In the world of Disney, one of the most controversial figures is almost always The Walt Disney Company CEO. The current CEO, Bob Chapek, has been no exception to that rule.
Chapek has recently commented on Park Pass Reservations, price increases in the parks, and Annual Passholders, all of which comments have been analyzed and critiqued by Disney fans. Now, a new interview with Chapek has been released in which he reveals his thoughts on park demand, price increases, Disney “superfans,” the Scarlett Johansson lawsuit, and more.
Bob Chapek became The Walt Disney Company’s CEO in 2020, succeeding Bob Iger as the company’s leader. Since then, Chapek’s decisions have been criticized by many, especially when it comes to price increases in the Disney parks.
Price Increases
We’ve seen several price increases on park tickets, food, merchandise, and more within the last few years (although price increases weren’t exactly rare before that either). In addition, the free FastPass+ system to skip ride lines in the parks was replaced with the paid Genie+ system in 2021. Price increases are coming to Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+ — all of Disney’s streaming services. Are the cost increases going to end anytime soon?
According to an interview with Bob Chapek by The Hollywood Reporter, even more price increases could be coming soon. Chapek said, “Our ticket prices and constraints we put on how often people can come and when they come is a direct reflection of demand. When is it too much? Demand will tell us when it’s too much.” Chapek also noted that, currently, “We have much more demand than there is supply.”
These comments mirror what Chapek previously told CNBC back in August in an interview about the rising prices at Disney World. Then, Chapek said, “We always watch demand. When you’re playing a yield game like we are right now and you have the flexibility with our reservation system, we can move on a dime. We read demand, and if demand goes up, then we have the opportunity to [raise prices]. […] It’s all up to the consumer.”
In the CNBC interview, Chapek confirmed that demand is still high for Disney parks and experiences: “For all visibility, we have into the future, we’re not seeing any softening of our demand.” During the company’s Q3 Earnings Report this year, executives cited the Park Pass Reservation system as a reliable measure of demand. They reported that reservations for the theme parks were filling up consistently, which indicates that more people want to visit than there are spots available. In other words, Chapek’s comment that demand is exceeding supply seems to hold true.
We’ve recently seen more availability when it comes to Park Passes, with almost no Disney World parks filled up in September as of writing. However, this is a fairly new trend, and previous to this month we almost always saw at least a couple of parks fill up about a week or so in advance. This might be an indication that demand for Disney World is finally softening or at least returning to the previous trend of ebbing and flowing at certain times of the year.
However, with the holidays coming up, we’re almost sure to see an increase in attendance at Disney World (although park passes are still widely available for the holiday months right now — you may want to book your passes ASAP before those start to fill up!). As demand remains high, especially during these times of the year when it’s very popular to visit Disney World, Chapek’s comments indicate that we could see more price increases soon.
Click here to learn about the sneaky Disney World ticket price increase.
Annual Passholders
Disney recently commented on an “unfavorable attendance mix at Disneyland Resort,” which many interpreted as meaning that Disney thought too many Annual Passholders (called Magic Key Holders at Disneyland) were visiting the park and thus hurting the company’s profits. Because Annual Passholders likely visit the Disney parks much more frequently than other guests, they may be less likely to spend as much as other guests on food, merchandise, and Genie+.
During the Q3 Earnings Report this year, a Disney executive said, “The increase in average per capita ticket revenue was due to the introduction of Genie+ and Lightning Lane in the first quarter of the current fiscal year and a reduced impact from promotions at Walt Disney World Resort, partially offset by an unfavorable attendance mix at Disneyland Resort.”
So does Disney really see Annual Passholders as less-valuable guests?
The Hollywood Reporter commented that Disney has “gotten some blowback from superfans” because of the recent comments made about Annual Passholders. Chapek responded by saying, “We love all our fans equally. We love the superfans, obviously. But we also like the fans that don’t have the same expression of their fandom.”
However, he also noted that Disney is trying to balance guest attendance between Annual Passholders and those who don’t visit as frequently. He said, “We want to make sure that our superfans who love to come with annual passes and use [the parks] as their personal playground — we love that. We celebrate that. But at the same time, we’ve got to make sure that there’s room in the park for the family from Denver that comes once every five years.”
Chapek went on to say, “We didn’t have a reservation system and we didn’t control the number of annual passes we distributed and frankly, the annual pass as a value was so great that people were literally coming all the time and the accessibility of the park was unlimited to them and that family from Denver would get to the park and not be let in. That doesn’t seem like a real balanced proposition. I guess it’s possible that the superfans look at that as a disadvantaging of the way they consume the park, but we’ve got to make sure that not only are we heeding the needs of our superfans, but we’re heeding the needs of everyone who travels from across the country one time every five years.”
These comments may be a reference to a current lawsuit involving Magic Key Holders at Disneyland who claim that Disney misrepresented the blockout dates of their pass, stating that there were no blockout dates when in reality there were more passes being given to non-Magic Key Holders than those who had the annual pass. The Magic Key Holders claimed that Disneyland falsely advertised their passes, and Disney relegated Magic Key Holders “to ‘second class’ ticket holders by artificially limiting Magic Key reservations and the number of passholders that can visit on any given day.”
The Magic Key program has recently changed, with some new language and restrictions reflecting the issues brought forward in that lawsuit. You can read more about those changes here.
