How Disney Parks Drain Your Wallet

[@ReviewTyme]

What do you think of Disney's sneaky money making tactics? Also be sure to head to buyraycon.com/reviewtyme to get 15% off sitewide!

[@dirtydiamondmovies]

When the tactics become so obvious to park guests it’s not a tactic anymore

[@james_halpert]

It sure costs a lot of money to run a theme park, but somehow Disney-level parks in Europe like Europapark (70 USD per adult) or Efteling (55 USD per adult), and even Disneyland Paris itself (85 USD per adult), have ticket and hotel prices at a fraction of the cost of the US Disney Parks and still make a profit. And in addition to the cheaper tickets, they don't have any purchaseable addons like the almost required line skipping in US parks - virtual waiting lines are mostly free in European parks and direct line skipping just isn't a thing. Merch is also much cheaper and less relevant. So the ticket price plus a little food money really is all the parks get and that is still enough to cover their full operation - and the companies behing the parks still seem to make good money. Something doesn't add up here, I disagree with the statement in the video that ticket prices alone can't run a park - my guess is that Disney is just greedy to an extreme and charges whatever they can get away with, regardless of the actual underlying cost of running the parks or hotels. And people in Europe are just not willing to spend car money on a theme park visit, so Disney (and others) are just not able to raise their prices in Europe sky high if they want to retain their customer base. You won't find many people in Europe willing to go into debt for a theme park, while in the US that seems to be the norm unfortunately. In the end, the consumers decide what can be charged.

[@mikeywebb9598]

Tokyo disney isnt run by disney and has like $65 tickets and is widely considered the best maintained disney park, and has some of the best new additions of any disney park

[@gamertara5903]

Exactly! I truly believe the US Disney theme parks keep Disney+ and other parts of the company afloat!

[@Bupe_Daka]

@@mikeywebb9598but how does it being in America make it cost more?

[@kevinkrupski246]

​@Bupe_Daka well both US parks are located in states that are warm year making them more desirable to viste year round. This make more demand and one can charge more.

[@Bupe_Daka]

@@kevinkrupski246 I understand convenience in theme parks like with close hotels, but I just don’t believe that much of a price difference is justified

[@ChuckE.CheesesIllinois]

I think most people will still go to Disney until their favorite ride/the ride that keeps them coming back or justify the price gets removed

[@AziaXtremeNFinity]

It was never this bad under Michael Eisner's administration back in 2000 on average a single day ticket at Disneyland for an adult was $43 ($78.78 today) *_UNDER $80_* *_who would not wanna pay under $100 to go to a theme park especially any of the Disney parks?_* Tokyo Disney is more reasonable with their ticket prices than the American parks *(but that might change with reports of raising tourist taxes for international guests and tourism in Japan in general)*

[@swine59238]

Not to defend Disney, but the average salary in Tokyo, the richest part of Japan, is only about $39K, versus $65K for the average American. $65 for a park ticket is much more expensive for a Japanese family than American - we're just richer, and things cost more in a richer society.

[@AziaXtremeNFinity]

@@swine59238 but something of that phenomenal quality at both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea and they charge reasonable pricing for tickets is still dumbfounding to me if Bob Iger and the WDC took full control of Tokyo Disney from the Oriental Land Company their greedy little peabrains would *_RAISE PRICES ON EVERYTHING TO HIGH HEAVEN just like they've done to the American parks!_*

[@AziaXtremeNFinity]

@@swine59238 but something of that phenomenal quality that is both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea and they charge reasonable prices for tickets is dumbfounding to me if Bob Iger and the WDC got full control of Tokyo Disney and took it away from the Oriental Land Company *_THEY WOULD RAISE PRICES ON EVERYTHING TO HIGH HEAVEN_* just like they've done to the American parks and considering the meticulous love and care that was put into Tokyo Disney it would probably be far worse then we've ever seen before

[@dougmartin7129]

Something interesting is that when Disneyland opened Walt Disney actually privately owned some of the rides, the trains and other attractions as the years passed. Hence the individual purchased tickets for rides. It made for very easy accounting on how much Walt would be paid. By the 1980’s the Disney company purchased the rides from the Disney estate. And so ended the need for individual ride tickets.

