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

[IUTBAM]

Holy cow!

A little background: We haven't been to WDW since 2004. We have gone to Disneyland many times since then, as we love Disneyland and Southern California in general. So, after 6 years, we finally decided to book another Christmas vacation to Disney World.

I almost FELL OVER when I started researching prices of the onsite resorts! OMG! We've been to WDW several times over the peak holiday season, but now that they have apparently done away with being able to check in before the peak rates kick in and have those prices hold for your entire stay, it is completely unrealistic! $400-500/night for AKL? And that's not even concierge! lol I think it's going to be off-site for us for the first time ever! And the dining prices...holy moley they have gone up percentage wise at an unbelievable rate! I'm glad we have all the onsite and character dining memories of so many trips when our kids were younger (5 trips when they were younger) because we certainly couldn't afford to do it now! And I should add we are in a good financial situation (no debt except mortgage, and my DH is extremely fortunate to have a very, very well paying job). But no matter how much we could afford to spend on a vacation, there's no way I can justify those onsite costs! Wow!

 

[marie1203]

Honestly I don't think Disney prices are out of hand. Last year we went to Disney 3 times this year we choose to do other trips. In disney you get food lodging and entertainment all for one price. We still haven't been able to find something that will compare in lodging for the same vacation price.

 

[Kay1]

I agree. I would never stay onsite without a FL resident or AP pass discount. We have a TIW discount to help with food costs but we also eat offsite a lot. Remember, a lot of people receive "Free Dining" as well.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Holy cow!

A little background: We haven't been to WDW since 2004. We have gone to Disneyland many times since then, as we love Disneyland and Southern California in general. So, after 6 years, we finally decided to book another Christmas vacation to Disney World.

I almost FELL OVER when I started researching prices of the onsite resorts! OMG! We've been to WDW several times over the peak holiday season, but now that they have apparently done away with being able to check in before the peak rates kick in and have those prices hold for your entire stay, it is completely unrealistic! $400-500/night for AKL? And that's not even concierge! lol I think it's going to be off-site for us for the first time ever! And the dining prices...holy moley they have gone up percentage wise at an unbelievable rate! I'm glad we have all the onsite and character dining memories of so many trips when our kids were younger (5 trips when they were younger) because we certainly couldn't afford to do it now! And I should add we are in a good financial situation (no debt except mortgage, and my DH is extremely fortunate to have a very, very well paying job). But no matter how much we could afford to spend on a vacation, there's no way I can justify those onsite costs! Wow!

We reached the same conclusion after our August trip. We're a family of 6 and stay in the values, but we need 2 rooms, so when I added everything all together after our trip I was . We're still going to visit next year, but we're going to stay in a 3 bedroom condo and spend most of our time at Universal / Islands of Adventure (we have APs there). Our big splurge that trip will be 10 day non expiring park hopper + tickets that I hope will last us 5-6 trips. (Even the cost of the 10 day no exp. PH+ tix have gone up so much that it's harder and harder to justify). Like you, I'm glad we had many previous trips with character dinners and memories, but I simply cannot bring my frugal self to pay to stay onsite anymore, free dining or not.

 

[Marionnette]

Holy cow!

A little background: We haven't been to WDW since 2004. We have gone to Disneyland many times since then, as we love Disneyland and Southern California in general. So, after 6 years, we finally decided to book another Christmas vacation to Disney World.

I almost FELL OVER when I started researching prices of the onsite resorts! OMG! We've been to WDW several times over the peak holiday season, but now that they have apparently done away with being able to check in before the peak rates kick in and have those prices hold for your entire stay, it is completely unrealistic! $400-500/night for AKL? And that's not even concierge! lol I think it's going to be off-site for us for the first time ever! And the dining prices...holy moley they have gone up percentage wise at an unbelievable rate! I'm glad we have all the onsite and character dining memories of so many trips when our kids were younger (5 trips when they were younger) because we certainly couldn't afford to do it now! And I should add we are in a good financial situation (no debt except mortgage, and my DH is extremely fortunate to have a very, very well paying job). But no matter how much we could afford to spend on a vacation, there's no way I can justify those onsite costs! Wow!

I think that they are on a par with any other theme park vacation. And if you know where to look for the deals and discounts then it is even less expensive than alot of vacation destinations in the united states. But I do think that you can find cheaper vacations outside of our borders as long as your willing to travel further. The market bears the increases otherwise disney would limit the costs and decrease there offerings.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

I don't at all - I think Disney is my cheap vacation.

