Economics of WDW from Disney's perspective

They increase ticket prices every year its best to buy in advance as soon as you know you are going to get the best price. They have also been working the parks with fewer employees over the past couple years which saves them a ton of money. Disney knows how to get your money and they are always coming up with new things in the park to entice you. Once Star Wars land is finished they will see a huge spike in their bottom line.

I think it's always a moving target. Tourism has factors outside of their own control. For example, there have not been as many Brazillians visiting as of late due to economic problems there, and Brazil is a big fly-in market for WDW.

I don't know if Disney can legitimately handle running a 5th park. I guess they could, but for years they made few upgrades to the parks, and now they are catching up. They have spent an insane amount on IT (magicbands, my disney experience, etc). Pandora Land at Animal Kingdom is costing a ton. They are knee deep into Toy Story Land and Star Wars land at the studios. And it's now very official that a large scale reboot of EPCOT is coming.

They don't really need any new hotels either. 8-9 months out of the year, you can get discounts and great deals at disney hotels, which tells me they are not filling up.

I think the new strategy is less, "How do we get more people" and more "how do we get more out of people". Hence, all the upcharge experiences that are taking over the parks.

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I think the new strategy is less, "How do we get more people" and more "how do we get more out of people". Hence, all the upcharge experiences that are taking over the parks.

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This is definitely where they are going. The number of options for _______ experience has increased over the last few years. Magic Kingdom Rental Cabanas and park to park transfers from inside the parks are the latest.




We have gone every year for the past 4 years and we have another coming up next month, but we are close to taking a few years off. We still take plenty of other vacations outside of Disney but we may start to cut out the Disney mainly due to the crowds. There use to be times of the year where you could practically walk on most attractions, but Disney ruined that by cutting staff creating longer/average waits during slow times.

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There use to be times of the year where you could practically walk on most attractions, but Disney ruined that by cutting staff creating longer/average waits during slow times.

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We were there Thanksgiving week 2016 and I've noticed the crowds - people walking around the park, etc - were LESS than the same week in years past. However, the lines were all more crowded - bag check/admission, ride lines, food lines, etc.

This is a staffing issue, not a crowd issue.

And just walking around, you find less staff around. However, the street vendor types - the ones that sell balloons etc, there has been no reduction in that staffing!

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I don't know if Disney can legitimately handle running a 5th park

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I agree. I think the Central Florida area is maxed out in terms of Disney Parks. But last time I was there it was so crowded that I wondered how seriously Disney is looking into building a new park elsewhere in the US. Texas is the only state that really makes sense, but how much would they be cannibalizing from their existing customers? On the flip side, it would make WDW less congested and people would spend less time frustrated in line and more time buying food, souvenirs, and in general having a pleasant experience.

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Pandora Land at Animal Kingdom is costing a ton. They are knee deep into Toy Story Land and Star Wars land at the studios. And it's now very official that a large scale reboot of EPCOT is coming.

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All of these expansions, once completed, should really help alleviate some of the congestion and take some pressure off the Magic Kingdom.

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They don't really need any new hotels either. 8-9 months out of the year, you can get discounts and great deals at disney hotels, which tells me they are not filling up.

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I'd love to know the stats on what % is filled up at the resorts year round. When they give room discounts they might just be doing what JC Penney does by starting with higher prices, then saturating with coupons to make customers feel like they're getting a deal.

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I think the new strategy is less, "How do we get more people" and more "how do we get more out of people". Hence, all the upcharge experiences that are taking over the parks.

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Definitely the right strategy, and I don't mind it. The paradox of Disney World is if it's too affordable, everyone will be there and you'll spend your whole time there waiting in line.