Disney World is Worried About Its High Prices.
Disney World is pricing out the middle class. This has become an increasingly “popular” topic among fans. Every few months there’s a big piece in the mainstream media that gains a lot of traction and draws new attention to issues of price increases, nickel & diming, and unpopular decisions made by leadership.
Usually, these articles are supported by quotes from disgruntled fans. They paint a picture of the company suggesting its about to hit its breaking point, and fans in revolt. The thing is, you could use fan anger to “prove” anything. Disney diehards are a passionate bunch, and I could crowdsource an article about the closure of the Fossil Fun Games in Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama being Walt Disney World’s worst decision ever.
This isn’t to diminish complaints about rising prices. It’s just to say that quotes from random fans aren’t really as conclusive as to consensus as some outside the community might believe them to be. Disney reaching its breaking point has been a much-discussed topic for at least the last decade. However, an excellent new report in the Wall Street Journal actually brings something new (and worthwhile) to the table: internal discussions from Disney about pricing problems and quotes from the company.
Before we get to that, let’s talk about the numbers supporting the assertion that Disney is pricing out the middle class. There’s a lot of financial analysis in the article, which is interesting, but not altogether dissimilar from our own How Much Does It Cost to Go On a Walt Disney World Vacation in 2025?
As with our assessment, the WSJ breaks down different tiers of trips. We have four tiers, mirroring Walt Disney World’s own Value, Moderate, and Deluxe Resort hierarchy–along with the addition of a frugal class for guests staying off-site and trying to do Disney as inexpensively as possible.
By contrast, WSJ has five tiers. That’s not the biggest difference, though. Instead of just taking the cost for each tier of trip at face value, they’re overlaying that with the five U.S. income tiers, and government BLS statistics on average annual travel spending. We question this approach to some extent.
While there is an undeniable nexus between income and travel spending, it’s not definitive.
It’s a fool’s errand to conduct an analysis of Disney pricing out the middle class–or any of the quintiles of consumers–based solely on spending and income data. There are over 125 million households in the United States, and Disney only needs to capture a small percentage of them–we’re talking single digits–each year. And that’s assuming no one visits from overseas, which is obviously inaccurate.
Averages are important but not outcome determine for Disney. What various tiers of average American households “can,” “should,” or “do” spend per year on travel is only part of the equation. Because all it takes is the outliers to skew things completely. Nevermind credit card debt, saving up for expensive vacations, multi-generation trips funded by grandparents, or even the international “whales” (non-derogatory) who make up an increasingly large slice of the tourism pie (not just for Walt Disney World, but for pretty much everywhere).
We’ve previously rebutted the notion that Walt Disney World is now catering only to the wealthy–or even the top 20% of American households, as WSJ suggests. To the contrary, the parks are still reliant on the middle class, and that demographic being willing and able to spend the ever-increasing amount that a Walt Disney World vacation costs.
To be sure, there are wealthy Disney guests. It’s probably fair to say that the top 20% is overrepresented at Walt Disney World as compared to most vacation destinations. However, there are not enough of them to fill the parks and resorts on a daily basis. Bluntly, Disney is dead without the middle class.
The majority of Disney guests–probably the overwhelming majority–are still the middle class, splurging or going into debt. The upper class cannot sustain the parks and resorts. If you visited Walt Disney World today and could Thanos-snap away everyone who wasn’t part of the top 20%, the parks would suddenly look like ghost towns.
To be very clear: we are not saying that this makes the nonstop price increases any better. Nor does it make Walt Disney World’s current approach a savvy long-term business strategy (it makes it worse!). We’ve been sounding the alarms about Disney eroding goodwill for years, and have serious concerns about the company cultivating new generations of fans.
There’s nevertheless a fundamental difference in pricing out the middle class versus attempting to extract more money from them. Disney is squeezing the middle class, not attempting to exclude them. The rich are not booking motel-style rooms with exterior hallways at the Value or Moderate Resorts, let alone the many nearby off-site budget hotels that Disney relies upon to fill the parks. Rite of passage vacations among the affluent are certainly a thing, but not nearly enough to sustain Walt Disney World.
The bottom line is that Walt Disney World is a middle class vacation destination. We’ve made this argument before, often when there’s new data to “prove” that Walt Disney World is dangerously unaffordable. The reality is that the data is important, but it’s only one half of the puzzle. If prices alone were conclusive, Disney would’ve been in serious trouble over a decade ago. And yet, that obviously wasn’t the case.
