Analysis: Superfans accuse Disney of depriving them of Mickey

In the United States, Walt Disney’s most dedicated fans are known as Disney adults. This is the group that spends thousands of dollars each year on visits to the parks, and almost faints with excitement at the very special smell of the water in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

For those outside the group, their devotion to a brand aimed at kids seems embarrassing. And Disney’s own feelings toward these fans are complicated.

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter this month, Bob Chapek, the CEO of Disney, hinted that fans who pay for expensive annual passes are visiting the parks so often that they cause overcrowding.

“We love the superfans, obviously. But we also like the fans who don’t express their dedication as often… We have to make sure there’s room in the park for that Denver family that visits once every five years.” Sales of several varieties of annual passes have been suspended. It is now necessary to make reservations for visits.

Not many companies can claim to have superfans as customers. Tesla, who knows. Maybe Apple. At Disney, fan devotion has pushed the number of visits to the company’s theme parks across the United States back to pre-pandemic levels. This allowed her to expand from family-centric vacations to more expensive experiences like cruise ships.

In the last quarter, revenue from Disney’s Parks, Experiences and Products division increased to US$7.4 billion (R$39.6 billion), from US$4.3 billion (R$23 billion) in the period in 2021 Cutting off access to such a sought-after product can be a risky move.

I’ve only seen Disney adults up close once. When I moved to California a few years ago, I convinced a friend to come with me to Disneyland so I could find out what I had missed, having spent my childhood in England.

We drove from Los Angeles to Anaheim on a quiet Tuesday in early December to visit the company’s original park, built on a former orange grove in 1955. Because it was the middle of the school year and it was a class, I assumed we would have the place to ourselves. Was wrong. Thousands of vacationing adults crowded around us, all dressed and decked out in Disney merchandise. There were long lines at all attractions. Just like in all restaurants.

The hyper-reality of Disney theme parks has made them the most popular resorts on the planet.

Building a haunted mansion on the side of the wild west lands and facing an enchanted castle, and surrounding it all with pretzel and hot dog stands, overwhelms the senses.

For many visitors, the childhood connection means that Disney parks are more meaningful than regular vacations. That means they’re worth paying more for — the rise in park ticket prices outpaces inflation. And even as other optional spending declines, Disney fans continue to buy tickets.

The problem is, superfans don’t spend as much money per visit as occasional park visitors. After all, there is a limit to the number of Minnie ears a person can wear.

For some, the annual pass that allows shoppers to visit Disney parks as many times as they like throughout the year offers a good bargain.

A day trip to Disney World in Florida costs US$109. The annual Incredi Pass costs US$1,299 (R$6,955), plus tax. If the person makes one visit a month, he will come out in profit. If she visits every week, she would save over US$4,000.

This mismatch brings to mind the MoviePass disaster, which allowed its subscribers to pay less than $10 a month for the right to go to the movies as often as they wanted. MoviePass’s hunch was that people wouldn’t use the system to watch more than one or two movies a month. But the desire of moviegoers to go to the movies almost every day drove the company into bankruptcy.

Disney needs its parks to help subsidize its streaming investment. In August, Disney overtook Netflix in the number of streaming subscriptions, sparking existential panic among rival investors. With 221 million paying viewers, Disney+ is a hit. Its decision to price the service below its competitors encouraged take-up. Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ subscriptions combined are expected to generate revenue close to $12 billion this year, according to Insider Intelligence.

Disney’s ability to cross-sell its intellectual property sets it apart from services like Netflix — which has tried to sell merchandise but has no significant source of revenue other than streaming subscriptions.

But creating enough content to keep viewers’ attention is expensive. Disney has an impressive collection of content and has been successfully tapping into franchises like Star Wars and Marvel to create new TV shows. But the costs are high. The company reported an operating loss of US$1.1 billion (R$ 5.8 billion) in the third quarter — three times more than in the same period a year earlier.

Ensuring that park visitors keep coming back, and that they spend more and more, is therefore essential. Disney is considering an affiliation program similar to Amazon Prime, which would include streaming, access to the parks and merchandise.

Fans are not satisfied. At the recent Expo D23, an annual event for Disney’s most enthusiastic devotees, there were complaints that annual passes were still on hold. Unfortunately for them, Chapek ran the parks division before becoming president of the entire company. He knows that the demand is much greater than the supply, and he will not fail to take advantage of it for sentimental reasons. Prices could double and visitors would continue to pay. Disney fans may grumble, but they won’t stop going to the parks.

Translation by Paulo Migliacci