Anyone else feeling priced out of disney?

[manning]

Curious as to why you brought race into this...

Why do some try to make it look like this is racist. Read what the poster I answered said.

Let me make it simple for you to understand.

1. the family happened to be black and looked like they weren't rich
2. If the family was asian, Mexican, etc I would have said so and I have seen many too.

OK here's the tricky part for you.

I'm pointing out

A. Being white you can be rude trashy etc.
B. Being white you can be polite

C. Being Black you can be rude, trashy etc.
D. Being black you can be polite

E. Being any race you can be trashy, rude, polite, rich or poor.

F. Being rich you can be rude, trashy, etc
G. Being rich you can be polite

H. Being poor you can be rude rude, trashy etc
I. Being poor you can be polite

In other words no one has a monopoly on the above traits.

 

[akayek31]

I have actually went twice a year for the last 2 years. This year unless something changes we will have only went in Feb 2013 and not again until next Feb. I think it is time for a break anyway

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

yeah, 'only $2k per week'. Or I could just stay offsite for less than $100 a night. I would not EVER pay $2K for a week for a room to sleep in. We sleep and shower in the room, that's it. Maybe we are in the room 6 or 7 hours per day, total. We could eat and stay off site and park for well less than $2k for the week.

Ack! 6 hours a night in a hotel room? That is not my idea of vacation. I enjoy 8 plus hours, then going all out at a park, then an afternoon swim.

 

[luv2mickey]

I am thankful that when my kids were little we were able to go several times, you could still find deals.

Disney has closed all the loopholes making it impossible to get a deal!

 

[Marionnette]

yeah, 'only $2k per week'. Or I could just stay offsite for less than $100 a night. I would not EVER pay $2K for a week for a room to sleep in. We sleep and shower in the room, that's it. Maybe we are in the room 6 or 7 hours per day, total. We could eat and stay off site and park for well less than $2k for the week.

And that's why Disney has so many different resort levels, as well as the option to stay offsite and still take advantage of what the entire Walt Disney World Resort has to offer.

Personally, I'd rather spend $2K for the kind of resort I like than settle for a *cheap* hotel that serves only as a bed & bath. And if I were comparing $2K for renting a 1-bedroom villa through a DVC member vs. $3.5K for reserving through Disney, I would probably use the word "only" to describe the savings as well.

To each their own. I'm sure that you are just as happy with your choices as I am with mine. And that's how it should be.

 

[Pier60]

You know, for as expensive as Disney is on food, I have to give them credit in a few areas.

First, I just returned from a trip to Great Wolf Lodge Williamsburg. They had workers at the entrance to the water park checking bags and making people discard of any outside food they were trying to bring in. DD is on a special diet and the workers would not let DW bring in a lunch for her. DW hand to do the runaround to find a manager. DW explained the situation to the manager, and the manager had to go to the water park to tell the workers it was OK for DW to bring in DD's meal. This would have never happened at Disney!

This is a great point. Many times other parks limit what you can take inside. Its nice being able to bring in your meals if you choose.

 

[ThisIsTheYear]

Just to make you all laugh, I will tell you that we take a 23 hour Amtrak train to Kissimmee (in coach,)which saves money since a child under 16 is half the adult fare (HEAR THAT, DISNEY!)and a cab to our hotel is about $35...still pretty budget!...BTW, two free carry on bags per person, and up to 3 free checked bags per person (think cereal and sunscreen.)

We did that once (in coach also)! My Mom and I didn't think it was that bad, my DH (bf at the time) and sister hated it! Lol

 

[mrsklamc]

I'm trying to help a friend plan a budget trip for her family of 6 - their very first trip. I already explained the YES ticket program to her.

You should know that as of this year YES tix are no longer the deal they were.

 

[dansamy]

You should know that as of this year YES tix are no longer the deal they were.

How much has the ticket price increased for YES tickets?

 

[Sparkly]

It's expensive, but still better value then doing DLRP which is our nearest Disney park! You get a lot more for your money and more magic.

 

[robinb]

I'm trying to help a friend plan a budget trip for her family of 6 - their very first trip. I already explained the YES ticket program to her. Now I'm working on lodging. For my budget trip I am staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek b/c my family owns there. From what I've read some of the Windsor Hills condos/townhouses are cheaper than renting at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. I am very interested in info on the properties becca1976, Bete and DawnM have stayed at. Where are they located? What are the condo names? Which hotel had the suites with mini kitchen, free hot breakfast and happy hour? What time of year did you get these great rates? Thanks everyone for sharing your budget tips!

I would recommend that you go to the Orlando Board and start a new thread. You will get a lot of good advise over there that may be buried in this thread.

 

[mrsklamc]

How much has the ticket price increased for YES tickets?

I don't have numbers with me but they are close to regular price now.

 

[Jake&IzzyLand]

WDW is awesome and our family has made MANY wonderful memories there. I know for us, when we go again, we will not stay onsite. When on vacation I do not want cramped, sub par rooms or overpriced, sub par food. We will do an combined Disney and beach vacation and also want to check out Universal.

WDW IS expensive. There is no way around that, even when it is cheap, cheap it is not. There is no comparison to the Disney magic and the memories made, but I am not going to compromise our vacation experience just so we can go.

I do not want to eat PB&J or granola bars. I do not want to even think about budgeting food! It's vacation afterall. I also do not want to stay in a "resort" that really does not offer resort type treatment.

