Chris you kept using the word guffaw which means laughter 😅, I'm thinking you were looking for the word faux pas which basically means a mistake in a social setting. And so I'm not sure at this point that what you alluded to was what you're saying he alluded to with his faux pas 😊
Disney: “we’ll make up declining attendance/subscribers w ads, higher prices and improve profitability w skimpy films and operations.” Disney Fwd is a counter to Epic. If Disney didn’t have D Fwd in CA it would be in full blown decay. All of hospitality is going to be fading even worse by 2030s.
How about they keep the park spotless from litter and clean the bathrooms?! Sick of the price for closed rides and less-than maintenance. Expectations have lowered.
I agree. I remember when Disneyland before Covid used to be so clean and spotless. Now the bathrooms are more dirtier and also what’s with all this spiderwebs all over the park. I mean I get that it’s an outside thing, but I remember when the lightbulbs lamps outside were clean and spotless. Now there just covered with so much web.
As a lifelong Disney theme park fan who raised a lifelong Disney theme park family... And who held an AP at Disneyland when it went to $99 for about ten years... We took a Universal Florida only vacation this past summer. We had so much fun with zero stress and planning that we are thinking we want to do that again before going to Disney again. It's heartbreaking but the fact spoke for itself.
Let me be 100% clear. If there was a Disney streaming service that only had ads and no way to have a 'clean' viewing I would not subscribe at all. Likewise, if the value is eroded I would gladly cancel. There are tons of great shows and movies out there. The legacy companies are just trying to get everyone back to a cable like service with bundling and ads. BARF!!
I found it interesting that Bob Iger said they wanted to return to a more creative mode. Every recent notable release, and also those announced, is a sequel.
Increased prices, fewer services. Disney today, compared to Disney 10 years ago is a completely different experience. Wherever they can, Disney will take away a benefit, sell it back to you, and raise the price on the main product. Ad nauseam.
I will never, ever pay for an advertisement-supported plan of any streaming service. Ever! I absolutely hate, hate ads. If Disney tries to price me out of Disney+ because they want me to watch ads, then I will unsubscribe rather than pay more.
The demand for streaming was always there, but the business model was always shaky. Disney had a brilliant back end for monetizing their old assets: scarcity (1x per 7 years), demand, and minimal cost to produce another VHS, DVD, or Blu-Ray, and most entertainment companies followed similar models. It was what allowed them to have profitability on these products for years. And now they've made their whole catalogues available for a small monthly sum. They've got to find some way to monetize the "back end" again. It is a pity that they had so little foresight into how that was going to go.
Disney is a horrible company. Idk why people are so into this place. They charge so much because they can and they know these crazy Disney people will pay for it. You see how much they are charging for lightning passes or fast lane passes or whatever it is they call them? Amazon prime started doing this crap too. All of a sudden I have ads and then I see they want $5 extra a month to go ad free😂
YOU: "WAAAH I HATE ADS WHY IS IGER DOING THIS DISNEY IS INCREASING PARK TICKET PRICES IT'S UNAFFORDABLE FOR FAMILIES I'LL NEVER GO TO DISNEYLAND AGAIN WALT WOULD BE ROLLING OVER IN HIS GRAVE" IGER: * Domestic park attendance jumps 3% & revenues grow 6%. * Experiences revenues, increase by $100M & hit all time company high * DIS stock jumps 14pts from 99.6 to 114.7 LMAO 😂
I think a major point that hasn't been publicized as much is that Disney is marketing towards a certain clientele that is decidedly not children. My husband, son and I were AP holders at Disneyland prior to covid and went 2 to 3 times a year. Since the change to magic keys, we have not renewed our passes. We have attended 1 Disney park since, Magic Kingdom, and I found the reliance on the app and the charge for Genie Plus a huge detraction from the overall experience. When we go to parks, we don't want to be tied to devices and we do want to be free to live in the moment, do attractions in the same area before moving to the next, and eat what sounds good when we get hungry. I feel like we missed so much of the detailing in the parks by being forced to rush and keep a schedule, preplan meals, cross the park to bounce from attraction to attraction, and keep track of time to keep reservations. To me it felt like the vacation was a job. When you have kids, you can't always preplan things and you need to be able to make changes on the fly. The reliance on apps and reservations makes this type of trip very much not suited to children. Also, it negatively impacts those with disabilities (along with the massive change to the DAS pass). Add in the raised costs of everything now and Disney has priced families out. If the average family of 4 brings in $78k a year, can they really afford to spend 11% of their total income on a vacation? Probably not. Disney has decided their new clients aren't kids but adults with disposable income. Walt's dream was a park where families could be together, but that isn't where Disney now is headed. Like him or not, Deadpool isn't exactly kid friendly and by making those movies and having him in the parks Disney is clearly showing they are willing to milk the success of that IP and continue to move away from more child friendly offerings. Not trying to start an argument on this point or debate if it is right or wrong and what is appropriate for kids, but Walt would never have approved Deadpool in the parks. Maybe times are changing, and this is just a sign of it, but if you look at the latest park expansions they are also catering to adults and not children. Avatar and Star Wars have primarily adult audiences, not that kids don't enjoy them as well, but the core concepts of the films are more geared to complex themes adults understand and not children. Even the Marvel movies are more targeted towards adults as a whole - younger kids don't sit through the movies at home, they jump up and act them out, ignoring the plot in favor of the action. Even the after hours events are more targeted towards adults than children. You don't have to agree with me, but if you compare the offerings of the parks now to the ones when Walt was here, you can see the shift in marketing towards a more adult park - just look at the fact they serve alcohol in more places than Walt would allow when he was alive. Disney has really moved away from "family friendly" and more into a "money friendly" company. Adding commercials into a paid streaming service is just ridiculous and proves your streaming service isn't good enough on it's own with its offerings to attract a customer base.
I have a friend who is a long term high ranking Disney employee who said the CFO Hugh Johnson is solely concerned and focused on the dollars, with a negative impact to visitor experience and cast members.
@@Kennylaggins yes, but there has always been a balance. Not now, it's all about the money even if it lessens the visitor experience. Apparently they've never seen it to this extreme
Thank you so much for this, Chris! My family and I have always been Disney fans. They have basically priced is out , unfortunately, and my daughter and I will be spending our next vacation at Universal and maybe tacking on one day at a Disney park or just Disney Springs without an overnight at WDW. Again, thanks for this video!
Hi Chris, I commented on your Disneyana/Bank video you probably didn’t see, but the artist in the ink and paint room was my daughter Emily. Just wanted to thank you for the Disneyana and Bank history! It was great as always, but that one was a little more special to me!😊
I kinda want a CEO that likes to be a people pleaser and well liked by customers. Like someone who is will to lose some profits if it means we all actually like him/her and get excited to see them in the parks walking around like people did with Walt in disneyland
He is coming in after Bob Chapek and having to clean up a lot of the mess he made. I think we have to remember there was already movies and plans that were already in the works (under chapek) That Bob Iger had nothing to do with but still came into public view once Iger stepped into the CEO position. Im a Disney history buff and Love the Old Disney but also understand its still a company that has to make money to keep a float. I think the price increases are to to help them pay for all the new park expansions that are happening soon.
I've always loved Disney, but I'm having a hard time justifying trips to the parks. We live in Hawaii, so traveling there is part of the issue, but all of these price increases are making it extremely difficult to afford visiting.
We’re a HUGE Disney family. But in all honesty, whenever we finally cross the country to visit Orlando again, it’s going to be a Universal-only trip. The hotel pricing & benefits are ENORMOUS over the value provided by WDW hotels. And we want to experience Universal Orlando for the first time. Bigger Harry Potter land than California. Jurassic Park. Velocicoaster. Hagrid’s. ET!!! And so many more experiences we want to have. I want to spend a full week at Universal, and we still won’t see everything. I think we’re at a point where WDW price increases, lower value proposition, Lightning Lane nonsense, and nonstop park construction have really left us out for awhile. Especially since Disneyland is a 6-hour drive. 🎉🎉🎉
@@happymaskedguy1943 she said something about how she wished that the people that didn’t vote the way she did ..not to have peace .. something like that. If you google it, you can get her exact words. I am sure Disney loved that 😂.. they want to sell a movie and she is saying something that can impact the box office .
I pay annually, and I received notification of the substantial price increase unless I switch to the ad supported version. I canceled my subscription as of the end of this month. I don't watch it enough for the increased cost, and I'm not switching to ads. We're planning on a trip to Orlando in 2026 primarily for Universal. We may or may not tack on a visit to WDW. We've visited WDW twice and tacked on a couple days for Universal in the past so yes, we're switching primary parks for next trip!
Colored shirt = Breaking news!!! Thats an interesting strategy to raise prices on D+ in an effort to push subs to the ad supported tier. Very sneaky and definitely hurts us that have been subscribed to the non ad version since day one. Great breakdown, Chris. 👍
hey Chris I know this is going to be a controversial opinion but If there is one thing that I hate at Disney California Adventure is Hollywood Land here is why 1. Ever seen they got rid of Muppet Vision 3-D and Aladdin: A musical Spectacular it all went downhill because Disney never confirmed why they closed they did it to make the fans angry but Muppets I think should come back as a land in some sort of way soon I wouldn't say Disney has cut back on that franchise because they still do Merch like pins for example 2. Stage 17, Stage 12, and the Hyperion theatre is just standing there for no real reason because Stage 17 used to be Who Wants to Be a Millionare Play it and then it was turn into a Olaf's Snow Fest for the Frozen Fun event in 2015 and then it was turned into a Avengers Campus store for a short time so if I was a Disney Imagineer I would turn Stage 17 into a Lucasfilm Restaurant were you can eat and also meet your favorite characters from Star Wars & Indiana Jones and also play arcade games from Lucasfilm like the Pinball machines and Star Wars Racer. For Stage 12 that used to be a Hollywood and Dine restaurant and then Disney closed it and it was used for a Tron Arcade for the Tron Event in 2012 but then Disney closed it again and it has been abandoned ever since. For Hyperion theatre that has been abandoned for a Year it was just recently used for Rogers: The Musical for a limited time so if I was a Disney Imagineer I would demolish both Stage 12 and Hyperion theatre for a Trackless dark ride based on a Goofy Movie or Zootopia or put Encanto or The Loin King Musical there instead
Thanks for bringing us the news (in addition to all of the fun stuff). This is really good to know about why things are the way they are in the parks or in the theaters.
I was in Spain at the same time as the Olympics. I had hoped to travel home through Paris and visit Disneyland Paris for my first time, but decided it would be crazy with the Olympics there!
Nice shirt and tie! I think Epic Universe will put a dent in Disney, at least initially. Disney has been raising prices but not adding value. I think people are wary now after so much controversy and so little return for their hard earned $$. Myself I love Disneyland still. I will go when I can, albeit a lot fewer times than before.
Next year we are giving up our three annual passes and have already booked Epic Universe for a week at the Helios. We will not be going to DW at all. Disney has made it clear they don’t really want APs, so we’ll oblige them and not renew. We will still go once in a while, but Universal will get our vacation dollars next year.
I was happy that in 2017 I got to visit Florida for the first time and go to the park for 2 weeks. Never going back I'm not giving any more money to that company. They did us wrong especially with the das pass that was my biggest issue with them as of late besides pricing but don't take something away from the people who need it
I think Disney Florida is going to definitely feel a hit from epic. I also think Disney plus has gone down hill. Thanks for another great video Chris !!
