Yesterday Disney CEO, Bob Chapek, took part in a Wall Street Journal live stream to answer questions about the direction of the Walt Disney Company. During the interview Chapek was asked about how Disney is managing the crowds and the “die hard” fans.
WSJ-“You mentioned the passionate Disney fanbase….they go online, they have forums, they debate your pricing. Some love it. Some hate it. What’s the line on continuing to manage it as you have but not alienating those customers, those die hards?”
Disney CEO Bob Chapek talks about pricing/demand at its theme parks and avoiding alienating the company’s most passionate fans. pic.twitter.com/IB0oNTMd8J
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) October 26, 2022
To which Bob Chapek responded:
“We want to guarantee a great guest experience, no matter when people come. If they come the second Tuesday in September we want them to have a great guest experience. Maybe that wouldn’t have been so hard in the past. But if they come the day after Thanksgiving we also want to guarantee that they’re going to have a great experience.”
How? By raising the prices and making planning so convoluted that you need a vacation from your vacation? Disney is raising prices but seemingly packing more and more people into the parks, which is a win-win for them, but not for the guest experience.
Also, how can he “guarantee” that? Disney has set it up in such a way that people have to pay more money to potentially have a better experience. How is that a guarantee for those that can’t or don’t spend the extra money?
He continued:
“The people that actually come into the park that day. We want them to have a great experience. That no matter what day you come you are guaranteed to get that magical experience that creates magical memories that last a lifetime. ”
Again, it is not as magical as it used to be. It’s far more stressful, crowded and expensive. I also found it interesting his comment in regards to the fan boards saying “The people who actually come to the park that day” meaning the ones there and not the ones talking about it online.
He goes on about how you have to manage demand by controlling the number of people you let in or turn them away at the gate. Instead of a family from Denver, this time he uses a family from Seattle.
However one of the biggest complaints I have heard is about how crowded the parks are. Disney has been saying they increase prices to control demand and then allow the same amount or more people in at higher prices. What the Reservation system does is limit how many guests that can come in depending on their passes. By limiting Annual Passholders it frees up more room for guests paying more per day. Making the profits higher.
Maximizing Shareholder value is what he really cares about. The way to do that is increase profits. It is not about guest experience it’s about shareholder value.
Scott Gustin on Twitter posted some of the quotes from the interview.
…maximizing shareholder value, but more importantly it protects the guest experience so that when you get into the park … you can have confidence it’s not going to be overcrowded.” — Chapek
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) October 26, 2022
Here’s the reaction from Twitter:
I’ve been a passholder for over 20 years, and can honestly say the parks are at the highest crowd levels I have ever seen while being at the highest price point. There used to be days you could count on being empty. they had calendars dedicated to it because it was a set pattern.
— Jane Dough (@coffeeandglue) October 26, 2022
Yeah…the whole “we charge higher so there are less crowds” excuse doesn’t hold much water when the parks have been more crowded than ever.
— Matt C (@TheMatthewPaul) October 26, 2022
Bob should have been in EPCOT last Saturday. We didn’t have a “great experience” and it seemed “overcrowded” to me!
— Nick Sbroglia (@nicksbroglia) October 26, 2022
Yes this!
Shareholder value! DRINK 🍺 🥃
— Sam W (@wiredforflight) October 26, 2022
This is true. People will buy tickets and not have park reservations and be told too bad when they get there!
The problem with his BS is that they will happily sell more date specific tickets than reservation capacity allows, and then say you should have checked reservation availability first. I don’t see any other industry doing that.
— Jason Jones (@likeOMGtotes4E) October 26, 2022
Sounds like what they’ve done is make the 2nd week in September feel like the day after thanksgiving and not the other way about.
Family from Seattle memes incoming!
— Scott Walker (@scottwalker88) October 26, 2022
Hollywood studios on the 16th October was so busy that there was no food available from any stands by 7pm. We left early and missed the closing show so my kids could eat. Every park was rammed full, every day, from the 4th to 18th October.
— Ese (@Ese2085) October 27, 2022
“and avoiding alienating the company’s most passionate fans…”
Too late Bob…— Bobby J (@Tomorrowland_98) October 26, 2022
I’m a DVC member and literally last week a DVC CM spewed the “family from Colorado” line to me when I was complaining about Annual Passes and I said “how can that scumbag say he wants more people in the park when the pass system LITERALLY MAY KEEP THEM OUT”? Idiots.
— Rupert Pupkin (@RupertP46422908) October 26, 2022
That’s family from Denver looking at that family from Seattle like pic.twitter.com/SbBFIUcxMn
— Original Orange Bird (@ogorangebird) October 26, 2022
Meanwhile, the family from Indianapolis: pic.twitter.com/gIWwu2kjpM
— SCREAM Park Casual (@ThemeParkCasual) October 26, 2022
This is what I am talking about. He keeps saying that it “guarantees the best experience” when it does not.
Well, I went in September from Utah and the “guaranteed best experience” was not my experience. Is this a money-back guarantee? Rides down and/or in disrepair daily. Lack of entertainment offerings. Poor selection of merch.
— Jason Gordon (@iNinjabot) October 26, 2022
What Chapek isn’t saying is that he’s ensuring a “great experience” only for the rich guests who can afford to pay $80 extra to ride a popular ride.
The rest of us are just out of luck if we can’t pay.
— Bighead Tales – Save America, stop the Republicans (@BigHeadTales) October 27, 2022
I have mentioned this before as well. Disney has limited capacity in the past and control the various “groups” for park pass reservation availability then says that the demand is so high they can charge more. It always seemed a bit suspicious to me.
Truly a fascinating response. On one hand, I totally get wanting to control crowds to maximize the experience. However, for DVC and AP members, it can leave them out w/o perks. Also, prices rose based on heightened demand based solely on THEM limiting capacity. Fascinating.
— Mike Albanese (@Malbanese1922) October 26, 2022
If they where actually creating a better experience that would be great. They’re not though. The experience has been watered down. If you want to plan staffing which is understandable then actually staff appropriately. I’m just not sure how you can say we do this for the guest.
— Rebecca Anderson (@Rcandysue21) October 27, 2022
The comments go on and on.
Disney parks fans are turning. This might be why Disney is desperately trying to fill rooms and offering several discounts at once for both Christmas 2022 and four months of 2023! They even put up a Disney Parks Blog article entitled 3 Ways to Save on Your Next Walt Disney World Stay to persuade people to book.
What do you think about what Chapek said? Comment and let us know!
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