Disney, is it really that expensive?

[leebee]

I juggle credit cards to get the freebies. DD24 and I will be staying at AKL for 6 nights in August through a TA deal. Standard view room with 6day PH and a "freebie" water park admission is $2100. Thank goodness I have Disney VISA rewards built up- and this TA takes them. We also have tons of Southwest miles, so airfare from Hartford, CT to Orlando is $22, total, and no charge for checking the suitcases. We won't be renting a car as Magical Express is free, as are the Disney busses (even though I truly hate them). I'm debating about the food... I have $400 in Disney gift cards (incentive reward when we spend our Disney Visa cards) that I could use, but I also have about $800 in Disney rewards money left after paying for the room/tickets. Any way you look at it, I am getting off pretty easy on this trip!! (Of course, I could have done free dining at ASMu for about $2000 and had points leftover, but, oh well, you don't go on a 25th birthday celebration EVERY year!!)

 

[Ladyandthepuppies]

I think it's expensive, but I don't mind paying when the value is there. We went to Sesame Place a few weeks ago for $30 a ticket. Soooo much cheaper than Disney tickets but also just not as nice or well done. They have shows and fun rides, beautiful flowers and even a topiary display- it didn't matter, Sesame Place does not have "the magic". We always stay onsite at Disney and I think staying within the bubble is often underestimated.

I think the food at Disney is terrible but that's to be expected, taste tends to suffer when mass-produced. The TS and signature TS prices are ridiculous, the quality is just not there. And as a pp mentioned, the hotel rates are maddening. $650 per night and people are paying it? $650 per night anywhere else would get you a suite and continental breakfast at a minimum. Honestly where else would you even pay that?

 

[cleverclovers]

I usually don't go to local amusement parks 3-8 days in a row. That's the big difference!

No, but I can go when I want for the entire season for the price of two days at Disney.

 

[kymom99]

I started visiting Disney at an interesting time. It was a couple years post 9/11. I have pictures in June of 2004 at the all star resorts where the pool is almost empty. I'm not saying the whole place was dead, but crowds weren't near what they are now. The dining plan was there but it wasn't heavily advertised. I made one reservation for crystal palace. The rest were made day of. In 2008 we got free one day tickets for the give a day get a day promotion. We upgraded at the gate. That was also the year of a million dreams. We got Dream fastpasses when we exited BTMRR. It seems like it was so much easier to enjoy Disney on a budget. And it was much less complicated. They were trying to fill their hotels and were doing cool things to draw people there.

I went in 2005 when they introduced DME. It was just a month in and it worked great. We loved the convenience. But after that, I noticed they started promoting the dining plan. It was dirt cheap back then. Like $30 plus a day for adults, $10 for kids. I never did utilize it though. That's when I noticed the big shift in dining. When we returned in 2008 you couldn't get a table hardly anywhere and prices were on the rise. Menus were "dumbed down". Our last trip was 2010. Crowds got bigger and bigger. I still managed to find some discounts but they were harder to come by. Since they started the FP+ I haven't been back. It just seems so much more expensive and also more complicated.

We have grand kids now and one of them will probably only get to go if we take him. I have played around with prices. If we go I think it will be a couple nights in a value and a couple days in the parks with a few days off site, or totally off site. I just can't see spending a week there anymore.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

Dorney Park

We love Dorney!!! Do you ever go to Dutch Wonderland? That's where we get our Dole Whip fix on lol. We don't even bother buying them at WDW.

 

[KVH]

It's cheap compared to buying a Ferrari. Or a house. Or many other things.

Approaching this from a logical, analytical standpoint, you need to set a baseline. Everyone has a personal opinion and their variables are all different. The people living 30 minutes away who make 60K/yr who go twice a month probably don't think it's too bad. The family in Virginia with 6 figure income probably can afford 1-2 trips a year so it's not bad for them either. Opportunity cost is an extremely relative and subjective measure. So I don't think blanket statements work well here. Sure, costs have gone up at a rate higher than other market items. If it were too expensive in general, I don't think park admission would be up 6% YoY.

I think the real question is whether the perceived value you receive from that "expensive" trip is worth the cost. If the answer is yes, then it's not too expensive. For people to say it's too expensive and yet keep going back is a little odd.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

We love Dorney!!! Do you ever go to Dutch Wonderland? That's where we get our Dole Whip fix on lol. We don't even bother buying them at WDW.

We haven't actually done Dorney yet. We're in NJ, so Dorney and Dutch Wonderland are a hike, while Sesame is only about 35-40 minutes. My kids are just under 42" so we're waiting to make the trek to Dorney until they can ride more.

