Compromising or just priced out?

[mousefan73]

We have been cutting but at the same time discovered DCL. Which doesnt help with overall savings. We recently discovered ASMo. New rooms are great. We usually stay POP then Beach Club. Next trip may be more ASMos. We used to have DP and now just do QS. Says so much time not dealing with ASRs. And we save sit down for the cruise. Used to add MNSSHP. Cut that. Seriosuly considering dropping PHs but if we do Beach Club a night or two we need those. Will not rent a car the entire trip to save in parking feed. Recently discovered Uber on property. I should maybe take this years trip and reprice with these changes. Bet I can save a few hundred.

 

[Just People]

We just go back 2 weeks ago from WDW and although we still had a great time, it's getting a lot more expensive than it has been. I know year after year everything gets more expensive, but Disney seems to push it. My wife and I had breakfast at Trail's End Buffet, and even with Annual Passholder discount and tip, the bill came close to $50! It's ridiculous they have "seasonal" rates for buffets! I guess Disney has decided to go all in with attracting a more affluent customer base. I was surprised when I found out that the dessert parties were going for over $70 a person! For Dessert! OK, you get a view of the fireworks, but you know what, so does anyone else who looks up towards the sky, including the people watching free at the Poly or Grand Floridian! I wonder how much longer Disney is going to allow people to bring in their own food and drink into the parks... That i'm truly surprised they still allow. Oh, and I don't want to even think how much the price of Annual Passes will go up once Star Wars Galaxy's Edge opens!

 

[Claireywalsh]

Were from the U.K. so planning a trip is always a big deal for us money wise. I think everything in general is more expensive but we try to plan ahead and it gives us enough time to budget effectively. We always flew Virgin to Orlando as the flights were always better timed, scheduled service and better overall experience, for our October trip next year we had to compromise as by switching over to Thomas Cook and flying a day earlier saved us £300 per person, so almost will cover our park tickets. I think the key is playing with your options and looking for a deal. In terms of onsite, offsite, i would always try to book where I want to stay and just make the numbers work for us. Dreading Brexit though next March as I know the already poor exchange rate will get a whole lot worse and then that’s going to make everything even more costly!

 

[KenHutch]

Please adapt me.

Funny I get that a lot, one of our secretaries asked me to either adopt or marry her, she was fairly flexible on the subject. She loves Disney and stays at Pop every year.

 

[Texans_loyal]

We just go back 2 weeks ago from WDW and although we still had a great time, it's getting a lot more expensive than it has been. I know year after year everything gets more expensive, but Disney seems to push it. My wife and I had breakfast at Trail's End Buffet, and even with Annual Passholder discount and tip, the bill came close to $50! It's ridiculous they have "seasonal" rates for buffets! I guess Disney has decided to go all in with attracting a more affluent customer base. I was surprised when I found out that the dessert parties were going for over $70 a person! For Dessert! OK, you get a view of the fireworks, but you know what, so does anyone else who looks up towards the sky, including the people watching free at the Poly or Grand Floridian! I wonder how much longer Disney is going to allow people to bring in their own food and drink into the parks... That i'm truly surprised they still allow. Oh, and I don't want to even think how much the price of Annual Passes will go up once Star Wars Galaxy's Edge opens!

I plan on getting an AP in January so the increase doesn't make me change my mind. Unfortunately, I have had to cut out all DL trips for the next year.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

I plan on getting an AP in January so the increase doesn't make me change my mind. Unfortunately, I have had to cut out all DL trips for the next year.

Word on the street is that tickets and APs will have a m a j o r price increase real soon. That January price may be a shocker.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Word on the street is that tickets and APs will have a m a j o r price increase real soon. That January price may be a shocker.

In my unpopular opinion APs should be higher. Especially for locals who, from many accounts, go weekly if not more.

 

[Texans_loyal]

Word on the street is that tickets and APs will have a m a j o r price increase real soon. That January price may be a shocker.

I just read up on it If they go up drastically, this will be our only trip this year. I can't justify it any more and refuse to cut more corners. Sad but this is my reality.