I think you're right Chris, it's going to affect the Disney parks for sure. But I think in the long run, it'll benefit them. Once the hype dies down and it's been open for a few years, people will balance out their vacation between Disney and Universal. Great video Chris! 🤙
What you said about Universal travelers is true. We are from Alabama, planning on a Universal Trip in Fall 2025, spending 3-4 days at Universal parks (including the new Epic Universe), and then spending one day at Magic Kingdom so our smallest child who hasn't been to Disney yet, can see some Disney characters and ride the little kid rides at MK. We used to be a Disney family but can't hardly stand to give them money anymore. If it weren't for our 3 year old being obsessed with "It's a Small World," we probably wouldn't be planning that one day there.
I'm not a huge fan of qualifying every decision at Disney by asking "What would Walt think?" But discussing gambling with a DIsney owned property is probably one we should be asking more. Bob Iger is so out of touch with the overall Disney ethos from the past hundred years, I doubt he even remembers that Disney is named after a person who had some pretty strong beliefs. I know he had his faults but I miss Eisner.
We are going with some friends to Epic Universe in the fall next year, but since we are also making a separate Disneyland trip in the spring we won't be stopping by the Florida Disney parks as well.
We would have visited Epic in our next Disney vacation, but don't want to be forced to buy a 3 day ticket where we can only go to Epic once. No thank you. We will wait until we can buy a real 3-day epic ticket.
I recently went to Universal Orlando for the first time. We had a nightmare of a time getting into the park, no one told us to print tickets and when we went to get them printed at the ticket counter they couldn’t find our reservation (blah blah blah)- which was mind blowing since we BOOKED our entire package thru their website. Also why didnt the universal hotel we stayed at print our tickets for us? Anyway we basically missed out on early park entry because of the ticket run around. So for us, we are firmly in the Disney camp and now that we’ve experienced the wizarding world, we have no need or desire to return. We will probably never step foot in Epic Universe, too busy walking World Showcase.
Chris, I am so extremely excited about this deal with 1855 Getaway. I went to Disneyland in the early 2000s for my graduation trip and it was horrible. Thousands of teens and I only got to ride a few rides. Let's just say I stood in line for Indiana Jones for 3 hours and 45 minutes. Well, with this buy 2, get 1 free deal, I can now afford to go back to Disneyland for the first time in around 20 years. I almost bought tickets the other day just for 2 days, but now, I am going to go ahead and add on the 3rd. I am SO glad I did not order them a few days ago.
We already did a universal only trip to Florida this last spring. Cannot wait for epic to open and will be skipping Disney again. Although we may hit up Disney springs :)
At least there is full transparency that they will continue to indeed raise pricing. I'd like to read up on that correlation with the expansion at WDW. You'll always have those who are willing to max every credit card or stick to ham and cheese sandwiches to afford to go. But the notion of "pricing the American family out" keeps growing stronger and stronger. We went to UO for the first time this summer. Our next trip to FL is an only Universal trip which will be a first.
I have an issue with being forced to pay more for a streaming service (that is already one of the most expensive services around) in order to not have to watch ads.
My Son his friend and I are spending 10 days in Florida next summer. We were going to spend 5 days at Disney world and a couple of days at Universal. Now our plan is to spend 3 days at Disney, 3 days at Epic Universe and 1 day at Universal. However we will be staying the hole time at disney's wilderness lodge. So that's a chunk of change for Disney.
I feel like the parks will be fine. People will be interested in seeing a new park, but that will also attract people who had no disney plans anyway. Then people like me , who mostly goes to Disneyland (and prefers it more), who would gladly throw in a day or two at disney world (hello epcot!) while checking out universal's new offerings. And there are some people who only like one or the other. Then disney world will eventually have villains etc etc, and theyll be the new toy again. I love theme park wars! We get so much new stuff.
I think locals may choose more time at Universal while they experience the new attractions but coming from farther away, I think you would go to both Disney and Universal. And personally I will pay the increase for Disney plus since I hate watching ads. Thanks for always giving us great information.
When my family goes back to Florida we are definitely planning a trip specifically for universal . We had a conversation about possibly doing a Disney day.
We are planning a trip next year. But our plans were originally just Disney. Then we decided if we are going all the way to FL (we are in CA) we might as well do universal as well. Epic Universe is really just a bonus to us. We were going to do this trip regardless, but now we will add a day for Epic. It will be our first real family vacation. We are going to do 5 days in Disney Parks and 2-3 for Universal parks. But our kiddos are smaller and can’t ride most rides at Universal, so we don’t think we need as much time there as we do in Disney. Point is, Epic is just a bonus to the plan we already had.
I mean, let me be clear. If I am paying for a service, I don’t want ads in my window. It’s either ads or pay. You will never get me to do both. I like D+, mind you. But I have limits.
I was at toyko disney last week and it was packed. I would say it had twice as many people as atypical disneyland day. Now it was on Halloween so maybe that was the reason. The wait time on beauty and the beast was 170 minutes.
This leadership is ruining Walts legacy. They've lost millions and millions of dollars because so many true fans of Walt Disney have decided not to support this present company any longer. I'm glad i experienced Disney starting in the 60s and enjoyed the Anaheim park in its glorious magic and spirit of Walt Disney himself. So many memories over the last 57 years. Can't get myself to go any longer, it just doesn't feel the same with everything this company is doing. Sad 😔
Well after my takeover, Disney will go back to those days. I will usher in the Make Disney Great Again era and will know I've done my job when Crooked Bob and Wall Street are the ones crying that Disney is dead.
We are probably going to stop by Universal (Florida) this summer to see the new Super Nintendo offerings as we’ve already been to the one in California and my son absolutely loved it. I will say that is a huge edge Universal has over Disney (Nintendo). However, through and through, I’m a Disney adult and my son (9) still adores Disney, too. So we’ll still be visiting their parks, resorts, doing their cruise again, AND continuing our streaming service. I’m still holding on for another Disney renaissance 🤞🏼
22:24 I don't do Universal for personal reasons, but I am definitely working on my first DW trip within the first year of Epic. In part because I hope it draws a small amount of the crowds away, but mostly because it's time.
