Anyone else feeling priced out of disney?

[Judyat]

I find the tickets to the Disney parks to be the problem. As senior citizens we love Disney and have great memories of taking the kids there. Now we would love to just walk around the parks and enjoy the sights but the prices are just more than we want to pay for that. If Disney offered a senior discount for say evening hours that would be great.

 

[patsal]

The costs have taken us to one vacation a year with no little trips in between. Even with an AP discount it isn't something we can afford to do with college tuition. I used to compare vacations and still feel I was getting value for my dollar at WDW. Not so much anymore.
DD will go with us this year after HS graduation, and she really needs the vacation with the course load she has she's completed at least one semester of college credits accounted for and if she passes the math, social and English this year it will change that to 2 semesters completed. She is such a hard worker and saw early on what a savings of a year of college could do for her. After this trip I do not know what will happen. I am even considering selling my DVC. Not because I don't enjoy the vacations, but because the pricing of everything is beyond out of control. My other alternative os to keep the DVC for the accomadations--it is all paid for and dues are still less than I would pay for 3 weeks a year anywhere else--and stay at the resorts but not do any disney parks or dining. Or use it for trade outs ot other places. One thing I can't figure out is how the parks are so full all the time and how the resorts can be at capacity yet many of us cannot afford it anymore. I wonder who is doing all this travelling and can afford it

 

[disney212]

We have found that our trips are actually a little cheaper than they used to be. We purchased DVC and even counting in our initial purchase and fees we feel we are way ahead when combined with the great AP discount and TIW purchase our trips are about $1000 less per week than there were 3 years ago. Three years ago we also stayed in the values and now we get to stay Deluxe. We gets 3-4 trips off each AP so it has enabled us to go more now than before. We never cared for FD since we don't eat that way. We now also have a kitchen in our DVC unit although we have never used it except to make coffee or put Coke's in the fridge.

 

[Egdisney]

This is my first trip, and holy cow is it pricy! We are going this year with our 4 kids, we chose this year because 2 of them are under 3 and the others are still under 10. Plane tickets from KCMO to MCO will be 1599! We are flying because it is too long of a drive for such little kids, and so my husband can take less vacation. We are going in October and staying in a family suite at AOA. The costs of our trip with DDP(my mom is going and pretty much forced the issue) is over 2800! We are staying 4 nights and only buying 3 day non hopper tickets! I have been wanting to go my whole life, but Holy Cow!
I am actually going to say we will probably go once more. We will go when my youngest dd is 9 and my son is 7. Unless we win the lottery, we will be staying off property next time. We may even go to DW for only one or two days and see what else Orlando has to offer. We will also drive.
This is our once in a lifetime trip, so I am trying to enjoy it. We are booked through AAA right now, but I keep looking for discounts!

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

This is my first trip, and holy cow is it pricy! We are going this year with our 4 kids, we chose this year because 2 of them are under 3 and the others are still under 10. Plane tickets from KCMO to MCO will be 1599! We are flying because it is too long of a drive for such little kids, and so my husband can take less vacation. We are going in October and staying in a family suite at AOA. The costs of our trip with DDP(my mom is going and pretty much forced the issue) is over 2800! We are staying 4 nights and only buying 3 day non hopper tickets! I have been wanting to go my whole life, but Holy Cow!
I am actually going to say we will probably go once more. We will go when my youngest dd is 9 and my son is 7. Unless we win the lottery, we will be staying off property next time. We may even go to DW for only one or two days
and see what else Orlando has to offer. We will also drive.
This is our once in a lifetime trip, so I am trying to enjoy it. We are booked through AAA right now, but I keep looking for discounts!

Have you checked surrounding/regional airports? We fly on Allegiant to save money. I know it is a bit of a drive, but I know they fly to Orlando/Sanford from Branson. There might be others as well.

I'm not a fan of packages. You can usually do better by booking the separate parts of the package. Room, discounted, tickets, rental car, etc. it usually comes out cheaper that way.

Buying tickets through Undercover Tourist brought the mousesavers .com link might allow you to get more park days or add the hopper.

I would totally lose the DDP. The food, IMHO, is not anywhere near that cost and you will be tied to those ADRs on your big trip. AOA suites have a kitchenette? I would keep a bunch of stuff in there and eat CS, sometimes sharing things, and have some meals offsite, where the quality to cost ratio is much higher.

AAA isn't all that great about discounts. If you do visit again and don't want to book yourself, try one of the WDW specific travel agencies like Dreams Unlimited, Mouse Fan travel, pixie vacations. They will book your trip, package or room only, and if a discount comes out they will rebook you with that.

