One Brand, Two Disparate Guest Experiences

One Disney brand. Two vastly different guest experiences.

A Walt Disney World ticket increasingly feels like a base airline fare. Want to wait in shorter lines (or barely wait at all)? Extra. Want reserved fireworks viewing? Extra. Want to get into the parks early? Pay to stay at a Disney resort.

Oh, and while you’re there, expect to spend a substantial amount of time head down on your phone checking wait times, placing meal orders, looking for Lightning Lane availability – which, yes, costs extra.

You’re constantly reminded you need to spend even more to make the experience you’ve already paid for easier / better. If you’re only visiting once every few years, or once in a lifetime, the pressure to optimize every hour is real.

Then there’s Disney Cruise Line. Welcome aboard. Have a delightful time! Here’s what’s included: Your meals. Room service. Soft drinks. All-day soft serve. A beach day at Disney’s private island in the Bahamas.

Granted, there are plenty of ways to spend more if you’re inclined: Cocktails. Specialty dining. Spa and beauty treatments. Photo packages. Excursions. Concierge-level accommodations with their own lounge and sun deck, discreetly tucked away where most passengers don’t even know they’re there.

That’s the difference for me. DCL isn’t less interested in getting you to spend more money. It’s just much better at making the vacation you already bought feel like enough. You *can* spend more – and I suspect most people do – without feeling that you *need* to spend more.

Full disclosure: I’m a WDW Annual Passholder and a Disney shareholder, so I’m rooting for all of Disney to do well. But having just stepped off my second Disney cruise, I think the parks could learn something from the cruise line about how guests are experiencing the brand.

Photo: Disney Cruise Line