It sounds like Disney is trying to find the right balance of Annual Passholders with other guests who visit less frequently. Chapek said, “What we will not bend on is giving somebody a less than stellar experience in the parks because we jammed too many people in there. If we’re going to have that foundational rule, you have to start balancing who you let in.”
This could mean that Annual Passholders and Magic Key Holders will start to see fewer Park Passes being allocated to them when compared to other Disney Parks guests. We’ll watch for updates on that front and let you know what we see in the future.
Scarlett Johansson Lawsuit
You might remember that, back in 2021, Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against Disney over the dual release of Black Widow on Disney+ and in theaters. At that time, Chapek defended The Walt Disney Company’s decision, saying that “talent deals are going to have to reflect the fact that the world is changing.”
When recently asked about the current status of Disney’s relationship with Johansson and how the company handled that lawsuit, Chapek said, “There were a lot of people that got a vote in how we handled that. And I was one voice, and I’ll just say that our relationship with her agency and her has never been better.”
Although it was uncertain for a while, Disney has confirmed that Scarlett Johansson is still involved with the upcoming Tower of Terror movie, which has reportedly begun filming, although details about its release have not been given.
Click here to learn more about the Scarlett Johansson lawsuit against Disney.
And there you have it! From the recent interview, it sounds like Disney will continue to increase prices in the parks, and Annual Passholders may have a tougher time getting park passes than they’ve had in the past. If you’re an Annual Passholder, we recommend booking your Park Pass Reservations ASAP (although that advice applies to anyone visiting Disney World as well).
As for the parks, throughout the weekend we got TONS of major news from the recent D23 Expo in Anaheim, California. You can read about the NEW ride coming to Avengers Campus, along with a possible Moana or Zootopia land discussed for Disney’s Animal Kingdom. There was even discussion of Coco, Encanto, and villains-themed areas as possibilities for a huge Magic Kingdom expansion!
Make sure to keep following AllEars for all the latest updates and Disney news.
Click here to check out the biggest announcements from the 2022 D23 Expo.
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What do you think about Chapek’s latest interview? Let us know in the comments.
“…We read demand, and if demand goes up, then we have the opportunity to [raise prices]. […] It’s all up to the consumer.”
Who is the crappy PR person? Make it less about market demand and frame it as protecting the customers park experience. The increase in prices restrict overcrowding so that the experience is enhanced or at least maintained “Oh we really don’t want to have to do this, but it is needed for the experience to be protected. It’s for you…”
I think once Universal gets there new park up and running, All of these things will come back to haunt Disney. No new Disney parks being built , high prices , limiting pass holders , etc etc etc.
Don’t worry Bobo. There will be room for the family from Denver even if I’m in the park. Really. Passholders taking up that much room. Really.
So those who are the biggest fans deserve to be disrespected, screwed over, and essentially told “we don’t want you”.
If Chapek is not replaced soon, Disney will be bankrupt and sold, or just left to rot.
I hate the current Disney leadership so much, it makes me actually prefer Disney going bankrupt.
To all the leftists crying about greed, understand that this is simple economics. The market will dictate price. He’s not wrong about anything. However, the problem overall has been that as demand has gone up, supply has not. For the past couple of decades Disney should have been building new parks all over the US. Now they’re stuck trying desperately to control market forces without any kind of a long term strategy. They need to shift focus to expansion.
So from what I see from the comments is less of you will be going. All he is doing is limiting amount of people to make a better experience. We go every year and we are from Iowa. We will be there for 13 days coming up in April. The genie plus pay to ride is a great feature allows you to move through lines faster. Fast pass everyone had so lines were longer. Less people makes experience better. Past several years except for covid the parks have been packed. This last trip in April/ May this year it was not so bad. If anyone is looking for a great place to stay highly recommend wilderness lodge. We always do 3 days at a moderate then 10 at wilderness. The experience is always great. We have never had a bad time at disneyworld. This will be our 9th trip straight with our son. Lower crowds makes it better for all when you go.
GREED… that is all I see when I read this. The average family cannot afford visiting Disney, then you punish the locals who invest in Disney. Shame on Bob, for limiting the number of children and families who can enjoy the Disney experience just so the top executives can line their pockets.
This is an easy one. Just stop paying for it and vote with your wallets. He’s right, if brainwashed masses keep lining up regardless of prices then he’d be a fool not to raise them.
I’m sure this is the vision Walt Disney had when he first created Steam boat Willy. This is now the greediest monopoly out there.
What are you gonna buy next Disney? Everything you buy, you ruin…
Walt Disney would not support this. Shame on you for destroying one of the magical places children and families had left.
Seems like they need to take the money they made from raising prices, and focus on expansion rather than remodeling. Changing current parks to modern entertainment is fine, however when you realize that there’s so many people trying to get into the parks and you literally don’t have the room for them, you need to expand. It seems like a good time to add one, or even two more entire parks. If you’re hitting over 100% capacity consistently, you’re probably driving consumers away. Create new areas, bring those customers back. Chapek can talk about supply and demand, but until Disney actively addresses the situation in a way that is positive for all parties, they’ll continue to see these issues.
