I am a little surprised that this has not come up in the discussions quite yet.
Disney is charging $600+ for the day in cabanas in the Magic Kingdom. It appears food isn't included.
What is the angle? Who is this for? Did anybody ever really ask for this?
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A fool and his money......
The food menu that I saw had price tags on it. It was mostly bacon cheeseburgers and club sandwiches. I hope I was mistaken with the charged food. That seems like a lot, even for Disney!
Hey Anthony.
Robert had this article on the main TPI page where this was disused and hammered\smashed. Not a lot of folks understand this move by Disney..
What's not to understand? Way overpriced, but I'm sure some cashed up folks will pay and the most important thing is it won't be to the detriment of other guests.
Sorry, reposted by accident
I understand it Brian. People who do not have the money or the desire to buy the cabanas can decide not to rent one. But the fact that Disney is testing the cabanas at that price shows they are focusing more on wealthier customers, not middle class ones.
It may not be a big deal to some people, but others are bothered because its becoming a trend. Admission at every single park goes up every year, even if there are less attractions, and more people. Parks are becoming more crowed, have less to do, and are more expensive.
Instead of adding attractions, Disney has focused on adding more restaurants(most of them being more expensive ones) increasing sales at retailers, improving their shopping district, and adding up-charge perks and amenities, and more 4 and five star resorts.
I think the best way to solve this problem would be to spin-off the parks and resorts division. For example, Oriental Land Company does a great job with Tokyo Disney. Disney still makes money off of the resort, but they do not call all the shots and worry about every single detail. Disney has just gotten so big that the parks and resorts have too many people trying to manage them. For the most part Disney does a good job at letting their divisions take care of themselves without too much corporate interference. The parks and resorts seem to be an exception.
It's becoming more and more expensive to be a theme park fan. When I lived in Orlando, I could justify the annual passes by simply going often - and I did. Heck, I even managed to go to Hong Kong Disneyland 4 times in 18 months when I lived an hour away (plus customs).
But now that I live a few hours away by plane, from Disney/Universal, my thought process is different.
No longer am I going to just hop in the car/on a train, and head down to a park for a day, where I can get several "cheap" visits in. Now, it's something I need to plan in advance, and save for.
Well, I want to do it right - that's my way of saying I want a luxury vacation out of it. I'm not saying a luxury vacation at WDW would include a nearly $700 cabana in the Magic Kingdom, but I can see how that could be in another person's plan. Possibly. I probably will never meet that person, but I doubt they'll go 0-fer in this offering. SOMEONE will pony up the cash.
Me, I might only get to go to a Disney park once every 2-3 years now. But being that that's the case, I'd save an extra couple hundred dollars for upcharge events to make that rare visit all it can possibly be. Maybe I'm crazy.
When I could go any time I wanted, those things seemed really frivolous and wasteful. But with a different situation and a huge reduction in how often I can go, I'll save longer and make my trip more memorable.
Back to the topic - the original post said food is included. Anthony said the food is a menu with prices afixed. I'd love some clarification on this.
I'd like to say in all honesty that when I clicked on this topic I was completely wondering how the subject of Cannabis was relevant on Theme Park Insider. While I myself do not partake, I think many people would agree that spending all that money on Cannabis would be a much better use of the money than a cabana.
I am told by my CM pals on some days the cabanas are already selling out.
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The original article stated:
For $691 a day, after tax, you get a cabana located near Space Mountain in Tomorrowland, with lockable storage, charging stations, free sunscreen, drinks and food.
I didn't read through the comments, so maybe the "free food" part was removed or changed.
Even if food is included, I don't know what kind of food. Are we talking free cookies and bags of Lays? Or are we talking burgers, pizza, and unlimited Mickey ice cream sandwiches?