Need to vent about how expensive WDW is now

[Smugpugmug]

Cruising is a much better value. Even a European vacation is a better value than WDW.

With how WDW is priced now, I agree. Not Europe but my Japan trip from a few years ago was cheaper than the WDW trip I took last year with my friend. I was only paying for myself so for a family of 4 Japan would probably be more expensive.

 

[Mle8308]

Yeah the week we’re going (Dec 15-23) is some of the highest ticket prices all year.

DVC was lower point season so that helped too. We added a few more days to our trip after getting the UK tix deal.

You have me thinking! I checked Disney for a 4 day non-hopper and it's $531, and we are staying 10 nights, and the way they now do the date based tickets, we wouldn't be able to use it for the entirety of our stay. For basically $100 more, we have hoppers, 7 days, waterparks, Memory Maker, and a free MB (to add to the already big collection). Might be the way to go! And you said they have sales throughout the year, correct?

 

[Genie+]

And you said they have sales throughout the year, correct?

Yep - I’ve been watching this whole year.

And the options were £25 deposit to hold ticket price, or you could pay £10 insurance to get full refund.

We got to WDW annually so we just made the deposit. Even if we cancelled this trip at some point, could’ve just applies this ticket to new dates.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

This was always my concern but with the crazy prices this year I researched the heck out of it. Many familiar people from these boards reported back having no issue using tickets, and they worked just like any other 3rd party broker. If you have MDE set up and add these tickets, you just go to the first park tapstyle as normal. No need to do anything different than if bought from UT or BW tickets, etc.

So people in the USA can purchase these UK tickets? Can you pay with an American credit card?

ETA - Nevermind. I see it's another site that sells them. Not the actual UK Disney site. Looks like a great deal. I am going to look into this!

 

[jvalic33]

I don’t know… your post could have been helpful, but the first couple of sentences seem to brag. Might have been good info if you left that out.

Even if you saved 20% of your trip, it would mean you would have spent 30k without discounts.

I’ll let it go here…

I think you're overlooking the fact that this individual is paying for 8 people!!!!

We have a large family and I now pay at Chic fil A what my husband and I used to pay for two of us for a very lovely dinner. It's sticker shock to a family of 4 what it costs for a family of double that number and in that same vein, to a person that is now used to paying for 8, when you go backwards it seems like a savings.

When I went out with half the family the other night it was like my meal was free.

Unfortunately it is all about what you get used to paying and for larger families your budget is naturally much higher but it doesn't necessarily have to imply luxury, it's just a fact.

 

[DCLMP]

I think you're overlooking the fact that this individual is paying for 8 people!!!!

We have a large family and I now pay at Chic fil A what my husband and I used to pay for two of us for a very lovely dinner. It's sticker shock to a family of 4 what it costs for a family of double that number and in that same vein, to a person that is now used to paying for 8, when you go backwards it seems like a savings.

When I went out with half the family the other night it was like my meal was free.

Unfortunately it is all about what you get used to paying and for larger families your budget is naturally much higher but it doesn't necessarily have to imply luxury, it's just a fact.

When someone starts a thread to vent about not being able to afford a trip. Then someone responds I just spent 25k on one trip and go 4 times a year. It’s hardly empathetic or helpful.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I think you're overlooking the fact that this individual is paying for 8 people!!!!

We have a large family and I now pay at Chic fil A what my husband and I used to pay for two of us for a very lovely dinner. It's sticker shock to a family of 4 what it costs for a family of double that number and in that same vein, to a person that is now used to paying for 8, when you go backwards it seems like a savings.

When I went out with half the family the other night it was like my meal was free.

Unfortunately it is all about what you get used to paying and for larger families your budget is naturally much higher but it doesn't necessarily have to imply luxury, it's just a fact.

No reason to brag about a 25k trip when the op is complaining about a $ 3500 trip.
That seemed braggadocios to me when posting on the budget forum.

JMHO.

 

[Genie+]

Large party adds up quick.

6 people December 15-23, 2023	Alternative	WDW price
Rooms through DVC + rental	$4,000	(Rack Rate $14,000) Best Offer applied $11,000
6 Park Tickets	7 Day Hopper+ with Memory Maker $3,900	5 Day Hopper $5,000
6 Party Tickets JN@HS	$860 with Target offer	($1,080 full price) $1,015 with DVC discount
Food and Snack budget with 1 Table Service Daily (x8 days)		$4,500
Food and Snack budget with Limited Table Service (x4 days)	$3,000
Total:	$11,760	$21,515 (No discounts $24,580)

$10k difference. Changes being the replacement of 4 TS meal with counter service and buying the cheaper and better ticket package that UK brokers offer. That’s all really.

There are certain things we like to splurge on like hoppers, party and staying onsite. We went in knowing Christmastime is a more expensive time of year too.

