Jentasmic: WDW Ticket Prices vs. Inflation

Wondering how the past 10 years of Disney ticket price increases compare to the US inflation rate? Me too, so I did the math, for this week’s Jentasmic! column at StudiosCentral.

It’s easy to get cranky about these annual increases, and getting cranky is one of the things I do best. Recent years ticket increases have felt especially difficult, given the sluggish economy, and the financial hardships being endured right now for so many people. Even those of us fortunate enough to be employed are a little nervous, a little tighter with the belt.

After getting past the initial crankiness, I did a bit of research. Using historical and current ticket data from AllEars, I put together three comparisons of Walt Disney World ticket prices over the past ten years. I chose two fairly extreme price points: The single-day, single-park ticket, and the Annual Pass, and compared both of their annual increased to inflation, according to the US Consumer Price Index.

Head on over to StudiosCentral for the rest of the story . . .

1900 Positions Eliminated at Disney Parks

The Orlando Sentinel, via The Disney Blog, has brought us saddening news:

The Walt Disney Co. has eliminated 1,900 jobs across its U.S. parks division – including 1,400 in Florida – the company confirmed this afternoon.

The division-wide cuts include about 1,150 layoffs, 50 voluntary buyouts and 700 open positions that were not filled.

The Florida cuts include 900 layoffs and buyouts and 500 open positions eliminated. The vast majority of those cuts were in Central Florida and at Walt Disney World, though the company also shed jobs at a reservations center in Tampa.

The remaining cuts include 200 layoffs and buyouts and 100 eliminated open positions at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., and smaller cuts at offices in Burbank, Calif., and Glendale, Calif.

My Jentasmic! column today at StudiosCentral.com was written before the final numbers came out, but the song remains the same:

My heart goes out to all those who have lost their jobs. Given the current unemployment rate (9.4% in Florida, Feb 2009), I know that many will have a difficult, and long, job search (I’d gladly explain to you over coffee sometime why I know this so well, though I won’t ramble about it here). And my heart also goes out to those who remain employed, and may now be picking up extra responsibilities to cover for those whose positions were eliminated. It’s a rare employer that actually manages to eliminate all the work that was being performed by those being laid off; more often, at least some of that work is spread around those remaining.

WDW Retail Must Be Hurting

I am having a fabulous time here at MouseFest! As I type this into my Crackberry, I am standing in a 25 minute wait for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, as I have an inexplicable need to look for that second picture of Toad giving Owl the deed to the property.

But one thing is really gnawing at me. WDW is running a sale at all its retail locations: 40% off all t-shirta’ and 50% off most Christmas stuff. While it is nice to get a bargain, I can’t help but see this as another sign of how troubled the economy is. Are future bookings so badly off that they’re resorting to this level of discounts?

But I shall put these grim thoughts out of my head. There is a picture of Toad and Owl to be found, and I am wearing the hot pink Mickey ears my BFF gave me this morning at our Haunted Mansion meet. Life is, in fact, very good.