In reality, the current trajectory doesn’t change until the middle class says “enough is enough.” When that happens is more complicated than simply looking at income and spending. It also concerns guest satisfaction, intent to revisit, and perceptions of value for money. There’s the objective side to this that does matter, but the emotional component is equally critical.
Walt Disney World could increase prices ’til the cows come home, but if they’re also increasing the perceived value at a commensurate clip, many of these conversations about pricing people out wouldn’t be happening. Middle class Americans would save and splurge, viewing their trips to Walt Disney World as “worth it” even if they came with financial strain.
The reason these conversations are happening more and more is because the price increases have been accompanied by cost-cutting, nickel & diming, and other net-negatives that change the calculus for middle class Americans. Not just them, either. No one likes to be ripped off, so that 20% quintile that can safely afford Disney may opt against it, further underscoring the importance of the non-financial factors at play. This is starting to happen and the tide is turning, as evidenced by a year-plus of lower crowds.
According to the WSJ, these conversations are also happening inside the company–not just outside it among fans and critics. This is precisely why all of this matters–because it’s not just the normal financial analysis, but because the WSJ is showing that Disney is starting to lose the middle class on the equally important emotional level.
This brings us to the truly interesting tidbits from the WSJ, which reports that “some inside Disney worry that the company has become addicted to price hikes and has reached the limits of what middle-class Americans can afford.” People with Disney familiar with pricing say that “internal discussions over whether Disney parks may be losing their grip on the hearts and wallets of families with young kids have become more frequent.”
And then there’s this: “Starting in late 2023, the company’s own internal surveys of Walt Disney World and Disneyland guests found that the number of them planning return trips had ticked sharply down.”
This doesn’t come as any surprise to us. If you search this site for “intent to revisit or recommend” or “intent to return” or “guest satisfaction”, you’ll see we’ve been discussing these dropping metrics for a while. It’s our understanding that guest satisfaction took its first big hit with the rollout of Genie+ (late 2021), but improved in 2022-2023.
It’s one thing for us to hear this and another entirely for the Wall Street Journal to be able to credibly source and report it. Although the WSJ doesn’t say as much, our understanding–which we discussed at the time–was that leadership on the ground at Walt Disney World was very concerned with this and wanted to make changes, but then CEO Bob Chapek refused. (That’s precisely how leaks like this start in the first place–concerned employees sounding alarms but being overridden by senior management.)
Most fans probably don’t need a reminder of the dark days of the Chapek era, but most of this was set in motion by him. He cut once free-perks, reduced park entertainment and offerings, and set in motion two years of the most precipitous price increases we’ve ever seen at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Suffice to say, there’s a reason fans hate Chapek.
Upon his return, Bob Iger made it clear that he had been “alarmed” by price increases at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, and was concerned that Chapek was “killing the soul” of Disney. This was widely reported at the time–it’s nothing new.
Shortly after returning, Iger called a meeting with Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro and asked him to come up with a list of things the company could do to win back the goodwill of fans. According to people familiar with the meeting, D’Amaro offered up discounted parking, more days during the off season with lower-priced tickets, and freezing the regular rounds of price hikes.
Iger chose to bring back free overnight parking at Walt Disney World Resort hotels and ticket promotions, but regular price hikes continued, the WSJ reported. This isn’t entirely accurate.
I don’t know why I even bother since perception is reality and prices spiked massively from 2019 to early 2023–and fans are still reeling from that. But Walt Disney World did not raise ticket prices between December 2022 and last year. That was unprecedented.
At the same time, hotel rack rates barely budged last year (below the rate of inflation, on average). For 2025, there were just as many rack rate decreases as there were increases. Due to greater discounting, the effective rates at resorts largely decreased from 2021-2022 to 2023-2024 (and in 2025, so far).
Ticket prices are up, and fairly significantly for many dates, in 2025. Restaurant and merchandise prices have continued to increase, unabated, since 2022. Same goes for upcharges and add-ons, including the line-skipping service (that once was free). So it’s not like overall prices have held steady.
To be clear, none of this is a defense of Disney–just striving for accuracy. We have also argued that while Iger got off to a strong start in improving guest satisfaction, that progress has stalled and more needs to be done (see Walt Disney World Could Fix the Guest Experience by Improving These Things and Big ‘Little Things’ Disney World Needs to Bring Back).
