Episode 136 Now Available

Authored by: wdwtodayfanclub on Monday, August 07 2006 @ 06:44 AM CDT

I think David Letterman said it best....

Top Ten Ways Disney Is Cutting Back


10. Log Flume ride at Disney World is bring-your-own-log

9. New theme park hours: 9:00 AM - 9:15 PM

8. Huey, Dewey, and Louie sold to Chinatown restaurant

7. Instead of spooky high-tech ghosts, haunted mansion is filled with depressing senior citizens

6. Disneyland now billing itself as "The 12th Happiest Place on Earth"

5. Gloomy Eeyore has to give up the Prozac

4. New Epcot Center attraction: "Bankruptcyland"

3. Space Mountain's top speed? Twelve miles per hour

2. Snow White's dwarves replaced with seven illegal Mexican immigrants

1. For an extra hundred bucks, you can ride Cinderella



---
WDWTodayfanclub

We are not Disney nerds...we are Disney enthusiasts

[ Reply to This | # ]

Authored by: njfanatic on Monday, August 07 2006 @ 08:54 AM CDT

I think that this latest round of increases, coming so soon after the last increase, really makes Disney look greedy. We so enjoyed our trip in November 2005 that I wanted to return with my mother-in-law (who has never been) in November 2007. This increase has me seriously thinking of going to Atlantis in the Bahamas instead. It may actually be cheaper, and it is all inclusive. I do think Disney may drive away some of their business. Don't you feel slightly offended that they would do this so soon, while business has been so good for them? I know it is all about business, but that just takes away some of the magic for me.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Authored by: Mcmillanmom on Monday, August 07 2006 @ 09:39 AM CDT

Back in 2000, when our daughter(Ariel) was born, we desperately needed to get away(colic) for our anniversary. Being that I was not working, money was very tight.

We bought a package for 3 nights at the Wyndham(now the Buena Vista Resort) with a fancy dinner at Arthur's 27 and it included airfare.

We had the best weekend, touring Downtown Disney, eating out, doing the pool, shopping at the outlet mall. Our room was so high up that we watched the fireworks from our balcony.

Bottom line is we never went into the parks and had a lovely Disney time and they didn't see our $$$.

I read somewhere that Disney expects the average family to visit 1.2 times in their lifetime. If that drops to .08, they will adjust their prices, so never fear, greed has its equalizer.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Authored by: wdwtodayfanclub on Monday, August 07 2006 @ 10:39 AM CDT

Len,

Sometimes I have a hard time telling if you are using sarcasm or if you were being serious about not going to Disneyworld because of the price increase?
If you were serious you are being silly about a $4 or less(pending on your package) a day increase. Even for a family of four for the length of stay you are talking less than $100. It just means maybe instead of going to Le Cellier you go to The Electric Umbrella.
Believe me no one is going to be happy about a price increase but I seriously don't think it is going to change anyones plans. Now lets talk gas prices......

---
WDWTodayfanclub

We are not Disney nerds...we are Disney enthusiasts

[ Reply to This | # ]

Authored by: jaypenguin150 on Monday, August 07 2006 @ 09:51 PM CDT

Call Me Crazy...but I don't think that this is the mouse's attempt to grab all the cheese in the Theme Park Business.

1-
As a shareholder, I get the information packet they send out yearly. The theme parks are usually the lowest preformer (behind TV, Movies, Merchandise,...). Although this year was good (50th anniversary), I think they are trying to get theme park productivity up.

2-
Also, This is probably an attempt to get more people onsite longer. Now that prices are better at 8 days rather than 6 or 7, more people will stay on site for a little longer. The 'Packages' are starting to make WDW the park for the 'family vacation', whereas DL is the park for quick disney. If you look at the Advertising, you always see WDW as the '7 day, 6 night' park, and DL as the 'Tradition' park. (I'm not saying that one is more magical than the other).

3-
We know that disney is making newer, bigger, faster, more magical rides. We hear rumors and read press releases about these new attractions (The seas, Midway mania,...). Maybe after Everest, and with new rides coming, Disney needs some extra cash to make 'dreams become a reality' (I know, that is cheesy)

The bottom line- What price do you put on Disney Magic. $100/day. $200? $500? We need to realize that maybe instead of going down for Star Wars, Food/Wine, and the Holidays for 5 days each, we need to go twice a year for 7/8 days. That maybe is what the mouse is trying to do. Make WDW into a extended-week vacation site instead of a extended-weekend vacation.

Call me crazy...but I think that this is the truth.

jw

---
Nothing is more wonderful than the imagination. For, in a moment, you can experience a beautiful fantasy. Or, an exciting adventure!

[ Reply to This | # ]

Authored by: patrokls on Tuesday, August 08 2006 @ 01:04 PM CDT

How often do "normal tourists" go to WDW? I generally go every 4 or 5 years,
so this price raise won't effect me too much. The people who will feel it most
are those who go every year or multiple times a year.

How much does it cost to go to a Broadway show?
How much does it cost tto go to a concert?
For a "regular tourist" I think the prices are still in line with most everything else
of the same caliber.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Authored by: DisneyConvert on Thursday, August 10 2006 @ 07:02 AM CDT

Price increase is relative to what currency you are paying with . . .

remember that increasingly, more of America's and WDW's tourists aren't from America. What many of us see as a 12% "increase" in dollars is more like a 20% decrease during the past few years as measured in Euros.

We know the good folks at WDW aren't dumb. As recently reported to the financial community, they are making some serious coin at their parks, after a few slow years post-2001. The attendance figures indicate that, despite some $-denominated price increases, they aren't driving too many people away.

Go if you can afford it; otherwise, there's always the neighborhood Chuck E. Cheese!

As for us, we may forego a short trip that we were thinking about in January.

[ Reply to This | # ]