Are any Disney guests average income people?

[Aluminum Falcon]

We are not rich and go multiple times a year I just don’t waste my money on their resorts which seems to be a huge budget factor to people.

I agree, I think a lot of people can afford Disney, they can’t afford their hotel prices. I live in Massachusetts, and high end hotels in Boston, and Cape Cod don’t go for as much as Disney’s delux

 

[twincruisers]

WDW is probably the only place in the world where restaurants sell out on reservations 6 months in advance (not counting pandemic limitations) consistently that isn't a Michelin Starred restaurant. It's in a class of itself and they know the world-wide demand way outstrips their supply so they squeeze all of us to figure out how to get more $ every year.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I agree, I think a lot of people can afford Disney, they can’t afford their hotel prices. I live in Massachusetts, and high end hotels in Boston, and Cape Cod don’t go for as much as Disney’s delux

absolutely! I’ll be honest outside a few of their awesome signature restaurants their food isn’t worth it to me either… so if you trim back on something’s Disney is totally affordable, however if you want to splurge then you go less but maybe have a better experience.

I was always under the guise that I don’t go on vacation to stay in my room so thats why I don’t care about deluxe accommodations or a view? I also have a one year old and we’re still powering through. A pool day is nice too though.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

absolutely! I’ll be honest outside a few of their awesome signature restaurants their food isn’t worth it to me either… so if you trim back on something’s Disney is totally affordable, however if you want to splurge then you go less but maybe have a better experience.

I was always under the guise that I don’t go on vacation to stay in my room so thats why I don’t care about deluxe accommodations or a view? I also have a one year old and we’re still powering through. A pool day is nice too though.

Everyone vacations differently, and I think that is one of Disney’s strengths, they give you a lot of options to do your vacation the way you want to, parks, hotel, bars, golf, restaurants, the list goes on

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Everyone vacations differently, and I think that is one of Disney’s strengths, they give you a lot of options to do your vacation the way you want to, parks, hotel, bars, golf, restaurants, the list goes on

agreed!

 

[Pickles516]

An average income family living in Manhattan makes about $500k per year. So yes they can afford Disney

I don’t know where you’ve gotten that statistic, but it is simply untrue. There are more people living in cramped quarters in Manhattan in order to serve the elite group you’ve mentioned then there are households bringing in 500k+ annually. Median income in Manhattan is about 65k annually.

 

[Pickles516]

Families (with children) making $68,700 don't pay taxes.

This is not true.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

This is not true.

I think he was missing a few zeros

 

[CanadaDisney05]

To the original question - about ten years ago, we started coming to Disney.

Our household income for 3 at the time was well under $60,000/year. We drove from out of state (they didn't charge for parking if I recall); stayed at All Star Music in January (definitely off season); and enjoyed very nice discounts and often Free Dining. We always packed snacks and breakfast items, so our food costs were minimal. My kids used Christmas money from Grandma for one souvineer each. I believe our trips priced out under $2500 for a week. It was truly Magical. So, it WAS affordable to our "average" family, but with other sacrifices (we only got pizza about once a week, didn't eat out, and had a very frugal entertainment budget - state parks hiking, camping, etc).

We did that same January trip every other year until about three years ago. Our school system "disallowed" vacation as an excused absence, and my kids aged into sports where the January trip didn't work anymore. We started going during Spring Break - everything else the same, and the cost more than doubled - we needed airfare, no more free dining, and AllStars and tickets were priced for Spring Break...maybe $5000 for the week. Still affordable, but much less so for us.

About three years ago, we had the unexpected ability to purchase Annual Passes. We made signficant budget changes to support that "Year of Disney". But trip costs continued to climb as we were traveling during Spring Break and summer months where the costs are higher.

Summary Assessment based on our experience - if you CAN travel during off Peak times and find great Discounts (which Free Dining was - and I haven't seen that offered since Covid), then the immersive Disney experience probably IS still in reach - with other budgeting and entertainment "sacrifice" involved.

If you need to travel during a more Peak time, need to fly/pay to park, and minimal discounts are offered, it becomes a challenge. You can stay offsite, cook in your room, and shorten your trip - but the current price tag for that same experience we had before (6 nights/7 days, onsite, 2 meals/1snack pp) would likely now exceed $8000, and that would NOT be affordable for an average family - except as maybe a "once in a lifetime" splurge. Add in the lack of extended extra Magic Hours, paid airport transport, paid LIghtning Lane/Genie, Character Meals, etc, that cost would easily exceed $10,000. Not affordable for an average family income at all.

I brought this up in another thread a few weeks ago. I think your 8k for a family of 4 is in the ballpark (I priced it out in that thread and it was about 9k Canadian so about 7k USD all in).

