Many Americans are toning down their discretionary spending and turning up their “revenge saving”, which may cause problems for Disney World.
The site of an empty Magic Kingdom may become a bit more common.
The concept of “revenge saving” is the idea of putting more money aside for savings than they were previously. According to CNBC, the “The U.S. personal saving rate — the percentage of disposable income that U.S. households save, after they pay taxes and spend money — has risen sharply this year, reaching 4.5% in May, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis data released Friday. That is slightly down from 4.9% in April, but up significantly from 3.5% in December.”
Experts speculate that there are several factors influencing this change in behavior, including “fluid tariff negotiations, the prospect of higher inflation and interest rates lingering at higher levels longer than some expected.” In addition, concerns about the world’s geopolitical state and potential social unrest likely also play a role.
“Revenge Saving” stands in direct opposition to the concept of “revenge spending,” which took root for the initial period following the apex of the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, there was a large uptick in discretionary spending, including on travel, as many who had built up a backlog of disposable income during lockdown spent with a bit of abandon.
Past crowds at Cosmic Rewind
As someone who visited Disneyland and Walt Disney World in the near-immediate aftermath of the end of lockdown policies and the height of “revenge spending”, I can attest to just how busy both parks were during that period. However, as much as that spending ballooned guest members and revenue, it seems that trends like “revenge saving” may have the opposite effect.
Earlier this year, Disney executives claimed during the company’s Q1 earnings call that bookings for the summer of 2025 are up and that the “outlook is good and the company is feeling positive.” However, there are some indications that things may not be as rosy.
TRON Lightcycle/Run
Currently, Disney is offering a slew of discounts on everything from theme park tickets, hotel stays, and dining, more than we’ve seen at the same time in years. While these savings are obviously welcome to many guests, their presence also indicates that Disney is likely not selling out rooms at the clip they anticipated, perhaps because potential guests are putting more money aside for savings.
Southwest Airlines
The growing “revenge saving” financial trend could potentially lead to dwindling crowds and lower profits for the theme park industry. Stay tuned to DFB for more.
Here’s When Disney World Could Be Empty in 2025
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I think two additional significant reasons are that customers are angry about constantly increasing prices for no additional benefit and suddenly all this poorly thought out construction leaving so little entertainment available!
In my opinion, I think that the way Disney execs treat their customers has a big part in this. The dedicated Disney fans are likely tiring of the continued price increases. We used to go at least once a year and have gone as many as 4 times in a year. We probably won’t go again for a while and we hate it, but it just costs so much money. We love Disney and the Cast Members in the parks are great, but it’s just getting harder to justify the expense.
Also many of us tourists have been warned about visiting the USA let alone florida. we are forom aus and were going to hit disneyland then head to florida and do disney world and explore the new epic universe at universal but have put all plans aside
I’m not upset about this at all. We have an upcoming trip starting September 10th (9 days at WDW, 3 day Wish cruise), and I’m really hoping the crowds ARE lower for our preschoolers’ first visit! Fingers crossed
My wife and I were planning 3 trips to Disney World this year (from Ohio), but cut it to 2 due to costs. Continuously raising prices on seemingly everything is not good for repeat business. I also believe Universal has taken some business from Disney, at least for this year, but also you have to consider the “boycott” of travel to the US by many foreign tourists, especially Canadians, who were a large part of Disney’s customers. There is probably not just one issue, but a combination of many.
The cost continues to rise while the guest experience continues to lower. All the walls, the lack of maintenance and the nickel and diming for things that were once included. It’s just not worth the money anymore.