All Magic Comes With a Price

Taking a family vacation to the Walt Disney World Resort is nothing short of magical. From beginning to end and beyond, memories are being forever ingrained in your mind and fun is being had at every corner. From the characters to the attractions, everything about Disney World is pure joy.

That is until you get your vacation bill arrives.

While everything about Disney is so worth it, making these special memories isn't exactly cheap. In fact, I'm reminded of what Rumpelstiltskin often proclaims on the ABC hit show Once Upon a Time: "All magic comes with a price." That statement is never more accurate than when paying for a Disney vacation. At the time of this post being written, Disney had just recently in the last week announced an increase in ticket prices and parking fees, igniting outrage across the Disney fandom. While a raise in prices isn't at all a new concept for Disney, fans across the country were speaking out against such a move.

Why is this case? Why has this recent raise of the prices sparked so much controversy. There is no simple answer to these questions because it is nearly impossible to get inside the minds of Disney fans without being scarred for life in some way. I will say, however, that I believe two key issues are at the heart of this uproar.

The first issue I propose is Disney's recent attempt to take advantage of lucrative properties and its effect on its loyal guests. The first property that quickly comes to mind is Frozen. Since November of 2013, Disney Parks and stores around the globe has been absolutely invaded by Anna and Elsa, and guests perceive that to be because Disney wants to cash in on this opportunity. The evidence is blatantly clear because in the not so distant future, three of the four Disney World parks will have a Frozen presence, highlighted by the Norway Pavilion renovation at Epcot opening in 2016. Factor in the Christmas show at Magic Kingdom and Frozen Summer Fun at Hollywood Studios and you have guests who have simply had enough with Disney pushing the envelope on how much they can promote a product and still produce a profit.

However, beyond Frozen, one can also see the influence of a little movie franchise called Star Wars. When the company purchased the rights to George Lucas's creation in 2012, it was a matter of 'when' and not 'if' the films would eventually be made a significant part of the parks. As predicted, at this year's D23 Expo, it was announced that Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios would be receiving a significant upgrade with the help of Luke Skywalker and company. Once again, the Disney prognosticators chalked another one up to the greed of Disney. A property that was not inherently Disney being pushed heavily in the parks could only logically come into being because Disney loves money, in their opinion.

When you combine those factors with the spike in ticket and parking prices, one can make a pretty valid conclusion that Disney has become downright greedy

Another factor is the fact that two of the four Disney World parks are under major renovation and the guest is simply not willing to pay the upgraded price for half of the experience. At Disney's Hollywood Studios, half of the park seems to be closed or on its way out to prepare the way for Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land. The general consensus is that Studios is a park that can now be trekked completely in just a few hours, leaving the guest feeling like they cannot get the most out of their money. To make matters worse, over at Disney's Animal Kingdom, Pandora: The World of Avatar is still about a year or so away from debuting, further enforcing some people's notion that Animal Kingdom will never be a full-day park until that opens, and even then, it still may not be that way. With half of the parks essentially operating at half of the initial potential, guests are seemingly unwillingly to pay that much for anything but a full Disney World experience.

There are certainly many other factors that can go into why people are so upset at the price increases, but these two issues are crucial in people's minds from my vantage point. Now, the question must be raised: are you just going to stop going to Disney World because of that? For some, this may in fact be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but for a vast majority, paying a few more dollars isn't going to heavily persuade or dissuade anyone from experiencing the magic of Disney World. In fact, I would propose that the people that are the most outspoken and outraged over the prices are the very ones that'll spend an entire week at the parks divulging in everything Disney has to offer from dusk to dawn.

If you can remember back to high school economics, you can recall the idea of supply and demand. As demand increases, so does the price. Economically speaking, therefore, Disney is just operating as a good quality business. As the demand for Disney tickets and parking increases, the price naturally rises. Of course, some people will refuse to see it that way, but that is the basic principles of business. I tend to lean on the side of defending Disney because of this very reason. If you've ever worked in business, you know that the ultimate goal is make a profit. If you cannot accomplish that goal, your business will never be successful. This is one of the many ways Disney is able to continually be successful and offer new experiences at the parks for years to come.

I understand and can sympathize with the people who are genuinely upset about the price increase. A good number of folks may actually be greatly effected by this development. However, odds are that the same people arguing against these price increases are the same people who are actually planning a Disney vacation as you read this very sentence. All in all, it's Disney, and just like in life, nothing is free. Nothing except for the memories and the magic, and while it may sound like a cliche, who can really put a price on those?

-Cody Fleenor