Just spent 4 nights in NY - the Peninsula was $500 a night, then you add in some Broadway shows, all the great restaurants etc it was out of control.

A cruise is more money, as is Hawaii, Europe, heck even a week in Canada was more expensive.

 

[LynnTH]

The key is to never pay rack rates. Being on these boards have helped me tons. The first 3 or 4 times at Disney we stayed at the Value Resorts as they were the cheapest (kids were small then and they love them and we didn't mind them either). Then I read about renting DVC points and looked into that. We are on our 3rd time renting DVC points for our upcoming trip in March. We are spending about $1500 for 8 nights at the Boardwalk Villas - cost would be about the same for Animal Kingdom Villas. Pricing is not much more than a Value Resort but at a Deluxe Resort.

 

[Pembo]

The prices have definitely had a sharp incline in price. Ticket prices have doubled in the last 10 years! There is no such thing as a cheap way to go for a couple days.

This past year we stayed off site in a 3 br condo for less than a value. We were able to take advantage of the GAD promotion and that helped with ticket prices.

Next spring we are going to watch my ds march in the MK parade. We are staying offsite again. I can't justify staying onsite and paying high tix prices.

 

[mousetravel]

We have always stayed off site. Every time we've went, the "value" resort rates were at least $140 a night. We stay off site, take some snacks & drinks, and drive there instead of flying. We're hardly ever in the hotel except to sleep & get ready because we're usually in the parks from open till close.

 

[cseca]

Hmm... I'm not sure what dates you're looking at.
I'm quoting 2 adults plus 2 juniors (10+) at AS Movies with Free QS dining and 7 day base tix on 12/19-12/26/10 (7nights) = $2124

Considering you get food, lodging, entertainment and transportation for 7 nights during the busiest time of the year for 4 people I think the price is pretty darn good.

Calculate the base tix for 7nights = $250/pp (10+)
say assume hotel price at a reasonable = $90/night
that means you get dining at less than $500 for 4 people all 7 nights.
(I never assume free dining as free because I would never pay rack rate for hotels).

AKL I see the #s as $4200... it is expensive but that is considered deluxe with free regular dining.
Hotel only std view with fall/winter rate promo = $341/night

 

[mamaLori05]

I don't think Disney prices are bad at all! In fact, we tend to go do Disney more often because we get more for our money. We spent the same amount of money on a 3 day vacation to Washington DC this summer as we did on our 8 day vacation to Disney World this fall. As far as vacations go, we think Disney is a deal. Then again, we love staying at the value's, and we only do one character meal each trip because we just don't care for them. We prefer to spend our time in the parks, not in a restaurant.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

The prices have definitely had a sharp incline in price. Ticket prices have doubled in the last 10 years! There is no such thing as a cheap way to go for a couple days.

This past year we stayed off site in a 3 br condo for less than a value. We were able to take advantage of the GAD promotion and that helped with ticket prices.

Next spring we are going to watch my ds march in the MK parade. We are staying offsite again. I can't justify staying onsite and paying high tix prices.

Thank you! Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who's noticed this, especially when everyone chimes in about how affordable a WDW vacation really is. And I know that it's relatively affordable compared to vacationing at other places, and I know that the price of everything has gone way up, but for us it definitely is not the bargain that it used to be. We'll still visit because we really enjoy it, but I wish we'd stocked up on 10 day PH+ non exp tickets several years ago.

 

[bettymae1121]

Well, considering it's going to cost DH and I around $1700 to drive to PA to visit his mother for a week next spring, Disney looks like a deal. We're staying at a hotel in PA because MIL isn't set up for long term company (last time we stayed we had to sleep in seperate bedrooms, DH on his childhood -ie 30 year old- twin bed and me on a full sized sofa bed with a matress the thickness of a nursery school nap mat!). Granted, some of that cost is a for the rental of a trailer so DH can bring back some stuff he has stored at his mother's house but between gas, hotel, food, and a bit of spending money, we could spend a week with the Mouse for about the same price and have WAY more fun! Unfortunately, we are over due for a visit and MIL wants DH's stuff out of her house (not that I blame her) so we're spending our spring vacation in PA rather than FL. Oh well, maybe in 2012!

 

[beansmom]

I don't at all - I think Disney is my cheap vacation.

Just spent 4 nights in NY - the Peninsula was $500 a night, then you add in some Broadway shows, all the great restaurants etc it was out of control.