Just dumped my disney+. Value isn't there, sorry. Most of the modern content I don't want to support. They are now at a premium price point not a value one.
I already got my hotel and park tickets for Epic next year. But I have a WDW Annual Pass, so I'm also gonna go to Disney. I would never go to FL and not go to Disney. I like Universal, but I love Disney.
We are coming from Aust next Sept. Going to DL- 2 days then to WDW & Universal for 14 days. Our ticket gives up unlimited to WDW & Universal & 1 day in Epic. We will spend majority of our time at WDW. We are big Disney fans and come every 4/5 years. It’s a long way to come so trying to fit in as much as possible.
Sorry Chris, but I do not believe one word that Bob Iger says, I do love all you do for us. You always give 1000% and you and your family are wonderful to share all your adventures and information about places with us, I am booking a vacation to England in 2026 because of you and your family going to I think it is called Alton Towers, it sounds like I will have a ton of fun. Once again thanks for everything you do.
Hi Chris! My family just finished 4 days at Universal Studios and 6 days at Disney World. Next year we want to do 3 days at Universal Studios and 3 days at Disney World. The problem is, we want to spend 2 days at Epic Universe and 1 day at the other 2 Universal parks, but the tickets only allow 1 day at Epic. I hope this changes because I want to spend plenty of time exploring the entire park like we did with our 4 days this year. Our 3 days at Disney will be divided between EPCOT and Hollywood Studios.
I’m a general manager who’s sort of carved out a specialty as a fixer. The companies I’ve been with use me as a travelling manager to fix their problem stores. I have come to know that dynamic well, and you tend to get credit for the bad and the good of the previous manager. It is just worded differently. They’ll say, “why haven’t we fixed this yet?” Or they may say, “you did a great job, but that was the previous manager.” I always let them know that the previous manager was horrible and that’s why you let them go. It may have been put in place by them, but their track record shows how many times they screwed good things up. It’s about the decisions made in between that makes things great. That said, I think Iger should take credit for the success of these movies and anything else going forward.
I think Epic Universe opening is a case of “a high tide raises all boats”, meaning, people who go to Florida will definitely visit both places, Universal and WDW, so all parks will see a bump in attendance!
Chris, if Disney + goes up by a lot,. I'm out. If epic universe has a better pricing structure for park entry or annual pass. I will go with them. I'm a DIS shareholder and I'm making some money off my stock. But purchased the stock based on the love of what Disney was doing and not what they are doing today. So I'll wait for the stock to get to a point and cash out. It's not the Disney it used to be.
Chris you kept using the word guffaw which means laughter 😅, I'm thinking you were looking for the word faux pas which basically means a mistake in a social setting.
And so I'm not sure at this point that what you alluded to was what you're saying he alluded to with his faux pas 😊
Oh my gosh you are 100% correct!
Or a gaffe. I think he combined "gaffe" and "faux pas" into "guffaw." My brain will scramble things in this way sometimes.
Gaffe. 👍😀
He prolly meant gaffe which is something incorrect from a public figure. No need to name names, but there’s plenty of examples.
Disney: “we’ll make up declining attendance/subscribers w ads, higher prices and improve profitability w skimpy films and operations.” Disney Fwd is a counter to Epic. If Disney didn’t have D Fwd in CA it would be in full blown decay. All of hospitality is going to be fading even worse by 2030s.
How about they keep the park spotless from litter and clean the bathrooms?! Sick of the price for closed rides and less-than maintenance. Expectations have lowered.
I agree. I remember when Disneyland before Covid used to be so clean and spotless. Now the bathrooms are more dirtier and also what’s with all this spiderwebs all over the park. I mean I get that it’s an outside thing, but I remember when the lightbulbs lamps outside were clean and spotless. Now there just covered with so much web.
Agree. Walt would be disgusted.
As a lifelong Disney theme park fan who raised a lifelong Disney theme park family... And who held an AP at Disneyland when it went to $99 for about ten years... We took a Universal Florida only vacation this past summer. We had so much fun with zero stress and planning that we are thinking we want to do that again before going to Disney again. It's heartbreaking but the fact spoke for itself.
Pssst Disney didn't miss you.....😂
What I'm getting from this is that the business end of Disney is completely out of touch with their audience.
It's not out of touch they don't care it's all about putting money in their pockets.
The company needs new leadership asap.
Let me be 100% clear. If there was a Disney streaming service that only had ads and no way to have a 'clean' viewing I would not subscribe at all. Likewise, if the value is eroded I would gladly cancel. There are tons of great shows and movies out there. The legacy companies are just trying to get everyone back to a cable like service with bundling and ads. BARF!!
I found it interesting that Bob Iger said they wanted to return to a more creative mode. Every recent notable release, and also those announced, is a sequel.
Good sequels are creative...you're confusing "creative" with "unique " or "original "....
@@preciouspuppies9687 Disney doesn't do any of the adjectives.
How bout universal? How bout Sony? They all make sequels. A24 is the only studio that’s creative.
@wavybluez333 let us know when you make a film that does better, till then YAWN......
Disney is becoming eliteist Walt was never that
Nor, did Walt want it to be that
🤣🤣🤣Disney parks have always been expensive, skipping a long line is a premium option at a premium price, nothing more...
Increased prices, fewer services. Disney today, compared to Disney 10 years ago is a completely different experience. Wherever they can, Disney will take away a benefit, sell it back to you, and raise the price on the main product. Ad nauseam.
Emphasis on “ad”.
eventually it will backfire
So true, the dinner packages to get seating for fantastic was the worst. This is separating people by income and it's pathetic.
The new Disney way
Raising prices is alienating people who cannot afford
No riff raff in the park saves us all!!!