 

[eliza61]

Im shocked what people pay to stay on Disney property for some of the deluxe resorts. $300-$500 or more for one night. Plus tickets, airfare, food, souviners, etc.

see for me that's more of a "value" question. I refuse to pay that price to stay in a glorified marriott. NO where else would get away charging those prices with what is offered.
That's what burns my britches. well actually not really since I don't pay it.

 

[DawnM]

That honestly doesn't even sound fun to me....to spend almost $3,000 on a 4 day trip.

We have driven that far (further) with young children and they were fine. We have opted to drive straight through on occasion and we have opted to stop overnight on other trips.

Do you have school aged kids? You could do a YES program for them and get reduced ticket prices.

If you have your car you could stay off-site in a 2 or 3 bedroom condo for much less and eat some of your own food.

Dawn

This is my first trip, and holy cow is it pricy! We are going this year with our 4 kids, we chose this year because 2 of them are under 3 and the others are still under 10. Plane tickets from KCMO to MCO will be 1599! We are flying because it is too long of a drive for such little kids, and so my husband can take less vacation. We are going in October and staying in a family suite at AOA. The costs of our trip with DDP(my mom is going and pretty much forced the issue) is over 2800! We are staying 4 nights and only buying 3 day non hopper tickets! I have been wanting to go my whole life, but Holy Cow!
I am actually going to say we will probably go once more. We will go when my youngest dd is 9 and my son is 7. Unless we win the lottery, we will be staying off property next time. We may even go to DW for only one or two days and see what else Orlando has to offer. We will also drive.
This is our once in a lifetime trip, so I am trying to enjoy it. We are booked through AAA right now, but I keep looking for discounts!

 

[manning]

I wouldn't say necessarily that we have been priced out but we have cut back. Last year we went 4 times. This year we are only going once.

2 of those trips last year were 10 day trips with all 5 of us and 2 of those trips were 6 day trips with just DH and myself.

I don't even want to admit out loud how much we spent going to Disney in the last 14 months so I won't.

But when DH realized how much we were actually spending going so many times he said we need to cut back to just once a year.

Huh? I'd say you are being priced out. Otherwise you'd be going at the same rate.

 

[manning]

We really scrimped and saved to make our May trip possible. I think it may be our last for awhile as prices for EVERYTHING, not just Disney, are rising so much faster than our salaries are. Sadly, it looks to be our last trip to WDW for awhile.

And they say there is no inflation. Oh for those 12 cent sliders at White Castle again. And 12 cents was nothing. Of course it has helped the waistline. Don't eat 12 of those anymore at one time.

 

[kirstenb1]

I'd say we've been priced out of Disney, but in a different way. We're long time DVCr's, so accomodations are covered. However, when we bought back in 1993, I never thought ticket prices would be so high.

We live near 2 theme parks. All summer long, they discount tickets. I always figured WDW would keep ticket prices decent, and then make up the revenue in food and shops and hotels.

We have BG platinum passes, so this summer, we'll stay at DVC, but go to Sea World, Aquatica and BG Tampa. I just can't justify WDW ticket prices, so we'll skip them this year.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I hear you eliza61...If my DD hadn't worked her patookie off trying to get into High School (YES, IN NYC you actually have to compete for High School seats!!) and wasn't at such an intense stress level, I would not worry about going!

But this is a year she really needs and deserves a bit of fun in her life. It just seemed to me that prices have gone a bit crazy! I know people will pay it, but it just doesn't feel like that should be why it is so pricey.

Im shocked what people pay to stay on Disney property for some of the deluxe resorts. $300-$500 or more for one night. Plus tickets, airfare, food, souviners, etc.

Congratulations to your daughter!!! I am also taking my daughter as an "8th grade Graduation - Congratulations on getting into 1st choice High School" trip. Here in Virginia kids compete for a seat in the High School Specialty Centers. Each HS in our county has a different one with a differnt focus/subject (humanities, math, engineering, comp sci, IB, education, etc). They are like mini private schools within the regular public high schools and are very competitive.

To make the trip affordable this year we are driving. I also looked at YES tickets OR buying 10 day no expire WP&more tickets to use over 3 trips. I ended up buying the 10 day No Expire tickets. With the change in the YES program tickets, I think I chose well. And my teens aren't obligated to attend a class. We are staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek (my family owns Wyndham) - so much cheaper than onsite and more space. I have been buying a $50 Disney gift card once a month since Dec 2011 so food is covered.

There is another thread about what your 2013 WDW trip will cost. I am shocked at the total trip prices folks are paying, especially those staying in deluxe resorts. $7,000 to $12,000 easily! ALL my trips this summer are costing less than that and we are going to WDW for 8 days (Wyndham Bonnet Creek), Disneyland for 4 days (Desert Inn or my sister's house, haven't decided yet), Hawaii for 11 days (7 days on Kauai at Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas, 4 days on Oahu at Wyndham Waikiki Beachwalk). Total cost for all three trips with airfare, rental car, food, lodging and activities is about $6500! There is no way I'd ever spend $7000 on just WDW, no matter how much I LOVE it.

