It seems this website reproduces the article but automatically replaces the original words with synonyms. A clever workaround, but I wonder how legal is that.
I've felt that Disneyland/world and other theme parks (e.g., Europa-park) were overpriced to begin with, but if they believe that other people are willing to put up with airline style pricing and other forms of price setting - well, power to them, I guess.
People waiting in lines did spend for admission, though.
Consider it this way: If all rides and all facilities have lines waiting for entrance, they are all at maximum productive capacity. The only way to expand revenue is to get more people in the door, or build more revenue-generating attractions (only the attractions that charge per use matter here).
Not 100% accurate, b/c I'm sure that not each and every little hot dog stand or tchotchke booth has a queue, but a good model.
>Inner projections at Disney present that even after elevating costs at roughly double the speed of inflation over the previous 5 years, it may cost way more than it presently does with out driving away too many shoppers, an individual aware of the corporate’s parks operations mentioned.
I'm sure they don't, but from a business point of view, those people really don't matter.
Like I said, if they were to reduce the number of people in the park by say 50%, that means that everyone would have to pay double in admission to maintain the same income. A 3-day park ticket is already almost $400. Do you really think enough people would be willing to pay $800 for a 3-day ticket to offset the number that wouldn't be willing to pay that? And would that extra cost of admission reduce the amount those people spend on souvenirs, food, events/shows, etc...? And would a 50% reduction in guests really make it "feel" any less crowded? (the distribution of people in the park is far from "normal")
I'm going to side with Disney on this one. I assume the big mouse has done extensive studying in this area, and they are probably pretty close to matching what the market will handle.
Not to mention that they are trying other methods to reduce crowds and wait times. They now allow you to schedule your rides during 1-hour time slots to avoid waiting for up to 3 rides a day (our last trip we didn't wait more than 15 minutes for any ride because my wife was able to schedule them for the whole trip). And there are options for some customers to get a cast member to go with them all day and basically skip all lines for a few $1000 if you want.
Don't they have a fast track product to skip the lines? It's probably optimal to price to pack the park and let the people who hate lines pay extra, instead of trying to keep lines down by increasing the price for everyone. IIRC they use varying fast track pricing on different rides for crowd management too.
So there is/was an after 4pm Epcot pass you could buy for a discount which kind of suits this need. Makes sense especially for people coming into town on conference/work business.
As the economic stratification of society accelerates, you will see more and more of this. The ability to charge a price that only a small fraction of the potential market will pay will deliver outsized profits as long as you can charge more, proportionally, than you lose in market share.
We are rapidly remaking America as a place where all segments of culture and entertainment operate for the rich and merely wealthy.
"What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it."
It's sad to see that something as quintessentially American as Disney is going the opposite way.
Thanks for the quote! However I think it's more about Coke being a consumable and arguably a commodity... and not entertainment. I'm pretty sure there will always be people priced out of premium entertainment experiences precisely because you cannot bottle it up.
>Thanks for the quote! However I think it's more about Coke being a consumable and arguably a commodity... and not entertainment.
America commoditised entertainment through technology. The radio and the gramophone allowed a farmer in rural Maine to listen to the Metropolitan Opera in their own home. Movie theaters brought the greatest actors in America to every small town. The egalitarian nature of popular culture stands as one of the greatest defences of consumer capitalism. A reversal of that trend points to a fundamental and worrying change in society.
The commoditization you describe though is for entertainment forms that can be incrementally replicated at little to no cost. In that regard, entertainment is more commoditized than ever with things like streaming music and video services.
Arguably, there's more VIP-style pricing discrimination than there used to be for in-person entertainment. It's probably easier with online booking. But good concert seats or opera tickets were never particularly cheap.
This isn't a situation where poor people are losing out because rich people are getting something extra; it's a situation where resources that would normally go unused are being used more efficiently, and rich people are paying money for it that largely goes not to Scrooge McDuck, but countless employees at Disney and in related work.
Two exits down the freeway from Disneyland is Knott's Berry Farm. You can bring your family of 4 there for under $200.
The experience will not be as polished or "magical" as Disneyland, but it still has many attractions and entertainment options.
Drive another hour and you can take your family to Six Flags Magic Mountain, or if you prefer to Universal Studios Hollywood. The experience at these parks will be even less polished than Knott's, but your kids will still probably have a great time.
The beauty of the free market is that even though not everyone can easily afford a premium experience, other companies are more than happy to compete for your entertainment dollars.
Let's say America is remade in the image you have in mind with "all segments of culture and entertainment operating for everyone". Great in theory. Now you have 100,000 people trying to get into a park that holds 5,000.
And the most valuable company in the world does exactly this —- the average selling price of an iPhone is three times hire than the ASP of an Android phone...
