It is impossible not to notice that the current inflationary climate has jacked up the prices of nearly everything – but who is willing to pay $5,000 for a cocktail? The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) is betting someone with an XL-sized wallet is willing to belly up to the bar for that concoction.
What Happened: According to a CNBC report, that pricey drink is being served on The Wish, the latest addition to the company’s fleet of cruise liners. The Wish has its maiden voyage from Port Canaveral, Florida, to Disney’s private Bahamian island Castaway Cay on July14, and the ship offers experiences linked to Disney brands including a “Frozen” sing-along dinner and another dining experience inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
But it is The Wish’s Star Wars-inspired Hyperspace Lounge where the price tag gets interesting. This section of the ship takes the Mos Eisley cantina experience into the Biden-era economy with its $5,000 Kaiburr Crystal drink served in the camtono container favored by the bounty hunters in that galaxy far, far away.
As for the ingredients in the Kaiburr Crystal, Disney has yet to preview what can be found in $5,000 worth of inebriation.
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Why It Happened: Even if the $5,000 cocktail is just an attention-grabbing publicity stunt, it affirms Disney’s increased interest in the luxury travel market.
Last month, the company unveiled its roughly $110,000 “Disney Parks Around the World: A Private Jet Adventure” that includes a 24-day tour that includes private jet travel to the company’s parks in the U.S., Europe and Asia along with tours of the Lucasfilm Campus and the Walt Disney Studios. Also included are stops at non-Disney attractions including Taj Mahal, the Pyramids of Giza and the Eiffel Tower.
The emphasis on luxury travel put the company at odds with its traditional audience, who have become increasingly vocal in their frustrations over increased costs at the Disney theme parks and, specific to Walt Disney World in Orlando, problems with air conditioning at some of the attractions.
In Benzinga’s recent "The Crisis at Disney" series, For Rebekah Barton, senior entertainment editor for the Inside the Magic blog that focuses on all things Disney, questioned if Disney is doing enough to keep its traditional tourists from defecting to Comcast Corporation's (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Universal theme parks.
“A lot of people seem to be gravitating toward the Universal parks,” she said. “Whether that's because the experience is better or because they're cheaper, who can say? I don't think there's another company that could compete as far as a theme park experience, and I think with Epic Universe coming in the next few years that Universal is making a push to certainly rival Disney as far as the theme park experience goes.”
Photo by Ann Smith, courtesy of Disney