 

[fla4fun]

In my unpopular opinion APs should be higher. Especially for locals who, from many accounts, go weekly if not more.

I think you may be confusing DL locals with WDW locals. We WDW locals take a lot of heat for everything negative at the parks, but there are far fewer of us than at DL, and even far fewer who go to the parks that frequently. The Orlando area is nowhere near as affluent as the greater Los Angeles area and many people who live here can’t afford the cheapest AP, even with the payment plan. In fact, other than my own family, I don’t know any other local who even has an AP. They all say they can’t afford it. So raising prices isn’t going to reduce the number of locals going - they’ve already been priced out.

 

[Aimee Wolfe]

I am also a Canadian, and I have a few tips that have saved us a ton. First, plan ahead and study! Last year 5 adults stayed at CBR for $1100 US per person for 8 nights and that included hotel, tickets and food. Also because of studying (love disboards!) I found out about the gift card offer in time and they gave me a $600 Disney gift card on arrival and that paid all our tips. I also love my one day at Universal and the best advice for that is plan and collect airmiles and "buy" your ticket for 1 day with dream miles. Sometimes the other plan is to just look up flight prices periodically. This year my daughter and I found flights from Ottawa to Orlanda (MCO) for $263 CAD return. We bought them in January for a November trip and it is from a Tuesday to the following Wednesday but you can't beat that price so we grabbed it.

Anyway that is my 2 cents worth, I certainly understand the frustration of our dollar and fingers crossed it will go up sometime soon. Enjoy your trip and if you don't do Universal you can just stay in the Disney bubble the whole time!

Those are some awesome prices..what airline did you find that deal on out of Ottawa? I am somewhat limited because I have to go during school breaks. Can't believe you got that price at caribbean beach. Was that during value season?

 

[Aimee Wolfe]

We just go back 2 weeks ago from WDW and although we still had a great time, it's getting a lot more expensive than it has been. I know year after year everything gets more expensive, but Disney seems to push it. My wife and I had breakfast at Trail's End Buffet, and even with Annual Passholder discount and tip, the bill came close to $50! It's ridiculous they have "seasonal" rates for buffets! I guess Disney has decided to go all in with attracting a more affluent customer base. I was surprised when I found out that the dessert parties were going for over $70 a person! For Dessert! OK, you get a view of the fireworks, but you know what, so does anyone else who looks up towards the sky, including the people watching free at the Poly or Grand Floridian! I wonder how much longer Disney is going to allow people to bring in their own food and drink into the parks... That i'm truly surprised they still allow. Oh, and I don't want to even think how much the price of Annual Passes will go up once Star Wars Galaxy's Edge opens!

Haha the dessert party blows me away. Can't believe people get sucked into 70 each for a cupcake and the same show everyone else watches for free. I swear Disney could sell poop on a plate and ppl be lined up to pay 100 bucks for it.

 

[Mikey15]

Those are some awesome prices..what airline did you find that deal on out of Ottawa? I am somewhat limited because I have to go during school breaks. Can't believe you got that price at caribbean beach. Was that during value season?

Don’t know about the person you’re quoting, but your cheapest flights from Ottawa area would probably be Allegiant Air out of Ogdensburg (OGS). Occasionally there’ll be cheap flights out of YOW, but probably not at Christmas or March break. I think WestJet offers MCO nonstop some months out of the year.

Watertown and Syracuse are a bit farther.

 

[kylenne]

Haha the dessert party blows me away. Can't believe people get sucked into 70 each for a cupcake and the same show everyone else watches for free. I swear Disney could sell poop on a plate and ppl be lined up to pay 100 bucks for it.