The bottom line is that prices have gone up sharply since 2019, and even though increases have decelerated dramatically since 2022, it’s no wonder fans are disgruntled. The cumulative impact of the cost-cuts coupled with price increases is still staggering, and much more needs to be done to address it.
WSJ also reports that about a year after Iger’s return, Disney began to have “serious concerns” about the rising cost of visiting the parks, according to former employees involved in the discussions. The results of surveys asking whether Walt Disney World and Disneyland guests intended to return soon showed a drop. This aligns with what we’ve been told, and also extends to the likelihood to recommend metrics (which is equally important).
The issue was reportedly raised with Iger, according to WSJ citing people familiar with the matter, but parks were still booming. The Experiences division, which is primarily Parks & Resorts, had become the company’s primary profit engine in 2022, replacing the declining cable TV business. Experiences represented 70% of Disney’s overall operating income in the 2023 fiscal year, up from 41% in 2019 and 34.5% in 2018.
The Experience unit’s income of $3.1 billion for the final three months of 2024 was flat year-over-year. Attendance declined 2%, and operating income fell 5% year-over-year. As we explained following last week’s earnings call, the results probably would’ve been more positive but for Hurricanes Helene and Milton, both of which had a long tail of cancellations. Nevertheless, this came at the same time that the international parks were up a staggering 28%, fueled not by the smoke and mirrors of cost-cuts and higher guest spending, but by opening new lands and attractions.
Pricing has been a concern for investors and analysts, and was even one of the catalysts for the proxy fights of the last couple years. For the company’s part, CFO Hugh Johnston indicated during the December earnings call that Disney needs to be “smart about pricing,” especially at the lower end of the market where consumers are “feeling stress.” (This is similar sentiment to what fast food chains and retailers have reported during their recent earnings calls.)
Johnston indicated that Disney has tried to hold prices steady for lower-priced offerings at the parks and that most of the price increases were concentrated among premium packages or during high-demand dates. He added that the company wants to “tap in to those families and build the habit of coming to Disneyland or Disney World, not one time, but multiple times.”
“The number-one thing we hear from the millions of guests who visit our parks each year is how much a Disney vacation means to them, and we intentionally offer a wide variety of ticket, hotel and dining options to welcome as many families as possible, whatever their budget,” said Josh D’Amaro in a written statement to WSJ. “We also know that in inflationary times it’s especially important to give families ways to save on their visits.”
One random tidbit from the WSJ article that I found interesting was this: “Five years ago, the skip-the-line feature FastPass was free. Now visitors choose from three different tiers of Lightning Lane passes for the privilege—the most expensive reaching $449 a person a day.”
I’ve mentioned this repeatedly, but one of my recurring fears as a longtime fan is been that Disney is inflicting long-term brand damage for short-term financial gain. This line in the article is a perfect example of that. That $449 cost is eye-popping, and will catch the attention of the general public.
Without added context, they might (understandably!) assume that line-skipping at Disney costs hundreds of dollars, not that it starts at under $20. Insignificant as it might seem, lines like those might turn people off from even considering a Disney trip. They won’t learn the full range of Lightning Lane prices, because they’ll say “I’m out” before it even comes to that.
Obviously, this WSJ article as a whole is damaging to Disney. But so are specific sentences like that, or every single article about the failed Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser. Same goes for the $100,000+ private jet Disney Parks worldwide “adventure” and the Storyliving by Disney communities.
Those have received outsized negative attention for niche offerings–same with Lightning Lane Premier Pass–and I really wonder whether the limited financial gain is worth the brand damage inflicted. It’s not something that shows up on a balance sheet, so of course they look like positives (except Starcruiser, which very obviously was not). But a balance sheet can’t measure long-term ramifications or indirect consequences. I feel like this is a microcosm for this “Disney is pricing out the middle class” conversation, as a whole.
The WSJ report also points to a couple of surveys that indicate an overwhelming majority of Americans feel theme parks, cruises, and other expensive vacations are financially out of reach.
Many are reporting trading down from these to nature-driven experiences, such as state parks or beaches. Visitor data from the National Park Service bears this out, as does the growing discrepancy between Orlando International Airport’s traffic volume and Central Florida theme park (all of them) attendance.