It’s crazy to me that Chapek can sit there with a straight face and say they are trying to make sure the family from Denver that travels every five years has an opportunity to enjoy the parks. Current Disney prices make it insanely difficult for the average family to visit the parks at all, much less enjoy having to deal with overcrowding, ride breakdowns, paying extra for genie+ reservations and needing a phD to plan a routine day at an’amusement park’. I understand this is a business and he’s absolutely right in saying that if the demand is higher than their supply then they can continue raising prices. You can’t fault him for that but it’s equally short sighted of him because he’s completely alienating a dedicated set of consumers that love Disney and pay for Disney in so many ways. I’m sure there was a time when APs were a great foundation for parks because it was guaranteed income no matter how many times they went to the parks. As a long time AP that lives outside of Florida we would pay for our passes and would be more compelled to head down for an extra trip or two a year to justify our AP investment as well as our love of Disney or celebrate a family birthday or even introduce a family friend to the Disney magic. On paper it sounds like we would spend way more money in one year than that fictional family from Denver every five. Either way what Chapek is right about is that if demand doesn’t slow down then he can continue raising prices on everything because so many of us continue paying for the magic we grew up on. It sucks, i know, and we too will likely curb our Disney loyalty because we definitely feel the crowds, the price hikes and the frustration. It just baffles me that Chapek and team can see APs as a loss target rather than the avid fans that have kept the magic growing, literally through investment, and through loyalty to the Disney brand. Even their recent mishandling of major milestones like the 50th points to the fact that they have lost a lot of what the brand offered it’s fans. It’s hard to escape in to a fantasy land or future world when you can see the guy behind the curtain is just counting money.
Thanks AllEars for letting us vent and share thoughtfully.
The best part, he will NEVER be concerned about me or any of my family members ever again going to a Disney Park, or buying any products with any connection to Disney. My money will never put food on his table or support his family.
Ya know, I’ve been wanting to take my kids to Disney for the last few years. Now that they are old enough to remember it and enjoy it. But the prices, it’s just out of control. I can go practically anywhere else in the US, including Hawaii for what it cost to go there. I don’t want a basic room, these trips are for all of us to enjoy. All of us crammed into a small room for a week ain’t it. At least a 1 bedroom suite villa deal. Yeah lol, $7-$10k.
And I haven’t priced it recently, and according to Ricky Bobby here, prices are going up because hey, people are still buying. Like mofo, when the F is enough enough? When do you realize you are pricing this crap into the stratosphere and the only people going are making $500k plus and movie stars.
By no means do I expect everything to be attainable, that’s life. But I don’t expect to hear a guy who supposedly runs the number one place in the world for families to take their kids to be like, we will keep raising prices till no one comes. Like mofo, you’re getting there now. I don’t care what that spreadsheet tells you, you’re getting there.
Man does he come off like a greedy turd. All that Walt built and dreamed of turned into this.
I was there when I was 5 or 6. I remember 20 thousand leagues under the sea sub ride and the Swiss family Robinson tree house. Maybe I take my grandkids at this rate. Ole Bob sure ain’t got a feel for the room.
Look at all the recent fights at Disney. He is trying to price those people our. We should be thankful.
These are the same people who sell u disney vacation club telling you how wonderful it would be to go back over and over again. While they make the prices so high you cant even use ur own time share for what is was bought for to visit the parks
He seems to think that he can push profits until demand drops. We aren’t water that comes from a spigot. If my family doesn’t go, we never will. Another MBA bugwit ruins another company. My family will not forget this. Good Riddance to bad costs.
I mean, the guy is just being honest and also doing exactly what CEO’s are paid to do.
I for one appreciate his honesty. It is better than just telling people what they want to hear. We need more honest CEO’s.
Is Disney super expensive? Yes. It always has been. It always will be.
He is right about supply/demand. If the parks are still packed then people are obviously willing to pay the rate. I think all of these comments about “only the rich and famous” are able to go is hilarious. When I was there this Spring I can tell you that I saw all classes of people. It was a melting pot.
Disney was a place as child that we all loved and enjoyed and we wanted the next generation too enjoy, at price increases this place will now be for the rich and not this generation of families.
Chapek is a tool. We’ve been annual passholders for more than ten years and we probably average more than $150 a visit, not counting the monthly cost of our passes. All you ever hear about with these people vacationing here is stuff telling them how to save money on their visits. We don’t look to save money because we don’t need to fly in or rent a car, stroller, room obviously. I’m guessing just on food, snacks, and stupid stuff we don’t really need, we’re spending more on our multiple trips per month – sometimes week – that over the cost of a year we spend more than the once in awhile visitor. And before somebody brings up rooms, we were/are DVC members before we moved down. Chapek needs to go, badly!!
Walt Disney would “ roll over in his grave” if he heard these comments! Just keep raising prices till they quit coming! Shame on you greedy people !!
I think Walt Disney would be ashamed and angry about the ridiculous prices of tickets. I haven’t been able to go to Disneyland since the 1980s, and my 13-year-old grandson has been talking about it forever, but his parents can never save enough money for tickets. The Disney company doesn’t think about that. If an annual passholder is blocked out of a few days here and there, but millions of Americans can’t afford to even go to the park once, I think we’re writing about the wrong thing.
That’s not the only time thing Walt would be ashamed of!!
Hypothetically speaking what would happen if all consumers will literally just stop going
to WDW all of a sudden because
of the price increases going on year after year will Disney still continue jacking up the price of the park tickets or will they be forced to lower their prices so that the consumers return to the parks again. I for one won’t be going back to Disney anytime soon especially when they are closing park rides on a constant basis, let’s be honest here most families can’t afford to go and for what: 1. Ticket prices are outrageous. 2. Most of the popular rides are closed for a long period of time for refurbishment. 3. Food is expensive. 4. A lot of rude and
abnoxious people go and start causing fights for no apparent reason. So why would I spend my hard earned money to go to Disney and not have a good time when I can go to Universal Studios for a lot cheaper with better rides and actually have a great time.