We’re doing the HEA party for several reasons, but the main one is the fact that we’re going during the thick of Halloween party season, and opportunities to view it are very limited as a result, meaning hub crowds will be insane. My partner and I have never seen HEA, and both of us have ADHD and anxiety that are triggered badly in the kind of crowds I’ve seen on non-party nights for the show. The idea of camping for an hour or more, fighting absolutely insane crowds only to be crammed in like sardines is a nightmare and a recipe for disaster for us. My partner is also 5’2”, and throwing elbows to camp a spot for an hour only to have her view inevitably blocked by some oblivious parent cutting in front of her 2 minutes before showtime and putting a kid on his shoulders is something we’re not willing to chance either.

It helps to remember that people are different. Everyone isn’t the same as you, and people have different needs and priorities, especially those of us who are disabled and aren’t neurotypical. We didn’t pay $140 for “cupcakes”, we paid it to not have panic attacks. What you call “free” would be far more costly for us. Perspective is necessary.

 

[_19disnA]

I think Disney is getting to the point where it is becoming a vacation destination for the well-off and prices are keeping many others away. Reminds me somewhat of NASCAR, where stands were always full and prices kept going up thinking no one would notice. Suddenly, stands are mostly empty and TV coverage goes out of the way to NOT show the empty seats. People have choices of where they go on vacation and how they spend their leisure time.

 

[Disneytam]

We have always been deluxe resort travelers and have been going to Disney since 1991. A trip used to be 10-14 days often club level. About 6 years ago we started spending part of our trip at Universal as the Seasonal AP and the discounted rooms are less than half of Disney prices. We also used to try to do two trips a year with one trip being a shorter one.

With all the cut backs in service in both the parks and the hotels ( can you imagine we used to have free valet parking included with club level) we have decided to not renew our AP this year. Our upcoming trip in October will be our last for a few years. We will continue to do Universal and maybe some international travel.

 

[DisneyLore]

Those are some awesome prices..what airline did you find that deal on out of Ottawa? I am somewhat limited because I have to go during school breaks. Can't believe you got that price at caribbean beach. Was that during value season?

We actually got them for Delta, right out of Ottawa. It was a crazy good price and it is essentially why we decided to do the trip this year. Plus we weren't limited this year for timing because my daughter is working and not in school this year. But definitely helped that it was a Tuesday to Wednesday, which of course doesn't work for everybody. While these are not direct flights they only have 1 layover each way and only a 2 hour one at that. I then shopped around and got a reasonable rate for POFQ and discounted tickets from a TA with deals and paying for the DP (because of F & W) it is still only costing us $1500.00 per person for 8 nights. And because of airmiles we are going to Universal for 1 day for free.

As for Caribbean beach, last year, the price was good and the gift card was great, both of which were due to construction and that was just researching online on these boards. While we didn't have great flight prices (around $400 each) we went the last week of August and got free dining (which was a huge savings for 5 adults). The best way to get good prices is to be flexible (if possible) research and plan ahead. We had originally planned to stay at POR but when I saw the construction prices and the gift card incentive for CB I jumped on it. I supposed that was the sacrifice I was willing to make, which was put up not the greatest food court. Although we really enjoyed that resort so wasn't much of a sacrifice for any of us.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I am not that hung up on what level of resort I stay at, so it doesn't feel like I am compromising if I stay at a value instead of a moderate. For my trip next month Priceline and Hotwire was how are able to afford to stay so long at the Swan and Dolphin. If we hadn't found those discounts we would be at a Disney moderate.

This is us exactly. We've stayed at every level and lately it's been more Pop Century and we are just thankful to be going. The day may come when our trips will be shorter but hopefully not.

I will say our biggest compromise is no Disneyland. We gave that up over five years ago when we just couldn't do both anymore.

 

[Nicholmom3]

For me, the biggest negative is Disney itself. The latest MDE glitch and their inability to fix it rapidly has me questioning whether all of the effort of a Disney vacation is worth it when all it takes is an IT hiccup to make the house of cards come tumbling down. I dread the thought of being at Disney when this happens. And it seems to happen with increasing frequency.

We were down there this past weekend and while the MDE app was practically useless, it didn't affect our trip very much at all. That said, we were traveling without kids and had given up on the fast passes. We kept an eye on the Lines app, as the wait times were far more accurate, and we made choices for rides based on that.