Disney called one of the polls “flawed and misleading” and unfairly cast Disney in a negative light, according to the WSJ. The company’s response strikes me as oddly defensive, but I’m admittedly not as interested in this type of survey. Over the last decade-plus, I’ve received countless ‘story pitches’ about surveys like this for Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and myriad other destinations. (In fact, you can find recent articles similar to this one about tourism in Las Vegas or New York City.)
It’s been true for a while that the majority of Americans feel Disney vacations are financially out of reach.
The percentages have undoubtedly increased, but the results themselves are nothing new. Those of us who can afford to visit are extremely fortunate. As with the income vs. costs data, what matters more is behavior.
Are enough people voting with their wallets, or are they complaining about prices in surveys but continuing to visit and having positive experiences? It’s undeniable that the financial burden is steep; but is the emotional value still worth it? That’s what makes the intent to revisit/recommend and guest satisfaction metrics the biggest key to all of this.
I’d go a step further and say the “intent to recommend” is a very underrated variable in this. We have heard from more and more fans that, even though they’re still going to Walt Disney World for emotional or sentimental reasons, they’ve stopped recommending it to friends.
It used to be the case that current Disney fans were excellent, unpaid brand ambassadors for the company–introducing Walt Disney World to others, making new fans in the process. What we’ve heard is that–due to higher prices, greater complexity of visiting, less value for money, and more–fewer readers of this site are recommending Disney Parks to others. This is really significant, and under-discussed. People trust the word of one person in their own social circles more than that of one-thousand social media influencers.
This is also why it’s worse for Disney to lose fans on an emotional level. If costs were all that mattered, the damage would be easy to undo. Disney could turn its big pricing dial down, or pull that giant discount lever and entice people to return in greater numbers. But when you lose fans emotionally, the likelihood of that damage being undone is far lower.
Ultimately, this WSJ piece is not going to be “breaking news” to anyone reading this. It covers some well-trodden ground, and similar sentiment to what we’ve been hearing and expressing (see our article, Is Disney Eroding Fan Goodwill?, from 2018 and its nearly 400 reader comments) for years–long before the Chapek regime.
One difference here is that we’re starting to see cracks emerge in Disney’s financial results, with growth at Walt Disney World and Disneyland being primarily driven by price increases as attendance “softens” and demand moderates. Another is that the WSJ spoke to people inside the company, with the leaks suggesting that there are significant worries within about pricing (and probably a fierce internal debate if this is bubbling over with people going to the press).
Finally, there’s the practical reality that Disney has a couple of years ahead of it with no new attractions opening, and at a time when it’s biggest competitor is opening a brand-new theme park down the street. My sincere hope is that important people inside the Walt Disney Company recognize the gravity of all this and the long-term ramifications and intend to do something about it. I was optimistic about that in early 2023, and although I’m still optimistic about the long term investments in new attractions and lands, there needs to be a greater sense of urgency about improving the guest experience and satisfaction in the near-term. Otherwise, there won’t be as many fans or as big of a pool of guests from which to draw once all those fancy things open.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What would you like to see done to improve the guest experience and satisfaction at Walt Disney World? Think that runaway price increases are the big concern, or is the value proposition an equally or more significant matter? Thoughts on the WSJ article? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Our family used to love visiting WDW. We have taken our children roughly 35-40 times since 2005. Our last few trips since 2020 have been terrible and we won’t be returning any time soon. We’d consider it if they bring back the FREE FastPass+ and go back to restricting alcohol to the table service restaurants. The amount of entitled, unruly, intoxicated visitors is out of control. We get that Disney is trying to cater to a wider variety of people, but it doesn’t feel like a family friendly park anymore especially if you have young children. We’ve had many friends ask us if it’s worth visiting and spending the money these past few years and we wholeheartedly tell them “no.” Sorry to be so negative, but WDW is just not what it used to be.
I could have a 2 hour conversation on this very topic.
First and foremost, Disney has become greedy. This is not an issue of capitalism as some like to say, but a company that has become too big for its britches. Iger has deep pockets and his bazillions he has made are not enough it seems.
Part of the issue is as guests, we pay these ridiculous prices. We complain about them charging for fastpass, but then we pay for Genie/LL. We complain about them charging too much for souvenirs, but yet we purchase them. We complain about them charging too much for food, yet we pay for it instead of doing grocery delivery or eating off property. We complain about their party ticket prices, but we pay for them anyhow and spent hundreds more at the party. So why would Disney change?