@@TOPDOLLAR777 just because someone lives modestly or doesn't make a ton doesn't mean they are riff raff, that's pretty ignorant
Love love love how you break it down babe!
Woa
You're gonna make David jealous.
I will never, ever pay for an advertisement-supported plan of any streaming service. Ever! I absolutely hate, hate ads. If Disney tries to price me out of Disney+ because they want me to watch ads, then I will unsubscribe rather than pay more.
i skip ads
The demand for streaming was always there, but the business model was always shaky. Disney had a brilliant back end for monetizing their old assets: scarcity (1x per 7 years), demand, and minimal cost to produce another VHS, DVD, or Blu-Ray, and most entertainment companies followed similar models. It was what allowed them to have profitability on these products for years. And now they've made their whole catalogues available for a small monthly sum. They've got to find some way to monetize the "back end" again. It is a pity that they had so little foresight into how that was going to go.
Disney is a horrible company. Idk why people are so into this place. They charge so much because they can and they know these crazy Disney people will pay for it. You see how much they are charging for lightning passes or fast lane passes or whatever it is they call them? Amazon prime started doing this crap too. All of a sudden I have ads and then I see they want $5 extra a month to go ad free😂
YOU:
"WAAAH I HATE ADS WHY IS IGER DOING THIS DISNEY IS INCREASING PARK TICKET PRICES IT'S UNAFFORDABLE FOR FAMILIES I'LL NEVER GO TO DISNEYLAND AGAIN WALT WOULD BE ROLLING OVER IN HIS GRAVE"
IGER:
* Domestic park attendance jumps 3% & revenues grow 6%.
* Experiences revenues, increase by $100M & hit all time company high
* DIS stock jumps 14pts from 99.6 to 114.7
LMAO 😂
I’m old enough that advertising is a now thing of the past.
I think a major point that hasn't been publicized as much is that Disney is marketing towards a certain clientele that is decidedly not children.
My husband, son and I were AP holders at Disneyland prior to covid and went 2 to 3 times a year. Since the change to magic keys, we have not renewed our passes. We have attended 1 Disney park since, Magic Kingdom, and I found the reliance on the app and the charge for Genie Plus a huge detraction from the overall experience. When we go to parks, we don't want to be tied to devices and we do want to be free to live in the moment, do attractions in the same area before moving to the next, and eat what sounds good when we get hungry. I feel like we missed so much of the detailing in the parks by being forced to rush and keep a schedule, preplan meals, cross the park to bounce from attraction to attraction, and keep track of time to keep reservations. To me it felt like the vacation was a job.
When you have kids, you can't always preplan things and you need to be able to make changes on the fly. The reliance on apps and reservations makes this type of trip very much not suited to children. Also, it negatively impacts those with disabilities (along with the massive change to the DAS pass).
Add in the raised costs of everything now and Disney has priced families out. If the average family of 4 brings in $78k a year, can they really afford to spend 11% of their total income on a vacation? Probably not.
Disney has decided their new clients aren't kids but adults with disposable income. Walt's dream was a park where families could be together, but that isn't where Disney now is headed. Like him or not, Deadpool isn't exactly kid friendly and by making those movies and having him in the parks Disney is clearly showing they are willing to milk the success of that IP and continue to move away from more child friendly offerings. Not trying to start an argument on this point or debate if it is right or wrong and what is appropriate for kids, but Walt would never have approved Deadpool in the parks. Maybe times are changing, and this is just a sign of it, but if you look at the latest park expansions they are also catering to adults and not children. Avatar and Star Wars have primarily adult audiences, not that kids don't enjoy them as well, but the core concepts of the films are more geared to complex themes adults understand and not children. Even the Marvel movies are more targeted towards adults as a whole - younger kids don't sit through the movies at home, they jump up and act them out, ignoring the plot in favor of the action. Even the after hours events are more targeted towards adults than children.
You don't have to agree with me, but if you compare the offerings of the parks now to the ones when Walt was here, you can see the shift in marketing towards a more adult park - just look at the fact they serve alcohol in more places than Walt would allow when he was alive.
Disney has really moved away from "family friendly" and more into a "money friendly" company. Adding commercials into a paid streaming service is just ridiculous and proves your streaming service isn't good enough on it's own with its offerings to attract a customer base.
Nobody reading all that
Thank you for all you do!
Thanks for listening
I have a friend who is a long term high ranking Disney employee who said the CFO Hugh Johnson is solely concerned and focused on the dollars, with a negative impact to visitor experience and cast members.
Is your friend Mickey Mouse?
Well he doesn't have much choice under the ever changing business plan.
Chief Financial Officer. He’s chiefly interested in finances.
@@Kennylaggins yes, but there has always been a balance. Not now, it's all about the money even if it lessens the visitor experience. Apparently they've never seen it to this extreme
@markanderson5068 every CFO in every corporation is only concerned about the $$, hence the job title...🙄
Thank you so much for this, Chris! My family and I have always been Disney fans. They have basically priced is out , unfortunately, and my daughter and I will be spending our next vacation at Universal and maybe tacking on one day at a Disney park or just Disney Springs without an overnight at WDW. Again, thanks for this video!
Hi Chris, I commented on your Disneyana/Bank video you probably didn’t see, but the artist in the ink and paint room was my daughter Emily. Just wanted to thank you for the Disneyana and Bank history! It was great as always, but that one was a little more special to me!😊
Oh that is incredible! YAY! Thank you for letting me know!! Hi!!!
So interesting!!! Love these videos Chris
Great analysis, Provost.
Thanks for your breakdowns after each earnings call!
Glad you like them!
I no longer care about anything that Bob Iger says, he has led the company into a dark place.
