Refuting a Few Disney Criticisms

When The Walt Disney Company announced its most recent earnings report, the predictable happened.

Disney stated that it expected flat attendance growth for the next few quarters, as it should.

Photo: Disney

The so-called vibecession is causing consumer confusion, but recent reports indicate that the American economy is fine.

Disney was merely being diligent in warning investors that exterior factors often impact vacations.

Photo: Disney

Still, a wave of “Here’s why Disney isn’t as popular” articles arose, many of which weren’t based in our human logic.

So, let’s refute a few recent Disney criticisms.

App Overload

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The complaint here is that Disney vacationers must rely on their smartphones too much while visiting the parks.

Before I discuss the Disney side of it, let’s just call that what it is: Life.

Photo: Disney

We’re a technologically advanced society now, and our smartphones drive much of what we do.

I’m someone who still uses a laptop the most often, which makes me feel like a dinosaur who already watched the asteroid strike.

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As an extinct fossil in modern society, I’m amused whenever anyone complains about reliance on smartphones.

Just yesterday, I used my phone to order movie tickets, show my valid movie ticket, paid a doctor bill, a credit card bill, bought dinner, picked up dinner, and got map directions.

Photo: Orlando Fun Tickets

We use our phones so much that we don’t even consider how ubiquitous they are in our lives. They’re the fabric of society.

Still, I know that Disney didn’t require smartphone usage until the advent of MyMagic+.

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So, we’re really only talking about a little more than a decade of phone reliance on Disney vacations.

Nowadays, we use them more, but that’s because Disney visits are better now.

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We can order a meal on our phone and pick it up without ever interacting with a person or standing in a line.

In reality, the complaint about phone reliance stems from an overriding frustration over Disney Genie+ and the 7 AM Struggle.

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As I wrote six weeks ago, Disney has finally fixed that struggle.

Thus, Disney has heard this criticism and already addressed it.

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Anyone still complaining about it either isn’t paying attention or is being unfair with their criticism.

Lack of Control

This issue ties back to the 7 AM Struggle, but it applies to other aspects as well.

Fans have lamented the fact that Disney no longer lets us control our itineraries.

Photo: Park Savers

Honestly, I was right there with them until last month. However, much has changed since then.

As a clickbait title would state, Disney saved theme parks with this one simple trick.

Lightning Lane

And the trick was that Disney restored its pre-pandemic policies in many instances.

Specifically, guests can book early once again. So, as of a few weeks ago, you can buy your Lightning Lane package before your trip.

Genie+

Formerly, Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane required purchase on the day of the visit.

Under Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass, guests can reserve their digital queues up to seven days in advance.

Everyone with valid admission can schedule a reservation three days prior to the visitation date.

Thus, you have three-to-seven days to plot your trip and build an itinerary.

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Anyone who needs more time can use one of the many itinerary-building apps. See? We use our smartphones all the time now!

Anyway, the point is that Disney has provided guests with much more control than we possessed a few weeks ago.

More Exotic Vacations for the Same Price

Photo: Wikimedia

I’ve read a couple of variants of this same argument now, and I honestly don’t understand the underlying logic.

Some recent Disney reports have indicated that a trip to Europe is cheaper. And my short response to that is, “NO!”

Photo: Pexel.com

Immediately afterward, I add, “Huh?” and “What?!” It’s just that ludicrous.

As fate would have it, one of the people who co-hosts my podcast, Streaming into the Void, is currently spending three weeks in Europe.

I can assure you that he would have saved a TON of money by visiting Disneyland or Walt Disney World instead.

In case you’re wondering, yes, he is going to Disneyland Paris for a couple of days, but that’s not the focus of the vacation.

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I’ve been on the DL for most of the past two years, so even though I’m a travel writer, I haven’t been traveling as much.

Still, as a professional curiosity, I’m always tracking the price of international flights. One of the lingering stories of pandemic recovery involves the rising cost of flying abroad.

Here’s an article from The Points Guy earlier this year that tracks the situation quite well.

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The conversation is succinctly stated as supply vs. demand. Here’s the quote from TPG:

“Europe, in particular, saw an explosion in demand from the U.S., with fares rising to match.”

More people participated in the so-called revenge travel phenomenon. So, prices spiked to comical highs.

Anyone arguing otherwise simply isn’t paying attention. Does that preclude you from finding international deals?

Photo: Jenn Scranton

Of course not! I’m confident our friends at Let’s Adventure Travel could find you something.

After all, the American dollar has weathered the pandemic better than any other economy. So, your dollars will stretch further.

Perhaps that’s the confusion intrinsic to the argument. They’re mistaking global economics for Disney context.

Rising Costs

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Speaking of economics, the current complaint about Disney is the increased cost.

For that, we need a bit of context, but before we get there, I’ll cite a recent quote someone made against Disney.

The person argued that Disney prices had increased by 32 percent from 2014 through today.

That sounds like a lot, right? The implication is that you’re spending nearly one-third more than you were ten years ago.

Credit: Disney

Yeah, about that. It reduces to an average of 3.2 percent inflation per year.

This seems like a good time to mention that the national inflation rate over that time frame was…3.4 percent.

Credit: Breeze Airways

I realize you may not believe that. So, I’ll encourage you to check the math yourself with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ calculator.

Input a 1 here and change the dates to January 2014 and whatever month this is when you read the article.

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I’m typing this in August 2024, and I can assure you that the number is 3.4, which means – you guessed it – Disney pricing hasn’t matched inflation!

That’s a bit disingenuous of me, as I know when the economic acceleration occurred. It wasn’t at the start of 2014.

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Still, that’s the fact being presented, and it’s wildly misleading as well.

Sans context, the data sounds bad. When given some detail, it’s quite good.

Final Thoughts

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That’s true about so many “Disney is in trouble” stories.

For example, the Themed Entertainment Association just released its theme park attendance estimates for 2023.

Photo: Also Disney

I can guarantee you that you won’t hear as much about them because Disney did better, while Universal performed worse.

That is NOT the story people want to present, whether it’s based in fact or not.

Credit: Disney

All these criticisms paint a picture about Disney, but when we just examine the surrounding facts, we realize they’re largely baseless.

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Feature Photo: Disney