Also, and I will keep this brief, but this, what is happening at this time in history, is what the Bible says we can expect to see in the economy…and it is not just Disney. It is everywhere, globally.
Disney prices are not just about the economy. The cutbacks along with the increases have been happening for a while now. The Disney apologists want to say it was all because of the “pandemic”, but Disney was doing this long before 2020. They used the shutdowns as their gateway to get rid of many things and raise the prices. Other companies did this as well. Not only do they continue to raise prices, but they have constant ride breakdowns, lower quality food items, longer bus wait times, etc. You are not getting what you pay for.
I could go on…………
“When that happens is more complicated than simply looking at income and spending. It also concerns guest satisfaction, intent to revisit, and perceptions of value for money. ”
This is the key point. It’s not just the price increases that are driving Disney satisfaction in the wrong direction IMO. It is the price increases WHILE cutting benefits, experiences, etc. in the parks. Besides just the never ending increasing cost now, the overall experience is almost certainly worse if you were to compare it to a trip from 2015 lets say. Disney doing both is what is killing their goodwill IMO.
This is a great point. I would pay 2025 prices to experience 2015 Disney again. But the experience has been degraded. It also feels like they just want high income guests.
For evidence, look at the former beautiful outdoor view of fireworks from the Contemporary’s main floor. It’s walled off to “special events”, love those tall shrubs that keep the commoners from even looking at the special guests.
I do not buy any of the garbage that WDW is “worried about their prices”. The high cost is not something new and it has been a thing for years, and yet WDW took free FP+ and turned it into another big $$$ grab. If they were really worried than they would roll back some of these expensive extra charges that they have implemented, like Genie. We live in Florida, but are a 7 hour drive away, so we always stay on property and we use to be AP holders, but they kept adding more blackout dates that is was not worth it for us. Tom grouped us in with other AP’s when he said APs do not spend as much when they visit, I’m sure as a whole that statement is accurate, but that does not hold true for us and I know for a fact a lot of other families in our area as well. We definitely spend more like an out of state family than a family that can pop in and out of WDW because they live closer.
I think this is just a smoke screen by WDW trying to show that they notice and care.
“I’d go a step further and say the “intent to recommend” is a very underrated variable in this. We have heard from more and more fans that, even though they’re still going to Walt Disney World for emotional or sentimental reasons, they’ve stopped recommending it to friends.”
–> 100% agree with this. While we are going again with our kids this year, I would never “recommend” Disney to our friends because we know almost none of them could afford it without going into debt (which obviously we would also not recommend). I think what we also don’t discuss enough is the guilt that comes with going to Disney World with your kids while also knowing that you are among a very small group of people who can afford to do so (and if you’re going more than once in a lifetime, an even smaller group).
Compounding this is the fact that we’re Canadian. Gotta say, based on what I’m seeing on my socials, there is going to be a huge drop-off in Canadian visitors to the US in general. We would have cancelled this trip if we could have and we won’t be visiting next year based on the current economic / political climate. I’m already nervous about being judged by friends and family for still going. And I’ll admit I’m feeling a little fear and trepidation about our planned trip next week, just wondering how we will be received as Canadians in the US right now. Very sad.
I don’t know what is being communicated in Canada right now, but I feel like I can safely say you are unlikely to run into anyone in Florida who will be unwelcoming, rude, or negative to you because you are Canadian. Any uncouth behavior is likely to be just because some people are inconsiderate jerks. I’d say you’re still setting yourself up at Disney to have an incredible vacation and make positive memories together and with those you interact with while here. 🙂
I second this response!
I live in the South – in a very pro-Trump area – and no one, I repeat NO ONE, has any animosity towards Canada or Canadians. There is so much flying around in the news right now, people can barely keep up anyway. 🙂
Please do not worry about enjoying your trip – you are fully welcome here!
Aw, thank you, Elizabeth. Good to hear. We really do love our American neighbours and I think most Canadians hate that we are being so divided right now. Hearing all of the various US accents is one of the things I really treasure about our trips.
As far as how you’ll be received as Canadian, I can assure you nobody cares. Not in a bad way, but literally, nobody talks about Canada here except that we feel bad for you guys with your political climate now. If you stand in a crowd in the US and shout, “We’re Canadian!” You’ll likely get a few cheers and giggles but then everyone will go their own way.
