Originally Posted By RoadTrip In 1972 you could purchase a 15 ride coupon book (adult) for $5.95. This book contained coupons as follows: A One B Two C Three D Four E Five Those tickets would provide a person with a day like this: Sleeping Beauty Castle Alice in Wonderland Swiss Family Treehouse Peter Pan Snow White Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride Rocket Jets People Mover Flight to the Moon Skyway Jungle Cruise It's a Small World Matterhorn Pirates of the Caribbean The Haunted Mansion Not a bad day in the parks. I rarely made it to 15 attractions in one day when I visit Disneyland. So... what would the same day cost in 2007? Well, first let's see what it SHOULD cost. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis's Consumer Price Index Calculator; what cost $5.95 in 1972 SHOULD cost $28.71 today. What does a single day one park ticket (adult) now cost? $53.00!! Hmmm... I wonder how that could possibly be? I guess the quality and maintenance today must be far better and that the CM are being paid far more than there were before. No?? Where's the money going then? (And DON'T SAY Resort Hotels and DVC units -- that does not apply at Disneyland). Source Material: <a href="http://www.justdisney.com/Features/tickets.html#anchor19631" target="_blank">http://www.justdisney.com/Feat ures/tickets.html#anchor19631</a> <a href="http://www.minneapolisfed.org/Research/data/us/calc/" target="_blank">http://www.minneapolisfed.org/ Research/data/us/calc/</a> <a href="http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/reserve/ticketListing?name=TicketListingPage" target="_blank">http://disneyland.disney.go.co m/disneyland/en_US/reserve/ticketListing?name=TicketListingPage</a>
Originally Posted By RoadTrip ^^^ Oops... You're right and it’s even worse than I thought. The $53 dollars I listed was a kid's ticket!
Originally Posted By Elderp Thanks to FP I can do 30 rides in a full day. Double the original price and add a little bit more for development costs and it seems to me Disney is a really good deal. People love to complain about the price of things but in general people pay what the market allows for, if people weren't paying for the parks Disney would adjust almost instantly. A good example of this is DCA, people right now are paying exactly what it is worth.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP I have to think that Indiana Jones cost more to develop than the Matterhorn, even in inflation related dollars. (i.e. new technology is more expensive than the old) The park is also much much larger, rides wise, no "Picnic Land" taking up so much space, so it takes more custodial staff ect. I personally think that the "new" system, all you can ride for one price, is more stressful than the old system, because people are pushing to get their $60 worth. Under the ticket system you had incentive to slow down, go back to the hotel room, ect, and st--r--e--tch out the amount of time it took to ride your 15 rides. However, I don't ever see Diseny going back. And, I don't remember ever using the tickets, 'cause we didn't go as a kid, so I'm wondering, was there an admission charge also or could anyone wander the parks at anytime for free as long as they didn't ride anything?
Originally Posted By Elderp ^ There was an admission charge but it was minimal. My poor wife she was so deprived as a kid, luckily she has a disneyfreak such as myself to help her make up for her Disneyless upbringing
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP So, include the admission cost to the price of the books for a more correct cost, though I don't think you'll get up to an inflation adjusted $63.
Originally Posted By Elderp Some books included the ticket, depends if the example given included the general admission ticket or not.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I'm going to go out on a limb, and say that a lot of the theming, shows and other intangible things (like park layout and traffic flow) are a lot better now. Foe example, I would take the modern Fantasyland and Adventreland designs over the originals. Although we now have the dead end in Critter Country, we also have things like the bridge over the POTC queue, Big Thunder Trail, and more CM's directing traffic when it gets rough. I would also put Fantasmic! and Remember against any of the old entertainment (Fantasy in the Sky can't hold a candle to Remember, and I can't think of anything that would even come close to the scale of F!) So, sure your're paying more per attraction, but you're also getting more in between them.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<People love to complain about the price of things but in general people pay what the market allows for, if people weren't paying for the parks Disney would adjust almost instantly.>> I'm a first rate 'Disney Apologist'. In fact I started my research to write a post showing that Disney Parks today were just as good a value today as they ever were. I couldn't write that post because in my opinion it proved not to be true. Yes, today's attractions cost far more to develop than those of 1972. But I would be quite certain that attraction development is a very minor percentage of a theme park's expense. Operating expenses take up the great majority of the expense... maintenance, staffing, etc. It would seem that spending in those areas has not increased. Disney can charge pretty much what they want for admission because they have no real competition. What compares to a Disney park other than another Disney park? As for 30 rides in one day... I guess I need to take lessons from you!! I've never managed more than 13.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>No?? Where's the money going then?<< A good question. I tend to agree with #5, in that today's DL is different than 1972's DL. Today's park has more rides and more sophisticated rides. Also, I think it depends on how one calculates inflation. Consider that an Anaheim house that cost $30K in 1972 could easily fetch 600K (20x) today. Also worth considering is today's DL business model vs. 1972's. While its true that a single day pass costs $63, not everyone pays that much to attend DL. Today we have AP's and multiday park hoppers, which drammatically lower the cost per day. A 5 day hopper is close to your $28 per day target, and a deluxe AP can handily beat it with only one visit per month.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>As for 30 rides in one day... I guess I need to take lessons from you!! I've never managed more than 13.<< I think that 30 rides a day would take: A long day (say 8:00 to midnight) Careful planning (hoarding fastpasses) Targetting rides with short lines (Pinnochio, etc.) Moderate crowds (not likely when open 8:00-12:00) On a good day we might ride 20-25
