Article: Disney World Still Affordable Despite Rising Gate Prices

[disneyholic family]

Many of our British guests purchase a 14 Day Ultimate Ticket that gives them park hopping and water parks. We don't sell them here in the US, I only redeemed them when I was working in ticketing.

yes, the 14 day ultimate ticket offered in the UK is fantastic!!
for about $400 they get 14 days of unlimited entrance into everything - 4 theme parks, 2 waterparks, disneyquest

it's very good value for money....unfortunately, we're not in the UK so not entitled to it. If we were, i'd definitely go for that rather than the PAP...

disney recognizes how expensive it is for their british guests to visit WDW, so they offer a few price breaks to make it more economically feasible for them to visit..

in addition to the attractive tickets available to UK guests, disney also offers free dining for many dates throughout the year and also brings the offer out much earlier (the 2012 free dining offer has been out in the UK for several months already)..

also, UK guests are offered a 44% discount on free dining at OKW/SSR, making it the same price as the moderates with free dining...(in other words, you can stay at OKW in a studio with free dining for the same price as a room at POR with free dining)...

quite a bargain....in fact many on the UK trip planning board will be at WDW in August/Sept/Oct/Nov - on free dining staying at OKW or SSR.

 

[FireDancer]

I think it is possible to do Disney and keep it affordable if you want. I usually pre-buy a 10 day parhhopper which last me about 4 years (I do a lot of quick long weekend trips), stay at a value, try to go with a couple of friends and split the room cost, don't eat at a lot of the expensive restaurants (though I do Boma every trip), and can usually get really cheap airfare out of either Cleveland or Akron.

I also only pay for one person, me. I could see how it gets expensive coming from England but if I could I'd gladly trade you my cheap airfare to WDW for your cheap airfare to most of Europe.

 

[ninecrayons]

disney recognizes how expensive it is for their british guests to visit WDW, so they offer a few price breaks to make it more economically feasible for them to visit..

Very interesting to me that Disney offers such heavy discounts to the UK when the GBP is so much stronger than the USD. With the exchange rate in their favor, that's its own discount. I definitely understand that it costs more to come from overseas, but at the same time I'm amazed they would discount as much as they are.

 

[kylmac]

I just wanted to say have a great time at WDW! Sorry it is costing you so much-we swallow hard every time we book our airfare and prepare for an upcoming Disney vacation. Lots of money but worth it to us!
Elizabeth

 

[disneyholic family]

Very interesting to me that Disney offers such heavy discounts to the UK when the GBP is so much stronger than the USD. With the exchange rate in their favor, that's its own discount. I definitely understand that it costs more to come from overseas, but at the same time I'm amazed they would discount as much as they are.

i'm not in the UK, so i don't get those discounts, but i totally understand disney going after the british market..

while it's a very small market relative to the US, it's very loyal and they tend to spend a lot each visit....
and their visits are long ones - 2 and 3 week stays are the norm....
so it makes sense to encourage them to visit...

there's a very good example on the UK trip planning board of a guy who a few years ago couldn't have cared less about disney...
he enjoyed going to orlando, but WDW wasn't high on his list of must dos....
then a few years ago, he tried the discounted OKW free dining offer.....and that was it...total conversion...
(maybe they included koolaid in the dining plan)..
he's so completely disney now, he's one of the UK board moderators!!
and i believe the conversion came because of that offer....it was too good an offer to refuse, so for the first time he stayed onsite and did the total immersion disney experience.....and enjoyed it....and this year he's doing it again (i think this is his third time doing the special british free dining offer)..

that's just one example....there are many...

 

[mdsd8700]

I think a lot of us "mouse worshippers" would be less upset about continually rising prices if we saw a corresponding increase in the quality. What we do see is quality and services being reduced even as prices rise.

I can't help but be concerned about the future of the company. I see Disney moving further and further from the company that Lee Cockrell describes in his book.

Sure, we're getting visitors-but are we creating more mouse worshippers? Are we giving people a reason to visit again and again? Or, are we going to be a destination that people hit once while the kids are young, maybe one more time and then they go elsewhere because we're not giving them anything that they can't get someplace else.

I think this is very well put as well!