The thing is, while that is expensive, it's not exclusive to Disney. I also priced out several other vacations and they were similarly priced. The cost of travel in general has just gone up. Disney is clearly just keeping pace.

 

[CanadaDisney05]

WDW can be done on a relatively low budget if you want to so I do not believe people are actually "priced out."

The problem comes in when it costs so much more than alternatives that people choose other options. I think that is what we'll see more of going forward. People who don't have endless resources will decide that the value they are getting at WDW isn't good enough to reach the top of the priority list.

This is what I think gets lost on this board. WDW is expensive, but the alternatives have also gotten a lot more expensive. It all depends what your comparing it to.

A 3 day camping trip locally is significantly less than 7 days at wdw.

A 3 day trip to a large domestic city, is probably cheaper than 7 days at WDW.

A 7 day trip in a large domestic city is probably on par with a 7 day trip at WDW (anyone who says it's much cheaper is probably ignoring costs such has entertainment).

A 7 day cruise/all inclusive is probably on par with a 7 day wdw trip.

A 14 day European vacation is probably significantly more expensive than a wdw vacation (especially once you factor in entertainment costs, and exchange rate).

 

[CanadaDisney05]

, The cost of a Disney vacation in my view has increased far more over the years then many other places you might choose to vacation.

Examples? This keeps getting thrown out there in these conversations, but nobody provides evidene

 

[CanadaDisney05]

I spent a week exploring National Parks in UT. I spent in a week what I would spend in half a day at WDW.

I can find vacations that cost more than WDW, but I get a much bigger bang for my buck.

I spent a week exploring National Parks in UT. I spent in a week what I would spend in half a day at WDW.

I can find vacations that cost more than WDW, but I get a much bigger bang for my buck.

Can you please provide a rough breakdown of those costs. I'm actually quite curious.

 

[CanadaDisney05]

I know large families like mine would have a hard time making a Disney trip work on average income. We would definitely not be able to afford Disney if we were an “average” income family. Even without having to pay for our room (DVC) we spend an obscene amount of money on each trip. That could be cut down by not staying as long, bringing in food etc. but tickets alone for 7 people would be ridiculous. And now with Genie+ we’ll be spending an extra $105 per day, $1050 over our 10 park days. Ridiculous.

While it's admiral that you are able to afford luxuries like wdw for a family of 7, remember that families of 7 that earn an average income likely aren't getting many other luxuries in life without going into serious debt. The variable causing this is the size of the family, not WDW specifically.

 

[shawthorne44]

None of our vacations are in the same ballpark as WDW as far as cost. Pre-lockdown, I priced out my dream vacation which was live-aboard diving on the Great Barrier Reef. Even with the expensive flights, it was much cheaper.

Look at USF, you can buy annual passes in the $300's. 10-day WDW tickets are in the high $500's. At USF, the premier hotels are priced around WDW Moderates and equal or surpass WDW Deluxe.

We just did a week in Houston. Total cost was around $1500. We did what we wanted, ate where we wanted and didn't penny-pinch. Summer of 2019 we did a 2-week Arizona vacation starting with Vegas then the Grand Canyon, then the rest of Arizona. Cost was low 2000's.

 

[CanadaDisney05]

None of our vacations are in the same ballpark as WDW as far as cost. Pre-lockdown, I priced out my dream vacation which was live-aboard diving on the Great Barrier Reef. Even with the expensive flights, it was much cheaper.

Price it out again today. I'm curious.

Look at USF, you can buy annual passes in the $300's. 10-day WDW tickets are in the high $500's. At USF, the premier hotels are priced around WDW Moderates and equal or surpass WDW Deluxe.

Annual pass at USO doesn't include parking and provides access to half the parks. Factor in parking and your 10 day trip is going to be a lot more expensive. Also factor in that you will probably be a lore more bored at USO after 3 days.

Yes Disney deluxe hotel prices are outrageous. But there are also options at staying in values/offsite which bring the price down significantly.

Flights, food, transportation will be near identical for both options.

Once you factor them all in, a 7 day trip to USO is very close in price to WDW.

We just did a week in Houston. Total cost was around $1500. We did what we wanted, ate where we wanted and didn't penny-pinch.

I'm very interested in a breakdown of those costs. Even at $100 tax in per night for a hotel room, that only leaves $800 for flights, food, transportation, and entertainment.

Summer of 2019 we did a 2-week Arizona vacation starting with Vegas then the Grand Canyon, then the rest of Arizona. Cost was low 2000's.

Same as above. At $100/nt hotel, thats only about $800ish total for flights, food, transportation, and entertainment.