We are Canadians as well and have the same feelings. We have a vacation planned and condo rental for a month that we could not cancel as well as annual passes. We have vacationed in Disney World every year for the last 15 years and often twice a year. It is our home away from home, our happy place as it is with many other families.. I’m so glad that our grandkids were able to visit last year as who knows when they will be able to return. The polical climate is very disheartening at the moment.
I am incredibly sad and embarrassed that any Canadian would feel unwelcome in the US. I totally understand the concerns about the political and economic climate – I live with them! But my main point is that I’m from a purple state gone red – with family members who have very different stances than me – and I’ve never heard anyone seriously say anything bad about Canada or Canadians. I truly hope that our current government isn’t making everyone believe that Americans as a whole don’t like Canadians. I don’t even understand why that would be true.
we love Canadians,.. probably more than you like Americans!
Minnesotan here, we love Canadians. enjoy the sunshine!
I am along time Disney World and Disneyland fan but the prices have become unbearable. When a customer becomes resentful from over pricing a company has a big problem. Disney has made many mistakes over the past few years. Over pricing may be the last straw for me.
when we first moved to Orlando some 30 years ago, Disney spoiled us with the Florida Resident 3-Season Salute: 3 (off) months of unlimited admission for $89. That became the 4 Season Salute for $99, and finally the Florida Resident 9 Month Pass, which started at $119 and increased in price over time. The beauty of these passes is that you could come, stay just a few hours, and then leave. And they were priced so that we, a typical Middle-Class family, could afford it (knowing we’d be dropping significant cash each time we went). It would be great if Dusney would consider bringing back something like this, particukarly since Universal is upping their game.
Trying to think of something *useful* to add, since just about everything has been covered and in thoughtful ways, even the economic impact stuff that I’m not 100% certain about one way or another but think about a lot. It is interesting that “Disney insiders” are making the point for once and are actually using data on return visits. (I’d be fine if this is as close as we get to seeing how the next CEO sausage is made, since the last two or three decisions were pretty public and miserable failures.)
While I wonder if an “everyday low prices” model would work better than the Kohl’s variable discounts model, there’s several examples of retail failing when trying to move from the second to the first because people are trained to look for discounts. Not to mention I’m a big fan of OLC and their premium product; does Tokyo Disneyland price out the middle class of Japan?
when I went to Tokyo Disney in 2023/24, the price of a one day ticket was about half of what you’d pay for a WDW ticket (around $65). Tokyo Disney also offers discounted evening tickets for people going to the parks after 5pm. Plus there is the ease of being able to get to the parks by train and not having to pay extra transportation cost.
Park hotels and special packages can definitely be expensive but overall I feel like TDL is much more affordable for the average guest. especially since they rely on local guests more than people coming in for a “once in a lifetime” experience and already being committed to an expensive multi-day vacation.
I just think with Universal becoming a 4-5 day experience, Disney might have to become a bit more lucrative for shorter trips because at the prices they’re asking currently, it’s an either-or situation. When you have a mix of older/younger or boy/girl family, it’s hard to choose between the two brands. I would do both each year if Disney was better priced…they are missing out on us this year for Universal!
Great points all. The magic may not be gone, but the algorithms have obviously changed and as Tom mentions, this is really about overall value which is just not what it used to be.
In spite of always having been pricey compared to the rest of the amusement park industry, for a long time you still felt you got more than you paid for, because the experience was really that good. Unfortunately people now often feel the value proposition has declined to the point where it’s more a one and done.
Tom, love the SoCal pier pic. Beautiful!
Disney needs to return to the basics and seems to be doing so with the very inexpensive Disneyland kids ticket deal. I’m always a bit saddened to hear young kids complaining to their parents at Disney that they are bored! I would hate to be those parents!
I’m in a different class when it comes to affording Disney Parks. I live less than an hour away from Walt Disney World & am an annual pass holder. I’m on a meager fixed income, but I can afford monthly payments for the annual pass. I guess I still recommend WDW to online pen pals, because I have amassed a big desktop folder full of Disney photos I’ve downloaded off the internet (many of them Tom’s from this site) & have sometimes sent these pals photos, bragging about how I can go to the Most Magical Place on Earth anytime I want to & wishing I could share the magic with them through more than photos. I’m still sore about Lightning Lane replacing free FastPass and boycott it, and wish everyone else would, too. Although I find the Disney Parks magical, I feel the company is an Evil Empire, & in the last several years they have started promoting biblically immoral lifestyles over family wholesomeness, even putting such characters in their family movies. I use to watch each of Disney’s official animated movies religiously–now I’ve skipped some, like Strange World. Christian organizations have suggested boycotting all things Disney, but I just can’t do that; it’s too much a part of my life. I don’t know if that makes me tolerant or a hypocrite who won’t sacrifice her personal pleasures for Jesus.
