A little perspective on the Disney cost increase frustrations.

[starjazz]

I hope you're right. DH remembers going in October as a kid and riding Space Mountain 4 or 5 times in a row. And I remember going the week after New Years in 1998 and not really waiting for anything. I know that meeting characters will be high on my daughter's list of things to do...and I keep reading people's post that you have to wait 20 minutes even just to meet characters. I have fond memories of walking through the park and just happening on tons of characters - pictures with no wait!

I'm not an expert on characters because our little ones aren't into it. I'd probably include at least one m&g in your FP+ ressies. And then hit one at RD.

This past Feb, we happened on a lot of characters walking through the parks, but not many for pics and autographs. Once at DHS we ran into a 8 characters outside the park, but that was a rare occasion where they were likely doing training. At DLR though, TONS of that type of interaction. Characters seemed all over the place, and would gladly stop and take pics and sign books. Not like that as much at WDW.

 

[momimouse27]

I wanted to send my girls to see Beauty and the Beast at the Fox couple months ago. The cheap seats, which sold quickly, were $60 each. Add gas to ATL(30 minutes away), dinner and you have a $200 event, and this is with me staying home even though I'd love to go. I wasn't paying that much for them to sit so far away they'd need binoculars and the good seats were $150 each.

My trip with our family (4 of us plus dd's bff) to see Zootopia was $100! It incenses me that popcorn and candy cost $40.

My point is, as much as I hate the resort fee, I think this is happening everywhere. Not just Disney. It just makes me mad that it's Disney TOO. It's becoming more difficult to coerce my hubby to pay the increasingly higher ticket and resort prices when there seems to be less in the park, which I know is temporary to a degree. But, I'm really struggling with this resort fee thing.

 

[cabanafrau]

I have no problem with those prices. When coupled with the cheap entertainment right outside the door, it makes for a very economical trip. And the show is quite remarkable. Stay at Old Faithful Inn, and you can walk the trail close by and see all sorts of geysers going off at various intervals, and perhaps catch some wildlife in the area as well.

Oh I agree with you. I was spelling it out for those determined to stand on the idea that vacationing anywhere else than Disney costs as much or more. Clearly the limits on the national parks lodging justify their costs. I'm not so certain Disney can stand quite so firmly on theirs.

I can understand plenty of reasons why a lot of people would still prefer to do the Disney vacation, but I think if they want to attempt to ding other destinations as being just as costly the whole picture needs to be shown. In the end, if someone wants a Disney vacation and they can afford it, I say go for it and I hope they enjoy it. Our problem is much of what we enjoyed about it isn't possible anymore. If it were and we wanted to visit, we might consider it worth the spend. Truthfully, I think for us the pricing is reaching a level where even if it could deliver the experience we loved, we're approaching the tipping point on cost anyway. Considering we weren't exactly budget visitors I suspect we have a lot of company.

 

[cabanafrau]

I wanted to send my girls to see Beauty and the Beast at the Fox couple months ago. The cheap seats, which sold quickly, were $60 each. Add gas to ATL(30 minutes away), dinner and you have a $200 event, and this is with me staying home even though I'd love to go. I wasn't paying that much for them to sit so far away they'd need binoculars and the good seats were $150 each.

My trip with our family (4 of us plus dd's bff) to see Zootopia was $100! It incenses me that popcorn and candy cost $40.

My point is, as much as I hate the resort fee, I think this is happening everywhere. Not just Disney. It just makes me mad that it's Disney TOO. It's becoming more difficult to coerce my hubby to pay the increasingly higher ticket and resort prices when there seems to be less in the park, which I know is temporary to a degree. But, I'm really struggling with this resort fee thing.

I feel any way you slice it there is actually less in the parks, either by attraction counts or by the effects of a massive increase of visitors. As far as that factor being temporary, I can't agree there either. How long to build the mine train? DL was built in a year. Wonders of Life has been shuttered for how long? How long to retrofit Maelstrom? How long have the monorails been gross? They somehow manage to keep the price increases on schedule, and I bet executive compensation runs like a top as well.