A cruise is more money, as is Hawaii, Europe, heck even a week in Canada was more expensive.

EGGZACKLY! We're going to NYC at the end of the month and rooms were $300 or more for a 2.5star...factor in opera tickets at $150 a pop...food....parking is $50 a day.

My POP room is $69 with free parking and I can get a 3 day pass for not much more than one opera ticket.

 

[cxr]

Hmm... I'm not sure what dates you're looking at.
I'm quoting 2 adults plus 2 juniors (10+) at AS Movies with Free QS dining and 7 day base tix on 12/19-12/26/10 (7nights) = $2124

Considering you get food, lodging, entertainment and transportation for 7 nights during the busiest time of the year for 4 people I think the price is pretty darn good.

Calculate the base tix for 7nights = $250/pp (10+)
say assume hotel price at a reasonable = $90/night
that means you get dining at less than $500 for 4 people all 7 nights.
(I never assume free dining as free because I would never pay rack rate for hotels).

AKL I see the #s as $4200... it is expensive but that is considered deluxe with free regular dining.
Hotel only std view with fall/winter rate promo = $341/night

i like to see your quotes or discounts because i have been putting in teh same dates and for hotel, transportation (from LA) tickets and supposedly free dining i have not been able to get under 4500

 

[budbeerlady]

We find it very affordable compared to other vacations. It depends on when you want to go. IF you want to stay at the Poly over Christmas it might not seem like such a deal but for us its a very reasonable vacation! We either stay Value and book free dining paying the rack rate or we use our aps and stay at a moderate with a discount.

Staying for a long weekend in Chicago is fun but its almost half the cost of a Disney trip for 1/3 the time.

 

[2disneyboys]

Is a WDW Vacation Cheap - no Is it outragous? It CAN BE depending on what options you pick etc. Is it more than in was a few years ago? oh yea.

I feel that WDW is "reasonable" compared to other vacation costs. We just drove from Va to Mn round trip this past June (yikes) so hotels, gas, food, tolls coming & going. (rounding to about $900) We shared in a cabin rental so our cost for that was $500. We spent another $400 on food and about $400 on entertainment. Oh yea, $425 on dog sitting services for 8 days Roughly $2600. (family of 4) We went to DC last fall for a few days (a short drive from here) and spent around $800 I was in Chicago a few weeks ago for a business trip. I had to go alone because when I priced a trip with the 4 of us it was going to be around $3,000!

We have been pricing various Cruises for next year, and again, it's going to cost us a lot more for the cruise than our upcoming WDW trip in Dec.

The thing I like best about WDW is it can be a budget as you want and as extravagant as you want. You can stay offsite (we did in 2007 because there was 6 of us and we "fit" better) you can get basic tickets, you can even bring food into the park with you if you need to (none of the theme parks around here allow you to bring in more than a ziploc size snack bag of outside food) or, you can stay CL in the most deluxe hotel @ WDW, buy the Extreme dining (thats what DH calls the "biggest" dining plan) go on private tours etc etc... You can truly customize a WDW vacation to your likes/needs. It's still expensive, but I think compared to costs of vacationing in other places, it's not unreasonable. IMHO

 

[patsal]

"i like to see your quotes or discounts because i have been putting in teh same dates and for hotel, transportation (from LA) tickets and supposedly free dining i have not been able to get under 4500 "

It might be your airfare that is taking it to that price. Try taking out the airfare and pricing that separately.

 

[stich1fan]

We travel to WDW twice a year now and I don't think things are out of hand at all. It is not the cheapest vacations, but you def get your money's worth.

 

[cseca]

i like to see your quotes or discounts because i have been putting in teh same dates and for hotel, transportation (from LA) tickets and supposedly free dining i have not been able to get under 4500

"i like to see your quotes or discounts because i have been putting in teh same dates and for hotel, transportation (from LA) tickets and supposedly free dining i have not been able to get under 4500 "

It might be your airfare that is taking it to that price. Try taking out the airfare and pricing that separately.

patsal might be right on spot.
I didn't put any transportation. If you can get transportation from LA to MCO for less than $300 total you are getting a great deal actually. Considering flights itself from west cost to MCO usually above $300pp.

And FWIW, booking flights from Disney is usually not a great option. More likely you'll find a cheaper price by doing separate air booking. Of course it all depends on your locations, dates and such. But most of the time you can find better price and timing by doing separate air.