Bob Chapek is single handedly destroying Disney. He needs to be removed.
I am a 75 year old disabled Vietnam Veteran. I have been coming to the Anaheim park since it opened. Many changes thru the years but shat a disappointment to see the Greed raise its ugly head in Walt’s dream of happiness and joy. You have excluded all of us that have had Disneyland passes since the KEY CLUB TICKET BOOKS IN THE 1960’s
We Southern California natives have had our loyalty to the park stripped away because of Corporate Greed! You should be ashamed of yourselves. Disneyland was always special
“ No place on earth” ? Not any more, your callosity decisions towards your customers have destroyed the original intent of the magical experience once felt by all.
Sleep well, share this story with tour children/ grandchildren, they will be proud of you.
Same for those of us in Orlando who have lived here since the 70s’ & seen the traffic grow along with the parks. Yes we were in the parks on Sept 12 2001. Yes we were in the parks after the hurricanes of 2004 (and all the other years of bad storms) We are there when it is slow. We would like to be there for the holidays, too but we are now being blocked out more and more. Used to be only Christmas and Easter weeks, now it’s every holiday weekend, most of March and December. You will miss us if we all turn our backs.
You are right. Unfortunately, not enough of you will turn your backs.
Greed, greed, greed. And calling passholders “superfans” is rude. Please get a new person in charge before Disney is no longer a fun place to go. Spontaneity is key to having fun, not planning every single thing you do in a day. If they can ever bring Walt back to life, he will not be happy with what Disney has become!!
What about those guest that Disney host for social media? They are paying for their stays unlike other families or even passholders. Why not use your everyday guest. Like the family who comes every five years as a social media builder than those that have gone since they were young kids and who are able to provide that same luxury to their kids.
WDW needs to stop building new hotels! Parks are overcrowded already, why increase room availability??
Chapek apparently has a desire to run Disney into the ground because that is exactly where it’s going if he doesn’t pull his head out of his you know what.
What I find extremely troubling is the frequent breakdown of rides/attractions. To me, this indicates a lack of maintenance/upkeep. Once upon a time, WDW would close rides for a week at a time for maintenance and upkeep. There was a list posted as to what was closed and for how long. Oh sure, you’d be disappointed if an attraction was closed the week you were there, but you could feel safe on all the other rides rides because WDW was paying attention. They should have spent the pandemic performing upkeep – it’s not like they were open and would be missing business.
People are exactly right. We were AP holders from out of state came 3-4 times a year we spend money lots of money on delux hotels food souviners MNSSHP Christmas The works. It’s so sad Paycheck needs to go now
It is nothing but greed! Walt Disney must be rolling over. I believe when he opened Disney land, it was so a family have fun together. Not to see how fast we can fleece the family. At today’s prices, I am done visiting Disney. Sad.
As data-centric as Disney is these days, I’m surprised neither they or their Passholder member base has suggested that they tie their pass system to their payment system for their parks somehow. That way, the dollars being spent by visitors at their parks could literally be separated by Passholders vs. Non-Passholders and all this hearsay and speculation by their CEO regarding who is spending how much could be put to rest by real financial figures. Why no one has suggested this is beyond me?
Also, why when I originally posted this did it put it as a Reply to another person’s post? I wasn’t responding to their post, I was trying to create a new post altogether. Another site that doesn’t know what they are doing whe it comes to their Comments section apparently.
Hi. We do not control where the comments go. We can only approve or deny them. If a comment is showing up as a reply, you would have had to click on a comment to reply to. That’s the only way it will go through like that. We do not move comments around.
Something weird is going on with your Comments section here because once you start reading through the comments here, even if you scroll all the way back up to the top of the Comments and try to create an all new comment without actually clicking on another commenter’s Reply, it will scroll down to the last comment you were reading and act as if you clicked on the Reply button. Not sure if this is only occurring with me or with other users as well? Only way I got it to create a new comment altogether is by re-opening a new Comments page and immediately trying to create a new comment of my own without scrolling down and reading any existing comments upon opening the Comments page to begin with. Might want to test this out yourself and ask your IT Dept. or whoever handles the software coding for your Comments page why this is occurring.
The mouse would be ashamed!
The greed of Disney and it’s disregard for loyal fans has turned me off. I won’t be going to Disney Parks this year. There’s other vacations that can offer an authentic cultural experience and that cost a third of a few days at Disney World. To those willing to make the trip, I salute you.
My Sorcerer pass just expired and I deceived not to renew. The value that I get for the high prices isn’t worth it. The parks just aren’t as fun as they used to be. The prices are too high for the passes and the food and there’s too many people packed into the parks. I’m not waiting over an hour for rides and refuse to pay for the Genie+ system. I’m done.
Just plain Greed is all I have to say!shame on you!
I think clearly shows its not Walts Family dream anymore.Disney values the Ole mighty dollar. So sad they have ruined it for many people. We won’t be going back. We would prefer to remember it how it was.
