Festival of the Lion King returned, but without one key act. Photo: Offbeat Training LLC

In 1997, a 12 oz steak cost $11.99 at our local Outback Steakhouse. In 2021, you can still get a steak for a comparable $12.99, but to hide the reduction of offering, Outback cut the size of that steak to 6 ounces. So it goes with businesses. There is an ever-increasing pressure to reduce costs while appearing to offer the same level of value to customers.

Disney does it too. In 1985, as a new Disney cast member, I told my supervisor that my guests has paid a lot of money to visit Epcot and I intended to give them full value for their $21. In 2021, that same ticket would cost $229.

While Disney ticket prices have increased, many of its offerings have been downsized.

• In 1985, for example, all of Epcot opened and closed at the same time. By 2021, different locations had varying opening and closing times, reducing operating costs.
• Horizons and World of Motion, rides featuring large numbers of costly-to-maintain audio-animatronic figures, were replaced with lower maintenance cost attractions.
• In 1985, the Land Boat Ride featured a live narrator on each boat. Now the ride has a pre-recorded spiel, reducing labor costs.
• Host salaries have also deteriorated. Disney management used to brag that theme park host pay was “the best in the business.” In the 1980s, salaries stopped keeping pace with inflation and management began describing those jobs as “comparable to other theme parks.”

Prior to COVID, Disney had announced a plan to raise salaries, increase benefits, and plus backstage areas. Given Disney’s huge amount of current debt, it’s hard to say how much of that promise can be delivered.

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COVID, and the financial damage it did to the Disney Company, has forced other changes too.

• The new Christmas and Halloween after hours parties have both been downsized; modified to cut costs. What has not been downsized are the ticket prices.
• Festival of the Lion King returned to Disney's Animal Kingdom, but without the high-priced tumble monkey performers. That cut was likely due to COVID restrictions, but it is a money saver.
• A second stage show, Finding Nemo, has been announced as returning at Disney's Animal Kingdom in a new form. You can assume that "new form" will have a smaller cast and lower production costs.
• And, as we saw in our last Snap, the costs that Disney guests pay have also increased through add-on fees.

The trick in all this is to deliver the downsized offering in a way most guests don’t notice.  Will it work? It usually does. If it doesn’t, special deals will be offered to rebalance corporate costs with what customers are willing to pay.

There are some lessons to learn from this information:

• We all should be smart consumers, spot the differences, and choose products and services accordingly.
• Business leaders should manage these reductions so that they have minimal impact on customers. By maintaining close contact with customers, you can ensure you don’t price yourself out of their reach.
• The brands that connect emotionally with customers, as reported in Be As Emotional As Possible are better positioned to get away with those increases and reductions.

You can still get that steak but be prepared for the cost to heat up as the course continues to shrink.