Crappy cocky leader
I kinda want a CEO that likes to be a people pleaser and well liked by customers. Like someone who is will to lose some profits if it means we all actually like him/her and get excited to see them in the parks walking around like people did with Walt in disneyland
He is coming in after Bob Chapek and having to clean up a lot of the mess he made. I think we have to remember there was already movies and plans that were already in the works (under chapek) That Bob Iger had nothing to do with but still came into public view once Iger stepped into the CEO position. Im a Disney history buff and Love the Old Disney but also understand its still a company that has to make money to keep a float. I think the price increases are to to help them pay for all the new park expansions that are happening soon.
Chapek was a penny pincher but under him Disney stock was $100 more than what it is under Iger, let that sink in.
I've always loved Disney, but I'm having a hard time justifying trips to the parks. We live in Hawaii, so traveling there is part of the issue, but all of these price increases are making it extremely difficult to afford visiting.
Haven’t been for a while, just from NorCal. Waiting for the parks to get stuff more together, but still saving our pennies more for other travels…
I love these videos where you give insight on the earnings calls.
Thank you for all the great info!
We’re a HUGE Disney family. But in all honesty, whenever we finally cross the country to visit Orlando again, it’s going to be a Universal-only trip.
The hotel pricing & benefits are ENORMOUS over the value provided by WDW hotels. And we want to experience Universal Orlando for the first time.
Bigger Harry Potter land than California. Jurassic Park. Velocicoaster. Hagrid’s. ET!!! And so many more experiences we want to have.
I want to spend a full week at Universal, and we still won’t see everything.
I think we’re at a point where WDW price increases, lower value proposition, Lightning Lane nonsense, and nonstop park construction have really left us out for awhile.
Especially since Disneyland is a 6-hour drive. 🎉🎉🎉
They also need to understand that making Disney+ too expensive for ad free, this would actually tilt a lot of people to just cancel and not come back.
Bob didn’t mention Snow White because the star actress of the movie is insulting half the country and further tarnishing the Disney brand.
Now she is trying to some damage control by apologizing. Sounds more like a PR move apology than anything. It maybe too little, too late for apologies
What did she say that was so offensive exactly?
@@happymaskedguy1943 she said something about how she wished that the people that didn’t vote the way she did ..not to have peace .. something like that. If you google it, you can get her exact words. I am sure Disney loved that 😂.. they want to sell a movie and she is saying something that can impact the box office .
That young lady in immature and brainwashed by all this woke talk.
@@davidmacias741 she called it correct, magats are garbage....🙄
I pay annually, and I received notification of the substantial price increase unless I switch to the ad supported version. I canceled my subscription as of the end of this month. I don't watch it enough for the increased cost, and I'm not switching to ads. We're planning on a trip to Orlando in 2026 primarily for Universal. We may or may not tack on a visit to WDW. We've visited WDW twice and tacked on a couple days for Universal in the past so yes, we're switching primary parks for next trip!
@@kimberlyapril9562 let us know how cheap everything is at Universal 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Hi, our family loves all you share!
wow and awesome,Chris,epic,cool.
Oh .thank you for your insights and details you put in and explained so well.
Thanks again
Thank you Sir
Love the shirt and tie! Pops!
Thanks!!
Colored shirt = Breaking news!!!
Thats an interesting strategy to raise prices on D+ in an effort to push subs to the ad supported tier. Very sneaky and definitely hurts us that have been subscribed to the non ad version since day one.
Great breakdown, Chris. 👍
Thanks for always giving us behind the scenes info, including the business side. So interesting!
hey Chris I know this is going to be a controversial opinion but If there is one thing that I hate at Disney California Adventure is Hollywood Land here is why
1. Ever seen they got rid of Muppet Vision 3-D and Aladdin: A musical Spectacular it all went downhill because Disney never confirmed why they closed they did it to make the fans angry but Muppets I think should come back as a land in some sort of way soon I wouldn't say Disney has cut back on that franchise because they still do Merch like pins for example
2. Stage 17, Stage 12, and the Hyperion theatre is just standing there for no real reason because Stage 17 used to be Who Wants to Be a Millionare Play it and then it was turn into a Olaf's Snow Fest for the Frozen Fun event in 2015 and then it was turned into a Avengers Campus store for a short time so if I was a Disney Imagineer I would turn Stage 17 into a Lucasfilm Restaurant were you can eat and also meet your favorite characters from Star Wars & Indiana Jones and also play arcade games from Lucasfilm like the Pinball machines and Star Wars Racer. For Stage 12 that used to be a Hollywood and Dine restaurant and then Disney closed it and it was used for a Tron Arcade for the Tron Event in 2012 but then Disney closed it again and it has been abandoned ever since. For Hyperion theatre that has been abandoned for a Year it was just recently used for Rogers: The Musical for a limited time so if I was a Disney Imagineer I would demolish both Stage 12 and Hyperion theatre for a Trackless dark ride based on a Goofy Movie or Zootopia or put Encanto or The Loin King Musical there instead
Thanks for bringing us the news (in addition to all of the fun stuff). This is really good to know about why things are the way they are in the parks or in the theaters.
Really interesting! Thanks for the info. And thanks for you!!! 😃👍🏼❤️
Thanks Chris👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂
Hello chris....love your channel 💟
Didn't mention Star Wars either. 🤔
Well, there are not any SW movies expected in 2025.
Happy Friday like watching your videos
Meanwhile, Walt is spinning in his grave. 😞
Walt was cremated. I highly doubt he’s spinning.😆🤣🤣
@@brian8928 - He's become a dust devil. 🙂
@@goofyrulez7914 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Bring back Snow Whites Scary Adventure and the apple!
I was in Spain at the same time as the Olympics. I had hoped to travel home through Paris and visit Disneyland Paris for my first time, but decided it would be crazy with the Olympics there!
Nice shirt and tie!
I think Epic Universe will put a dent in Disney, at least initially. Disney has been raising prices but not adding value. I think people are wary now after so much controversy and so little return for their hard earned $$. Myself I love Disneyland still. I will go when I can, albeit a lot fewer times than before.
It was great meeting you at Epcot in Morocco on Wednesday! Love your videos.
