Politicians and the media are relentless in reminding us that the U.S. is a winner-take-all society where the Top 1% or 0.1% have collected all of the money. If the top 1% are “winners” that makes the bottom 99% “losers”. “Disney Introduces Demand-Based Pricing at Theme Parks” (nytimes) is hard to square with this picture:
Disney tends to increase ticket prices once a year — recently, at well above the rate of inflation … Disney’s price increases have been modest considering the soaring demand, analysts say. During the company’s last financial quarter, which ended on Jan. 2, domestic park attendance rose 10 percent from a year earlier, setting records. Attendance in the final quarter of 2014 rose 7 percent from the same period in 2013.
Are the Disney parks packed with foreigners (Orlando Sentinel says it is only about 20 percent)? If not, how did tens of millions of people manage to afford to take a week off work, travel to Orlando, and spend at least $100 each day for each family member? (Orlando Sentinel)
Below is from a friend, and makes sense to explain your observation. Disney allows you to escape from your day to day misery, so screw it, for $75/mo you get to escape if only for a day.
It’s locals. Their marketing to FL residents has shot way up. And they’re offering all these financing deals so you buy an annual pass and then get them on the hook for something like $75/mo per person for the next 12 months. It’s ridiculous.
I know several people who have no business spending $75/mo and the hotel and food costs associate w/ going for a weekend. But they hook them in by the droves. Can’t tell you how many car stickers I see for people who are hooked.
The demand-based pricing is all over the news down here. It kind of gouges the locals since they’re the ones most likely to go on a weekend. But, I’m guessing it doesn’t affect local ticket sales at all.
I think your premise is pretty faulty
as far as amusement park crowds go, Disney’s crowd has always been fairly upscale (compared to say Six Flags)
Disney is also a pretty prolific practitioner of price discrimination, if you want to commit to going to Disney for 10 days or so, its only a fraction more than going for 4 days
Phil: If tens of millions of Americans are “fairly upscale” and have more money and leisure time every year, how is that consistent with the narrative that all of the new wealth is flowing to the Top 1%?
Who says they have the money to pay for it? A trip to Disneyland is yet another item in the grand American tradition of consumer debt.
I disagree with the premise of a “top 0.1% take all society”. The data says it’s more of a “finance sector skimming all the debt-fuelled growth” society. In 1970 the finance sector was about 3% of gdp, and existed ostensibly to aid in the growth of real economy. Today finance accounts for 10% of gdp, resulting from financiers using debt to inflate and trade assets among themselves.
The fact that the real economy has continued to slowly grow and pay for upper-middle class Disney vacations is independent of the financial shenanigans at the very top.
Philg: “…the narrative that all of the new wealth is flowing to the Top 1%?”
Eesh!
A week package for 4 at Disney is $2400-3300 (excluding transportation costs).
No one has said “all”.
Top 1% agi (2013) is $430,000. Top 10% is $127,000. The latter is not really rich but is probably enough to go once or twice.
https://www.google.com/search?q=top+1+income&oq=top+1%25+inc&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l3.15233j0j4&client=tablet-android-google&sourceid
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/plan/my-disney-experience/vacation-packages/
There are also deals like the following for people below the 10% level:
http://www.orlandoparkdeals.com/orlando-disney-vacation-packages/3-days-disney-package-2-tickets/?st-t=opd-special-minivac&gclid=CjwKEAiA9c-2BRC_vaaJ0Ybps30SJABlqxDeuZZRqunQQKaqHJ0bK5yH47p0mO-QzW9ZEhXBdQ-9IRoC0Djw_wcB
http://www.orlandoparkdeals.com/disney-attraction-tickets/35-disney-world-ticket-deal/?st-t=bam-disney-tickets&gclid=CjwKEAiA9c-2BRC_vaaJ0Ybps30SJABlqxDeg8-CItVV_7tW6vf6-XbA75ZY-lhyVzQlMIyQrocOxBoCWwDw_wcB
What billg said.
A week package for 4 is easily affordable on EITC of approximately $5500 for 2 children and one mother with sole custody claiming them both as a Head of Household plus boyfriend.
It’s also affordable on the 2500-5000 tax refunds many families of 2-4 get (not including EITC or CS or SSI income from children with anxiety diagnoses, etc.)
The economy is set up to dump occasional but scheduled and thus plannable windfalls in the laps of people who otherwise are scrambling from check to check (pay or otherwise). This is a great way to maintain a consumption economy in the short and medium terms.
“how is that consistent with the narrative that all of the new wealth is flowing to the Top 1%?” Everybody is better off than ever, but it is relative – fly to florida wealth available to more people than ever, fly to florida in a G-650 flowing to the top 0.01% (also more people than ever).
You get your weekend or the 5-10 days Florida holiday then pay back for it a year long. Disneyland is only for fun. Worries are for later. Locals are easy to hook. The question is are they using it at its full potential. Since they pay for it, at least enjoy it at the max.
I’m no Disney expert…. but I work for a guy who lived in Florida for years. He had a yearly pass for a long time (don’t know the details). He lived on one coast or the other. When a hurricane would come, they’d pack into the car and head to Orlando for a quick vacation. If the hurricane happened to clip Orlando, well, no joy, but if it didn’t, they’d have a cheap hotel for a few days (when everything else in the area was booked), and a way to entertain the kids until things could get back to normal.
Tangentially related- all during the worst of the 2008-2009 contraction, you still couldn’t walk into a mid-scale restaurant and get a table without waiting. Sure couldn’t tell it was a depression from those lines!
My wife, daughter and myself attended Disney World (Florida) in early December and saw mainly Americans and not a noticeable amount of “foreign” tourists. What we did see was a huge group of insanely obese people. Many were in wheelchairs and seemed to be of the variety that were on our Federal Disability bandwagon.
The non fat folk were a cross section of middle America who appeared to be on their dream trip (personally, I’d call DW a nightmare).
One interesting note: one day we used the Disney VIP Tour service which cost about $400 an hour and the group of young, well-mannered and good-looking people who Disney employs for this elite service seemed to be loaded with business. I asked our tour guide how many days he had taken off recently and he replied: “Zero. I can and usually do work every day,.” I also asked about his customer base and he said it was nearly all rich Jewish folk from NYC. (Except for me).