Prices just hit my threshold :-(

[Disneychick75]

I've been going to WDW since '99. Bought into DVC in '03. The lowest prices I've seen were right after 9/11...for obvious reasons. The costs have gone steadily up. In the past 8 years or so, we have seen fewer and fewer wonderful packages offered. Room rates have been high. Now, the cost of AP is making it hard to make the decision to renew in May. I don't take many photos in WDW..so PP is not a so called 'perk' for me. I've always had free parking, so no change there. But, I do get to pay $100 more for a Gold AP but get weeks taken away from me that I can't go to the parks during!
Does everyone deserve to go to WDW? Of course not. It's not a case of 'deserving'. Yes, it's expensive...always has been. But you realized you were getting a higher level of quality there. I've cruised with Disney three times now. I am hesitant to cruise with anyone else. BUT...I can cruise for twice the days with another company vs with Disney! No more kids at home, so don't really need all that Disney 'magic'.

Yes, Disney is a business. But I have to tell you..prices are as high as they have ever been. Resorts are fairly full...hence the few pkg discounts, or at least not great ones. The parks are crazy!!!! I haven't been to WDW, in the past year, when the parks weren't crowded. That would be Sept '14, Nov '14, May '15 and July '15. These were not peak times to go....all you had to do was look at all the various crowd calendars....none of them showed my dates as particularly busy. But wait times for attractions were all lengthy. 25 mins for IASW is just not right!!!!

So, will I stop going to WDW? Probably not. But, I won't be buying anymore DVC points, as I had intended on doing in Jan. I won't be going 2 or 3 times a year, that's for sure. And when I do go? I won't be using the TiW card that they are increasing the cost of by $50! That means, fewer nice meals...and probably fewer QS meals as well.
It means I'll be visiting other areas..instead of just my beloved WDW!!!

I thought about buying extra points too but now, I'm looking at selling the ones I have. A couple of months ago, I bought 4 5 day passes. We'll use those for a trip and then we'll be done for a while- a long while. After the FP+ implementation, I decided not to buy APs anymore. Our trips went from 3-4/year to 2. Now, it will be when our grandkids (DGS 2, and 1 expected in Dec. and another in Feb.) are older, we'll bring them. Our 2 yr. old grandson has been 2x but his yet to be born baby brother and yet to be born cousin will probably go when they're 4 or 5 if my husband and I are footing the bill. After that, it will be up to their parents.
It isn't a question of affordability but of paying more and getting less.

 

[Haroof]

The elitist attitude by a couple of folks in this thread is pretty cringe-inducing. I know you might not be trying to come off that way....but you're coming off that way.

That being said, disneyfan2kids, I'd love to hang out with you at WDW sometime. You seem like a cool cat!

 

[the advocate]

So how much is your FIL charging you for his DVC points that you're using on your upcoming vacation?
http://www.disboards.com/threads/mb-credit-card-question.3448216/


It's easy to argue that Disney is a great value or totally worth the price if you're vacationing on someone else's dime.

LOL!!

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Im paying for everything except the hotel room, which is still thousands of dollars. So not really on someone else's dime. I am also in the middle of purchasing my own DVC membership, so it will be my own dime from now on.

You have eliminated a major expense by staying with your FIL on his points. Thousands of dollars worth of expense. We stay onsite in villas (which we pay cash for) so our room is our #1 expense while at Disney. I just think it's a little disingenuous for you to be running all over the board telling people if they don't like how expensive Disney is, then just don't go when such a huge chunk of your upcoming trip is being picked up by your FIL.

 

[Kristine316]

Just some thoughts. Interesting thread.

Ok.. Let's be honest here I bet most people who come to this forum are fairly successful. If you can afford to go to WDW 3x times a year you are not worried about putting food on the table. Many posters here go multiple times a year.. I'm not one of them but, if I wanted to we could afford it.

Just because you can afford something doesn't mean it's a good value. In my opinion WDW is getting close to not really being worth it anymore.. If paying 8k for a luxury vacation where the "luxury" really isn't there anymore is worth it to someone, good for them but, I think my money is better spent elsewhere for now.
Don't fool yourselves into thinking that means less crowds, cause sorry it won't... WDW will keep herding in the people from all over the world and even some of those who can't afford it will still go. There's a reason each household carries so much debt these days.