I have a colleague who uses 100% of her vacation days (25 days/year) to travel to Disneyland/World. When she goes for 2 weeks, she is in the park every one of those days. There's apparently one night a year where the park is open 24 hours and she'll fly down from Calgary to Anaheim just for that day. She talks about all the other people she knows that are just like her. There are thousands of families that spend all their vacation time in the park and therefore, I'm sure there are plenty of people willing to pay $300 for early access so they can brag that they were one of the lucky ones.
i.. don't understand that at all. Never having actually been to Disney, how can you justify that time justification vs exploring Venice or Seoul or machuu picchu or...
Disney World is a magical place. Not everyone wants or has the means to leave the country but going to Disney you still get that feeling of being somewhere else. It transports you into a whole different world. You don't even need kids to enjoy all the wonders of the parks. While for me I would love to explore the world and plan on doing so with some of my future vacations I can see where some people would hazard their limited time off to going to a place they know they can enjoy and be transported out of their every day stresses.
Certainly not me. But a lot of people find traveling to unfamiliar places, with unfamiliar languages, etc. to be stressful rather than interesting/exciting.
ADDED: You could say pretty much the same thing about many cruises, Club Med, etc. Many people like to get out of their day to day routine while still enjoying a pretty predictable and controlled environment.
I lived a couple miles from Disneyland for 10 years and I'm sure I went to Disneyland 500 times during that period.
There are people who are obsessive like any other hobby. There are people who seem to be trying to relive their childhood or one they never had, over paper over some damage.
But for me, it was sort of a relaxation thing. Working a high-stress tech job, there was an implicit understanding amonghts my friends and I. You leave your troubles outside the park, and have fun.
The Disney parks and to some extent the Universal Studios parks are idealized experiences. They're carefully crafted to hide anything that is unpleasant (e.g. dirt, grime, trash, foul odors, pests). The attractions are also carefully designed illusions that mask reality.
For example when you go to the Forbidden Journey attraction in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, there's a long line to wait in like you would expect of any attraction. However it isn't a roped queue that you stand in, it's a walk through Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You stroll through the greenhouse filled with mandrake root and other plants that are alive before moving into a great hall where Dumbledore walks out onto a balcony and greets you then you pass into narrow hallways where the paintings on the wall are having a conversation but will stop to acknowledge your presence and sometimes insult you. You are actually so distracted with the environment that you forget you just waited an hour in a line, if felt like you were just on a casual stroll.
Contrast this with visiting the Colosseum in Rome where you show up and half the structure is covered in girders and tarps because they're performing some restoration. You get in a line that's not much more than a cattle corral packed in with hundreds of other people waiting to buy your tickets. You wait an hour nudging forward a couple steps every few minutes. The place is covered in grime and dirt. When you get inside you have to move around the thousands of of there people crammed in trying to take selfies or filming everything. Everything is behind chicken wire or metal barriers.
My family has been to Disneyworld a few times, and we also like to explore real places as well--went to Venice last summer. I can see the appeal of both. Disney parks aren't going to get you out of your comfort zone, but they do have a distinct charm, however artificial, and a guaranteed consistency and welcome that other touristy experiences--and don't kid yourself that Venice and Machu Picchu are not tourist traps--often lack.
Venice in particular is a great example of a place that has basically become a Disney-lite type of experience. Sure the city buildings are ancient and the canals and alleyways make for a truly unique location that's fascinating from a historical point of view. But it's smelly, hot, hard to get to, utterly packed with visitors; the lines are long, the attractions aren't always what they are cracked up to be, they nickel and dime you for better access and shorter lines, you have to carefully choose restaurants and food vendors, the "shopping" is barely different than what you find at an upscale mall in any large city in the world, there are pickpockets and scammers, the rides cost extra and aren't always working, the gift shops are overpriced and often terrible quality. All in all, Venice may be more real, and if you're a history nut you can probably see some interesting settings from old stories, but if you are wanting to have fun on your vacation and experience something pleasant that you can't normally do, Disneyworld is cheaper, easier to get to, less crowded, and a lot more fun.
You get the same entertainment value from Venice (or less) than these folks get from Disney, but you think it's more valuable to inhale the putrid smells of Venice's canals than attending a fireworks event, riding a rollercoaster or watching some dancing show.
I also prefer visiting different places in the world, but I totally understand people have different hobbies and like different things. It's not difficult really.
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[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 65.1 ms ] threadhttp://znews24.com/disney-tests-pricing-power-at-theme-parks...
> Disney parks executives are engaged on adopting a dynamic pricing mannequin
If a 1% price increase causes any more than 1% fewer people in the park, then it's a net loss.
Not to mention that many people go and don't really ride the "big rides" that much or ever.
Consider it this way: If all rides and all facilities have lines waiting for entrance, they are all at maximum productive capacity. The only way to expand revenue is to get more people in the door, or build more revenue-generating attractions (only the attractions that charge per use matter here).
Not 100% accurate, b/c I'm sure that not each and every little hot dog stand or tchotchke booth has a queue, but a good model.
