Inflation fun!
Here's your daily dose of pedantry — the cost of the ticket. I don't know exactly where else it was mentioned but their own faux-website where you can "purchase" a ticket lists $40,000 per day.
We don't know exactly when the show is set, but I'd say its safe to estimate that this technology won't be available for another 20 years (at least). We also know the park has existed for about 30 years. That puts us 50 years in the future. We also don't know the rate of inflation in the future, but let's assume it's similar to what it was in the past 50 years. According to Department of Labor calculator $40k today has the equivalent purchasing power of $5,500 in 1966 (50 years ago). So, $5,500 is the daily price adjusted for inflation.
This is still a lot of money, but it's not as insanely expensive as $40k. It is within reach for a lot more people, especially as a once in a lifetime experience. Why is this important? Well, that price itself is not enough to limit the number of guests we see on the show. At that price, the park would be overrun with visitors. You'd have a bunch of people celebrating their milestone birthdays, anniversaries, honeymoons. Young professionals who spent their annual bonus on a day or two at the Westworld. A LOT more people like that guy who killed Teddy just for the thrill of it. A bunch of bros running around drunk shooting everyone.
Either this is simply an oversight, or the writers assumed that most viewers would not think much about this. To be frank, I am not sure the price is even mentioned in the show, so this might just be a marketing mistake, and I am writing this for nothing.
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Comments
The second train arrival, a man tells his friends a previous vacation had Teddy act as his guide.
There are a few other instances where we come to understand that there are repeat visitors.
But I do not get the sense that there has been any personal growth or spiritual enlightenment. It's all an extraordinary experience in an extraordinary environment.
The MiB frequently boasts about the amount he's paying.
Sizemore is condescending about the "rich assholes who want to play cowboy."
As such, I will concur that 40,000 a day is "upper-middle class".
I went through the episode (skipping irrelevant scenes), but could find the scene where the cost is explicitly mentioned by a guest. I was attempting to verify the guest actually mentioning the name of the currency. If it was simply "forty thousand a day", then I assert we don't know what the currency actually is. Probably money and probably USD.
I don't think it's been said on the show but I also heard 40k a day which I agree is very odd, I could see a place like this being a quarter trillion future dollar investment easy (based on nothing of course) seems 10 million per day would be much more realistic.
France revalued its currency (Franc) in 1960. The central bank replaced every 100 old Francs with 1 new Franc.
Another explanation might be that the country has switched to a new currency all together. In 2002, my country switched from the Dutch "Guilder" to the Euro. Every 2.2 Guilders was replaced by 1 Euro.
What makes you think such events won't happen in the next 50-100 years?
Fair point.
But why do we think it is so supposed to be extremely expensive?
Technology-wise, I imagine that if somebody born in 1920 would time-travel to 2016 and experience what a modern-day amusement park looks like.... they would assume that only the richest of the rich are able to afford it.
In reality, the average middle-class family goes there once every year.
So let me offer two explanations for your consideration: