Not sure you picked a good time to raise prices Mickey:

"Disney announced Tuesday that it will raise the price of a one-day, one-park Adult ticket to $82 — the first time any of Orlando’s theme-park resorts has charged more than $80 for a base ticket."

"The resort will also hike prices for multiday-ticket packages, which it sells in far greater volume than single-day tickets. It will tack another $2 — from $52 to $54 — to price of adding a “park hopper” feature to base tickets allowing visits to multiple Disney theme parks in one day. And it will increase annual pass prices, too."

Full article: http://thedailydisney.com/blog/2010/08/d....

They're insane. I flushed them from our list of places to go in Orlando about two years ago when they were raising prices into the recession.

The value proposition simply isn't there any more. The parks are nice, but ride-poor compared to places like Universal and Busch Gardens in Tampa, and the VALUE simply isn't there.

I guess there are no unicorns in the Magic Kingdom?

That is an expensive week for a family of four. Expensive entertainment options are getting even more extreme.

I am amazed how many families I see at MLB games. Those tickets start around $30 in Philly.

Disney parks are awesome, but way too expensive.

I marvel out how effective they are at maintaining a certain wait for all major rides so that even though you are going at non-peak times you still wait. I can almost see the number crunchers working under the park matching wait times against how*****ed off people get having to wait, and outlining the optimum balance.

I just checked and Atlantis is offering discounts like buy 3 nights and get the 4th free....plus other extras like free companion air fare. And Disneyland is going up? Something's not adding up. Is Disney union run?

Yes.

Reminds me of a women complaining about the $15K stone wall being built on her property. The stone was $5K and the labor was $10K.

I looked at her and said don't you think everyone should get Union wages like your husband (Union Plumber). The look was classic, and not another word about how much this wall was costing them.

I don't get the attraction of these places, but then I've never been to one. At $82 I never will.

For people who go for the expense of getting to Orlando - coming from who knows where on the planet, staying in hotels - $2 more not going to make a difference.

It makes sense for Disney to say: If they do show up at our door step - it is not because we are cheap.

so they make on the decline in volume in higher prices. that is also called inflation.

Except flying is getting more expensive with all the extra fees too...

It actually does make a difference. I was making reservations today for November and because of that we have decided to stay in Cocoa Beach and do the "Space Coast" thing and just hang out the rest of the time. Disney lost four customers, not that they will notice.

I would never ever want to go to Disney/Orlando again. ( First me/wife, second me/wife/son and third time me/wife/son/daughter) So been there three times. Last time was total rip off and bad experience. It was too hot, humid, boring..it completely sucked. Parks were too jam packed ( no space to move without bumping into someone) the wait at the lines were too much to bear. The crowd seem to be out of control due to multi-passes. The rides were broken or under repair. Could not believe when approached by someone to buy our used tickets, when we were leaving from the parks. I saw lot of "used ticket" scumsters shops in Orlando, openly selling unused portion of the multi-day tickets at half or 1/3 prices ! Welcome to Mexico.

we said "see never ya" to Orlando "attractions"

The mouse needs to eat

I predict they're going to find the corner on this, and it won't be pretty for them when they do.

The Florida Resident options have gone up a LOT in the last few years. "Play Four Days" were $99 not all that long ago. Those were a decent deal - valid from early January through June, any four days. Well, the last time we looked they were now ~$140 before tax.

Nope. Not me. You go right ahead.

There's a price beyond which these parks are not worth doing. I accept that the food and beverages will be a total rip job as part of the package, but there's a corner on marginal utility for me.

Let's be real. For $70 I can get an annual pass at Busch Gardens in Florida (as a state resident), or two years for $150. Disney wants over three hundred ****ing dollars for ONE YEAR. FIVE TIMES the price?

Universal (both parks) is $140 - with a few blackout dates, or $219 with none - again, annual. A bit more expensive than Busch Gardens, but not much.

Disney can blow me - I'm not going any more.

Disneyland, CA/Anaheim is $169 for 170 days- unlimited no blackout is $299..no parking included with these.

I guess it depends if your kids are into Shamu or Cinderella. I know several with kids my sister included and they hit Disney ALOT...when your doing 20+ days a year its a pretty good deal if your a local.

Disney can blow you? I was going to post a picture here, you know, something with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck but on second thought....

My boss and two others I work with both gave up the season passes this year. All because they raised the price.

Cedar Point, in Sandusky, OH, is a bargain at $46.

Remember you dealing with two parks with a population 305 million. They will always have an audience because they're Disney and people will to go.

The question is how many times in these peoples lives will they visit Disney? At $50 a day pass they may go every three to five years.
$82 a day maybe once every five to ten years.

82 bucks/day ? To stand on line and buy over priced food ? WTF

Yeah... Ceder Point's good for me at 46 bucks (before discounted tickets).

And it only takes just over two hours from Metro Detroit.

My family just moved back to FL and we're about 35 miles or less from Disney. My kids are approaching the age to make their first trip to Disney, but the cost is totally turning me off. The price is out of reach for us (we're both teachers). Prices are too high for the working class and I'm not going to save for years to visit that place. The ticket price is just one aspect of the total cost. You have to add in parking, food, etc.

Taking a family of four for one day costs way too much. For that price, we should get a "vist free for second day" kind of deal. We will just go to Silver Springs and Busch Gardens (when the kids are older) instead. Heck, for the price of one day at Disney, we will just return to the beach for 2 nights over at Treasure Island!

Don't forget that Legoland is opening a big park in 2011 and I hope they eat Disney's lunch. I would much rather go to Legoland.

I too think Disney is pushing their luck on the ticket price hikes, but they're smart folks who know the theme-park & resort business inside and out. They would not be doing this if they thought it was going to cause problems. In many ways I personally think it is a premium product compared to Universal, IOA, and Busch Gardens.

I was just at a convention at the new Bonnet Creek Hilton & Waldorf Astoria - place was jammed as were the parks.

Also, remember that WDW is not a few hundred acres with a park on it. Its almost a state-within-a-state.

Reedy Creek Improvement District - "The Improvement District has far-reaching powers. Through the District, Disney could construct almost anything within its borders, including a nuclear power plant (which it never built, opting instead for a more traditional plant that supplements power from outside of the District)."

Anywho, the Mouse is getting my $ again this year. But me and the family will mostly be enjoying the parks and doing very little (if any) shopping and eating at their nice restaurants. Gotta cut back somewhere.......

And we are driving the 16 hours to get there - even Southwest Airlines is too much $$ these days. And there you have it folks. If people are willing to drive 16+hours to get to your product/service, or spend a boatload of $$$ flying there, odds are you can increase your ticket prices and get away with it.

Quote:

We will just go to Silver Springs

Loved that place! Was there with my kids maybe 7 or 8 years ago as a side-trip from our week at Disney. I thought it had closed, but I'm glad to hear it hasn't.

-Uwe-