Disney beginning to worry about costs of Disney vacations
By: Rob Johnson - SA EditorWalt Disney (NYSE:DIS) executives are becoming concerned about the rising costs of vacations at the company’s theme parks and resorts, The Wall Street Journal reported late Saturday.
Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand has surged and the company began consistently implementing price increase. Over the past few years, attendance growth at its parks has slowed and regulars are canceling their trips, according to the report.
The Journal reported that single-day passes to Disneyland in California topped $200 for the first time in October, and its FastPass that allows visitors to skip lines has gone from free five years ago to as much as $449 currently.
People who have worked on pricing at the parks were quoted as saying that Disney is addicted to price increases and have hit the point where middle-class visitors can’t afford visits. Some reportedly said there have been increasingly frequent talks within the company over whether it has lost its appeal to families.
The Journal said Disney’s own surveys began to show visitors to Disneyland and Walt Disney World in Florida showed a sharp downtick in those planning future trips. In the fiscal year ended in September, visits to U.S. parks rose 1%, down from a rise of 6% in 2023. Per-person spending in those parks rose 3% in each of the previous two fiscal years and were 4% higher in the quarter ended in December.
Income at Disney’s theme park unit in the last quarter of 2024 was flat from the previous-year period at $3.1B. Attendance at its U.S. parks slid 2%, while operating income dropped 5% year over year, partly due to closures at Walt Disney World due to hurricanes.