Disney is no longer for your average family as it was intended when it started. Now it’s for the rich and famous who can pay extra to go ahead of the peasants and can afford to eat there. When you wish apon a star kids, your dreams don’t always come true, your parents need plenty of money to make your dreams come true:(
Agreed 100000%. My husband and I are financially comfortable and solidly middle class, but there’s no way we can justify the cost of taking our family to DW at this point. It’s a shame because our 3 little girls really want to go, but for what it would cost for a few days in Disney, we can take them on a trip to see incredible sights around the country.
The Disney parks are for celebs and Instagram “influencers”, and those awful YouTube families who use their kids for views and free stuff.
Kids like mine don’t matter as long as they keep watching Disney movies and asking for Disney products.
No worries about me joining the crowd. I went one time and that was more than enough gir me. It was quite boring and overrated. Spent hundreds to stand in line for hours and get in maybe 4 or 5 rides snd eat massively overpriced food. I don’t get the appeal.
To Walt and the original creators – I am so sorry that the Disney legacy has de-volved to this level. To those in charge – shame on you for letting the almighty dollar be your guide.
This has nothing to do with the fans of Disney and everything to do with corporate greed.
Sad day for Disney and many of the common people who will never experience Disney because of exorbitant pricing.
The CEO’s attitude towards the most loyal customers (pass holders) is very strange. He somehow sees them as undesirables. Most companies would be thrilled to have a large number of loyal customers.
Here is a 100% true fact..We priced a week stay at Universal staying on property for $2900 for a family of three. We then priced a week stay at Disney World staying on property for $4500 for a family of three. Can you guess where we are going in October? Universal is head and shoulders better than Disney World. Sorry Bob, but like so many other we are not coming back..
I have never gone to any of Disney’s parks. I have heard from friends who have visited and complained about price gouging.
It’s unfortunate that the CEO thinks that me giving them over $2400 for 2 annual passes so that I could make three visits to their parks from Dallas in one year is “using them like a playground”. I gotta admit, I thought I would feel a little more special as a new Passholder, but I did not. I did not renew.
Well, Bob said it. As long as you, the consumer, continues to pay – we will continue to raise prices. Annual pass holders be damned. Bob is all about the almighty dollar. All things Disney re so expensive only the wealthy can visit the parks. There are no discounts or budget options for, I feel, the average family.I grew up with Disney and was one of the first to visit WDW when it opened.I hold those memories dear to my heart because there won’t be any more visits.
With all of the price increasing – you are creating a system that only the elite will be able to afford even attending……not just DENVER! What a shame… I’m sure Walt would be sickened by what these CEO’s have done to his beloved Magic Kingdom. It’s sad and disgusting. Someone of all of the CEO’s and their COO’s and on and on and on – Should have been on top of the popularity of a family trying to take their kids to this special place. It’s just too stinking bad that the CEO’s have priced the entrance into stratospheric charges and all of the many names of ‘Special Ticket Holders’ for this and that ………YOU GUYS SHOULD OF BEEN ON TOP OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING A LONG TIME AGO. NOW YOU JUST LOOK LIKE A BUNCH OF MONEY HUNGRY LUNATICS! Yep, the creative genius behind this amazing fun adventure would be so sad to think that so SO many kids will NEVER get the chance to go. You’ve UP-CHARGED so much that you’ve left so many looking in from the outside. Seriously, WHAT A SHAME!
The Disney theme parks have always been overpriced. They cater to people who have plenty of money to travel. I refuse to save up for 5 or 6 years for a week at the properties. I just priced a 6 day stay at the cheapest Disney Resort and 2 day passes for 2 adults and 2 children. Not including airfare or food the subtotal was $2120.00. That is a ridiculous amount of money for a family of 4. A trip to Disney is only reasonable for Upper Middle Class and Wealthy families. It’s an Elitest attitude. Price average families out so that only the wealthiest or those who will take on years of debt can afford. We need to change what we teach our kids. My daughters went 2 or 3 times with their dad and his wife. Know what they remember? Nothing!!
Sad to say that it’s not a family park anymore but became a hangout. Just looking at the videos you can see there are not a lot of families anymore. Our Smugglers Run ride preshow was ruined by guys talking through it all. They obviously rode it numerous times. Disney can’t have it both ways. Prices reflect singles who can afford the expensive day.
That family from Denver and others like it only come every 5 years and that’s because it takes thst long to save enough yo afford it. Yet you speak of continuing price increases. Walt would be do sad
Heh, wow not one good comment! Well I am from Denver and won’t be going Bob, sorry. I’ve heard over and over it’s overpriced crap and a waste of money. I certainly can’t afford it. I also won’t be subscribing to Disney+ or anything else. Walt is turning over in his grave. Way to price everyone except the elite out of the market.
My son wants to go back to DW, but I don’t think is possible anymore. It took us 5 years to save up last time, and that was in 2012. Now when he’s a teen, we just can’t afford the ticket prices nor the food prices.
Walt was the birth of imagination, affordable family experiences, and ‘Plus-ing’ whatever came to mind…Chapek is the inevitable afterbirth of corporate greed, vision limited by shareholer profits, and a complete lack of connectuon and knowledge of his customer base.
Looking forward to a period of disgust after this CEO’s severance package and excited to see a (hopefully) return to what the name DISNEY means to the rest of the world.
