It's Your Fault You Now Need to Pay For Fastpass

Every year, Disney raised the prices of tickets and annual passes.  Every year you complained.

Every year, Disney slowly gutted the dining plan.  Every year you complained.

Every year, Disney slowly cut in park entertainment and amenities.  Every year you complained.

Now Disney has killed Fastpass and replaced it with a paid version.  I know your going to complain, and guess what?  It's all your fault.

You might disagree with that statement or be offended by it.  Honestly, I hope it does offend you.  

Before I go further, let me clarify who I am talking to here.  I am talking to the people who complain, but take no action.  Like a addict, they ignore quality or cost to get their fix.

I know there is another group who 100% agrees with me.  They are ones like me.  The ones, who instead of complaining, took action.

Back in 2013 I wrote a blog entry called "Taking My Ears Off."  In that post I outlined seven things that motivated me to stop giving money to Disney Parks.  They were things that transitioned Disney from an expensive, but high value vacation, to not the best value vacation anymore.   If I was to write that post today, my list would be a lot longer than seven items.

If you complained but kept giving Disney Parks your money, you did nothing but waste your time.  Why would Disney do anything differently?   Their actions were making their bottom line grow.  Until that changes, Disney will keep cutting quality, keep increasing prices, and keep finding ways to milk as much money as possible out of people.  

If you want anything to change you have to take action.  Stop giving Disney Parks your money and you might see things change.  

I haven't stepped foot in a Disney Park since 2011.  Do I miss it?  Of course I miss it.  Disney World was unlike anything else.  

If I feel that way why haven't I gone back?  Because Disney Parks are not the best value anymore.  For 60 years they were, but that is no longer the case.   The cuts have changed Disney World into a shell of what it once was. 

I know some people are going to disagree with that, and honestly I don't care.  Those people are not my peers.  They are either so addicted to Disney that they can't see the forest through the trees or are in an income bracket far above mine, and feel no impact from the price increases.

You might think I'm a Disney basher, but I'm not.  I'm still a Disney fan.  I still listen to podcasts, follow Disney news, subscribe to Disney Plus, and so on.  I simple don't give Disney Parks my money anymore, and that will continue until the parks become a good value again.

Do I think I will ever step foot in a Disney Park again?  The part of my brain that embraces fantasy says yes, but realistic side of me knows it's very unlikely.  After what people have accepted, I can't see Disney doing anything that would keep people from going to the parks. 

Disney Does It Again

It’s been a while since I did an old fashion Disney post.  Recent events have made it a prime time to do so. 

As you may have figured out, I’m not a Disney defender.  From 1985 till 2010, I was a HUGE Disney defender, but Disney managed to drive me away.

The biggest reason I turned my back on Disney wasn’t the cost, it was the value.  The value dropped off the face of the Earth, as Disney reduced the guest experience to a shell of its former self.  If my last trip in 2011 taught me anything, it was that Disney no longer cared about the guest experience.  They were solely focused on profits.

Two big stories popped up in the last week.  They go hand in hand with my biggest complaint about Disney World.  The two topics are the new pricing structure and elimination of a third of the Citizens of Hollywood.

Pricing

In a move that proved how little Disney cares for (non-affluent) families, Disney introduced a new tiered pricing structure.  Now you will pay more for busier days.  Let’s read between the lines here.  If you are locked into certain periods of time off (teachers), you are now being punished.  If you can’t pull your kids out of school (most families) you can now pay through the nose. 

Are you getting anything in return for these massive price hikes?  No.  You are actually getting less.  First, this is a MASSIVE price hike.  It’s the biggest of all time.  Disney would argue that with some political mumbo jumbo, but the fact is, this change will result in average price paid jumping to an unprecedented level.

Now, how are you getting less?

The trend of butchering the guest experience continues.   Disney has consistently reduced the value of your ticket by eliminating entertainment.  The most recent example is the elimination of a third of the Citizens of Hollywood.  In translation – one third of the best part of Disney Studios has been flushed down the toilet.  That cut seriously reduces the value of visiting Disney Studios.  If you go back over the last six years, you’ll find similar cuts all around Disney World.  The guest experience is a shadow of what it once was.

I know I walked away.  For a long time I thought I was the only one.  Recently my mother walked away.  I was stunned by that.  My mother has been a huge Disney fan since her first trip to Disney Land as a child.  We are talking about someone who has been a fan for more than five decades.  She said she’s not going back.  It’s not worth it anymore.

Before you point at me and say I influenced her, let me say this.  My mother has no idea that I write this blog.  She has no idea who A. Antonio or CMDTA is, nor has she ever even mentioned it.  We haven’t talked about Disney in years. 