I'm appalled they have no shame to pick the pockets of the guests clean and offer such bad show in return. It's got to be most awful for the poor CM's who frequently work in less than ideal conditions, at ever shrinking pay levels, to serve ever increasing hordes of ever ruder guests for a company who stands on their backs to shout about their excellent customer service standards. That's shameful.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

I just checked prices for a random night (6/15) this summer:


Old Faithful Inn (Yellowstone), standard room with bath...... $185

Port Orleans Riverside, standard room with a bath ...... $207

Cabin on the north rim of the Grand Canyon with 2 queen beds..... $190

Plus once you are there, you don't have to spring for theme park tickets.

I said that the cost depends on which national park you are visiting. I shared my experience going to Yosemite in the summer. We are going to the north rim of the grand canyon this summer and we're staying in a pioneer cabin. Maybe the price you found doesn't include tax and fees? Our cabin is closer to $230 a night. We are camping at Zion and Arches and staying in lodges/cabins at Bryce and the Grand Canyon. As I said previously, air far is a huge chunk of the cost for us too.

 

[mom2rtk]

I said that the cost depends on which national park you are visiting. I shared my experience going to Yosemite in the summer. We are going to the north rim of the grand canyon this summer and we're staying in a pioneer cabin. Maybe the price you found doesn't include tax and fees? Our cabin is closer to $230 a night. We are camping at Zion and Arches and staying in lodges/cabins at Bryce and the Grand Canyon. As I said previously, air far is a huge chunk of the cost for us too.

Not sure if the price included tax. But I'm thinking the Disney rates don't include tax either?

And your airfare argument just doesn't come into play here. Unless you want me to include the price of airfare when comparing a visit to Disney? That piece of it is so individual, it really can't be included in general comparisons.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

Not sure if the price included tax. But I'm thinking the Disney rates don't include tax either?

And your airfare argument just doesn't come into play here. Unless you want me to include the price of airfare when comparing a visit to Disney? That piece of it is so individual, it really can't be included in general comparisons.

I'm just comparing what it costs my family to go to disney compared to other vacations we take. So...airfare DOES factor into the cost for me. My PERSONAL experience is that we spend close to the same amount of money to go to disney as we do to go to other destinations. That's it.
Edited to add: We cut costs at disney deluxe resorts by renting dvc and using agents with exclusive rates. Also, Im not saying all our vacations cost the same as disney, but there are some that do.

 

[dfb]

Unless you're going over MLK weekend, there's absolutely no reason you should wait for an hour to get on anything in January. We go Jan/Feb every year, never wait over 30 minutes for anything, and even that is extremely rare. Typically 20 minutes is the cutoff.

I hope you're right. DH remembers going in October as a kid and riding Space Mountain 4 or 5 times in a row. And I remember going the week after New Years in 1998 and not really waiting for anything. I know that meeting characters will be high on my daughter's list of things to do...and I keep reading people's post that you have to wait 20 minutes even just to meet characters. I have fond memories of walking through the park and just happening on tons of characters - pictures with no wait!

We have made several off holiday, off marathon visits in Jan in the past with low crowds. We were surprised on our Jan 2015 and Jan 2016 trips. Last week of Jan/15 and the week following MLK Jan 2016. The crowds were heavier than expected with headliner rides quickly exceeding 20 minutes and mostly holding around the 40-70 minute range throughout the day. The TSMM and mine train & most popular rides quickly got to and held 120 minutes for much of the day.

Other folks who reported trips before or after ours reported some days with light crowds but we didn't see it. I don't know what the reasoning for the heavier crowds for us.

Only want to make the point it's not something you can count on for the non holiday/event times in Jan/Feb being low crowds. I'm not sure if you're rope drop folks but I'd try that to test the waters. It worked best for us!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Along the lines of what the OP was saying..it's amazing that we Royals won the World Series...but the major downside is now the tickets are outrageous..suddenly there is such a high demand for the tickets that used to be pretty darn inexpensive for years.

This also happened to Sporting KC (formerly the Wizards). When the new stadium first opened seats were very reasonable in price but since then as they got better and better (for the most part) the ticket prices have gone up.

In both cases demand to go see a team that was doing well created increased in ticket prices.

