Feel like the magic has gone!

[khonsu]

Such a good thread this.

If WDW was cheaper... would it be as magical to go? Just putting that out there. I don't have an all encompassing opinion.

Obviously cheaper park tickets and extras would mean easier to get there for UK/EU visitors. Would that then mean more difficult to get park reservations? dining reservations? If the Disney parks were full every single day - Disney Springs would be full too. Ride times would be even longer? Or would we just pay more to beat the queues? And would these still be a 45 minute wait like some UK experiences mentioned? Would extra cheaper park capacity mean offsite hotels get more expensive? Supply and demand...

Could cheaper mean that actually - you may not get to WDW at all because it's just fully booked a year or more in advance.

Populations are rising... American's even more likely to holiday in the USA... if they could get to WDW even cheaper?

All open comments/observations...

Part of the cost has to be some degree of exclusivity - the price you pay for going above and beyond.

Disney is above and beyond - I think we all agree that.

[MrIncredible]

I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I’ve come to the conclusion that the magic is dead for me now.

I’m going to keep my happy memories of the place and move my planned trip next year elsewhere.

[Shifu]

Originally Posted by MrIncredible

I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I’ve come to the conclusion that the magic is dead for me now.

I’m going to keep my happy memories of the place and move my planned trip next year elsewhere.

See more...

Loved that…
It packed a punch, no messing.
I should be saying the same, I really should.

[Gelatoni]

Originally Posted by khonsu

Such a good thread this.

If WDW was cheaper... would it be as magical to go? Just putting that out there. I don't have an all encompassing opinion.

Obviously cheaper park tickets and extras would mean easier to get there for UK/EU visitors. Would that then mean more difficult to get park reservations? dining reservations? If the Disney parks were full every single day - Disney Springs would be full too. Ride times would be even longer? Or would we just pay more to beat the queues? And would these still be a 45 minute wait like some UK experiences mentioned? Would extra cheaper park capacity mean offsite hotels get more expensive? Supply and demand...

Could cheaper mean that actually - you may not get to WDW at all because it's just fully booked a year or more in advance.

Populations are rising... American's even more likely to holiday in the USA... if they could get to WDW even cheaper?

All open comments/observations...

Part of the cost has to be some degree of exclusivity - the price you pay for going above and beyond.

Disney is above and beyond - I think we all agree that.

See more...

Totally agree. It's maintains exclusivity through financial aspiration/higher price level, which subsequently pumps more quality into the experience.

Trust me, if Disney became available easily available to everyone all the time, we'd have a much poorer, watered down experience.

That is life. If everyone could afford to fly first class regularly, would it even be first class? I'd rather save for years and have an incredible "once in a lifetime" trip than go all the time and have a "Six Flags" experience.

[Moorlandman]

Originally Posted by MrIncredible

I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I’ve come to the conclusion that the magic is dead for me now.

I’m going to keep my happy memories of the place and move my planned trip next year elsewhere.

See more...

Agree. Some very odd comments about making it expensive so it’s exclusive 😅😅

WDW has millions of visitors and that will continue - it’s never going to be exclusive

[Bianca]

This argument often comes down to magic vs. money-making business and I think Disney used to have a much better commitment to balancing the two. Handy, since they weren't manufacturing car parts or building houses, but were selling "magic" (magical experiences)! They made their unique skill in that clear to the world. (People used to study Disney customer service and write books about it.) I had several magic trips there.

I can see that as times have changed, the way Disney needs to balance the magic and the money-making has changed, too, but, I think it would be clear if they still valued both equally.

Originally Posted by Gelatoni

...Trust me, if Disney became available easily available to everyone all the time, we'd have a much poorer, watered down experience. ...

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I agree to a point; except they've, apparently, gone further and watered down even what the 'first-classers' might receive. The Disney magic was in lots of the old details and it seems like you can't get those for any price now?!

[SleepingBeauty]

Disney World is not an 'exclusive' vacation in my opinion. It's a very expensive middle-class kind of thing that strives to satisfy the childhood fantasies of the bourgeoisie, and to temporarily alleviate the boredom of day to day life until you have to go back to it.

It's gone downhill in the last few years for me.

[Thorpy]

Originally Posted by SleepingBeauty

Disney World is not an 'exclusive' vacation in my opinion. It's a very expensive middle-class kind of thing that strives to satisfy the childhood fantasies of the bourgeoisie, and to temporarily alleviate the boredom of day to day life until you have to go back to it.

It's gone downhill in the last few years for me.

See more...

I would disagree with you characterisation. I was pretty much dragged kicking and screaming on my first trip, and I was brought up in the mill towns and cities of the North West, so no childhood middle class fantasies were being satisfied for me.

For me it's been about the quality and the value. Yes going there comes at a premium, but in the old sense of you get what you pay for. It has been a quality holiday destination nowhere else can match for us, for years.

It is currently saddled with management that is exploiting that reputation in order to gain a quick profit and a big bonus. I think most of the quality is there still, but the value isn't what it was. So in that sense I agree it's gone downhill.

[SleepingBeauty]

Originally Posted by Thorpy

I would disagree with you characterisation. I was pretty much dragged kicking and screaming on my first trip, and I was brought up in the mill towns and cities of the North West, so no childhood middle class fantasies were being satisfied for me.

For me it's been about the quality and the value. Yes going there comes at a premium, but in the old sense of you get what you pay for. It has been a quality holiday destination nowhere else can match for us, for years.

It is currently saddled with management that is exploiting that reputation in order to gain a quick profit and a big bonus. I think most of the quality is there still, but the value isn't what it was. So in that sense I agree it's gone downhill.

See more...

I am an American so admittedly my point of view is skewed that way. Disney is not considered some elite luxury vacation in this country by most.

[Gelatoni]

Originally Posted by SleepingBeauty

Disney World is not an 'exclusive' vacation in my opinion. It's a very expensive middle-class kind of thing that strives to satisfy the childhood fantasies of the bourgeoisie, and to temporarily alleviate the boredom of day to day life until you have to go back to it.

It's gone downhill in the last few years for me.

See more...

Perhaps not exclusive to you or I, but to those that are not in that target demographic bracket or get squeezed out/excluded based on affordability might feel that it was? Maybe exclusive is not the right word 🙂

There will always be millions that can pay and are willing to pay for Disney, even with the Genie+ changes and all other changes over time. On the flip side there will be those that say "hey, this doesn't represent value for money for me anymore. I can't justify it".

I guess what i'm trying to say is, if it was *too* accessible, the supply/demand model wouldn't work, and quality would suffer. In much the same way that if it wasn't accessible enough and people voted with their wallets, the model would also fail.