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I disagree with a lot of the comments... I think it is very expensive but last time we went in 2014- we had a truly magical time! I think you have to expect things to be costly when you're on vacation. It's good they are redoing things!
The day they shut down "one Man's Dream" I will sell my Disney Stock and take WDW off any future plans. How can the generations who come after us learn about and appreciate the genius of Walt and all those who believed in him.
I agree totally! "Who's that man holding Mickey's hand, Mom?" , will be heard in the parks. It's a shame that making money is the ONLY thing that matters! They can't even leave one area to show who and why this place was started. Glad our family was able to really enjoy the parks when they truly were magical!
I am all for updating, but when I was at WDW in November 2014, construction walls were everywhere - blocking views, obstructing traffic, and just taking the magic away. We are going back this September and thought most of the walls would be down, but it sounds like there will be even more this time. I really wish they would revamp one park at a time so the project would be done faster instead of spreading the construction all over the parks.
I was on the fence about renewing my annual pass until I went to Hollywood Studios. I decided to take a year or two off until Disney pulls itself together a little better. Ticket price increases coupled with shutting down half of a park seems very cocky to me. I just hope they don't get thrown off course with another major weather event or economic downturn. They have stop construction dead in it's tracks before and closed down hotels, Hollywood Studios seems a little vulnerable right now. From what I am hearing through Disney employees a lot of the guest traffic now is traveling on credit, while the confidence is encouraging, not too long ago people were having a grand old time spending their home equity believing the 3/2 that they bought for 150k was going to be worth a million dollars sooner rather than later..before the bubble burst.
i took my 9 & 7 yr old girls to MK today. I was so disappointed at how many rides were closed. Most of the "thrill" rides had some type of problem so of course that made the other lines even longer. Get it together Disney! Universal is so much better!
Sorry, but no... Because we live in Florida, we get to host so many of our friends from everywhere in the United States and Overseas during their visit to Orlando. Every time we asked them to choose between Universal or Disney (because of time constrains) we always get the same response: DISNEY. We have learned that to visit Universal will only happen on their second trip, and even that is not a sure thing. Kids made the choice and in most instances they choose Disney (I haven't met any that chooses Universal as of now).
If enough attractions are closed at Disney Hollywood Studios, I would love for the option to "hop" to another park for the day without having to pay the park hopper price on the tickets.
I really hope they can think of something better to do with Pixar Place than Toy Story Play Land. The prospect of that expansion is so disappointing to me. The land is named for Pixar and all we have there now is Toy Story. If they're going to expand it, give us more variety of Pixar. Not just generic carnival rides. It's not worth Disney's money or ours to pay admission to ride Fun Spot rides with Woody on them.
I could see that with the closure (especially of the backlot) that they could be planning something like Cars land in that area (nicely sized there) So Star Wars to the left, Pixar to the right, Muppets in the back; some feel of the original in the park also with the Movie Ride. and who knows maybe saving the Rock & Roller and Tower for a Marvel area (once they get the naming rights to use for rides from Universal). At least R&RC could be re-themed easily.
I liked Disney back in the days when you could go as a family and it did not take a WHOLE month's worth of pay just to get into the gate! Prices are keeping some people away, I know that for a fact!
Well, prices may be keeping some people away but they continue to have record breaking numbers through the gates. They will continue to increase prices until it starts hurting their bottom line.
I *do* wish that they would give EPCOT some love. The Energy ride with Ellen and Bill Nye is so dated! Used to really enjoy it but it, like many other parts of EPCOT, needs some TLC. I wish that they would put more rides in the World Showcase, too. Right now, there's not much to do on that side except eat.
But yet the attendance increases every year.......
It always keeps rising. Until it doesn't. Certainly it is not rising as fast as Universal's, which is why Disney is willing to start significant investment again.
I'm sorry, but adding restaurants and upgrading a hotel does nothing for me! Give me rides and show, something to do to make my money worth while
The prices at Disney Spring are not very welcoming. Why has Disney moved away from middle class America?
Because they can lol
There are two ways to grow. Expand and get more customers at existing prices, or limit expansion and get more money out of the same number of customers. Disney has chosen a path much closer to the latter option.
This is what has lead to the increasing number of complaints that Disney is pricing out the middle class. In truth, they are, and they are perfectly happy about it. They have been raising prices at a rate that far outpaces inflation and wage growth. The result is modest gains in attendance bit significant gains in spending per guest. Of course, some are priced out as prices increase faster than wages, but thus far Disney has managed to add more higher income customers than the middle and lower income customers they are losing. Which is more than fine with Disney.
I'm not sure the model is sustainable in the long run, but Disney will keep doing it as long as they are getting the financial results they are looking for.
With changes coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios, will the Rock n Roller Coaster Ride and Tower of Terror still remain open?
They, along with the Great Movie Ride will remain.