Am I the only one who thinks Disney vaca prices have gotten out of hand?

[MinnieForMe]

Is it meant to be resort to resort? If so I'm way offbase!

That Williamsburg trip sounds great. I've always wanted to go there.

I honestly don't know. The original poster was not comparing any other resort just saying that the prices for onsite Disney resorts seemed high to her. I was the one who must have misread it the first time. LOL!

I can't wait for Williamsburg. I'm actually more excited than for our next trip to Disney! Isn't that surprising?

 

[Michelle and crew]

I honestly don't know. The original poster was not comparing any other resort just saying that the prices for onsite Disney resorts seemed high to her. I was the one who must have misread it the first time. LOL!

I can't wait for Williamsburg. I'm actually more excited than for our next trip to Disney! Isn't that surprising?

We did this a few years ago. It is one of the favorite trips we have made. Have a good time!

 

[talulabelle]

I agree with the OP. I know it is all relative and what is expensive to one is not to another. But for my family, we have been priced out of the park. I might feel differently if we were a smaller family, but we are soon to be a family of 7. In 2005, I was able to take the whole family (of 6) with 7 day park hoppers and stay at ASMo in 2 connecting rooms (which was plenty of space) and paid for the Dining Plan as we had to go 3 weeks before free dining started and it cost me $2400. I was also able to go from a wed. to a wed. to get cheap airfare on SW and our RT tickets were $98 each. So the entire vacation was $3000. This was still a splurge for us as we usually spend under $2500 for a beach vacation - but I felt the extra money was well worth it as it was DISNEY WORLD and the free dining was fabulous back then with all of us including kids being able to order appetizers and desserts at each dinner and it inclluded tips. It was one of the best vacations we ever had.
Now, I check and check and check the prices and sales, a free dining - and just can't ever see us being able to afford to stay on site again.

 

[sissy_ib]

I took the comparison to be resort to resort not a motel/cabin that's why I picked Atlantis and Hawaii. However, I do agree that there are many cheaper vacations. For example, we'll be doing Disney in April but Williamsburg in August. For Williamsburg, we'll be using a paid off timeshare with a $169 transfer fee, our own car, and a 7 day bouncer pass that is 1/3rd of the price of Disney tickets. It will be considerably less than flying to Disney and visiting the Orlando area for 9 days.

But for some people they would be just as happy in a cabin in the woods in the spring as they would be staying at a WDW deluxe in the winter. For those people (not me, I am NOT a fan of the great outdoors), they would compare cabin/resort. I am more of the point of view you have. Hawaii/cruise/WDW/etc.

 

[sissy_ib]

I agree with the OP. I know it is all relative and what is expensive to one is not to another. But for my family, we have been priced out of the park. I might feel differently if we were a smaller family, but we are soon to be a family of 7. In 2005, I was able to take the whole family (of 6) with 7 day park hoppers and stay at ASMo in 2 connecting rooms (which was plenty of space) and paid for the Dining Plan as we had to go 3 weeks before free dining started and it cost me $2400. I was also able to go from a wed. to a wed. to get cheap airfare on SW and our RT tickets were $98 each. So the entire vacation was $3000. This was still a splurge for us as we usually spend under $2500 for a beach vacation - but I felt the extra money was well worth it as it was DISNEY WORLD and the free dining was fabulous back then with all of us including kids being able to order appetizers and desserts at each dinner and it inclluded tips. It was one of the best vacations we ever had.
Now, I check and check and check the prices and sales, a free dining - and just can't ever see us being able to afford to stay on site again.

Airfare is out of control as well, IMO. This is another thing making family vacations harder and harder. I cant even find a one way fare for less than $150 before taxes and fees.

 

[Ava]

I always see extremes being mentioned as vacation spots when comparing Disney prices. To me Atlantis is an extreme on the high end for example.

There are less costly alternatives to these but it really depends on what you want in a vacation. I can find a cabin in the mountains for a decent price. I can also find good hotel prices in destination cities if I shop around. I don't know about the northeast though, it sounds expensive too.