We use our Sesame passes just about weekly in the summer because my 4 year olds are right in the sweet spot for that park. We also love Storybookland when we're down the shore.

 

[deedeezee]

We love Dorney!!! Do you ever go to Dutch Wonderland? That's where we get our Dole Whip fix on lol. We don't even bother buying them at WDW.

We love DW, too! Especially the Dole Whip, which we pick up while we walk to the little splash park area.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I think the real question is whether the perceived value you receive from that "expensive" trip is worth the cost. If the answer is yes, then it's not too expensive. For people to say it's too expensive and yet keep going back is a little odd.

If it were in fact "too" expensive, people would stop paying and we wouldn't have entire boards devoted to beating the crowds

I think the reality here is that people are willing to pay because Disney has managed to make perceived value is so high. Part off that is that the parks really are amazing, certainly. But, there's also this sense that the trip to Disney *should* be part of one's childhood, at least in my upper middle class circle. I would never spend this kind of money on a vacation to pretty much any other destination as I would balk at the cost. But, my first flight was to Disney, as will be my kids. I have very distinct memories of that trip, and I hope my kids will too. When you've managed to make your theme parks a "must do" for childhood you can charge what you want.

 

[Summer2018]

Yes.

If it weren't for our Disney addiction, we would never blow $13,000 on a vacation. I could take 5 separate week-long luxury beach-front trips to Cape Cod for what I pay for one trip to WDW. Unfortunately, we got sucked in by all of it, the deluxe resorts and their amenities, the magic, every last hidden Mickey. We are out of our minds.

Oh, and DD wants to get married in WDW. God help me.

 

[karen4546]

My very first Disney trip was in 2011. We stayed at POFQ (3 teen daughters and me). I have since been 1 or 2 times every year since. This year we are taking adult children and grandchildren for a total party this time of 7 adults, 3 children and 2 infants. We are renting points at AKL Jambo house for a 2br and 1 studio. I know that renting points saves a ton of money. We were lucky enough to get a value studio for $735 for 5 nights. That's the price of a value resort. We usually rent a 1 or 2 br at AKL for the space. We don't cook on vacation but you could save a lot of money if you brought food or ordered from local grocer and ate 1 or 2 meals in your room. It is only DH and i at home now but if we both ate lunch out it would easily be $20 day. and if we had dinner out once a week then that would be $100 = so that is $200 a week we save. Now we do go to lunch every now and then and we do eat dinner out or pick up something maybe 10 times a year - but we do save at least $5000 a year not eating out. So when we go on vacation we essentially go "FREE" I for one would much rather spend a week at Disney essentially getting a new experience at each park/waterpark - my ticket includes 4 theme parks and 2 water parks. I also have all the resorts to visit to see their decorations at Christmas and Disney Springs both that don't require a pass. We don't cook on vacation and get at least the DDP and so we enjoy most every meal from quick service to Jiko.

Like the saying goes... You get what you pay for. Yes Disney is expensive but to me the magic, memories, and total experience far out weigh the cost.

 

[Pookles]

I basically agree with all of these responses! Disney IS expensive, but it's also how you look it. I might be able to rent a cabin on a lake for two weeks at a third the price, but it's a bit less exciting than the Magic Kingdom. No contest tho, it's really hard to make a fair comparison because no one else offers what they do. If you tried to get all the value of Disney out of Wisconsin Dells, you would pay much more and it's no where near the same level as Disney. I just tried comparing to the water park at the Mall of America with all day ride tickets and a similar room was $4500 compared to $3300 at Disney.

We had such an excellent time on our first trip, it was easy to agree that we would go back. I wasn't out of my mind to go the first time, my husband and I had to be convinced. (large family trip) I kind of resent the fact that they drew me in so hard, but now I cannot wait to go throw my money at them. They are doing something very right.

 

[tvguy]

My first trip to Disneyland was in 1965. A ticket book with admission and 10 rides was $3.45. Minimum wage was $1.25 an hour. So about 3 hours work for a day at Disneyland.
Today it is $97 with unlimited rides. Minimum wage is $11 an hour in California, the Federal minimum wage is $7.25. So between 8 and 13 1/2 hours work for a day at Disneyland today. So yes, it is expensive.

But, understand Disney price hikes aren't entirely about greed. They need a way to get fewer people in the parks to make it a better experience. They have discovered that slightly fewer people not only makes for a better experience for guests, but they spend more per person, enough that it offsets the lower number of customers.

 

[jujubiee4]

When i think of a Disney trip I do think expensive. However I do know what I'm getting. We are going in January and
also going to Universal a couple days. When did Universal get to be so expensive??? Prices are going up
everywhere. I remember a couple years ago we did a Christmas combo New York/Disney World trip. After being
in New York a few days I couldn't wait to get to Disney World. It felt like i was hemorrhaging money.