 

[Pickles516]

The issue to me isn’t necessarily being able to afford going to WDW - most people can make that happen in some capacity if they’re willing to live essentially a Spartan lifestyle in order to afford the trip. The issue to me is that even if you *do* eat rice and beans every day for two years in order to afford the trip, you’ll *still* be a second or third class citizen at best once you get there. Once you strip away everything that the more fortunate get to enjoy (deluxe accommodations, convenient transportation, signature experiences and dining, shorter lines for attractions, etc.), you’re essentially paying more money than you’ve ever spent on anything in order to ride a few rides and have your station in life drawn into even sharper contrast to the wealthy than it already was in your normal life.

It used to be that if you were able to scrape up enough to take this trip with your family as a working class person, you *felt* rich once you were in the bubble. You felt like it was worth the money because you were treated so well and had so many little perks and magical details you wouldn’t get anywhere else.

Should you be able to buy more perks and experiences and better accommodations if you have a bunch of money? Of course! The problem to me is that the way things currently are, going to WDW as a working class person makes your role very clear - your purpose is to pump your peasant money into the WDW economy so that it can still continue to operate and provide a magical experience for those who don’t have to worry about money.

 

[CanadaDisney05]

your purpose is to pump your peasant money into the WDW economy so that it can still continue to operate and provide a magical experience for those who don’t have to worry about money.

This seems to be more of an issue with the generic idea of capitalism in America than it does with the Disney Corporation.

 

[Pickles516]

This seems to be more of an issue with the generic idea of capitalism in America than it does with the Disney Corporation.

I don’t believe the two are mutually exclusive. It just seems to me that WDW used to be a place where, once you passed the pay barrier to get on property, you got to be treated above your station for a little bit. It doesn’t seem that way now, the mentality now seems to be that you should count your blessings that you’ve had the privilege to give them your money.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

The issue to me isn’t necessarily being able to afford going to WDW - most people can make that happen in some capacity if they’re willing to live essentially a Spartan lifestyle in order to afford the trip. The issue to me is that even if you *do* eat rice and beans every day for two years in order to afford the trip, you’ll *still* be a second or third class citizen at best once you get there. Once you strip away everything that the more fortunate get to enjoy (deluxe accommodations, convenient transportation, signature experiences and dining, shorter lines for attractions, etc.), you’re essentially paying more money than you’ve ever spent on anything in order to ride a few rides and have your station in life drawn into even sharper contrast to the wealthy than it already was in your normal life.

It used to be that if you were able to scrape up enough to take this trip with your family as a working class person, you *felt* rich once you were in the bubble. You felt like it was worth the money because you were treated so well and had so many little perks and magical details you wouldn’t get anywhere else.

Should you be able to buy more perks and experiences and better accommodations if you have a bunch of money? Of course! The problem to me is that the way things currently are, going to WDW as a working class person makes your role very clear - your purpose is to pump your peasant money into the WDW economy so that it can still continue to operate and provide a magical experience for those who don’t have to worry about money.

I would argue this happens in every facet of life, abd not just WDW, Disney as a corporation cannot be made into something that it’s not. They have always driven revenue right down to its inception. Walt himself wanted it to be a place for families, but never promised to make it affordable for all families, or that all families would have the same experience

 

[hsmamato2]

The issue to me isn’t necessarily being able to afford going to WDW - most people can make that happen in some capacity if they’re willing to live essentially a Spartan lifestyle in order to afford the trip. The issue to me is that even if you *do* eat rice and beans every day for two years in order to afford the trip, you’ll *still* be a second or third class citizen at best once you get there. Once you strip away everything that the more fortunate get to enjoy (deluxe accommodations, convenient transportation, signature experiences and dining, shorter lines for attractions, etc.), you’re essentially paying more money than you’ve ever spent on anything in order to ride a few rides and have your station in life drawn into even sharper contrast to the wealthy than it already was in your normal life.

It used to be that if you were able to scrape up enough to take this trip with your family as a working class person, you *felt* rich once you were in the bubble. You felt like it was worth the money because you were treated so well and had so many little perks and magical details you wouldn’t get anywhere else.

I think this nicely sums up the "feeling" I get currently....As I've noted, I personally CAN afford a trip....but I don't want to pay through the nose now to get what previously was a fairly easy,fun for all kind of vacation for one basic cost. I know I spend too much time talking about "what used to be" but it's a real loss IMHO. I haven't liked the direction things were going for a few years now.... but this newer WDW just has me smh.
..................................you’re essentially paying more money than you’ve ever spent on anything in order to ride a few rides.................................................. I question the value proposition at this time.