You can find deals if you can travel at off-peak times, but traveling over holidays is always expensive.

I'd compare Christmas week at WDW to 4th of July weekend in Newport, RI. We went there 2 years ago for 4th of July and paid $200/night for a Howard Johnson in Middletown, which is the next town over from Newport. I don't even want to know what the hotels right in downtown Newport cost for the holiday weekend.

We're going to WDW next May (7-13th). We got a PIN code for a room & ticket package; our cost is $1100 for 6 nights at POP with 6-day base tickets for 2 adults. That's about $92 per person per night for room & tickets. I think that's a pretty good deal, considering rack rate for the room alone is $105-$120/night (weekday vs weekend rates).

If you travel at peak or holiday times, it's going to be expensive. Really no getting around that. I don't think you can take the Christmas-week prices at a deluxe resort in WDW and consider that to be the "norm" for WDW prices. I think "average" non-discounted WDW pricing would be the cost of a moderate resort in regular season.

 

[padawans]

I live in the west so I compare wdw to Hawaii. Hotels and food are cheaper in Hawaii, but airfare is more expensive. I can spend 6 nights at the Hilton for less than 1000. With a 40% discount the deluxe resorts at wdw are very affordable. I just can't see how disney can discontinue their discounts. They have way overpriced their deluxe resorts. When people ask me about the the poly I tell them how awsome it is. Then they ask me about the price I tell them its cost about 250 a night incl tax. This is their response.When I explain to them I got a 40% discount and the normal price is about 500 a night tax incl. This is the response I get

 

[herdtoDisney]

I agree with the OP. I know it is all relative and what is expensive to one is not to another. But for my family, we have been priced out of the park. I might feel differently if we were a smaller family, but we are soon to be a family of 7. In 2005, I was able to take the whole family (of 6) with 7 day park hoppers and stay at ASMo in 2 connecting rooms (which was plenty of space) and paid for the Dining Plan as we had to go 3 weeks before free dining started and it cost me $2400. I was also able to go from a wed. to a wed. to get cheap airfare on SW and our RT tickets were $98 each. So the entire vacation was $3000. This was still a splurge for us as we usually spend under $2500 for a beach vacation - but I felt the extra money was well worth it as it was DISNEY WORLD and the free dining was fabulous back then with all of us including kids being able to order appetizers and desserts at each dinner and it inclluded tips. It was one of the best vacations we ever had.
Now, I check and check and check the prices and sales, a free dining - and just can't ever see us being able to afford to stay on site again.

I'm not sure when you are wanting to go, but my family of 6 (seventh person is away at college so can't go) , 2 adults, 3 junoirs, and one child, is going next Feb to Pop, 2 rooms, free QSDP, 5 day base tix, for just a tad more than what you paid. I just wanted to encourage you-we also had always assumed an on-site Disney trip was out of reach for our family, but this cost breaks down very reasonably on a per-person-per-day basis.

 

[talulabelle]

I'm not sure when you are wanting to go, but my family of 6 (seventh person is away at college so can't go) , 2 adults, 3 junoirs, and one child, is going next Feb to Pop, 2 rooms, free QSDP, 5 day base tix, for just a tad more than what you paid. I just wanted to encourage you-we also had always assumed an on-site Disney trip was out of reach for our family, but this cost breaks down very reasonably on a per-person-per-day basis.

Thanks. I do continue to price out the special deals, but the hardest thing now is I really can't take my kids out of school. 3 of the 4 are in accelerated programs and especially with the oldest being in high school now, I just don't think they can miss school anymore for it. They would all miss way to much school work. So, all of the times that are lowest cost are not options for us.

As another poster said, airfare isn't helping either. It has jumped so much recently and I doubt it will come down - esp. with SW not having to compete with AirTran anymore.

I was hoping to get us there before this baby arrives in March - but I don't see how it will happen now - I'll have to wait until baby is at least a year I think.