I’ve been coming to Disney World for 50 years. The current CEO has lost sight of the vision of Disney to provide an affordable place to bring your family and have wholesome experience. The fans are being nickeled and dimed.. They’ve had years of great Disney experiences and are willing to pay almost any price to relive them. Mr Chapek is unscrupulously taking advantage. After a while the fans will never forgive Disney for this.
So in other words, this guy is going to continue to raise prices until there is less demand? Less demand means you’ve priced yourself out of the market and those that could afford to go to the park can no longer do so. You’re gentrifying the parks.
So the solution to a higher demand is to cater to the wealthy, as if they aren’t privileged enough, and make it even harder for people like me, a single mother with poverty level income, to take my child to Disney. My child already doesn’t get to have the same opportunities as children from families with two incomes. I haven’t been able to take her to Disney in 7 years. Why is my child less deserving of going to Disney than other children?
When I was 8 Disneyland opened and it was so magical. Management has changed it so bad that they have to raise prices, so higher prices and poor quality equals what?
All this talk is an insult to people who slaved at the park until retirement. We indured long hours and took a lot of insult from our quess only to be blocked from going to the park. Unfair
I believe he is destroying the whole Disney experience. As some one that just spent 4 days at Disneyland and California Adventure, and a fan of Disney my entire 60 years of life, I was disappointed to realize the new Disney is all about the money and not the family experience it used to be about. I realize things change but this made me sad. I used to take my own kids (now adults) every year, the vibe was different. I am aware we are supposed to be all inclusive but does that mean my grandkids have to look at people’s butts and breasts hanging out? I believe the dresscode should be enforced and the fast pass should be brought back. The fact that when I buy the Genie, there are still rides I have to pay extra for is wrong, especially when that ride breaks every few hours and there is no refund on the extra amount paid. It used to be the difference between Disney parks and other parks was there were two lines to every ride, fast pass holders went to the front of those lines. It was wrong to do away with two lines, making one line a lightening lane. If they raise prices again, I probably will not be going back; which makes me extremely sad, but it is what it is. Wish this guy was gone. He has no heart.
The only problem with Chapek is that he is more honest than most CEOs about his job, which is to maximize profits for his stockholders. He is absolutely right about demand driving prices. Not to raise prices would lead to his dismissal.
But Disney’s demand pricing is also ruining what used to make Disney exceptional- where everyone was treated equally, and where everyone had the opportunity for the same experience. Disney staff was (and still is, as far as I know) polite to all, and that rubbed off on the guests. Once upon a time, families behaved better as soon as they entered the Magic Kingdom.
Look what happened to the original Fastpass, which was a great concept. At first, everyone had the opportunity to skip the lines a couple of times. But then Disney monetized it. Only those who could afford it could benefit. Then they monetized it again, charging double just to skip the line for a premier attraction.
So now there is a class system at Disney. Those who can just afford the admission tickets will experience half as many rides as those who can afford the surcharges. People waiting in lines can’t help but feel resentment at those who stroll past them. No wonder it seems the reports of fights between families have increased.
The only thing that will reverse this trend is for demand to slow. That means people should look elsewhere for a better vacation value. Rather than travel the world virtually through Epcot, why not travel overseas? Much more enriching than the artificial versions available at Disney.
Sounds like Disney needs more competitors. Knots berry farm, Legoland and others should reach out to customers that get turned away from Disneyland. There is also Universal Studoos Hollywood, Six Flags Magic mountain and others that work on attracting visitors that get turned away
I can’t imagine that the current demand they are seeing is sustained. A couple things caused demand to surge uncharacteristically
1-People anxious to get out and travel as pandemic restrictions eased.
2-The 50th celebration (at least at WDW)
Using inflated demand as an excuse for non-stop price increases is dangerous. The price increases are out-pacing what is likely the true demand. When the everyone has the post-pandemic travel bug out of their system and the 50th is over and the dust settles, I think this will become apparent.
Also, I could be totally wrong. Time will tell, but it’s a dangerous game they’re playing with loyal fans.
Completely agree – went for the 50th. After genie plus experience. I’ll never be back disney is lovely the experience was terrible. Universal will now get my money. Poor Walt is Rolling over in his grave.
My family this year has not purchased season passes for the first time in twenty years and totally disagrees with the ceo ideas of what is the fair distribution of passes
His argument of demand doesn’t hold up. Prior to COVID both the annual pass holder and the family from Denver could both just walk up to the ticket booth and buy a ticket to get same day entry. Occasionally they would stop selling tickets in the afternoon/evening if park had reached a max capacity, but it didn’t happen often. It’s a far more fair system to just be first-come-first-serve. I think the reservation system was a good temporary fix for opening back up in 2021 and maybe even through this year with limited capacity because of COVID, but as soon as masks were no longer required the reservation system should have been on its way out.
The limited capacity is pure ba. I looked at the numbers not exact but figured out that their reduced capacity claim was no different than their pre pandemic daily attendance numbers. I was curious as t why the parks looked no different than before. The only difference I found was the lack of entertainment that would eat large numbers of people in another words crowd control. Without those venues the people were forced to the same attractions at the same times. The shows have not really returned yet and this the look of high demand. Then add in the poor maintenance that we are seeing now rides stop working which causes more people to have to go to the ones that are open causing even longer wait times. It is not due to higher demand as much as an infrastructure issue.
Totally agree! ITS ASHAMED THIS CEO HAS USED THESE EXCUSES “DEMAND”..ITS CALLED GREEDY!