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Also worth considering is today's DL business model vs. 1972's. While its true that a single day pass costs $63, not everyone pays that much to attend DL. Today we have AP's and multiday park hoppers, which drammatically lower the cost per day. A 5 day hopper is close to your $28 per day target, and a deluxe AP can handily beat it with only one visit per month.>> I think you hit it there. To a certain extent I was playing devil's advocate with this post, hoping someone could provide a reasonable explanation for the difference. I think you have.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I'm not exactly sure how many rides my record is, but I'm pretty sure it is over 40. We went the day after Christmas (not like it was crowded or anything), and got there around 8:30, when the park had opened at 8:00. With the careful planning of FP's, rides with short lines, singles line at Splash, entertainment to lower the waits and strange meal times, we got plenty done. We also spent about 30 minutes on Tom Sawyer Island, another hour in Innoventions, did a leisurly lap around the island on the canoes, lunch at the Blue Bayou, and watched Fantasmic! from a pretty decent spot. A lot of it was just luck of the draw (there seemed to be a lot of people in the park, but not nearly as many on the rides), but there was also a bit of careful planning. It really wasn't that stressful to get everything in (we just kept going, and never really had any high expectations), but with a little work, anything is possible.
Originally Posted By Elderp >>As for 30 rides in one day... I guess I need to take lessons from you!! I've never managed more than 13.<< I don't need a FULL day (8-12am) to do that. If you don't believe me ask my wife. Given the freedom (my wife isn't the commando type) I have hit every attraction that was open on a FULL day. As far as lesson go, anytime your willing to go... I am always looking for excuses to go to the park!
Originally Posted By pitapan16 I'm going to go out on a limb, and say that a lot of the theming, shows and other intangible things (like park layout and traffic flow) are a lot better now. Foe example, I would take the modern Fantasyland and Adventreland designs over the originals" Agreed. I think Disneyland is a great value and better than ever today than it has ever been. I'm not saying perfection, I'm just saying I think it's one of the most intensely awesome places to experience on this earth.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP Because of all the little things, I love Disneyland more than any other amusement park I've been too. However, when my sister and her 3 little kids (all under 5--twins are involved) come and visit and they just want a day at a theme park we'll take them to Knotts, much much cheaper (about 1/2 price). This is a better deal for someone who is going to spend most of the day tending to little ones and not able to pay attention to anything arround them and not particularly a Disney Fanatic. It just occured to me, Knotts does hit your roughly $30 a day target. So, check it out and see what $30 a day will get you and then you can see what the extra $33 a day will pay for. (i.e. much more themeing)
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP The above was not to imply that you don't consider Disney worth the price, I know you do. I do think it is interesting thought, just as an intellectual excersize to compare Knotts and DL and see what the differences are, in price and ammenities. As far as I know both parks are in the black.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I'm glad to see the spirited defense of Disneyland. It is good that you love your park. Disney World has really suffered lately in the cleanliness/maintenance areas, but I think that much of what you say about Disneyland could also be said about WDW. We tend to overlook or discount in value those things that have gotten better
Originally Posted By mrichmondj << So... what would the same day cost in 2007? Well, first let's see what it SHOULD cost. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis's Consumer Price Index Calculator; what cost $5.95 in 1972 SHOULD cost $28.71 today. >> I wouldn't consider government statistics on inflation to make this comparison. The government's inflation algorithm purposefully understates inflation so that annual COLA adjustments for social security and government payrolls are kept as low as possible. For example, in the area of automobiles, when prices are increased the government "factors" in techonological improvements to wipe out any perceived inflation. Also, if a generic equivalent of a name brand product is developed, the government inflation calculator will replace the more expensive product with the generic brand price as a way to demonstrate that the cost of goods is not increasing. As far as DLR goes, there are also a number of expenses that weren't all that prevalent back in 1955. Pension costs, health care, litigation expenses, environmental regulations, and licensing fees to other companies (Indiana Jones, Star Wars, etc.) were not a factor back then. Disneyland also used to operate on a more limited schedule years ago -- closing the park during slow days of the week. The park is open 365 days a year now, but there are still slow days when admissions don't pay the operating costs. You get a greater admission fee per person year round in order to pay for those money-losing days in the off season when it might have been a wiser decision to keep the park closed.