Disney will keep increasing prices and people will keep flocking to WDW. I said this in another thread but, taking a WDW vacation is something every kid must do in our modern times. It's like a keeping up with the Jone's kind of thing.. everyone I know pretty much has been to WDW at least once. I know tons of people who have never been to the Grand Canyon or Mt. Rushmore by comparison. Make what you will of that but, it shows how major a player WDW is now in terms of family vacations. What was once a luxury is now something every family feels they just have to experience.
Parents will do whatever it takes to make sure their kid gets there at least once. Disney knows and understands this.

One thing that really struck me about the speculation of tiering ticket prices for certain times of year is how this will really wipe out months like September as being "slower". More guests will simply start going in the cheaper times of the year to save that money. We may even see FD end because Disney will claim the lower ticket prices for the slower months are discount enough. Even though in truth the discounts in September will be worse than ever a guest who sees higher ticket prices in July will think September is a good deal by comparison. It's the same concept with the resort prices.. This will just drive more people to those slower months.
September is not slow anymore and tiering will just make it worse.

The only thing that will stop the ever increasing flow of crowds to WDW is a global economic down turn. I think it's entirely possible in the coming years that will happen. Things are trending downward, signs are starting to show.

 

[bpadair32]

You have eliminated a major expense by staying with your FIL on his points. Thousands of dollars worth of expense. We stay onsite in villas (which we pay cash for) so our room is our #1 expense while at Disney. I just think it's a little disingenuous for you to be running all over the board telling people if they don't like how expensive Disney is, then just don't go when such a huge chunk of your upcoming trip is being picked up by your FIL.

Not really considering I would absolutely pay for it myself if we weren't going with the in-laws, either way I get good value out of it. I'm buying my own DVC membership, just don't happen to have it done yet.

 

[crostorfer]

FYI...you're on a Disney chatboard. 99.9% percent of the stuff discussed here is a first world problem.

OP, you should definitely look into Universal prices. While their 1-3 day tickets are pretty close to Disney's prices, we paid about half for our Universal APs as we paid for our Disney APs. If you'll go to Universal 4 or more days in a year, the APs are a great bargain (and include parking).

My US annual pass paid itself off in one on-site visit with hotel, dining, and merchandise discounts. The US annual pass is an AMAZING deal compared to a Disney annual pass. And, if you live out of the state of Florida, US extends the monthly payment options for an annual pass, so you don't have to pay the whole thing up front. The price just went up on those passes too, but its like $26 a month for my US AP. I charge it to my credit card and pay it off every month. Easy peasy.

 

[JimmyV]

One thing that really struck me about the speculation of tiering ticket prices for certain times of year is how this will really wipe out months like September as being "slower". More guests will simply start going in the cheaper times of the year to save that money.

This is really the great unknown. One could argue that many of the folks roaming around Food and Wine in September and October are dinks, or dual income couples, or empty nesters and maybe Disney will conclude that it can charge them more. I wouldn't be so quick to jump to the conclusion that dynamic pricing means that July>September. The disposable income of the typical September guest just might be higher than the disposable income of the July guest, and as a result, they might get charged more. Or not. Too soon to tell.

 

[AquaDame]

Not really considering I would absolutely pay for it myself if we weren't going with the in-laws, either way I get good value out of it. I'm buying my own DVC membership, just don't happen to have it done yet.

Dude, a grand villa for a week is 587 points at Boardwalk for your dates (I am not sure you are there a week, but your ticker says 12 days from now). Regardless of some meals and the tickets that is a HUGE expense covered for you, even if you are planning on grabbing some points of your own while you are down there. Come back in five or ten years when the changes have continued but you are tied to a contract of your own. I hope I'm wrong and you love it, but the hordes of unhappy owners has me VERY glad we did not pull the plug on our own membership when we came oh so close in 2011.

 

[AquaDame]

This is really the great unknown. One could argue that many of the folks roaming around Food and Wine in September and October are dinks, or dual income couples, or empty nesters and maybe Disney will conclude that it can charge them more. I wouldn't be so quick to jump to the conclusion that dynamic pricing means that July>September. The disposable income of the typical September guest just might be higher than the disposable income of the July guest, and as a result, they might get charged more. Or not. Too soon to tell.

*raises hand* Dink here, used to LOVE going in October (and am this year as well in fact, but we didn't pay for half of this trip).

 

[wdw4rfam]

My favorite thing about Universal is that the planning is much less involved than planning for WDW. No ADRs needed, no FP to book... There are a lot of Universal pros over on those boards who can give you all the best tips.

