Anything you no longer do/buy at Disney due to price?

[disneysteve]

We went on an Illuminations Cruise. It was expensive, but we had a party of six and a very special occasion, so we splurged. It was worth it for that one time

We did this about 5 or 6 years ago and loved it. There were 4 of us. I posted here on Dis and found several others to share the boat with us which made the cost much more affordable. I definitely wouldn't do it if I had to pay the whole cost myself.

I thought of something we've never done due to the cost - Hoop De Doo. I've seen it several times in the distant past, before DW and DD came along, but have never seen it with them. It is now at least $60 per person, so $180. That's what we typically spend for about 3 days worth of meals. To spend it all for one dinner really inflates the food budget for the trip.

 

[simonkodousek]

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[BriarRosie]

In hindsight, I'm glad I bought into DVC when I did. For the price I'd pay for the Value resorts, I can book DVC and get a Deluxe resort from it. I am hard pressed to say I'd ever pay for a deluxe resort out of pocket. I wouldn't. I'd pay to stay at Pop Century or a Moderate with an AP discount. The DVC discount for the AP helps, too.

 

[disneysteve]

Staying Onsite

Flying

Yep, same here. As my sig shows, I've logged 8 onsite and 21 offsite trips. The last onsite trip was about 13 years ago.

This past trip, we rented a 3-bedroom, 3-bath townhouse with a private pool at Windsor Palms for $89/nite. Disney's got nothing that can even come close to competing with that.

I think the last time we flew to Disney was also about 12 or 13 years ago. It is so much cheaper and more convenient to drive, though that isn't Disney's fault so doesn't totally fit the theme of the thread.

 

[simonkodousek]

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[OKW Lover]

We've stopped doing MVMCP. Stopped several years ago in fact. We used to do this every year and kept at it even as we noted a deterioration in the number of decorations. Plus it got more and more crowded, combined with the ever increasing price making it not such a good value. What finally did us in was when they stopped the free picture.

We used to buy a shirt at each resort we stayed at, but now that we are DVC we are pretty much at the same resort and don't need duplicates -- even if the did still do resort specific merchandise.

 

[eeyorethegreat]

Disney needs to see these comments. We now go offsite to eat, cut way back on souvieners. Nothing is outstanding anymore to validate the price. We have stayed offsite as well. We don't buy the drinks with meals, instead drinking water. We are thinking on our next trip. I don't see us staying on site. I won't be making ADRs and I see us passing on souveinirs..

 

[slapwhitey]

We've stopped doing MVMCP. Stopped several years ago in fact. We used to do this every year and kept at it even as we noted a deterioration in the number of decorations. Plus it got more and more crowded, combined with the ever increasing price making it not such a good value. What finally did us in was when they stopped the free picture.

We used to buy a shirt at each resort we stayed at, but now that we are DVC we are pretty much at the same resort and don't need duplicates -- even if the did still do resort specific merchandise.

Just got back from WDW and had the opportunity to check out a few on property resorts and it looks like resort specific merchandise is back. We saw this at Wilderness Lodge, Poly and Animal Kingdom Lodge for sure. Not sure about the others. They had mugs, shirts, pens, etc. More than I've seen in the recent past for sure. Let's hope they keep doing this throughout.

Chris

 

[kaligal]

Just got back from WDW and had the opportunity to check out a few on property resorts and it looks like resort specific merchandise is back. We saw this at Wilderness Lodge, Poly and Animal Kingdom Lodge for sure. Not sure about the others. They had mugs, shirts, pens, etc. More than I've seen in the recent past for sure. Let's hope they keep doing this throughout.

Chris

Did they have the blue jackets? They had navy blue jackets made of knit material that went with blue sweatpants. They were in all the hotels (well, they were at the Poly, Beach Club and CSR at least) and had hotel logos on them on the upper left chest.

I don't actually care that much about the logo, I just really love those jackets. Comfy, warm, lightweight, excellent cuff (or non-cuff, really), perfect length and cute (IMO.)

Did you happen to see them?????

 

[slapwhitey]

Did they have the blue jackets? They had navy blue jackets made of knit material that went with blue sweatpants. They were in all the hotels (well, they were at the Poly, Beach Club and CSR at least) and had hotel logos on them on the upper left chest.

I don't actually care that much about the logo, I just really love those jackets. Comfy, warm, lightweight, excellent cuff (or non-cuff, really), perfect length and cute (IMO.)

Did you happen to see them?????

I don't recall seeing them but I honestly didn't look that close to be honest. It all seemed to be somewhat different but maybe I was just excited to see something new. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

 

[kaligal]

I don't recall seeing them but I honestly didn't look that close to be honest. It all seemed to be somewhat different but maybe I was just excited to see something new. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

No, I figured as much!! I appreciate the answer. Thanks.

Glad that the resort-specific stuff is making a comeback. 'Bout time.

 

[LovesTimone]

Our approach to Disney has changed, how we budget and tour.

We bought AP's which really helped with room cost.
We do DDXDP as we enjoy signature dinning/character meals and everything being paid for upfront. DH like's know that there is not a huge bill, and everyone can get what they want. He is able to relax, knowing just tip and adult beverage to pay for.

We have completely stopped buying:
1) Ride picture's, or any pictures that are offered. Just don't see the value.
2) Pool bar drinks - we take our own to the pool with snacks, we will once in while get 1 but not like we used to.. Honestly... 20 dollars not including tip... for 1 glass of wine and a beer in a plastic cup.
3) Bottled water/Sports Drinks - we bring our own - take a break mid day and grab a fresh bottle for the evening. We also bring powdered mixes to add to the water when we refill the bottle's, you can get water at different counter service at no charge to refill your bottles, better than the water fountains.
4) Valet parking/ Bellmen - We park and move our own luggage.