For us the cost of a Disney vacation is just about the same as all our vacations. Whether we are visiting NY or the Grand Canyon. As long as I feel I am getting value from my trip then I don't mind spending the money. I agee that Disney may not be focusing on creating more "mouse worshipers" in it's current mind set. Although the changes at DLR and the Fantasyland expansion are good signs. However I think the key is maintain the highest of standards and sometimes that doesn't seem to be the case.

 

[rotlex]

For us, living in the NE and driving down for the past few years; even with the price hikes, Disney is still a fantastic value. This year, we are doing a 10 night stay at the Wilderness Lodge with free dining. The stay 4 myself, DW, DD and DS is around $3500. To me, that is comparable, heck, CHEAPER, than the same length trip to say, the Jersey shore! Really. It is. I've figured it out quite a few times.

Now, if we do our normal moderate, or POP stay, the cost is right around, or just over, 2K. Yes, to me that is a very affordable dream vacation.

 

[disneydad78]

yes, the 14 day ultimate ticket offered in the UK is fantastic!!
for about $400 they get 14 days of unlimited entrance into everything - 4 theme parks, 2 waterparks, disneyquest

it's very good value for money....unfortunately, we're not in the UK so not entitled to it. If we were, i'd definitely go for that rather than the PAP...

disney recognizes how expensive it is for their british guests to visit WDW, so they offer a few price breaks to make it more economically feasible for them to visit..

in addition to the attractive tickets available to UK guests, disney also offers free dining for many dates throughout the year and also brings the offer out much earlier (the 2012 free dining offer has been out in the UK for several months already)..

also, UK guests are offered a 44% discount on free dining at OKW/SSR, making it the same price as the moderates with free dining...(in other words, you can stay at OKW in a studio with free dining for the same price as a room at POR with free dining)...

quite a bargain....in fact many on the UK trip planning board will be at WDW in August/Sept/Oct/Nov - on free dining staying at OKW or SSR.

Ok so please answer the ???? If you dont live in the UK, where do you live that cost $17,000 to fly. Not judging so dont be affraid to answer just wondering so I can,,,,,, u for being a true WDW fan.

 

[disneyholic family]

Ok so please answer the ???? If you dont live in the UK, where do you live that cost $17,000 to fly. Not judging so dont be affraid to answer just wondering so I can,,,,,, u for being a true WDW fan.

we live in israel....
while flying is very expensive year round, it's much worse in the summer..
and much worse the later you buy your tickets (as the less expensive seats are snapped up)....this was a relatively last minute trip...

had we been able to go in september, it would have been half that amount..
but DDIL is a teacher and has to be back for the school year...
and we couldn't go without her - this is the big trip - all of us together...
i doubt very much we'll ever do this again.....it's just too much money.....

and the disney part of it didn't help.....the one big expense i still have to pay is the tickets.....every time i think about that $4200 i'll have to pay the day we get there i stop breathing...

actually, since we're on the dining plan, we have a one day ticket for each of us...so i'll be able to upgrade those....so that means i'll 'only' have to pay $3600 on the day we get there....still stopped breathing...

 

[Joshua_me]

Did they actually call us "Mouse Worshipers"?

Ha !

I believe they did, yes.

And if you're reading this, you're part of the flock.

 

[kaligal]

Anything is affordable if you have the money to pay for it.

Disney is not a cheap vacation. And paying for "free" dining and the Poly...not the cheapest way to do it.

"expert Pete Werner"

That's pretty cool. I'd like an article to refer to me as "expert Kali." The only thing I'm an expert in is the useless trivial crap that clutters up my brain...and how to not grow grass - but I doubt anyone will ever write and article on that subject.

 

[DeaverTex]

Anything is affordable if you have the money to pay for it.

Disney is not a cheap vacation. And paying for "free" dining and the Poly...not the cheapest way to do it.

This. I was starting to think I'm the only one on the boards to think that way.

 

[Cherinva]

I do agree that a WDW vacation is not cheap, but just for the heck of it, I just priced out a vacation spot near here...just to see....

Great Wolf Lodge.....for the same dates that we are going to WDW in September

Our package for WDW for 8 days, 7 nights to WDW is $1,443.00, MYW with free dining.

The package for Great Wolf Lodge (which is just an indoor water park only and NO food) is $1,399.93

That's a difference of $43.07...in reality, once you add in the cost of food for 2 people for 7 nights, plus some extra entertainment (a water park would bore me if that's all there was for 8 days) it is cheaper for us to go to WDW...now, yes, we have to add the cost of airfare, but still...I'd rather go to WDW and have the availability of 4 Parks, 2 Water Parks, DTD for the money.