Hi Gina,
I think this makes you tolerant. I’m not trying to change your mind on anything, but I do want to remind you that there are around 175 million Christians in the U.S. and we are not all the same.
As a Christian, I don’t find an animated movie showing positive representation of a gay teen character to be “biblically immoral” or “evil.” Especially when you compare it to R-rated movies with dark themes, graphic content, etc.
It might surprise you to know that at my church we have openly gay Christians – the two are not mutually exclusive. Disney has a lot of flaws, but I don’t think that destabilizing family values or brainwashing children with immorality is one of them.
Looking at US income quintile charts, our family income fits well into the top quintile, and actually into the top 5%, but Disney’s prices have still reached nosebleed levels as far as we are concerned. Maybe Disney is just grossly out of touch with the budgets of families who are not making 7 or more figures as their execs are. We cannot afford the premium prices they ask – and if we can’t, what percent of US families can, that want to go to WDW and not more luxe destinations? We DO stay in value and moderate resorts, or Swolphin, often to make frequent trips affordable. I have made over 20 trips to WDW in the past 6-7 years. Last year my 2 daughters and I had annual passes and varying groups of our family made 6 trips, with accommodations ranging from value to deluxe. The deluxe stay was via a great deal on rented DVC points. I have stayed in most of the deluxe resorts, back during covid when there were good AP deals, but would never pay rack or even most recent discount offers on deluxe rates now. We look for ways to economize by bunching trips into an annual pass and flying on points; paying $10k+ per trip is off the table for us. I found the WSJ assumption that the top quintile would spring for premier LL passes laughable; I don’t ever see them being a consideration for us.
That said, now that our annual passes are done, for the first time in several years I have no future plans on my MDE account. This year we are visiting Washington DC and Europe. Probably won’t see Orlando again for at least 2-3 years. And frankly, as disappointed as I am about them taking out Tom Sawyers Island and The Boneyard, the shooting gallery in MK for a DVC lounge, the original fruit waffles, and the perpetually shortened regular park hours, I’m not sure if I will ever have the love for WDW that I used to. They keep cutting the good stuff and replacing them with more money-grabbing ventures. Speaks volumes to me.
I have been to.Disneyworld twice and Tokyo Disneyland 5times(my husband was stationed in Japan for 7years). I am75 We are saving for the next few years to make one last trip. I’ll need to rent a scooter (but not from Disney; cheaper alternatives ). At this point I am wondering if going to Ireland or Italy is a better choice. I don’t want to.do a value resort.
I am definitely in the camp of no longer being enthusiastic about recommending Disney to others because I would hate for someone to spend their money there and not get everything out of it that they wanted. It has become too complicated to try to see and do everything you want. We have been out of state annual passholders for several years and make multiple trips a year, sometimes with extended family, and always felt like it was ok to skip things because we would always be back. The last couple trips we made felt more like a chore than a vacation and we did barely any rides and mostly just enjoyed the atmosphere. Just having the three free fast passes was huge because I could look forward to at least those 3 rides each day but now we kinda wander around and just do what doesn’t have long lines. We aren’t renewing our passes this year and don’t have plans to return for about a year and a half and that’s only because my sister “needs” me to go with her and her family because she doesn’t want to do the vacation without someone knowledgable making sure they can get to do all the things they want to.
We have been fortunate enough to Disney world 3 times and Disneyland countless times due to family in Los Angeles. My daughter recently asked to go back to Epcot and my husband said he could no longer see the point in going now the children were older and prices were so much higher. We both look back with nostalgia on a 2019 trip we took when they still had the Magic Express and Extended Evening Hours. It’s not just the money though: there was an aura of perpetual stress during our most recent trip. Part of that was juggling the issue of Genie, but there were so many logistics between trying to figure transportation, carrying around souvenirs and rides continually going down.
In contrast, Tokyo Disney, although more crowded than WDW or DL, somehow felt less stressful due to the free 40th anniversary FPs and the stellar maintenance. I think the only time I saw a ride go down was because of heavy rain.