As far as souvenirs go, it completely depends on who is with us and what time of year it is...but I agree with other posters that the quality in some of the merchandise is definitely declining and the price going up. We are a Disney Family so everyone must get something Disney for Christmas. DH and I will be there in Dec for our romantic vacation. So I know that we will be buying more than we normally would. I know we will by Christmas ornament's for all, but that as far a I have gotten on that list...

 

[katlas&kids]

We just don't go as much . It has been almost 4 years since our last WDW trip, and to be honest we only went on that trip because a very generous person just gave us their DVC points that were going to expire. We hope to go again in maybe 2013.

If we do go, we'll have to do less sit down meals and no souvenirs to make it happen.

It will be a bit before we get to go again. Probably no park hoppers & maybe pay out of pocket for the water parks as the kids still love them. But no hard tickets or many souvies. Last time the kids got disney pens to hand out to teachers & friends, as they had a hard time finding anything worth it.

Our family used to go every year but with the rising Disney costs and the economy we just can not afford it.

Same here.They have priced us right out. We would fly in due to car sick hubby & kid, but since he passed earlier this year, the things he needed, aren't a factor anymore. Course without his income, neither is an expensive vacation! It will take me at least 2 more years to begin to afford it for the 3 of us, and who knows how the kids will feel then?

I may get slammed for writing this but I think that, with some of the assinine decisions by the corporation, alot of the magic has gone out of visiting the Disney parks.

I've talked to friends and co-workers who used to love to plan trips and vacations around their visits to WDW and it's just not on their radar anymore.

That is me too. Trying to budget, keep the fun & magic in it and be relaxed? Not as much.

 

[princessbride6205]

We go to Disney once or twice a year. We still find magic there - and there was a lot of it on our January 2011 trip! But there are absolutely things we have cut back on...

1. Will not pay rack rate at the resorts. It's just ridiculous for the quality. We have DVC with a small resale contract, and we don't mind staying in studios during seasons that cost us less points. We will occasionally stay at Value or Moderates if we have a good discount.
2. Souvenirs. We rarely buy souvenirs, especially clothing. The clothes are just insanely priced. We will buy one or two special pins (resort specific or special event like Food & Wine or marathon). DD might pick out one item, usually a stuffed animal or toy.
3. We love table service, so we still do this, despite the rising prices and same or lower quality. I do limit the number of buffets/character meals to one per trip. We have the Tables in Wonderland card, which helps. We are fine to eat on the go as well - about half of the mornings we will have breakfast bars, or DD will have cereal in the room. We make good use of our little fridge. We also use either water bottles with a filter in them and drink tap OR I buy large jugs of water at the gift shop and portion them into smaller bottles each day.
4. We've never done the MNSSHP, so we are trying it this year - early in the season, so hopefully not as crowded. DH and I did MVMCP years ago before DD and did not understand the value - would not consider doing again unless admission was cut in half or more exclusive perks were added.
5. DVC also gets us a discounted annual pass, so we try to time our trips so that we can get good use out of it. I love this feature, and would hate if this benefit was taken away. We'd probably stop going twice in one year if we were purchasing regular tickets.

 

[sunshine girl]

I don't do table service dining -- the prices are just out of control and I am not much of a "foodie" anyway... I might go to one table service meal, but it's not a priority. I'd do more table service if the prices made more sense. I can no longer justify the price of a table service meal, just to experience it, when I'm just as happy wandering world showcase with a pretzel and a beer!

 

[WDWdreaming09]

For this trip I actually bought a bunch of cute Disney shirts for DD at walmart before going. They are not good quality of course but then again ranged from $3 to $7.50 each. We will buy one shirt there for a suvenior but that will probably be it. She likes wearing them really only at Disney so with a under $50 wardrobe I don't care if they only last the trip. If I'm only getting walmart quality I only want to pay walmart prices.

 

[jpeka65844]

For this trip I actually bought a bunch of cute Disney shirts for DD at walmart before going. They are not good quality of course but then again ranged from $3 to $7.50 each. We will buy one shirt there for a suvenior but that will probably be it. She likes wearing them really only at Disney so with a under $50 wardrobe I don't care if they only last the trip. If I'm only getting walmart quality I only want to pay walmart prices.

I LOVE my Walmart Mickey shirts. I have so many of them!! And they're so unique....kind of like what I wish they would offer in the parks.

And with the exception of the one that's supposed to light up , my shirts have held up just fine!

I'm looking forward to wearing my Perry the Platypus one next!

 

[disneysteve]

I LOVE my Walmart Mickey shirts. I have so many of them!! And they're so unique....kind of like what I wish they would offer in the parks.

Isn't that a sad comment. You like the under $10 WalMart shirts better than the $25 WDW shirts. Honestly, I think WDW has some great products. I saw quite a few shirts last week that I would like to have but certainly not at the prices being charged.

I'm sure Disney knows what they're doing and the stuff must be selling or else they wouldn't be doing it. It just seems that if they cut the prices in half, they'd sell at least twice as much merchandise meaning they'd do no worse than breaking even and I think they'd do far better because folks like me who now buy nothing would start buying stuff. Instead of buying no $40 polos, I could buy 2 or more $20 polos since that's a price I'd be willing to pay.

 

[kbelle8995]

I don't buy too many souvenirs. I do buy pins but not as many as I used to.

Also we used to go to Food and Wine Festival and go to the samplings but now that they are charging we don't go anymore. We can't go to the events too expensive and we are alot more picky about the food booths.

 

[Geef]

My kids like the pins, so we bought 100 of them on ebay (cheap) and then traded for the pins we liked throughout our trip. We met many other familys that were doing the same thing.

The shirts have become bland...
I find the best bargin by buying the shirt/hat combo.