My family is not the only one.  For the first time we are seeing longtime fans walking away.  Now is the time to fix the problem.  If Disney waits until it impacts the bottom-line it will be far too late.  They will find themselves crippled for years while Universal wipes the floor with them.

Disney to Add Surcharge for "Husky" People

Disney announced this week that they will start charging a surcharge for people they deem to be "husky." In an effort to increase profits. 

"The airlines have been charging people for anything and everything for years and they have gotten away with it.  They starting charging for bags claiming they needed cut down on weight because of fuel prices.  We'll it takes more energy to move fat people around between the rides and monorails so we are going to charge a surcharge," stated head of Profit Development Department, Scrooge McDuck.

The new surcharges will applied to anyone who does not match the governments "ideal" height weight ratio which means 99.5% of all Americans will be subject to the new charges.  The surcharge will be applied by the pound.  The fee is expected to be $1.00 per pound an individual is over the ideal weight.

"You can expect huge revenue increases from this program.  We've been raising ticket prices every year and every year the guests keep coming back.  Our parks are like crack!  Once we have you hooked you'll pay anything to get in.  Until people show us by staying home we are going to keep raising prices!" explained head of Guest Abuse Ursala.

The new fat surcharge is expected to start yesterday and stay in effect until the cows come home.

Ticket Price Increases - The Lazy Way of Generating Income

Disney raises their ticket prices every year.  Everyone has come to expect it.  In fact it's so reliable you could set your clock by it.  However, is it a good idea?

Increasing the cost of tickets comes with a few problems.  First it annoys the Disney fans.  I'm not talking about the average family going to Disney World.  I'm talking about the fans who realize the the price of their annual pass keeps creeping up every year.

The second big issue is at some point you are going to hit a breaking point.  The day will come when the price gets to the point where attendance will decrease. 

The third issue is the simple fact that increasing the cost of tickets is lazy and there are better options that would provide more income without annoying people.  For example you could offer a $10 gift card with every ticket purchased.

At this point you must think I'm insane.  How does giving ten dollars away increase revenue? Let me explain.

The card cannot be used for food.  Some of you just caught on.  For the rest let me explain why that is so important.

What can you buy in Disney World that isn't food for under $10?  Almost nothing but people are going to spend that money.

The amazing thing is this is a glorified coupon.  Studies have shown that offering coupons make people spend more.  People think they are saving money but in fact they end up spending more a majority of the time.  People's mentality changes when they have a coupon.  Let me give an example.

Say you are selling a sweatshirt for $50 (that's not unheard of in a theme park).  The person who would like to buy it would never pay $50 for it.  In fact the person wouldn't buy the sweatshirt if it cost $40.  You leave the price at $50 but offer the coupon or in this case a gift for ten dollars.  The person will buy that sweatshirt.  Why?  Because they perceive that they are getting a deal.  If someone thinks they are getting a good deal they will spend more than they had planned.

Now you see why offering a $10 gift card generates a lot of income.  Sure there are going to be the savvy shoppers who go in and buy a pin or another inexpensive item but overall you are going to make a lot of money.

Bongo Did It!

When Disney announced that they were raising ticket prices again I wasn’t even remotely surprised. Some people were shocked. Those people are the ones don’t know their Disney history.

There are few things you can really rely on. Disney raising their ticket prices on a yearly basis is one of those things. If Vegas let you bet you it you’d win every year if you bet that Disney was going to raise their prices.

When it comes to reliability Disney is the Timex of the theme park industry. No matter what is going on in the rest of the world, no matter how bad things get, and no matter how bad Disney is getting hit, they are going to raise prices.

I always wondered why you’d raise prices even when doing so made no sense. When the economy is in the dump it doesn’t make sense to raise your prices. This amazed me so much I decided to look into it. What I found out was utterly shocking.

Disney as a whole has abandoned the family business mentality and has completely adopted the corporate machine philosophy. Most large corporations are driven by fear. The CEO fears the board members, the board members fear the stock holders, and management fears the CEO. The cycle keeps going through the entire organization. One thing everyone needs is a fall guy. To truly understand this you have to remember that there are certain terms that cannot be uttered in any corporation because they are deemed too offensive. Terms such as: accountability, service, honesty, compassion, empathy, and flexibility.

Profits need to maintain a certain level to keep the stock holders happy. To do this you have to always find new avenues of revenue. Adding features and services that people want is just too difficult. Instead Disney decided to do study to find out if raising ticket prices was a good idea. However, there is one major problem with that idea. If you raise prices and attendance drops you’re on the hot seat. If you don’t raise prices and revenue drops you’re on the hot seat. This is where Bongo comes in.