 

[NancyIL]

From the article:

The best way to save money on your Disney trip can be summed up in two magical words: Free dining.

The company looks to lure visitors during traditionally slow weeks by offering complimentary meals with the purchase of Magic Your Way room and ticket packages.

So, go ahead: book a few nights at the "Deluxe" Polynesian, or save even more money by staying at Disney's best "Moderate" Port Orleans Riverside near Epcot.

"With marvelously detailed theming, bus transportation to all the parks, and boat service to Downtown Disney, Riverside might make you forget the stuck-in-the-70's Polynesian or Contemporary resorts."

1. I don't think "free dining" is the best way to save money on your trip - especially if you stay at a deluxe resort. You pay rack rate for your hotel and your dining is "included."

2. I do agree about the "stuck-in-the-70's" Poly and Contemporary!

As mentioned previously - international airfare is expensive, but you'd pay about the same for airfare whether you planned to spend 2 weeks at WDW or anywhere else in the US. I am very thankful to have frequent-flyer miles for expensive overseas flights.

 

[Cherinva]

Yes, for overseas folks...the price of airfare could be a deal breaker.

I've talked with a lot of people around here, and most of them keep saying it costs too much to go to WDW...but if you plan it right, it is do-able. Like with ours..and yes we are staying at a Value Resort...which we like..and the free dining is Quick Service...we like that also. The last couple of trips in which we've paid for dining, we've purchased the QS....it works for us...we don't go hungry that's for sure. We are planning one breakfast at O'Hanna which we will pay OOP for.

This trip is definately a value for us.

 

[disneyholic family]

Yes, for overseas folks...the price of airfare could be a deal breaker.

I've talked with a lot of people around here, and most of them keep saying it costs too much to go to WDW...but if you plan it right, it is do-able. Like with ours..and yes we are staying at a Value Resort...which we like..and the free dining is Quick Service...we like that also. The last couple of trips in which we've paid for dining, we've purchased the QS....it works for us...we don't go hungry that's for sure. We are planning one breakfast at O'Hanna which we will pay OOP for.

This trip is definately a value for us.

your package is a bargain in my opinion!!

my key problem is with disney pricing of the MYW tickets.
you can only buy up to 10 days. Once you go past 10 days, you begin to lose any savings. And at 14 days, as i mentioned, the only way to go is with an AP.

That's really a problem for anyone coming for more than 10 days.

i don't understand why disney prices it that way.

As noted, if you live in the UK you can buy a 14 day and 21 day ultimate ticket for a very reasonable rate.

But anyone else is stuck paying through the nose once they go past the 10 day mark.

It's really upsetting, especially when i know the UK ticket exists.

 

[Cherinva]

your package is a bargain in my opinion!!

Yes, that's why he booked it when he did..that price was too good to pass up
my key problem is with disney pricing of the MYW tickets.
you can only buy up to 10 days. Once you go past 10 days, you begin to lose any savings. And at 14 days, as i mentioned, the only way to go is with an AP.

That's really a problem for anyone coming for more than 10 days.

i don't understand why disney prices it that way. You are right, that doesn't make sense....the longer you stay, the more money you are likely to spend
As noted, if you live in the UK you can buy a 14 day and 21 day ultimate ticket for a very reasonable rate.

But anyone else is stuck paying through the nose once they go past the 10 day mark.

It's really upsetting, especially when i know the UK ticket exists.

If it's offered for the UK, why not for other foreign countries?

 

[WaltD4Me]

Frome the article:
1. I don't think "free dining" is the best way to save money on your trip - especially if you stay at a deluxe resort. You pay rack rate for your hotel and your dining is "included."

ITA. I would much rather get a good room or ticket discount. Rack rates at the resorts are outrageous. I watch for good room only discounts and worry about my own food. I'm not much of a "foodie" though. I can go and do mostly CS with just a couple favorite TS meals and I'm good. However...I am not travelling with a family. It's usually just me or just me and one of my nieces or my nephew. I can totally understand how free dining works for a family of four. Personally for me though, the DDP, free or otherwise, sounds like more trouble than it's worth.

 

[FireDancer]

If it's offered for the UK, why not for other foreign countries?

Three words: Brazilian Tour Groups.

 

[BriarRosie]

Three words: Brazilian Tour Groups.