But in all fairness I think more of what people are upset about happens to be a few things:

1) Increased prices when the impression by most is the value has been diminished over the last few years and will continue to be for a few more years
2) Budget cuts when what we the public mostly see is record profits (though we def don't know the ins and outs of the Disney companies and their finances of each segment i.e. impact of ESPN to Disney Parks, impact of movies/merchandise of movies to Disney Parks, etc)
3) Overall cost increase after cost increase after cost increase in a VERY short time (tiered pricing on 1-day tickets, increase on multi-day tickets, rumor of resort fees, uncertainty of promotions either at the expected time or at all as well as will the promotions be as good as they have been in the past).

I've said it in another thread but most people CAN learn to deal with and adjust their vacation plans and budget needs if thrown a curveball but when you're thrown so many at once then even just a small adjustment can be the last straw.

 

[OhMari]

We have made several off holiday, off marathon visits in Jan in the past with low crowds. We were surprised on our Jan 2015 and Jan 2016 trips. Last week of Jan/15 and the week following MLK Jan 2016. The crowds were heavier than expected with headliner rides quickly exceeding 20 minutes and mostly holding around the 40-70 minute range throughout the day. The TSMM and mine train & most popular rides quickly got to and held 120 minutes for much of the day.

Other folks who reported trips before or after ours reported some days with light crowds but we didn't see it. I don't know what the reasoning for the heavier crowds for us.

Only want to make the point it's not something you can count on for the non holiday/event times in Jan/Feb being low crowds. I'm not sure if you're rope drop folks but I'd try that to test the waters. It worked best for us!

We were there the 2nd week in Feb. 6-13 and it was suppose to be a slow,time. Our last days we paid a slightly higher price since they considered it Spring Break. The parks were packed. We strategically used Fast Passes and rode what we wanted, but the walkways were jammed packed.

My question is now that ticket prices, food prices and resort prices are increased, how are they going to control the crowds. Being unable to move in walkways is very dangerous. No other venues would allow over crowded situations like that.

 

[Livvie]

Unless you're going over MLK weekend, there's absolutely no reason you should wait for an hour to get on anything in January. We go Jan/Feb every year, never wait over 30 minutes for anything, and even that is extremely rare. Typically 20 minutes is the cutoff.

I just went in January, first full week after the New Year. Every day we were there had multiple rides with an hour wait.

 

[Robertfam08]

It's really heartwarming to hear your enthusiasm. I'm genuinely glad there are families getting so much enjoyment out of visiting WDW anymore. I hope you will have many more wonderful times there.

I do wonder when your family of six isn't quite as young if you will have a bit of a different perspective on the value offered versus the costs. You may find yourselves a bit restricted to times you have available to visit as well, affecting the crowd levels you experience and how that will impact your experience.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's fabulous Disney works so well for your family at this point and I hope it lasts as long as you want it to. I'm just encouraging a widening of the scope of perspective to encompass why it may not be such a return of value for others who have been WDW fans.

It's definitely because of our family situation right now, no doubt about it. Disney is by far the best vacation value for us at this point, but eventually our kids get older and that value decreases. We won't fit in a moderate room forever and eventually all of those kiddos will need tickets to everything. That's when we start looking elsewhere. That's exactly why so many have said it's all about your prospective in the here and now.

 

[pigletgirl]

It's definitely because of our family situation right now, no doubt about it. Disney is by far the best vacation value for us at this point, but eventually our kids get older and that value decreases. We won't fit in a moderate room forever and eventually all of those kiddos will need tickets to everything. That's when we start looking elsewhere. That's exactly why so many have said it's all about your prospective in the here and now.

I completely understand that. That's one of the reason's we're going for a weekend at the end of April, right before DD turns 3.

 

[mom2rtk]

It's definitely because of our family situation right now, no doubt about it. Disney is by far the best vacation value for us at this point, but eventually our kids get older and that value decreases. We won't fit in a moderate room forever and eventually all of those kiddos will need tickets to everything. That's when we start looking elsewhere. That's exactly why so many have said it's all about your prospective in the here and now.

Just wait until some of them become 10 year old dining adults.

 

[Planogirl]

I don't really compare visiting a resort for a week to a one-time special event. I suppose that that week at WDW could be a one time special thing too but then to fairly compare I'd have consider the overall cost since that amount has to come out of my pocket.

It is true that everything is getting more and more expensive though and that includes necessities. Those necessities of course take priority.

 

[Robertfam08]

Just wait until some of them become 10 year old dining adults.