Yes, no planning. A fp for almost everything a perk of deluxe on- site. Head over to the universal boards here. It tends to not be a little sunnier over there on the dark side. ( sorry just my experience, less arguing ) I'll be heading over there to plan our trip when we get back from this one.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I feel bad for those being priced out. I was priced out for the first half of my life. I get it. But for those who are really feeling the pain - vote with your feet. That is the only thing that has a shot of changing Disney's direction in this or anything else.

 

[cruisingtwins]

I'm not exactly priced out but for us the value is just not there. We've been to luxury destinations and I feel happy with the money I paid because I'm getting a Luxury product. The luxury is just not there in WDW current product.

 

[jesse8931]

LOL,
I live in the US and go to disney, yes it's first world.

What , I should let people rip me off because there are Syrian refugees?

I never understood how because it's a supposedly "first world' problem I should just accept it.

You sure are an odd one.

 

[niffer5150]

just because someone disappointed with disney's choices doesn't mean they are full of "hate". that's just absurd.

just last week i had talked the husband into getting annual passes. today, that no longer makes any sense. i just can't justify it anymore. i've been trying to put a rough plan for a graduation trip together but i can't get it to make sense. every time i plan a vacation i have to cut more out and more days off and it's still quite a bit more than it was last time. i can't pretend that paying top dollar for what feels like a gutted vacation to a foot traffic filled construction zone is magical right now.

 

[jesse8931]

Just an FYI Disney had 8 Billion in net income last year so I do not believe they are having an issue with their profit margins

They could afford to spread the love a little with their best guests the AP and DVC owners. I am not saying they will or that they have to, just that it would not hurt to have a surprise discount every year or so or notice of the changes before to assist those who already own. The notice could be for current owners of AP's or DVC so we could have purchased before the raise especially if you already booked Christmas this year

The amount of AP holders and DVC owners will hardly change.

 

[Jennasis]

As I've said on other threads, the price increases have NOTHING to do with Disney attempting to direct crowds or lessen the attendance of locals. TWDC would be THRILLED if the parks were operating at capacity every single day of the year as if it were Christmas Day. The price hikes are just a way to pay for the $2billion boondoggle that is MDE/FP+ and the upcoming expansions to DHS and AK and Disney Springs.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

None of the price changes here should have made this unattainable in 24 hours. If these increases were enough to put you over the breaking point, you've been right on the edge of it for a long time.

It's not that it's unattainable for us because of the AP price increase. It isn't. We just don't see the value in it that we used to, so we'll vacation elsewhere.

 

[Disneytam]

I would not be so upset with the AP increase if I thought we were receiving something positive for the extra cost. My family has been going to Disney off and on since our honeymoon in Oct. 1991. We started staying club level in I think 1997. Waaayyyy back then we enjoyed a lovely 12 day stay at the GF main building CL(only GF CL then) for the nightly price of $390 and looking at my old notes we had a wonderful view of the castle. That was an AP rate that included tax. My AP cost me $354.04 and they had a child's rate of $301.04. Valet parking was free for club level guests then so no parking fee. My mid-size Monte Carlo rental was $294.27 for my length of stay. The food was wonderful in the lounge and I loved how they cut watermelons into mickey heads. On most days we had a large lunch and then dinner at the lounge because it was so good and plentiful.

Prices for our 2002 trip $416.25 for main building concierge and the sugar loaf building would have cost $298.59. We then switched to AK CL for a price of $265 per night all taxes included. We are planning a trip in Feb. next year and the rack rate of both the Poly and the GF CL are at or over $1000 a night and you get to pay $25 a night for valet parking. It looks like my AP will now cost me $749(not a Fl resident) and the TIW will cost me $150($75 just three years ago). So for these massive increases what new and wonderful things will I be seeing now(not sometime in the very distant future)? For starters Downtown Disney(Disney Springs) will give me more way overpriced stores and eateries but gone is my beloved Comedy Club. HS gives me a bunch of Frozen nonsense but gone is the backstage tour, drawing classes and walking tour were you could watch the artists at work among other things. As many have stated it's a business but my roundtrip airfare to Orlando(direct flight) is $178(for Feb. 2016) compared to $213 in 2000. I think Southwest is a business as well, and yes I know I'm comparing apples to oranges but just trying to make a point. Sorry for this being so long but Disney has always been my happy go to place and I think that is ending. It seems like a death in the family.

 

[jesse8931]

The funny thing is all the people complaining about the costs going up also want a raise every year.