Like I said, if they were to reduce the number of people in the park by say 50%, that means that everyone would have to pay double in admission to maintain the same income. A 3-day park ticket is already almost $400. Do you really think enough people would be willing to pay $800 for a 3-day ticket to offset the number that wouldn't be willing to pay that? And would that extra cost of admission reduce the amount those people spend on souvenirs, food, events/shows, etc...? And would a 50% reduction in guests really make it "feel" any less crowded? (the distribution of people in the park is far from "normal")
I'm going to side with Disney on this one. I assume the big mouse has done extensive studying in this area, and they are probably pretty close to matching what the market will handle.
Not to mention that they are trying other methods to reduce crowds and wait times. They now allow you to schedule your rides during 1-hour time slots to avoid waiting for up to 3 rides a day (our last trip we didn't wait more than 15 minutes for any ride because my wife was able to schedule them for the whole trip). And there are options for some customers to get a cast member to go with them all day and basically skip all lines for a few $1000 if you want.
We are rapidly remaking America as a place where all segments of culture and entertainment operate for the rich and merely wealthy.
"What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it."
It's sad to see that something as quintessentially American as Disney is going the opposite way.
America commoditised entertainment through technology. The radio and the gramophone allowed a farmer in rural Maine to listen to the Metropolitan Opera in their own home. Movie theaters brought the greatest actors in America to every small town. The egalitarian nature of popular culture stands as one of the greatest defences of consumer capitalism. A reversal of that trend points to a fundamental and worrying change in society.
Arguably, there's more VIP-style pricing discrimination than there used to be for in-person entertainment. It's probably easier with online booking. But good concert seats or opera tickets were never particularly cheap.
I would say 'premium' entertainment cannot be displaced by time and space.
The experience will not be as polished or "magical" as Disneyland, but it still has many attractions and entertainment options.
Drive another hour and you can take your family to Six Flags Magic Mountain, or if you prefer to Universal Studios Hollywood. The experience at these parks will be even less polished than Knott's, but your kids will still probably have a great time.
The beauty of the free market is that even though not everyone can easily afford a premium experience, other companies are more than happy to compete for your entertainment dollars.
Let's say America is remade in the image you have in mind with "all segments of culture and entertainment operating for everyone". Great in theory. Now you have 100,000 people trying to get into a park that holds 5,000.
What's your solution?
I have a colleague who uses 100% of her vacation days (25 days/year) to travel to Disneyland/World. When she goes for 2 weeks, she is in the park every one of those days. There's apparently one night a year where the park is open 24 hours and she'll fly down from Calgary to Anaheim just for that day. She talks about all the other people she knows that are just like her. There are thousands of families that spend all their vacation time in the park and therefore, I'm sure there are plenty of people willing to pay $300 for early access so they can brag that they were one of the lucky ones.
ADDED: You could say pretty much the same thing about many cruises, Club Med, etc. Many people like to get out of their day to day routine while still enjoying a pretty predictable and controlled environment.
There are people who are obsessive like any other hobby. There are people who seem to be trying to relive their childhood or one they never had, over paper over some damage.
But for me, it was sort of a relaxation thing. Working a high-stress tech job, there was an implicit understanding amonghts my friends and I. You leave your troubles outside the park, and have fun.
For example when you go to the Forbidden Journey attraction in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, there's a long line to wait in like you would expect of any attraction. However it isn't a roped queue that you stand in, it's a walk through Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You stroll through the greenhouse filled with mandrake root and other plants that are alive before moving into a great hall where Dumbledore walks out onto a balcony and greets you then you pass into narrow hallways where the paintings on the wall are having a conversation but will stop to acknowledge your presence and sometimes insult you. You are actually so distracted with the environment that you forget you just waited an hour in a line, if felt like you were just on a casual stroll.
Contrast this with visiting the Colosseum in Rome where you show up and half the structure is covered in girders and tarps because they're performing some restoration. You get in a line that's not much more than a cattle corral packed in with hundreds of other people waiting to buy your tickets. You wait an hour nudging forward a couple steps every few minutes. The place is covered in grime and dirt. When you get inside you have to move around the thousands of of there people crammed in trying to take selfies or filming everything. Everything is behind chicken wire or metal barriers.
Venice in particular is a great example of a place that has basically become a Disney-lite type of experience. Sure the city buildings are ancient and the canals and alleyways make for a truly unique location that's fascinating from a historical point of view. But it's smelly, hot, hard to get to, utterly packed with visitors; the lines are long, the attractions aren't always what they are cracked up to be, they nickel and dime you for better access and shorter lines, you have to carefully choose restaurants and food vendors, the "shopping" is barely different than what you find at an upscale mall in any large city in the world, there are pickpockets and scammers, the rides cost extra and aren't always working, the gift shops are overpriced and often terrible quality. All in all, Venice may be more real, and if you're a history nut you can probably see some interesting settings from old stories, but if you are wanting to have fun on your vacation and experience something pleasant that you can't normally do, Disneyworld is cheaper, easier to get to, less crowded, and a lot more fun.
I also prefer visiting different places in the world, but I totally understand people have different hobbies and like different things. It's not difficult really.