Chapek is destroying the parks. Balance who you let in? The visitor that comes from Denver is more important than another visitor? This is absurd. Both paid the price of admission. It should not matter how far they traveled or how often. Those saying superfans are intimidating is another absurdity. You probably have no idea who the annual passholders are in the parks. Yes they spend money in the parks but will soon be spending much less as prices go up and quality goes down.
” The visitor that comes from Denver is more important than another visitor? This is absurd. ”
Actually, the visitor from Denver IS more important to Disney than the annual passholders. That out of state visitor ends up paying a lot more. But I agree with your sentiment. In doing his fiduciary duty to the stockholders (i.e., maximizing profits), Chapek is destroying the Disney experience.
Well I am a DVC member but not for long. We have one more annual pass that we haven’t used and that will be our last trip. This new regime has destroyed the Disney Legacy. They want more and more money and give you less and less. Sound like a sound business model, customers want more so you try and discourage them by pricing it out of reach and trying to stop them from coming. Thats a good way to make profits. This is the same old corporate model. Get rid of employees and stop spending money on maintenance and then tell the foolish investors that we are making amazing profits. This is a short term goal of a CEO on the way out looking for a big Golden parachute. Disney parks are done and may never come back. Sorry Walt.
I feel bad for all you DVC you bought something we’re expecting AP when you go on vacation now you can’t get an AP. It’s very sad
Once all the new found freedom of travel has declined and the park attendance returns to normal and it will then what Bob? You have made it very clear that you dont like passholders and for some reason feel they spend less. Which is absurd. I live 45 minutes away and up to now have stayed numerous times at WDW resorts just for the magic of it. Now I stay at Non-Disney owned resorts since I not as valuable. We have been a family of four annual passes for past 17 years. Between those “cheap” passes and the resorts stays and all the food “we dont buy” at parks we have spent more than your Denver family will ever spend.
Walt would be discussed in these practices.
Have been to Disneyland 2times. 1973 & 1974. Not interested in going back. Prices are so ridiculous for everything already so can’t imagine them being hiked up even higher. No thank you.
Man, that would be awesome if disney quit selling annual passes! I guess an ok meet-in-the-middle decision would be to make annual passes eligible for entry at noon or something. I’m a fan of the ceo; it’s funny when super fans can’t understand why the ceo won’t run the company like a disney obsessive.
You’re funny
You realize that not all annual passholders are locals, right? Some are DVC members, people who are taking two trips within twelve months, people who are taking long trips, etc. Those people have all the same right to enjoy full days at the parks. As do locals.
Chapek is an ass and needs to resign. He’s has destroyed Walt’s dreams. He has helped me to think about the next time I visit a park. When will he hear the disgrace in fans voices and man-up and leave.
People are still trying to get that 1st vacation since the pandemic started . Bob is just being greedy because he sees an opportunity, has nothing to do with supply and demand .
Chapek is worried about that family that comes once every 5 years. Him raising prices will affect that family also. But to say the pass holders don’t spend money is rediculous. Every time I go I buy snacks, drinks, dinner, and always buy some sort of souvenir. When these travelers don’t come, whose there, annual pass holders, that’s who!
Price gauging loyal Disney guests. Take my grandbabies there, yeah, NO!!! No pixie dust left. Mo money = low paid employees with so many restrictions they can barely survive on a daily basis. Cast member morale is less than zero, yet executives are all happy with their fat lined pockets and dont think twice about raising prices while giving nothing to the cast members. Pathetic!! Boycott Disney and their Not so magical kingdom.oo
We’ve been visiting Disney World since 1983. 20 times to be exact. It was affordable back in the beginning. Now that I am in my 70’s and on a fixed income, DW has become unaffordable. The Genie system and Lightning lanes cost more than my whole ticket did years ago, and unless you have the ability to be on your phone constantly updating, it’s almost impossible to navigate your way around long lines. I think I’m done with Disney. It’s just not magical any longer and Bob Chapek is the biggest villain.
He’s holding AP holders back in favor of occasional visitors… and holding occasional visitors back with the price increases. Oh well. As an international visitor, I might as well just spend my money elsewhere
Sounds like all he cares about is the rich/famous. When my friend worked there she was told by a guest that only the rich can afford the fast passes. Walt Disney created a place where EVERYONE can enjoy and NOT pay so mush for everything!!!
Simple solution. Get rich and famous. Don’t understand your comment.
The fast pass only cost $15 per person . Universal charges triple that for theirs.
At this point, do people realize it’s cheaper to fly to another country and visit Disneyland there? You could go to Paris, Hong Kong or Japan and spend half the money for what’d it cost to visit the parks in the US.
Cheaper yet is to fly to another country, and just experience the local culture. A lot more real and rewarding than artificial Epcot.
No mention of those people travelling to the Disney parks from overseas trying to negotiate our way around travel, internet access, booking dates. Trying to understand the new systems.
So because I can’t afford to take a mortgage out yearly to visit my family should be left out? Talk about elitism and greed.
We can afford a $6000 vacation only once every 10 years and that makes us less than???
He has taken away every reason for me and my family to go. He says the parks are filling up but are they open 100 percent. He/they have taken away perks that me and my family enjoyed and some of the reasons we went. He can justify what he wants but he had ruined the enjoyment of Disney World. We went to Universal this year and had a great time.
