Strollers, take 4 - DME?

One smart reader thinks the stroller price hikes are the first "squeeze" from DME, which makes WDW patrons captive. Now might as well raise prices!!

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Prices are set at WDW by price/value perception research. In a fairly homogenous closed population like WDW guests with a large population from which to sample, you can pretty accurately measure cost/sales behavior and find the revenue-maximization price point. They can even claim now to factor in goodwill--they sample guests 5, 7, 10 years out to see what they remember and how it shapes buying behavior, and you know what, people don't complain!

One of my theories is that because prices continuously rise, perception of expense in the past is overwhelmed by perception of how things have *gotten* so expensive in the present. One big driver of prices right now is DME. Because DME eliminates guest purchase choices, what a guest perceives as being willing to pay is way more now than a few years ago; in the past it was a that they didn't want to drive to Wal Mart; now they simply can't, so it doesn't enter into their thinking.

Another big driver is the US exchange rate. Perceptions have adjusted around the strong GBP/EUR. In the inverse, remember for over a decade there was essentially a different price for Canadians whose CAD was strongly devalued vs. the USD. You could buy tickets and vacation packages for WDW in Canada for 15% less than in the States.

Simpsons is soft-opened!

A few fan sites are reporting that Simpsons the Ride (at Uni-Orlando) is soft-opened. I haven't seen it myself just yet, but will hopefully have a look this weekend. And a report on miceage if it's ready.

Strollers, take 3

An email I got, in its entirety (no name or salutation or anything):

You're a Dad that is sweating this trip already. Airfare, hotels, restaurant meals and the $200 a day for the family's tickets to the park.... now you realize this trip will cost $3,000+ and the credit cards will take months to heal. The card is red-hot already from being run through the register so much.... damn, breakfast at the character restaurant you promised the kids was "brunch"! No one was even that hungry and it ran $150 and the kids had a little cereal and juice. You overate just trying to get some value out of it and now your stomach is killing you.

Now you hit the stroller rental counter for a double wide for the twins. It's gotta be $10 a day for a stroller cost Disney $60, the way they charge around here.

What does that sign say? $31? Must be for a week, that's great! At least they cut you some slack on something. Say what? $31 A DAY?! For a STROLLER? You have got to be freakin' KIDDIN' ME HERE! Listen, my RENT A CAR only costs $15 a day more than that! This stroller got 200 horsepower, auto trans and A/C? No? THEN WHERE DOES $31 A DAY COME FROM?!! My 8 year old wants to see Mickey, has a bowl of Cheerios and it's $25! OK! BUT $31 FOR ONE DAY OF STROLLER!?

Family is almost in tears, but Dad has snapped like a dry branch in a stiff wind. He was ready to pay high on this trip. He knew everything would be expensive. But this is so outrageous, so over the top, and he's so vulnerable, what does he do? Tell the twins to wait outside?

He takes a deep breath, remembers the poor kid behind the counter just works here, and pays. He wants this to be a good time for the family, and he forces a stiff smile. But he and the wife will have a little talk tonight after the kids are down. They will never go to a Disney park again. Ever.

Strollers (again)

My MiceAge article on stroller price increases at WDW (and which veers to the quantitative vs qualitative debate) has spooked up a lot of interesting emails.

One CM reader agrees with me that abandoned strollers are increasing, and reminds me that Disney takes those to lost and found, then property control, and finally auctions them to CMs. So Disney essentially sells the strollers twice!

More declines by degree

I promised I'd start posting reader mail from MiceAge in here, but have mostly forgotten to do so. Here's a good one:

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I’ve been reading your columns on declining by degrees for a long time and I though I’d share my recent experience. This may or may not be the way things have always been done, I don’t know, but it sure felt less than magical to me:

We recently booked our second trip to WDW for September to take advantage of the free DDP. On the prior trip we stayed off property and never interacted with Disney Travel, but this time I booked directly with the website and put up the $200 deposit, with the rest to be paid from our tax rebate (doing my patriotic duty here!). About 5 days later, I received an envelope from the Travel Co. and opened it excitedly. Inside the envelope was nothing but a bill and a return envelope for payment. No brochure, no congratulations or even an obvious thank you (After my 1st read, I didn’t see a thank you at all, but when I let one of my coworkers look at it he found one buried in the middle of a paragraph at the bottom.)

Now how much could it cost to put a brochure or even park maps inside the envelope? Something to encourage the excitement instead of just a bill? Also, it seems to me that the “Thank You for booking with us” should be the biggest thing on the page and the first thing you see, not the balance due.

Anyway, it’s not a huge deal, just a little experience that was less than magical that seems to me to fit with your theme, so I thought I’d let you know.

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Jungala now open

I've got a full write up and pics on MiceAge. In brief, I was very impressed by Jungala, much more than I thought I would be.

eagle

eagle
Originally uploaded by drkevinyee

We saw this eagle less than a mile from WDW - eating a rabbit, five feet from us on the side of the road.

Long live Flamingo Crossings!