It was my pleasure
Thank you for the great information. 😁
Next year we are giving up our three annual passes and have already booked Epic Universe for a week at the Helios. We will not be going to DW at all. Disney has made it clear they don’t really want APs, so we’ll oblige them and not renew. We will still go once in a while, but Universal will get our vacation dollars next year.
Thanks Chris! We haven’t been to Disney World since 2021. We are going to Universal for the first time in December.
I was happy that in 2017 I got to visit Florida for the first time and go to the park for 2 weeks. Never going back I'm not giving any more money to that company. They did us wrong especially with the das pass that was my biggest issue with them as of late besides pricing but don't take something away from the people who need it
I think Disney Florida is going to definitely feel a hit from epic. I also think Disney plus has gone down hill. Thanks for another great video Chris !!
I think you're right Chris, it's going to affect the Disney parks for sure. But I think in the long run, it'll benefit them. Once the hype dies down and it's been open for a few years, people will balance out their vacation between Disney and Universal. Great video Chris! 🤙
But what if time does not permit a long run
@davidculver5446 haha that's a good one 😆
did he say Hugh Johnson haha what a name
I know, sounds fake...or a lead-in to a totally different Disney+ experience ? 😮
I plan on making Universal my main stop with maybe a day or two at Disney. Thanks for the breakdown!
Gambling, huh? Sounds like Disney is getting desperate.
@@yooyhooh5833 what media and/or hospitality and/or retailer isn’t desperate? D is a huge player in the 3 most disrupted industries of these times.
What you said about Universal travelers is true. We are from Alabama, planning on a Universal Trip in Fall 2025, spending 3-4 days at Universal parks (including the new Epic Universe), and then spending one day at Magic Kingdom so our smallest child who hasn't been to Disney yet, can see some Disney characters and ride the little kid rides at MK. We used to be a Disney family but can't hardly stand to give them money anymore. If it weren't for our 3 year old being obsessed with "It's a Small World," we probably wouldn't be planning that one day there.
I'm not a huge fan of qualifying every decision at Disney by asking "What would Walt think?" But discussing gambling with a DIsney owned property is probably one we should be asking more. Bob Iger is so out of touch with the overall Disney ethos from the past hundred years, I doubt he even remembers that Disney is named after a person who had some pretty strong beliefs. I know he had his faults but I miss Eisner.
Next, they'll be putting casinos on their ships
We are going with some friends to Epic Universe in the fall next year, but since we are also making a separate Disneyland trip in the spring we won't be stopping by the Florida Disney parks as well.
We are planning our first trip to Florida. We will spend more time at Disney but will also visit Epic.
We would have visited Epic in our next Disney vacation, but don't want to be forced to buy a 3 day ticket where we can only go to Epic once. No thank you. We will wait until we can buy a real 3-day epic ticket.
Thanks for the 411 bubs. 😁👍👍
It’s kind of wild to think a large drop off in Shanghai Disney Resort. I was just there this past weekend and it was actually pretty packed…
I recently went to Universal Orlando for the first time. We had a nightmare of a time getting into the park, no one told us to print tickets and when we went to get them printed at the ticket counter they couldn’t find our reservation (blah blah blah)- which was mind blowing since we BOOKED our entire package thru their website. Also why didnt the universal hotel we stayed at print our tickets for us? Anyway we basically missed out on early park entry because of the ticket run around. So for us, we are firmly in the Disney camp and now that we’ve experienced the wizarding world, we have no need or desire to return. We will probably never step foot in Epic Universe, too busy walking World Showcase.
love the shirt, you look great in that color!!
Chris, I am so extremely excited about this deal with 1855 Getaway. I went to Disneyland in the early 2000s for my graduation trip and it was horrible. Thousands of teens and I only got to ride a few rides. Let's just say I stood in line for Indiana Jones for 3 hours and 45 minutes. Well, with this buy 2, get 1 free deal, I can now afford to go back to Disneyland for the first time in around 20 years. I almost bought tickets the other day just for 2 days, but now, I am going to go ahead and add on the 3rd. I am SO glad I did not order them a few days ago.
We already did a universal only trip to Florida this last spring. Cannot wait for epic to open and will be skipping Disney again. Although we may hit up Disney springs :)
That is awesome!
Getaway Today is so awesome. Just had to say it. 🤙🏽
They are!
At least there is full transparency that they will continue to indeed raise pricing. I'd like to read up on that correlation with the expansion at WDW. You'll always have those who are willing to max every credit card or stick to ham and cheese sandwiches to afford to go. But the notion of "pricing the American family out" keeps growing stronger and stronger. We went to UO for the first time this summer. Our next trip to FL is an only Universal trip which will be a first.
I have an issue with being forced to pay more for a streaming service (that is already one of the most expensive services around) in order to not have to watch ads.
💥Oh Chris, we SO wish you would replace Bob.
Bob's version of creativity is remakes and endless sequels.
My Son his friend and I are spending 10 days in Florida next summer. We were going to spend 5 days at Disney world and a couple of days at Universal. Now our plan is to spend 3 days at Disney, 3 days at Epic Universe and 1 day at Universal. However we will be staying the hole time at disney's wilderness lodge. So that's a chunk of change for Disney.
I thought Universal will only let you spend one day at Epic out of every 3 days at their parkd
Having to pay not to see ads is telling/ people hate ads
Disney price increases are driving us away from them. We just cancelled our Disney +, and have no trips scheduled.
Ok so stop watching Disney content and move on. You’re just trying to justify your decision?
Our family is planning a Universal exclusive trip after Epic opens.
I feel like the parks will be fine. People will be interested in seeing a new park, but that will also attract people who had no disney plans anyway. Then people like me , who mostly goes to Disneyland (and prefers it more), who would gladly throw in a day or two at disney world (hello epcot!) while checking out universal's new offerings. And there are some people who only like one or the other. Then disney world will eventually have villains etc etc, and theyll be the new toy again. I love theme park wars! We get so much new stuff.