[@morleymo]

I'm very happy with the amount of HKDL footage there is in this video, and surprised you've lived in HK for a while too! I was very sad when FastPass got discontinued after the pandemic closures, because I sometimes collect them rather than use them but in the case of Hong Kong the early magic hour (sold at HK$199) was deemed very popular, especially when World of Frozen just opened I'm not a fan of the individual LL system (being sold at around HK$129 per person per attraction) to this point I'd rather try the lottery system that once existed at Tokyo (although it did also have its issues) I've been an annual pass/ Magic Access holder for almost 10 years now, although I've always gone for the lowest tier I think it suits my preferences, and extra ticketed events are always themed to pass member nights, an opportunity where only pass members get to enjoy the park after hours but please, bring back a proper parade Hong Kong!! (and by proper I mean Paint the Night)

[@kalzium8857]

Well you can blame the Disney Superfans for it. These fans are willing to spend much more than your average guests. For Disney it is more profitable to cater to these fans, then to make a good experience to everyone. You could compare Disney to a pay to win game. These games are designed to make as much money as possible from whales, a term for these high spending players. While the rest of the playerbase get a much worse experience. For Disney these superfans are a goldmine. You have a target demographic that spends a lot of money, buys overpriced merchandize and is totally loyal to the brand.

[@mikeywebb9598]

there just objectively isn’t enough super fans to make more money catering to just them at disney world

[@fluffytimes100]

They let rich families cut in front of poor families. Walt would never have approved of that. 😢😢😢 #disneyisevil

[@Neverfate]

I love the Enchanted Tiki Room . . .

[@DelicateRedRose]

You can't get a burger and fries for under 15$ these days. Not at McDonald's or a local burger joint. I live in the south. That 15$ is no longer "expensive".

[@EspenSGX]

Disneyland Paris recently doubled the price of a salad to €12. A salad!

[@leewhite82]

Disney's entrance fee is a long long way from being a loss-leader. What is a standard day ticket in the US? $160 plus tax! And you may still need to pay a lightning lane pass to get on some rides.

[@luc_8710]

you are correct that its not a loss leader. but it does act like one since its what trigger the other purchase, but without being sold at lost / reduce margin. I need to recheck in econ101 how those are called 😅

[@RankingTheMouse]

The main takeaway for me from this brilliant & well-discussed 30min video: THANK YOU DOM. SOMEBODY FINALLY CALLED OUT THOSE HIDEOUS DRIPPING WHITE EARS 😭😭😭

[@gamertara5903]

Right? They look atrocious!!

[@samuelwitwicky3900]

As bad the economic circumstances are here in the US, I did not realize how much worse the problems are elsewhere given how much stronger the USD has become compared to other world currencies.

[@kaijuguy19]

Honestly the way Disney's going about getting money nowadays just reeks more of greed and desperation that comes at the cost of the people who aren't able to afford the expensive perks the Disney parks have (At least in the USA.) Theme parks are expensive enough as it is especially in the current economic situation we're in now but Disney doesn't seem to get the memo that eventually it's current tactics along with decisons that are questionable at best and damaging at worst will come back to bite them in the nastiest way possible if it doesn't course correct. Especially with how other parks like Universal are going about it in a more sensible way.

[@pazzariatv]

My hack is that I live in a two bedroom apartment in Celebration and have an annual pass. Properly pwned. 😉

[@jmeadowsmobile]

Well-presented, intelligent and informative. Thanks! :)

[@davidmonahan5788]

Laziest topic in the theme park sphere. All of Disney’s prices are right in front of you. You can go or you can not go. Why aren’t we making videos about how high end resorts are “draining money” when their prices are way higher than Disney

[@cjvs.1991]

Was the lack of backing music in this video slightly odd to anyone else? I feel certain that they typically use music under their vocals, but maybe I'm wrong....? Great video regardless!

[@luc_8710]

good premise, but lots of mistake. You should have spoken to an economist: 1) Disney doesnt loose on ticket price. demande is high enought they use price to reduce demand not increase it. That way they also ensure getting people to spend more are its their " only time" going. Park demand is higher than capacity which id why price keep increasing to reduce and filter demand. 2) premium economy is by far the bulk of airline revenue. Not business and first class.

[@kevikiru]

2) He never said revenue. He said PROFIT. So premium economy might be majority of revenue, but is its margin so good it contributes to majority profit? 1) This I agree with you about. I do not think Disney has to lose money on the ticket, there is enough demand on most days.