First of all, Disney used to be known as a service company. They treated their guest like royalty from the moment they arrived at the airport, until they boarded the flight to return home. Then they eliminated Magical Express, and the associated luggage service. Then cut maid service in the hotels to only twice during a seven day stay. Hotel rooms used to always be made up and bathrooms cleaned, fresh towels, etc. No longer. Adding the expense of arranging your own travel from airport to hotel and back, dealing with your own heavy luggage is a drag compared to how Disney used to make you feel.
Several years ago, they offered specials for the value resorts for as low as $79-89 per night. Now some are $300 plus, higher than rooms at the Grand Floridian.
Other things, food prices are outrageous. Food for a week at the parks can cost as much as the rest of the vacation cost like room and tickets. We previously could choose up to three FastPasses per day before we even left home and could plan your days around that. Now have to wait til day off and pay an enormous price to see your favorite attractions in addition to what you paid for park admission.
They have eliminated special things like Osborne Family lights during the holidays, and the Castle lights during the holidays. Nothing comes close to replacing those. Have not had night parades in years. Even little things like walking down Main Street in the Magic Kingdom and smelling the Nestles TollHouse cookies baking, eliminate that too. I could go on and on. Disney has done this all to themselves.
I think maybe they will wake up and see the mistakes they have made and fix it, but I am not sure, they have done very little to remedy any of this.
Iger, Chapek, and D’Amaro are the worst leadership team in company history when it comes to the parks and resorts. Eliminating free Fast Pass, and Magic Express along with much shorter park hours and early closing times are the biggest issues. Add a lack of park and ride maintenance along with building in-cohesive, boring, bland resorts without “Disney Magic” or a special and unique theme and you have a mess in the making. The reason a lot of super fans like me no longer encourage other family members and colleagues to take a WDW vacation is that it’s become complicated, expensive, and controversial. For the first time in my life, a great many people view Disney as a company that no longer aligns with their values. Their once unassailable reputation has become damaged by 40 million dollar Bob Iger. That’s his legacy.
I really enjoyed my 2024 trip, and I want to go again…but maybe not until 2028 or 2030. Cost is definitely part of it. Even if they never raise prices again…I can’t imagine going EVERY year. Just getting to Florida is expensive enough.
When guests who can afford to pay much more to skip lines are given that option, those who cannot afford it may feel that they are valued less. The approach feels commercial and less magical. The free fast pass was great because everyone at least got some free options. Now it is like well if you can’t pay more, stand in the hot sun longer.
Bringing back the free parking was a great idea and this is how it should be. All these magical perks like free busing, earlier access to parks should stay if Disney wants to guests to keep having that sense of having a “magical day”. It’s part of its image of being great at hospitality. With covid, it was challenging but returning to that hospitality is important.
Thank you for your informative and helpful articles.
I agree wholeheartedly!!!
I read through all the comments and was surprised more people did not identify one of my single biggest issues with WDW currently:
Ride breakdowns!!
As a family that is (very!!) fortunate to have means to visit WDW at least annually, and frequently biannually, it’s my single biggest complaint. It goes hand in hand with the value proposition- if I’m paying premium prices, I do anticipate a premium experience.
When I go to the parks for my once a year visit and *multiple* headliners are down for chunks of the day, it’s beyond disappointing and frustrating and also messes with the wait time dynamics for other rides in a way that adds even more frustration to your day. And it is the single greatest reason I’m not recommending any of my friends or family go, bc I know it is a crapshoot of what kind of day they will have at the parks. It’s too much money for the day to be such a crapshoot!
You are absolutely correct, I forgot about that.
Just one anecdotal data point, but:
I had some DVC point about to go unused a couple of years ago and gave them to some friends for their first Disney World trip. When they returned, my friend reported that his teenage daughter (normally as eye-rolling and hard to impress as any teenager) was in tears when she first walked onto Main Street, and when he asked why she could only point and say “Cinderella Castle! There’s Cinderella Castle!”
It’s easy for us frequent fliers to get cynical about the changes Disney’s made that minus the experience rather than plussing it, but my friend’s family reminded me Disney’s still got a powerful emotional product on offer, just on the strength of being Disney alone. That’s not to say they can’t squander it, but they’ve got a big safety net of sentiment still: they can still build on it if they can get their heads on straight.
When she is old enough to understand value and budget, she will also be in tears. lol