Disney Dollars in the MouseTrap

So how much $$$ is too much $$$? It seems that every six months or so, there is another price increase at the House that the Mouse built. And at times it seems that the Mouse needs a bit more cheese than seems reasonable! If Walt Disney were alive today, what would he think about the rising costs of a Disney Park vacation?

Let’s start by considering why Walt dreamed up, designed, and then built Disneyland in the first place. Depending on which version you subscribe to, he first had the idea for a Park where parents and children could have fun together while watching his daughters play in a standard amusement park of his day. He wondered if there might be a way to join his family and share the memories of joyous play. There was. And long story short, Disneyland was born.

So lets keep in mind that Walt built the World’s first Theme Park so that families could have a place to play together and build memories that would last a lifetime. His bottom line was not The Bottom Line.

Do you remember how much it cost to gain entry into Disneyland in its first year? Only about an hour’s wages for the average man of the 1950’s. Care to guess how much inflation has impacted the average Disney Guest as to entrance fees today? It now costs the average man about at least a full day’s pay. If you make minimum wage, then it may cost between two and three days pay. Yikes!

So why the increase?

In all fairness, it must cost more now to run a Theme Park then it did in the 1950’s. Everything has increased in price. Utilities. Wages. Building costs. And anything else you can think of is likely much more expensive now. Could the Walt Disney Corporation survive if it dropped its prices?

One solution that I see is to address departmentalization. Yes, that’s the big word of the day! What it means is that Disney is now divided into sections that are self-sufficient and disconnected from the rest of the organization. So if one division makes an obscene amount of money (say, the movie division with a 2 Billion dollar take for just two movies in one season) it doesn’t share that surplus with another division that may be spending, and thus posting a ‘loss’ (such as the Theme Park division as it pours millions into expansion). So what does Disney the Corporation do? It cuts jobs in that Theme Park division so as to post a ‘gain’. Does that make sense to you?

Being as I spend my hard earned money across all of the Disney divisions, shouldn’t I be able to expect that they would help one another so as to keep the entire Brand solvent and progressive? I appreciate every Disney Cast Member and their contributions, and I don’t like hearing that they are downsized to balance a spreadsheet in one division!

The point: Maybe we need a little less Disney Corporation and a lot more Walt Disney!

Lee Beatens has two sides as a Writer/Artist. His writing side is showcased at the Blog called Disleelandia, and his artistic side is showcased at the Blog called The CANADIAN Kingdom. His improbable third side is showcased here.

Related articles

• Support your Disney Workers – MouseTrapped 2010 Complete Video (chipandco.com)
• Disney World’s largest union made claim amid wage talks (chipandco.com)

Let our friends at Destinations to Travel help you book your next Disney Vacation. They are the preferred Travel Agency of Chip and Company and Disney Addicts, and who we use ourselves.

Get started below for your FREE No Obligation Quote.

Book With our friends at Destinations to Travel

Who is your Travel Agent?(Required)

Let us pick for youEric HilesStacy ReedAbbey JohnsonAlisa SullivanAlli WillisAmanda FolsomAmanda VannAmber BrillhartAmber FisherAmy SieburnAndrea SmithAngela AndersonAngie BaycuraAnna PetrilliAnnabelle DuboseApril StefanskiAshley RamseyBeth ParsonsBetsy SantoroBrandie McQueenBrian BuckleyBridget HatchBryan SchwartzCandice SneedCarrie ButlerCarson DockumCasey BoltCharleen HortonChelsea RoyChelsea WuebkerChris BoyerChristie GrubeChristina FratturaChristina SmithCourtney WhiteCraig YoderDan MercedDanielle NorcrossDarby MouritsenDavid ForrestDeborah AlvaradoEmilee BiegelEmily MorrisFaith HakesGail HatchGreg MatzkerHelen HummerHolly CurryJackie CavistonJaclyn PepitoneJamie SwansonJeanine JordanJeff CallahanJenni MaierJennifer BrownJennifer StephensonJennifer StoessnerJessica HatfieldJessica HuffJessica WunderJoe GuertinJon CarpentierJoseph SliwaJulie McCombJustin BrownKat AttridgeKathryn EberhartKathy AndersonKatie HarrellKatie PrevotKayla CookKelsey SullensKim HelmsKimberly HutchinsonKristi GallagherKyle RamsdenLauren DewlenLeanne MonterLinda DurhamLindsay AckermannLindsey VromanLissette BritoLori HardyMallory MorrisonMandi QuinnMaranda PerkinsMarisa AlvaradoMegan TeismannMeghan BlairMelissa ReedMichele KlineMike BeyerMissy McCormickMisty DickersonNancy CasteelNicole ThorntonPatrick O'ConnorPaul SulPeyton Ward-KubikRaylene CooganRegan OstranderRobbie BulusRobert ThomasSara SolbergSarah McCandlishShanna BrowningShelley BennettShelly MetzStacy CristStacy KrzyminskiStacy SmithStephanie DraganoStephanie FerencStephanie WalshSusannah McCordTara SlusserTerri MillerTiffany DobraskiTiffany DrenkhahnTina FarmerTonya LesiukTracy DaneTroy DuncanVeronica RenteriaVicki FesslerWendy CarllWendy HauserWendy KellehanWendy Shelley

Name(Required)

First Last

Email(Required)

Phone(Required)

Destination(Required)

Walt Disney WorldDisneyland ResortDisney Cruise LineAulani, A Disney Resort and SpaAulani, A Disney Resort and SpaUniversal FloridaUniversal HollywoodRoyal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian or other Cruise LineI don't know yet

# of Adults(Required)

# of Children(Required)

Check-in-Date(Required)

MM slash DD slash YYYY

Check-out-Date(Required)

MM slash DD slash YYYY

Comments, Questions or Special Requests

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

For the BEST in Disney, Universal, Dollywood, and SeaWorld Theme Park News, Entertainment, Merchandise & More follow us on, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. Don't forget to check out the Chip and Company Radio Network too!