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Credit: Inside the MagicThe Walt Disney World Resort is one of the most magical places on earth, and that’s been common knowledge since 1971. However, in the famous words of Rumplestiltskin, “All magic comes at a price, dearie.”
A trip to the Disney Parks can be a wonderful experience, which they often are for many guests, but they can still run visitors sometimes thousands of dollars for a week-long visit. The same can’t be said for local park-goers of the Sunshine State.
Disney World Guests are Getting Hosed
If the newsfeeds and reports on social media are to be believed, Disney has been battling some seriously choppy waters lately, and the parks are becoming the company’s most significant source of income. That said, the latest ticket deal seems to have the right idea but the wrong direction.
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As of now, Disney is currently offering a special deal for Florida residents visiting the parks during the weekdays, with tickets as low as $59 a day. That’s a wonderful deal, and it’s certainly going to affect Disney World’s business, but it snubs out a majority of its customers.
Pair that with the fact that Disney is also offering only the bare necessities of their Annual Pass program strictly to Florida residents, forcing outsiders to buy the more expensive packages. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the wrong party is getting the short end of the stick.
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Staying at a Disney resort definitely has its benefits, but Florida residents are clearly benefitting the most. It’s a safe bet that most of Disney World’s visitors are from out of state and even international guests, meaning that only a portion of those guests are locals.
If that is true, it seems highly unusual that Disney would offer much more significant deals and values to their smaller consumer base. If the company truly wants to drum up a better rep with their audience, short-changing their consumers isn’t the way to do it.
On one hand, a portion of the out-of-state visitors likely aren’t regular customers, and a Disney trip might be a once-in-a-lifetime event. However, limiting such guests is no way to get repeat business. Not to say that the locals should be priced out, either.
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The imbalance between types of Disney Park guests will rub many people the wrong way, especially former out-of-state pass-holders. In this writer’s opinion, it comes off as grossly unfair to a legion of dedicated fans. Hopefully, something will change relatively soon.
Is this a temporary quick fix to a more prevalent issue or simply another example of Disney’s corporate greed? Tell Inside the Magic what you think in the comments below!