October 16th is Disney’s 100th anniversary. On October 16, 1923, brothers Walt and Roy Disney established the "Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio". What no one knew at the time was that over the next 100 years, this small film studio would become one of the largest media empires in the world, and its Shanghai park would become a mecca for Chinese people to make money.


Text | Sina Technology Xu Yuanlei

If you go to Disneyland, even if you travel on a budget, you will have to spend at least several thousand dollars. If you want to pursue the most immersive experience on a day like National Day, eat a meal, stay in a hotel overnight, and buy a U-Speed ​​Express, tens of thousands of dollars will disappear.

A few months ago, Shanghai Disney also ushered in its fourth price increase in the seven years since the park opened, but at the same time, there were endless complaints from tourists. Are people still willing to give money to Disney?

In a poll initiated by Sina Finance, nearly 40% of netizens chose "Disney tickets are too expensive and cannot be afforded", while over 30% of netizens believed that "it's not about money, but about poor experience."

Behind the price increase, Walt Disney, the parent company of Disneyland, is actually facing great pressure to survive. As a "century-old store", the park business is its main source of cash and profit. However, the number of park visitors has shown a downward trend. In addition, individual parks are still struggling to get rid of losses. At the same time, the streaming media business is struggling and there is still a long way to go before the profit target.

Is it a waste to spend money on ticket prices that have been rising year after year?

"Disney's happiness is clearly priced." During the National Day, Xiao Zhou (pseudonym) and his family of three spent about 8,000 yuan at Shanghai Disneyland for one day. In Xiao Zhou's words, "It has been more economical and there is no need to spend randomly."

Xiao Zhou did some calculations: he bought the early bird tickets on the travel website in advance, and the family package for two adults and one child cost 1,887 yuan. Each of the two adults bought 12 express passes for 2,350 yuan. The total consumption of meals and other things in the park was about 1,000 yuan. "If you stay at a Disney hotel and buy some souvenirs, a family of three will definitely not get away with 10,000 yuan."

Tickets, fast passes, express park entry, early access cards... Disney provides tourists with different krypton gold combinations. Only by actively sending more money to Disney can people avoid the dilemma of "queuing for two hours and experiencing one minute", especially on a scary day like National Day.

It is worth noting that the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday is also the first long public holiday that Shanghai Disney has ushered in after the price increase this year. Ticket information shows that the adult ticket price is 799 yuan from October 1 to 3, 719 yuan from the 4th to 5th, and 599 yuan on September 30 and October 6.


Shanghai Disney ticket prices are divided into 4 levels from low to high, namely regular days (working days), special regular days (ordinary weekends), peak days (summer vacation, some holidays, special event days in the park) and special peak days (such as National Day from October 1st to 3rd). In June this year, the prices of the four tiers of tickets increased by about 30-60 yuan respectively. For example, the cheapest regular day ticket rose from 435 yuan to 475 yuan, and the peak day ticket increased the most from 659 yuan to 719 yuan.

This is already the fourth price increase in the seven years since Shanghai Disneyland opened. In 2016, when Shanghai Disneyland opened, there were only two ticket tiers: 370 yuan on weekdays and 499 yuan on peak days. In 2018, Shanghai Disney added new peak day tickets, increasing the ticket price from two to three tiers. In 2020, it further increased to 4 tiers, adding special peak days, and the third price adjustment will be in 2022.

Song Ding, a researcher at a national high-end think tank, pointed out that price increases are a common phenomenon in the theme park industry. As a banner of domestic theme parks, Shanghai Disney has an unshakable status. It is a normal market behavior to control supply and demand through price increases.

Indeed, in recent years, Universal Studios Osaka in Japan, Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai, Ocean Park in Hong Kong, and Happy Valley in Shanghai have also increased prices many times. However, after the price increase at Shanghai Disneyland, many tourists complained that the experience was not better, but worse.

Disney lover Pineapple (pseudonym) goes to Shanghai Disney every year to check in. She still remembers the first scene: "All the staff wore Mickey gloves and greeted me warmly. It made me feel like this was a fairy tale world."

After returning from Disneyland in August this year, Pineapple felt very disappointed: "Compared with when the park opened, the attitude of the staff is very different. Except for the ladies at the entrance of some stores, others are not enthusiastic at all." Pineapple also said that in the past, you can grab the U-Speed ​​Pass for free, but now it has been changed to 180 yuan per item. However, after the change, the queue situation has not improved, and it has even become more and more chaotic.

