops I think only one park will have an afternoon parade now) And they are investing in Star Wars Weekends by....removing a show and adding fireworks? But at least you are getting a benefit from Magic bands, right?
And despite everything that would seem to make the parks LESS desirable, attendance has been sicko-crazy-uber-crowded. ; Can't remember a time in the past 5 years when I've been able to walk directly onto a ride with no line, or walked around Epcot's World Showcase with no more than 20 people in my line of sight...which is what it was like for decades prior. And I guess there's your reason...they're raising it because they can...people are filling the parks at ridiculous numbers so the profits are there for the taking. ; I suppose they'd consider dropping rates if attendance was falling precipitously, but it's like the oil companies raising the price of gas just because a holiday weekend is coming up: they know people are going to be buying gas no matter what, so the higher price is just pure profit into their pockets. ; Disney execs are seeing those same dollar signs. As a park attendee, it drives me nuts that there aren't any 'quiet' seasons anymore, but as a Disney stockholder in at $17 a share, I can't complain as the stock is at all time high!
I will venture to say the expense probably outweighs the savings. ; In terms of both goodwill and ; actual colors.
Not surprised by this much, I mean prices are certainly not going to decrease. (Curious does anybody remember ticket prices going down?) We aren't planning a trip to Florida next summer, opting to go to the other parks, National types like Acadia in Maine. The boys are a little less excited about going to Disney these days and paying for college and high school puts a dent in the budget. We are planning something for 2015 but honestly Universal will be the focus with the Harry Potter Expansion being the main reason we are going down to Florida. Justin - good to hear someone here has some stock in Disney!