Bongo is a chimpanzee. Bongo’s job is to determine whether ticket prices should be raised every year. Every year Disney management dresses Bongo in a suit and walks him into a special room. In the room there are two baskets with bananas in them. One is painted black and the other is painted pink. If Bongo eats the bananas in the black basket first, Disney will raise their prices. If Bongo eats the bananas in the pink basket first, Disney will lower their prices. Every year Bongo eats out of the black basket first. This might have to do with the fact that Bongo’s favorite color is black but Disney management argues against that.

Bongo is actually used for more than just deciding ticket prices. Research has shown that he is responsible for a majority of the major decisions regarding Disney.

Now you might be wondering why on Earth, would you have a chimp decide such almost all of the major issues in a major corporation. The answer is simple! If the crap hits the fan you blame the chimp! He’s the fall guy for Disney management. In fact to survive in the Disney corporate machine you only need to remember one line: “Bongo did it!”

Disclaimer: If you didn’t already figure it out, the above is fiction. Disney does not use a chimp named Bongo to make their major decisions…although that would explain a lot.

Disney Accidents

Some people have criticized Disney recently because of the deaths of three cast members. I normally don’t take Disney’s side on most subjects. I often poke fun at them for not thinking things through or just being stupid. This is one area where I will defend them.

1 – The Monorail Accident: How long has the Monorail been in operation? How many people have ridden the Monorail over that period of time? I’m just going to guess at the number but I’d say it’s at least 500 million. So that means for every 500 million people who ride the Monorail, one person dies. There is nothing wrong with your safety policies if you have the ratio on mass transit. So what happened? It looks like it was gross human error. The safety procedures were not followed. What could Disney have done about that?

2 – The Jack Sparrow Accident: First let me say that I’ve seen this show. This is not an extreme show. It’s just a nice funny show. What can you do to prevent someone from slipping? He was on tarmac. The shoes the actors wear are not crazy. Accidents happen. What are the odds someone is going to slip and strike their head so hard they break a vertebra? It was a fluke accident.

3 – The Indiana Jones Accident: During a rehearsal a cast member blotches a roll and breaks his neck. This one is beyond a fluke. Take into consideration that he was a stunt man in a stunt show. Also remember he was doing a minor stunt that I did all the time when I was a kid. He was just doing a rolling summersault. He wasn’t jumping off a building or anything wild. How can you blame Disney for that? If anything he was doing something that promotes safety. He was practicing.

In the past Disney has made some big mistakes and they have had some loose safety policies that have led to injury and death. In all cases they made changes to try and prevent any future accidents.

Disney has to be one of the safest parks in the world. I’ve never felt unsafe while in a Disney Park or resort. If you want to feel like you are in danger, go check out your local fair. The fairs are starting up in New England this time of year. I wouldn’t be surprised to see duct tape holding some of those rides together. It is the only place you can go and have the merry go round be considered a thrill ride because you don’t know if it’s going to give way seriously injury you.

If you want to criticize Disney do it where they deserve it. Need some ideas? How about: D23, ticket prices, hotel prices, food prices, cut backs, layoffs, poor quality merchandise, ride closures, shameless self promotion, and stuffing Stich down our throats.

Another Year Announced – Nothing Like Being Consistent

So Disney announced some information about next year and big surprise, ticket prices are going up. At this point I’d be surprised if Disney didn’t raise ticket prices. It almost feels like a running cliché. To be honest, if Disney didn’t raise ticket prices I’d stop dead in my tracks and ask “What’s wrong?”

On the down side there wasn’t anything that really surprised me about their announcements. Couldn’t they mix it up for once? Maybe announce a new kind of ticket or option to add a little spice.

One thing I think could really mix things up is to add bonuses to plans and tickets. For example: If you buy a 10 day pass you get a Disney pin that you can’t buy anywhere. I think doing something like that would take the sting out of a ticket price increase.

The dining plan also went up in cost – big shocker there. I did the dining plan once. It was ok. I can honestly say I won’t be doing it again. I ate way too much on the dining plan because I had to get my money’s worth.

Next I’m expecting that Disney will announce a promotion soon. What will replace “What Will You Celebrate?” Maybe “Come Be Broke With Us!” I think that would be fitting. They could dress all of the characters like hobos and make them panhandle from guests.

I’m also expecting an announcement in regards to a discount for the 1st quarter. This could be the wild card. I could see Disney doing nothing but that’s unlikely. I don’t think they’ll extend the free dining. It will have been going on for three months with limited success. I’m not sure if they will do the buy four get three free either. That was a great promotion but it cost them.