 

[wisteria1019]

It's cheap compared to buying a Ferrari. Or a house. Or many other things.

Approaching this from a logical, analytical standpoint, you need to set a baseline. Everyone has a personal opinion and their variables are all different. The people living 30 minutes away who make 60K/yr who go twice a month probably don't think it's too bad. The family in Virginia with 6 figure income probably can afford 1-2 trips a year so it's not bad for them either. Opportunity cost is an extremely relative and subjective measure. So I don't think blanket statements work well here. Sure, costs have gone up at a rate higher than other market items. If it were too expensive in general, I don't think park admission would be up 6% YoY.

I think the real question is whether the perceived value you receive from that "expensive" trip is worth the cost. If the answer is yes, then it's not too expensive. For people to say it's too expensive and yet keep going back is a little odd.

Exactly. Apples to oranges. I might be able to tour around Italy for a price close to what I would spend on a different type of trip, Disney or otherwise. It's an entirely different experience. I live in Colorado, hike where people vacation, but you can't compare a National Park intensive trip to a Disney centric trip.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

If it were in fact "too" expensive, people would stop paying and we wouldn't have entire boards devoted to beating the crowds

I think the reality here is that people are willing to pay because Disney has managed to make perceived value is so high. Part off that is that the parks really are amazing, certainly. But, there's also this sense that the trip to Disney *should* be part of one's childhood, at least in my upper middle class circle. I would never spend this kind of money on a vacation to pretty much any other destination as I would balk at the cost. But, my first flight was to Disney, as will be my kids. I have very distinct memories of that trip, and I hope my kids will too. When you've managed to make your theme parks a "must do" for childhood you can charge what you want.

Actually I think we have entire boards devoted to beating the crowds because it is an expensive trip! Time is money at WDW, and people want to get the most time/value out of their expensive trips. That is the exact thing that brought me to the boards back in 2010. I didn't want to spend gobs of money on tickets and only ride a few things because lines were so long. I learned about rope drop, FP, touring plans, ADRs, lodging options (off site timeshares and on site with discounts), free dining, 10 day no expire hopper with water park fun & more tickets (how I wish those were still around!!!), discount Disney Gift Cards, and lots of other strategies so my family could ring every bit of value out of the money we spent on our trips. Thanks to these boards I found ways to make my trips less expensive without sacrificing the Disney experience. But a Disney trip is still expensive to me.

 

[Klayfish]

Disney can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. I'm stunned when I hear people say they spend $10k, $15k or more for a one week trip to WDW...and jealous I guess. We do the opposite end of things. I'll keep ticket prices themselves out of the math, because they "are what they are" and not a ton of options.

We're here now and are spending 17 days here. Yes, we're super lucky to be able to stay this long. Again, park tickets aside, we're spending about $2700-$3000...that includes lodging (4 bedroom townhouse), food, souvenirs, etc... But we do it by choice. We'd rather take the same money and budget it so we can stay longer instead of have a shorter trip with more expenses. Our APs expire at the very end of this trip, and for that 12 month period we were able to squeeze 50 park days in. Money well spent, in our opinion.

 

[4kids4karen]

All cost aside, I just can't imagine Disney being the ONLY family vacation, year after year. I need more diversity. LOL.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I went to a museum yesterday. Train for 3 was $81. Subway was an extra $6. Or so. Admission for 3 was $75. Lunch came to just over $55, 2 hamburgers, 1 chicken sandwich and 2 waters
Stayed a couple of hours... dinner later for 3 was $145 ( Korean, which was delish)
By our standards ... typical costs.
The Cost of Disney is related to the Overall Experience.
What I greatly dislike is the feeling of nickel and dining me there.

 

[Summer2018]

I went to a museum yesterday. Train for 3 was $81. Subway was an extra $6. Or so. Admission for 3 was $75. Lunch came to just over $55, 2 hamburgers, 1 chicken sandwich and 2 waters
Stayed a couple of hours... dinner later for 3 was $145 ( Korean, which was delish)
By our standards ... typical costs.
The Cost of Disney is related to the Overall Experience.
What I greatly dislike is the feeling of nickel and dining me there.

We did it as cheaply as we could (staying at All Star Music) when that is all that we could afford. We can afford more now, and now that we are older, we are looking for a different experience than we had in the early days. So, we pay a lot more now to get the experience we want. We also don't go any more often than every 2-3 years. We like to experience different things each year. Sometimes, we just stay home and enjoy our own pool and neighborhood beach.