DVC member here. Only going to Epic next year. Waiting for individual day tickets so I can spend 3 days there and two at the other Universal parks.
I think locals may choose more time at Universal while they experience the new attractions but coming from farther away, I think you would go to both Disney and Universal. And personally I will pay the increase for Disney plus since I hate watching ads. Thanks for always giving us great information.
When my family goes back to Florida we are definitely planning a trip specifically for universal . We had a conversation about possibly doing a Disney day.
16min in, all I can say is "GET ON WITH IT!"
Hearing it here first
We are planning a trip next year. But our plans were originally just Disney. Then we decided if we are going all the way to FL (we are in CA) we might as well do universal as well. Epic Universe is really just a bonus to us. We were going to do this trip regardless, but now we will add a day for Epic. It will be our first real family vacation. We are going to do 5 days in Disney Parks and 2-3 for Universal parks. But our kiddos are smaller and can’t ride most rides at Universal, so we don’t think we need as much time there as we do in Disney. Point is, Epic is just a bonus to the plan we already had.
I mean, let me be clear. If I am paying for a service, I don’t want ads in my window. It’s either ads or pay. You will never get me to do both. I like D+, mind you. But I have limits.
I was at toyko disney last week and it was packed. I would say it had twice as many people as atypical disneyland day. Now it was on Halloween so maybe that was the reason. The wait time on beauty and the beast was 170 minutes.
When I graduate nursing school, i *want* to do 7-9 days at WDW and 5 days at universal…. In 2026
I think it would be interesting to see the most painted parts of Disneyland everyday. Interview the person in charge of covering up these spots. Thx
I will only be going to Epic Universe. It would cost too much for my family to do both Universal and WDW.
Hi Chris. I like your shirt and tie ❤❤
This leadership is ruining Walts legacy. They've lost millions and millions of dollars because so many true fans of Walt Disney have decided not to support this present company any longer. I'm glad i experienced Disney starting in the 60s and enjoyed the Anaheim park in its glorious magic and spirit of Walt Disney himself. So many memories over the last 57 years. Can't get myself to go any longer, it just doesn't feel the same with everything this company is doing. Sad 😔
Well after my takeover, Disney will go back to those days. I will usher in the Make Disney Great Again era and will know I've done my job when Crooked Bob and Wall Street are the ones crying that Disney is dead.
We are probably going to stop by Universal (Florida) this summer to see the new Super Nintendo offerings as we’ve already been to the one in California and my son absolutely loved it. I will say that is a huge edge Universal has over Disney (Nintendo).
However, through and through, I’m a Disney adult and my son (9) still adores Disney, too. So we’ll still be visiting their parks, resorts, doing their cruise again, AND continuing our streaming service. I’m still holding on for another Disney renaissance 🤞🏼
22:24 I don't do Universal for personal reasons, but I am definitely working on my first DW trip within the first year of Epic. In part because I hope it draws a small amount of the crowds away, but mostly because it's time.
Just dumped my disney+. Value isn't there, sorry. Most of the modern content I don't want to support. They are now at a premium price point not a value one.
I see EU as a one-day park. So my next trip will likely be 1 day at EU, 1 day at at USF/IOA, and 2 days at the 4 Disney parks.
I already got my hotel and park tickets for Epic next year. But I have a WDW Annual Pass, so I'm also gonna go to Disney. I would never go to FL and not go to Disney. I like Universal, but I love Disney.
We are coming from Aust next Sept. Going to DL- 2 days then to WDW & Universal for 14 days. Our ticket gives up unlimited to WDW & Universal & 1 day in Epic. We will spend majority of our time at WDW. We are big Disney fans and come every 4/5 years. It’s a long way to come so trying to fit in as much as possible.
Sorry Chris, but I do not believe one word that Bob Iger says, I do love all you do for us. You always give 1000% and you and your family are wonderful to share all your adventures and information about places with us, I am booking a vacation to England in 2026 because of you and your family going to I think it is called Alton Towers, it sounds like I will have a ton of fun. Once again thanks for everything you do.
Hi Chris! My family just finished 4 days at Universal Studios and 6 days at Disney World. Next year we want to do 3 days at Universal Studios and 3 days at Disney World. The problem is, we want to spend 2 days at Epic Universe and 1 day at the other 2 Universal parks, but the tickets only allow 1 day at Epic. I hope this changes because I want to spend plenty of time exploring the entire park like we did with our 4 days this year. Our 3 days at Disney will be divided between EPCOT and Hollywood Studios.
I’m a general manager who’s sort of carved out a specialty as a fixer. The companies I’ve been with use me as a travelling manager to fix their problem stores. I have come to know that dynamic well, and you tend to get credit for the bad and the good of the previous manager. It is just worded differently. They’ll say, “why haven’t we fixed this yet?” Or they may say, “you did a great job, but that was the previous manager.” I always let them know that the previous manager was horrible and that’s why you let them go. It may have been put in place by them, but their track record shows how many times they screwed good things up. It’s about the decisions made in between that makes things great. That said, I think Iger should take credit for the success of these movies and anything else going forward.
Excellent insight
I think Epic Universe opening is a case of “a high tide raises all boats”, meaning, people who go to Florida will definitely visit both places, Universal and WDW, so all parks will see a bump in attendance!
Hello Chris 🙋♀️
Hi Chris you tube channel Love my favorite Disneyland one fan BIG 💖💖💖💖💖🎶🏰
Chris, if Disney + goes up by a lot,. I'm out. If epic universe has a better pricing structure for park entry or annual pass. I will go with them. I'm a DIS shareholder and I'm making some money off my stock. But purchased the stock based on the love of what Disney was doing and not what they are doing today. So I'll wait for the stock to get to a point and cash out. It's not the Disney it used to be.