Haha, that's why we're milking it while we can!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We do Hawaii. From the west coast, flights are about $100 more round trip ($350 to Orlando, $450 to Maui).

That's an amazing airfare..we're thinking about a trip to Oahu (going to Honolulu airport so perhaps the other airports on the other islands are slightly different in cost) this October and airfare for Delta from KCI to HNL (connecting through LAX) on a Tuesday through Tuesday time (typically less expensive) mid-October costs $826.00 roundtrip per person if you want the fastest time which is just over 11hr trip..you can get a flight as low as $797.00 but that is a 16 hr 30 minute trip..Even if I were to start in LAX the price would be $608.

A trip to Orlando for that same time period Delta would be $229.20 (connecting through ATL) roundtrip per person. SWA would be non-stop which we prefer and the same time period right now SWA is $356 but that's with no sale going on which is common with SWA to have. In all honestly we fly SWA if we can but they don't go to Hawaii. As we have a Delta Amex card we wouldn't pay for luggage fees and SWA doesn't charge for up to 2 bags.

Unfortunately for airfare it can be a hefty added cost depending on where you live and what airlines you have access to and how they fly. For the above scenario with Delta it's a near $600 difference per person (if using the quickest to HI and the cheapest but still quickish to FL) that could be used to pay for the extras you end up paying with WDW.

But still go you for having decent enough airfare to Hawaii I would love that for sure and would totally take advantage of that!

 

[pmaurer74]

We've been talking about this a lot in my house lately. We had thought about spending a week at the beach...and couldn't find a hotel room for under $200 a night. We used to go to baseball games on a regular basis but my family can't go for under $100 anymore. Entertainment & vacations are EXPENSIVE. The thing that I think has really changed? How people view a Disney vacation. Growing up, a trip to Disney was something you got to do once or twice. That's once or twice in your childhood - not once or twice a year. I live 10 minutes from where I grew up - so the same basic area - and now Disney is an every year or every other year trip. The cost of Disney when you only do it once every 5-10 years is far more reasonable then when you consider doing it on the regular.

And...side note...I believe that families viewing Disney as an every year or every other year trip vs. once or twice in a childhood trip is a big reason for the increased crowds. We're planning our trip for January and trying to wrap our brains around being their during the lightest crowds of the year and still having to wait an hour for some rides.

I think you may be right. I have had a lot of friends go for the "once in a lifetime trip" in this past year... They are hooked and are all planning on returning this year. I have other friends that prefer to go every three years. Some point soon, we will likely not go as often once the kids get old enough to travel to California or Hawaii. I hope my kids love Disney forever, I think they will.

 

[pmaurer74]

I totally get what the OP you replied to is saying, but I think Universal is a better comparison because they are probably the next best (and for some people, better) theme park next to Disney. They have immersive lands, are always adding new rides and experiences and are really trying to compete in Orlando. I think OPs original quote was $3190 for annuals for a family of 4 at WDW, but for Universal it would only be $960 for the annual Power Pass. I have never been a Universal cheerleader and I haven't been since I myself was a teen, but as my own children get older and I compare the annual prices of Disney vs Universal, I am starting to realize the value I'd be getting for my money on the other side.

Another thing to consider, although it is a minor point, with an AP you save more on room rates and get food and merchandise discounts. This last year our AP saves us about $200 above the public discount on rooms and probably another $200 on merchandise and food. We had the DDP or it would have been more. This obviously does not make up the entire difference between US and WDW or even come close but it is something I think people look over that you do get extra discounts. I did notice though that AP rates seemed to have fewer and fewer options lately when it comes to open rooms.

 

[maxiesmom]

We were there the 2nd week in Feb. 6-13 and it was suppose to be a slow,time. Our last days we paid a slightly higher price since they considered it Spring Break. The parks were packed. We strategically used Fast Passes and rode what we wanted, but the walkways were jammed packed.

My question is now that ticket prices, food prices and resort prices are increased, how are they going to control the crowds. Being unable to move in walkways is very dangerous. No other venues would allow over crowded situations like that.

You were there leading up to President's Day. I'm not surprised the parks got busier the closer you got to the weekend, many parents use the extra time off for a mini vacation. I'm also not sure where you got that it was supposed to be a slow time, Easy shows 2 days as a 4, and the rest are 6 and up.