Hey Bob…. Better fix the alot of infrastructure. You might not see it because you have put a stop to any repairs that will only happen when what ever breakdown. But WE see it. And keep the air-conditioning on the top floors.. Because WE and the guest talk about it. But that’s ok…..just like Rome, you will bring it all down, cause nothing last forever.
I have never been to Disney. Now I’m 32 years old and I’ve never done the Disney parks because I feel like I’m going to “get in the way” of these passholders.. they make it feel intimidating. I would love to experience it but it feels weird at this point, like a newbie, wanting to go have fun but can’t help feeling like I’ll be in their space.
I don’t think you will feel that at all. You usually can’t tell who is an annual pallet and who is not. Most of the magic is watching the first timers get to experience the Parks. Hi. Enjoy! But go off season!!!
Carly! You should go! You won’t even know who the pass holders are. Try to go at less crowded and not so hot times. You will love it.
Well, Bob, this superfan from Denver will be making room for a few others this year since my three annual trips, during which I spent plenty in the parks, will be a thing of the past. I’m fed up, and I’m taking my wallet with me.Congratulations.
Chapek, Chapek, Chapek..His justification for price gouging and to nickel and dime everyone isn’t solid. He describes made up problems and his fixes don’t address the problems he makes up. Smoke and mirrors, just to allow them to hike up prices and gouge for lower quality products and less experiences all under the guise of helping the customer experience. No thanks, it didn’t work on me at least, and it’s worse than ever. I don’t understand the people feeding money to this place right now with what they are doing. I can smile, lie, and rob you of your money for a poor experience too, hit me up. I was a long time customer but my money is better spent elsewhere, not towards this donkey of a CEO. He should watch Pinnochio, Chapek resembles some characters.
I couldn’t agree more with this statement.
As we’ve been annual passholders through the years, now shut out due to the covid hysteria. When Disney finally decides they’ve milked as much as they can from the occasional tourist visitors, the loyal annual passholders just may not be there for a return engagement.
Sounds like I should get to WDW soon, since I guess most of us won’t be able to afford it anymore.
I feel like this is the thought process for most people right now. “Do it now while we still can” and then what happens? When do we hit that wall that we are hoping for? At some point will everyone that wanted to go have gone and gotten it out of their system and attendance drop drastically? I see so many say that they won’t be back because they’ve been priced out, but yet attendance is higher than ever. I can’t see them ever dropping prices.
Most can’t afford it now. Prices are for the elite
I’m sorry, but Chapek has got to go.
He’s quite literally….destroying something I’ve invested in for decades.
“Hi hi, ho ho…Chapek has got to go” is a chant that should be chanted by every annual passholder.
..at least.
We always were annualpass holders for our “drove from Toronto to florida” trip. We would use it for the 2-3weeks and then squeeze Another trip in the next year on the same pass. I get limiting the people that go literally almost every day but they wouldn’t put a lock on people based on passes, they don’t know the background of the people with that pass. The family from Denver coming every 5yrs may realise that for 2.5weeks, an annual pass is cheaper than daily parkhoppers. Once in a lifetime families may very well be annual pass holders because they saw it in a youtube disney hack video or whatever. Shame on him for not realizing that.
I understand that there was a huge pent-up demand for Disney vacations. The hype over the 50th anniversary was also a factor. Now that those visiters have met with the disappointing reality of WDW in it’s current form, I expect those folks won’t be back anytime soon & attendance will drop. People will make other vacations choices.
This is a spot on and fair analysis. International travel was limited/not an option for part of this time in addition to pent up demand from folks who were waiting or had postponed vacation due to Covid. Many of these people probably would start to mix in other vacations even before the price gouging started. The over dependence on your phone and lack of flexibility will frustrate many more than the price increases.
That’s what I expect will happen as well. They’ll see a slight bump with the holiday season this year, but the true attendance levels will rear their ugly heads in 2023.
The ones really getting screwed over this are the DVC members. They are contractually obligated to pay for the maintenance of the resorts every year and have an emotional commitment to return several times a year. But Disney can’t even decide if they want to sell them annual passes anymore. We are all eagerly waiting for Disney to get a dose of reality making them appreciate their customer base again.
The Magic has really and truly been ruined for us, visitors since 1967 in CA and countless visits to WDW since it opened. It’s such a sad thing for us. We miss the Magic and everything the Parks used to be.
As data-centric a s Disney is these days, I’m surprised neither they or their Passholder member base has suggested that they tie their pass system to their payment system for their parks somehow. That way, the dollars being spent by visitors at their parks could literally be separated by Passholders vs. Non-Passholders and all this hearsay and speculation by their CEO could be put to rest by real financial figures. Why no one has suggested this is beyond me?
Chapel is correct. I will keep raising prices until demand goes down. It proves one thing clearly, the LGBTQ community has lots of money and will support this company forever.
It is all about who has the most money and time to spend there. I live 35 miles from Disneyland and have since I was born 1 week after it opened in 1955. It is overcrowded, lines are too long and it is very expensive. I say limit passholders to 1 time a month. There is no need for them to crowd out other visitors who can’t afford to go but once a year! I think they should have a senior’s only day once every 3 months!!! Only people 55 and over!
I have gone to Disney every year for 17 years in a row the hogtied offer no parks they are outdated prices were horrible. I won’t be back until that guy is gone
Ummm,it doesn’t take more than a first grader to realize that this slow down on ‘demand’ for Disney parks has everything to do with kids going back to school,