The cheapest 2 standard value rooms are over $4k our dates and the best discounts barely brought it under the $4k we spent on Poly Lakeview/Boardwalk View 8 night split stay and another room 7 nights at SSR (spent about 250 DVC points). Allstar Music standard view $278 (+$15/night each extra adult) x2 rooms… so $293 x 15 nights = $4,395. Best offers were up to 10 or 15% off and availability for that was by jumping to preferred room at $344/nt before saving the $50/nt.

All this to say yes it is expensive. This trip would not be happening if we had less experience and priced out the best deal on WDW site $5k for 5 day hoppers and $4k for Allstars. I can see why people’s eyeballs pop out their heads lol.

 

[DCLMP]

With how WDW is priced now, I agree. Not Europe but my Japan trip from a few years ago was cheaper than the WDW trip I took last year with my friend. I was only paying for myself so for a family of 4 Japan would probably be more expensive.

In the last two years. We did a 12-day med cruise on Royal for 3500 and an 11-day northern Europe cruise for 5200. Certainly not cheap when you add in all the extra costs, but it was a vacations on the bucket list.

I just don't see WDW as being a bucket list vacation if you've been there before, yet WDW now costs as much as an African Safari or River cruise down the Danube, or a trip to Japan. It's out of proportion. It's even worse when you get there and have to wait in long lines, eat mediocre food, be on your phone all day, and deal with ride breakdowns. The cost is no longer worth it for me.

 

[BaybeeYoda]

appreciate the tips. Unfortunately, no discount for upfront payment (on the plus side, no extra service fees or charges for paying monthly - even by credit card. So they bill to my cash back cc and I keep the $ in MM at 5% until it's due. Every little bit helps. Yes - we're at Ground Zero for insurance problems - Florida.

5% target Disney cards.

 

[Jack Kerouac]

We bought resale DVC last year after visiting in April 2022 with our boys for the first time. My parents treated us to a week stay with visits to the parks and some restaurants.

Initially, I was floored by the prices and was hesitant to have them pay those prices for us. I just didn’t see the value.

Fast forward to September 2022 and a weekend visit to the Wisconsin Dells. Once we arrived, the Disney prices were there but the quality, service, and entertainment were not. I felt so bad for my middle son who chose it for his birthday. Thankfully he didn’t know how much we were paying, so he still enjoyed it. But I know he would choose WDW over the Dells any day of the week. The cost differential is basically just airfare; after that, the daily costs are equal.

After that trip, my wife and I looked at various places to vacation in 2023 for our ten year anniversary. After seeing the prices and accommodations elsewhere, we decided on WDW for 2023.

Upon booking at AoA direct with the intent we would do Disney every year while the boys are young, we came to the conclusion that we didn’t feel like AoA was worth the cost for our family. My parents suggested we look at DVC resale.

We found DVC would allow us to have a 10 day vacation in 2023 with food and APs for about the same price as just the rack rate of our rooms without DVC. Instead of AoA in 2023, we stayed at Poly in a LV for seven nights and at AKV-Kidani in a 1BR Savanna View for two nights. The APs will now cover our two trips in 2024 totaling 13 days.

Next year, we have booked three nights in a 1BR at SSR, four nights in a 2BR at BRV, and four nights at Poly in a LV. We’re paying about $0.20 on the dollar versus rack. We need about five years and then we will break even on the initial upfront cost of our DVC purchase.

So yes, Disney is expensive. But so is our local zoo (pretzel and cheese is the same price as WDW) as are so many other places, like the Dells. But the service doesn’t compare.

The service we got in August at WDW was so much better than I could have ever expected. My oldest had an allergic reaction at the Oasis Pool around dinner time. Before we knew it, RCFD paramedics were on the scene and the Poly resort manager was there doing her best to help. After being cleared by the paramedics, the resort manager sent my oldest a stuffed Pluto, Disney Parks Uno, and more medicine. And we never received a medical bill. Disney knows that these gestures are likely to result in getting more money from me and they are right.

And that’s not counting the number of spilled popcorns and frozen Cokes that we had refilled for free by CMs. The CMs were always making things better.

Disney, while expensive, is still a business, but it’s a business of making today both magical and better.

 

[Genie+]

Disney, while expensive, is still a business, but it’s a business of making today both magical and better.

That is at the heart of it. In the big picture the magic still lives! Plenty of it everywhere.

Sometimes the way they handle certain things ticks me off but it’s a small fraction compared to all they’re succeeding with.

 

[Minnie1222]

That is at the heart of it. In the big picture the magic still lives! Plenty of it everywhere.

Completely agreed! There are many destinations in the world that I love, but I truly feel that MK is thee most magical place.