 

[sharonmickey]

I was last at Disney 15 months ago, in December 2011. I really want to go back during the holidays again. It was gorgeous. However when I priced going in December 2013 the hotel was double what I paid last trip. There's no way I can afford it. I'm hoping for a pin code so that I can go but without a discount there is no way I can justify spending the money.

 

[elfling8]

We have always been priced out. We weren't even THINKING of going, and my inlaws gave us a surprise trip for Christmas, with a generous budget. I am trying to make this a once in a lifetime trip, because it likely will be.

I think prices for amusement parks in general are completely out of control. Even the small one near our house (you can do the whole park in less than a day with fairly big crowds) is $35 per adult & $26 for under 48". The water park near us is $38 and $26. Hard to justify the price of 4 adults for a day.

 

[disykat]

We're also in the "always been priced out" group since it's not something we do regularly - specifically because of price. We consider theme parks in general to be a rare treat because of the expense. Usually our entertainment is less expensive ... a lake, the ocean, etc.

When we do go, we think it is worth it because of the constant entertainment. The value hotels seem perfectly nice to us, considering we won't be spending a lot of time in the room.

 

[tasha99]

I am priced out by airfare since I have to go during peak travel times.

On the bright side, the American Hearing Speech Association annual convention is in Orlando next year.

 

[becca1976]

That honestly doesn't even sound fun to me....to spend almost $3,000 on a 4 day trip.

We have driven that far (further) with young children and they were fine. We have opted to drive straight through on occasion and we have opted to stop overnight on other trips.

Do you have school aged kids? You could do a YES program for them and get reduced ticket prices.

If you have your car you could stay off-site in a 2 or 3 bedroom condo for much less and eat some of your own food.

Dawn

What is the YES program? I have never heard of this before.

We went to Disney for a week and stayed off-site in a nice house. It was only 5 minutes from Disney. It had 4 bedrooms, a game room, a private pool. Our family of 6, plus my parents stayed there and it only cost $500 dollars for 7 nights! Because we saved so much money on lodging we were able to do a ton of other fun things - like BBB (for 3 girls!) and Pirate's League for my son. We had a sit down character meal at each park and packed snacks that we got at a super target and it kept us content each day. We got our tickets through undercover tourist and did not get park hoppers. We did 1 day per park and in the middle of the week we spent some time shopping at Downtown Disney. We ended up spending less than $3,000 dollars for our family of 6 for everything. That is even taking into account the cost of daily parking and $50 spending money for each of our 4 kids. If we did a resort package, we would never be able to afford all the fun extra things were were able to enjoy.

Regarding Table Service meals...in the future I wouldn't reserve as many sit down meals. I might choose one fun character meal. It took so much time out of our day in the park. I'd much rather pack some snacks, and eat CS meals. I priced out a package with dining added in and got to thinking about all that food and all the time it would take out of our day in the park to eat it. I have no complaints about the food - I pretty much love to eat anything. But, I'd much rather ride Expedition Everest a couple more times than sit down to eat a meal! We get more bang for our buck by eating on the run!

 

[mrsklamc]

YES is still an awesome program but is no longer worth it for the ticket discount. Prices are close to regular ticket prices.

 

[jodifla]

We protected ourselves years ago by buying DVC. We knew that staying on property would only skyrocket. So we stay onsite in great rooms for just our dues. We have a full kitchen and use it for all breakfasts, and half of our lunches and dinners.

Ticket prices are what's expensive. We often get FLA. resident tickets though, or DVC annual passes. We got 2 to 3 times a year, then take a year off, then back the next year. We've started saving for tickets in our annual budget.

This is the first year in about 10 that we don't have Disney plans. I am the Disney person, but it's DH and DS who are having a very hard time with the idea that we are not going to Disney in April..

 

[geckodani]

For me the answer is no, I don't feel priced out. But I travel with two adults, and only started going to the world recently, so perhaps I don't feel the increase as much as those that have been going longer. I also keep my trips short(ish) out of necessity. 5-6 nights, tops. I average around $2,700 for a trip with 2 adults, flying from MI, staying moderate, 5 day park tix. I used FD on one trip, and a room discount on the other. The second trip would have come in even cheaper if we'd stayed on property the whole time, but we did Sea World and Medieval Times.

 

[CruellaDuVille]

Everything is getting more expensive, food, gas, school tuition, everyday necessities. Disney is no exception. Expanding and creating new and up to date attractions to keep the guests happy and interested doesn't come cheap either.