A new article from the Wall Street Journal shines a light on the Disney Parks’ attendance and pricing strategy that is often at odds with frequent visitors and Annual Passholders. The article, titled “Disney’s New Pricing Magic”, walks the general public through what many Disney fans have seen happening over the past few years. That is, fewer guests that spend significantly more at the parks and resorts.
At the center of the article is the Disney Park Pass reservation system that allows Disney to fine-tune what type of guest is in the theme parks at any given day. The Disney Park Pass system was born of the pandemic and was originally designed to limit attendance at the theme parks during a phased reopening that saw drastically lower attendance as a result of government limitations and apprehensive travelers. From there, the Park Pass system evolved into a tool that allows Disney to control who enters the theme parks based on their spending habits.
In their most recent quarterly earnings report, Disney caused some backlash amongst fans by using the term “unfavorable attendance mix” when talking about Disneyland earnings. Fans saw this as Disney implying that lower-spending Annual Passholders were a drag on earnings. WSJ asked Disney about the phrase, which Disney said was a financial term and that it is “not a consumer term”.
The WSJ speaks with a few different families, both new and returning guests, and it really highlights the chasm between frequent visitors and the once-in-a-lifetime family trip that Disney is seemingly chasing. One first-time visiting family spent about $5,000 on their vacation, including getting close to maxing out a credit card, but the family said that the “memories are worth more than gold…even if [we] did suffer from overdraft fees once [we] get home”.
By contrast, frequent visitors that spoke with WSJ said that they are unhappy with price increases and considering other Central Florida theme parks for their next vacation.
The WSJ spoke with the leader of the Disney Parks division Josh D’Amaro. D’Amaro, in between posing for selfies with fans at Disneyland, acknowledged the tension caused by rising prices among the most loyal Disney Parks visitors, but he described price increases as an inevitable result of progress and insisted that the largely unpopular changes made under his watch are meant to improve the guest experience at the parks. D’Amaro has largely escaped criticism for the direction of the Parks under his leadership, but some are starting to notice.
For more, check out the Wall Street Journal article here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/disneys-new-pricing-magic-more-profit-from-fewer-park-visitors-11661572819
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