Why do People Spend so Much Money at Disney?

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Why do People Spend so Much Money at Disney?

For this penultimate blog post, I wanted to reflect a bit on the topic I plan to write about in my final paper, why people keep coming back to Disney and spending so much money. While I will use the final paper to explore the topic with more academic rigor, this blog is a perfect forum for me to write a bit about my firsthand experience over the past week. My family came down for a week-long vacation! My parents drove down with our dog. My older brother, uncle, two cousins, and grandparents all flew down from various parts of the country. Even with my cast member discount, my family spent well over $15,000 on travel, rooms, park tickets, food, and merchandise. Besides just wanting to spend time together, which they could have done for much less money, why spend so much money at Disney? My thesis for the final is that there are at least four primary reasons: escapism, nostalgia, family-friendliness, and variety. Let's see how those apply to this past week. 

Escapism. As we all spent time in the four theme parks (Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom), the immersive theming let everyone forget about their daily lives and enjoy spending time together. Early in the morning, the early birds like my mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, and brother were able to take in the sights and enjoy walking around areas like Animal Kingdom gorilla walk and EPCOT World Showcase. By the afternoon, the night owls like my uncle, cousins, and I enjoyed attractions like Guardians of the Galaxy and Tron. People even felt like they were getting away from their daily lives at the resort. Most everyone stayed at the DVC Cabins at Fort Wilderness (2). The ability to hop on a golf cart and drive over to a pool, bike barn, and see Chip & Dale at the nightly campfire was a pleasant departure from the typical hotel room. My brother stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge, and enjoyed a savanna view from his balcony (3).

Nostalgia. Except for my two cousins, everyone had visited Walt Disney World multiple times. My dad and his parents even stayed at the old cabins at Fort Wilderness over 40 years ago. On numerous occasions, my uncle, parents, and grandparents would talk about how they had gone on rides like It's a Small World and Space Mountain many times over the decades. They enjoyed being able to experience some of the same attractions with the younger generations as well as discussing what had changed over the years.

Family-friendliness. After a highly-charged presidential election season, my family really enjoyed getting away from the polarization and into a very family-friendly environment. Everyone from my 11-year old cousin to my 79-year-old grandpa was able to just relax and enjoy their surroundings. Cast members (like me) word hard to make sure everyone has a good time. For example, my grandpa was eligible for Disability Access Service (DAS) (4). This helped him enjoy more attractions with less wait time. Up to three of us were able to join him on rides like Living with the Land, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Remy. At no point in the entire week did our family encounter any environmental stresses. Other guests were well-behaved, there was no foul language, and people enjoyed their week.

Variety. With four theme parks, a 700-acre Fort Wilderness Resort, hundreds of attractions and restaurants, in an entire week we barely scratched the surface of all we could have done. We literally ate at a different restaurant every meal, and could likely do that for another 10 vacations without even repeating sit down restaurants (5). While we were able to ride most of the "big-ticket" rides we wanted, many of them like Guardians of the Galaxy and Rise of Resistance are so good we would visit again to re-ride them. And there were many, many attractions and shows we did not have time to enjoy... meaning we'd all want to visit again and the next trip would still be different and fun.

So my past week was a pretty good first-hand accounting of why people spend so much money at Walt Disney World!

Topics: Applying Interactive Media Studies

References

1. cover photo of my family taken by server at Shiki-Sai: Sushi Izakaya

2. https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/dvc-cabins-at-fort-wilderness

3. https://www.disneytouristblog.com/animal-kingdom-lodge-kidani-village-review/

4. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/disability-access-service/

5. https://touringplans.com/blog/faq-get-to-know-disney-world-table-service-dining/


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