I love the rides, shows, characters and snacks and I can do all of that without staying onsite or paying through the nose.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

You should know that as of this year YES tix are no longer the deal they were.

I know, but YES will still save her money b/c she has 4 kids and all will be taking a YES class. It's not the savings it would have been with last year's prices, but it is still a savings over buying the tix at UT. The YES change makes me glad I bit the bullet and bought 10 day no expire WP&M tickets from UT before the price increase last June!

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I don't have numbers with me but they are close to regular price now.

Kids taking the class get still get a decent discount on their ticket. Kids not taking the class and parent tickets are close to the UT ticket price. If you have a lot of kids and they all take a class, it can still be a pretty good savings. It's not a huge discount for smaller families anymore.

 

[DawnM]

I do the SkyAuction.com thing. Go to SA, type in "resort certificates" in the keyword, if it isn't available now, it will be. 7 night stays are typically $229 plus a $20 fee. No other fees involved.

you can go to ResortCerts.com and find out some of the properties available. It changes VERY often, so keep looking if you don't like what is there.


One question though.....are they going during peak season. These tips don't work as well for peak season.

All the condos we have stayed in have a full kitchen and we have a backpack cooler we carry to the parks with our own lunch/snacks. We do buy some, but it is doable without buying.

Some places we liked: Polynesian Isles, Summer Bay Resort, and I will come up with the others, can't remember off hand. Just stay away from Westgate! It was our only bad experience. And make sure properties are in Kissimmee or Orlando. Some are in Davenport, an hour away.

Dawn

PS: Ok, looked through some old emails to remember names of places we have stayed through SkyAuction resort certificates. Here are a few of MY opinions:

Westgate- avoid at all costs. VERY loud as the discount rooms are all lowest floor and the upstairs echoes terribly
Cypress Pointe- fine, fairly nice, very close to Disney. Just ok though, older units, clean, friendly.
Florida Vacation Villas- older but quiet, friendly staff
Summer Bay- VERY nice, villas are newer, but it is further from Disney
Orbit One- very friendly, older units, just ok, they may have wifi now but didn't last time we stayed.
Legacy Vacation Club- older units, quiet, won't pick this one unless we can't find anything else.
Poynesian Isles- close to Disney, very quiet on the top floor, units a bit smaller than some but manageable, grounds kept very nice

Want to stay at Orlando International Resort Club, Silver Lake, or Wyndham Cyrpess Palms, but they are never available when we need them.

I'm trying to help a friend plan a budget trip for her family of 6 - their very first trip. I already explained the YES ticket program to her. Now I'm working on lodging. For my budget trip I am staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek b/c my family owns there. From what I've read some of the Windsor Hills condos/townhouses are cheaper than renting at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. I am very interested in info on the properties becca1976, Bete and DawnM have stayed at. Where are they located? What are the condo names? Which hotel had the suites with mini kitchen, free hot breakfast and happy hour? What time of year did you get these great rates? Thanks everyone for sharing your budget tips!

 

[blessedby3]

I'm trying to help a friend plan a budget trip for her family of 6 - their very first trip. I already explained the YES ticket program to her. Now I'm working on lodging. For my budget trip I am staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek b/c my family owns there. From what I've read some of the Windsor Hills condos/townhouses are cheaper than renting at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. I am very interested in info on the properties becca1976, Bete and DawnM have stayed at. Where are they located? What are the condo names? Which hotel had the suites with mini kitchen, free hot breakfast and happy hour? What time of year did you get these great rates? Thanks everyone for sharing your budget tips!

You may want to send these disers a private message in case they dont come back to this thread....although DawnM has posted. I have done that when disers post about a great place they have stayed. They always answer and are very helpful

 

[loveysbydesign]

This is why we now drive from PA, and stay off-site in a pool home or condo in WH or IC(sometimes splitting the cost with my in-laws...then only have to pay under $500 for a week in the 4 bed/3 bath pool home)!
Indian Creek rental http://www.houseforrentflorida.net/en/index.php (have stayed in his homes 3 times)
Windosr Hills rental http://www.mickeyscondo.com/safari/ (have stayed here once and also stayed once through vacationcentralflorida.com)
Plus we do the YES program to save on tix, and don't eat all our meals at the parks(we get tired of park food anyway).

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I just cancelled our October visit to WDW - I need some sort of discount, it's expensive for us to get there.
Would strongly consider staying off site but would have to rent a car.
My sister and her family plan to visit DLR in late Sept or early Oct - if WDW doesn't come up with a discount we'll head to DLR with them. I really want to go to WDW, I will never visit WDW in the summer, around holidays and my kids are getting older *don't want to take them out of school for long periods after this next school year.

 

[Ofinn]

I always shake my head when I hear people say Disney is a cheap vacation. I guess it can be reasonable if you are willing to stay in 240sq ft room and bring your own food and eat cs for all meals. That kind of vacation does not appeal to me at all. I like to have nice resort with the all the amenities, and I like to eat at sit down restaurants and be served. To get that at Disney you really have to pay an arm a leg. Our first time was four years ago we stayed at Poly for 239.00 a night in May. I thought that was very reasonable. I think this Spring the discount is only 10% making it over 400.00 a night. I'm pretty sure this will be our last year as AP holders. The prices keep going up and the discounts decreasing. I really feel like I can get more for my money vacationing elsewhere. We have a lot of great memories at Disney, and we will go back it just won't be 2 or 3 times a year anymore.