When ticket prices continue to rise while service and experience fail to keep up, consumers will naturally be discouraged. In a poll initiated by Sina Finance, nearly 40% of netizens chose "Disney tickets are too expensive and cannot be afforded", while over 30% of netizens believed that "it's not about money, but about poor experience."

At this year’s performance meeting, Disney CEO Robert Iger also admitted that Disneyland’s price increases were too aggressive and that pricing alienated consumers. In this regard, Internet industry analyst Zhang Shule said that since Disney cannot change the content carried in the short term, it can only optimize services to eliminate the negative impact of price increases and offset the discomfort caused by price increases with improved consumer experience.


Park attendance declines, streaming media mired in losses

Disney theme park-related businesses have always contributed about one-third of the revenue of parent company Walt Disney and are the most important cash cows. Recently, Disney also stated that it plans to nearly double its investment in its parks and resorts division to US$60 billion in the next 10 years.

As of now, there are 6 Disney parks in the world, located in California and Florida in the United States, Tokyo in Japan, Paris in France, Hong Kong and Shanghai in China. According to financial report information, in the first three quarters of fiscal year 2023, Disney's total revenue was US$67.657 billion and operating profit was US$9.887 billion, of which Disneyland business revenue was US$24.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 17%, and operating profit was US$7.64 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20%.


However, the other side of the Disneyland ticket adjustment is the pressure for survival faced by Walt Disney. Although the Disneyland business supports half of Walt Disney's operating profits, after 2018, the number of visitors to Disney's major parks has shown a downward trend. Public data shows that from 2018 to 2021, the number of visitors to Shanghai Disney was 11.8 million, 11.21 million, 5.5 million and 8.48 million respectively.

In addition, individual Disney parks are still struggling to get rid of losses. Take Hong Kong Disney, which has been in business for 18 years, as an example. It only achieved profits in the 2012-2014 fiscal years, and has been losing money for the next eight years. In the past five years, its total losses have exceeded HK$7 billion. (The net losses for the fiscal years 2018-2022 are HK$54 million, HK$105 million, HK$2.7 billion, HK$2.4 billion and HK$2.1 billion respectively).

Even at Disney’s U.S. home base, the situation is not optimistic. In the third fiscal quarter of 2023, Disneyland's North American business increased revenue but did not increase profits. Its revenue increased by 4% year-on-year to US$5.65 billion, but operating profit fell by 13% year-on-year to US$1.44 billion.

According to CCTV reports, in February this year, due to Disney’s public criticism of Florida’s Parental Education Act, the state’s governor officially signed a bill to cancel Orlando Disney’s special tax zone treatment. The previous special tax zone could save Disney tens of millions of dollars every year.

Zhang Shule said, "The increase in ticket prices is partly due to the pressure on Disney's performance. If you want to calm it down through price increases, it may bring about improvements in the short term, but in the long run it will only quench your thirst. After all, tickets are essentially just an opening to the park, and value-added services are the mainstream."

What's more, Walt Disney currently has two "hot potatoes" in its streaming media and cable TV businesses. The former is struggling and still has a long way to go before becoming profitable, while the latter's revenue and profits have both declined and may be sold by Disney.

According to financial report data, in the first three quarters of fiscal year 2023, Disney's streaming media business revenue was US$16.346 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12%, and operating losses narrowed 12% year-on-year to US$2.224 billion; cable TV business revenue was US$20.608 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 6%, and operating profit was US$4.972 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 27%.

In the past ten years, Disney has been outperforming the market. By 2022, Disney's stock price had halved, and it was rarely left behind by the market. Compared with its highest point in 2021, Disney's market value has dropped by US$200 billion. Under the critical situation, legendary CEO Robert Iger, who retired in 2021 at the end of last year, returned to the leadership role and was regarded by the outside world as returning to put out the fire.

Afterwards, Disney began to "reform" and merge content and channels again, eventually forming three core business units: Disney Entertainment (including streaming and media and content businesses), ESPN, and Disney Park Experience and Products. In February this year, Disney also announced that it would lay off approximately 7,000 employees in three rounds, accounting for 3% of Disney’s total global employees, in order to reduce approximately US$5.5 billion in expenses.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of Disney. As a "century-old store", Disney's "happy business" still faces a long road ahead.