 

[PrincessDadx2]

We were an out of state AP holder family that went about 4 weeks a year in the mid/late 00's. Eventually got fed up with the abusive price increases when AP went for $2k for our family to $3.5k. We got annual passes to Busch Gardens for $800 and went to Williamsburg, Sea World Orlando, and Busch Gardens Tampa. Service was a little less, but certainly the value was much greater and we did not miss it. Have done 2 trips in the last 10 years, brought 1st grandson this year so maybe...

I don't begrudge them their money but they have really sucked the value out of the experience. Without non expiring tickets enjoyment is way down. You have to go go go instead of being able to go a few days a week with a reasonable ticket price. No fast pass, you have to pay for inferior service now. Have to be on your phone a lot to make reservations and orders. No Magical Express. Parking charges at resorts (at least they rolled that back). Crazy prices for character meals. I enjoy them, but $400 for 6 people to go to breakfast, really? Event prices are way up. No fun things like the Disney Institute for home schoolers any more, etc. What used to be an expensive, but high value vacation is now just an expensive vacation. Next year we will go to Marco Island in a 3 bd Marriott for less than half of what we spent on Disney this year.

 

[focusondisney]

When someone starts a thread to vent about not being able to afford a trip. Then someone responds I just spent 25k on one trip and go 4 times a year. It’s hardly empathetic or helpful.

Especially when it also says, “sometimes you just need to enjoy yourself.” Wanting to enjoy yourself doesn’t put extra money in the budget. And if an extra $3500 is challenging, suggesting a $20-30K DVC purchase isn’t real helpful either.

 

[DCLMP]

Especially when it also says, “sometimes you just need to enjoy yourself.” Wanting to enjoy yourself doesn’t put extra money in the budget. And if an extra $3500 is challenging, suggesting a $20-30K DVC purchase isn’t real helpful either.

You definitely need to know your audience before talking about a vacation. There's a lot of people struggling right now.

 

[nycdisneygal]

Can I please just vent for a minute?
I am in the very beginning stages of planning a Spring Break 2025 Disney World vacation. This week I decided to start looking into how much things will cost so we can set our budget and start saving for it. Boy am I glad I did that because it is definitely going to take over a year to save up for this trip.

The most astonishing thing to me is that we went to Disney World for Spring Break in 2021, and according to the notes that I have from planning that trip, it will cost us $3,500 more this time to do the EXACT SAME VACATION for the same number of park days (5) at the same hotel (Contemporary). That is crazy to me. 2.5 years later and the price has gone up by 38%. How do people afford to do this more than one time every 5 years?

This is going to be a special vacation for our family. My oldest will be a senior in high school and it will be our last big vacation before she graduates and moves to college. I want to splurge. I want to make it extra memorable. But I am feeling discouraged by the fact that it will cost us more than the first 2 cars that my husband and I bought after getting married-- combined.

And I find that it is less enjoyable (just got back). We have been spending our money elsewhere. But do it and enjoy! We also are planning our spring break for my teen who is a senior. (either we will do Europe or Hawaii - trying to decide).

 

[Jack Kerouac]

Especially when it also says, “sometimes you just need to enjoy yourself.” Wanting to enjoy yourself doesn’t put extra money in the budget. And if an extra $3500 is challenging, suggesting a $20-30K DVC purchase isn’t real helpful either.

My apologies if it came across that I was suggesting someone not being able to save an extra $3,500 should buy DVC. I was trying to explain that we have traveled to far inferior destinations and confronted Disney prices and looked at less desirable vacations for our family and found them to be nearly as expensive.

Disney is obviously expensive. I won’t argue that it’s not.

But WDW has to be when everything else is expensive in order to keep the magic alive. As we all know, a trip to WDW is a luxury.

 

[greeneyedchick]

As far as Airfare - I find it was cheaper to fly and Uber than to drive - but I don't rent a car. That can fluctuate and for 4 or 5 people then it starts to be a consideration. Also the airport you go out of matters - if there are a lot of flights to Orlando then there is competition on price. I also have three Airports to choose from so I am very lucky.
My last trip was $150 roundtrip on Jet Blue (with a checked bag btw). Also about 60 for uber back and forth to the airport - uber seems to have got a lot more expensive since 2021 in Florida.

Don't forget that people can fly into the Sanford Orlando airport via Allegiant. I prefer this airport . It's much less crowded and more chill. I have always been happy with Allegiant and their prices are usually cheaper (except compared to Frontier). It's about the same driving time to Disney as MCO.

 

[Chili327]

Don't forget that people can fly into the Sanford Orlando airport via Allegiant. I prefer this airport . It's much less crowded and more chill. I have always been happy with Allegiant and their prices are usually cheaper (except compared to Frontier). It's about the same driving time to Disney as MCO.

Should be about 30min longer.? (according to Google maps), & that adds up quick in an Uber/Lyft.