Article: Disney World Still Affordable Despite Rising Gate Prices

[Experiment_626]

Good lord! Reading this makes me (again) so thankful that I was born in and have lived my entire life in Florida! I just did a (rare) solo trip to WDW last month. I drove down on a Saturday, stayed four nights at the Holiday Inn Maingate East (quite nice -- amenities most similar to a Disney moderate resort) for $43 per night (including the ridiculous but ubiquitous "resort fee"), made most of my meals with groceries I bought at Publix on the way (with a couple of minor splurges -- Fuddrucker's being the most extravagant of those) for a total cost of about $500 or so. That includes gas coming and going, food, hotel, and even a limited edition 40th anniversary Hawaiian shirt. The only thing it doesn't include is the cost of my Florida Resident AP, but I already had that and have used it to enter a park about 15 times this year so far -- and it will be used more before it gets renewed.

If my family of four had all come on this trip, the price would have gone up some, but it still would have been lower than $1K. For one thing, if my wife had come along, there would have been less splurging on meals!

My wife used to talk about moving out of Florida. It's hot and sticky in the summer because the sun has a personal vendetta against me and wants to make me burst into flames, but I think I'll stay right here. I kind of like being a rare breed -- a native Floridian!

Scott

 

[Joshua_me]

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.

^ I totally agree with the above as well...

It'll be a cold day in July before we spend rack rates at *any* Disney resort.

But, then again, Keith and I are spoiled. (Or perhaps, *informed* ) You can get *such* a good rate at the Swan/Dolphin, and have perfectly fine meals at their Garden Grove and The Fountain restaurants and still come out WAY ahead of the dining plan rates.

That, plus CS meals are just fine with us most of the time.

But, getting folks to stay at the "Swolphin" can be like pulling teeth. After all, they're not "Disney enough".

To each their own.

 

[NancyIL]

But, getting folks to stay at the "Swolphin" can be like pulling teeth. After all, they're not "Disney enough".

To each their own.

The Swan is my preferred WDW resort, followed closely by the Dolphin. No arm twisting needed here!

 

[Squidgyness]

Being from England-land, I'll give my take on this.

Now, I dont stay with disney resorts, so I cant speak for them. However, with regards to tickets, the 14 day ticket is a really good offer.

For people like us though, who stay for 2 weeks and visit other parks too, the 7-day non-hopper is actually cheaper at the gate.

Factoring in exchange rates, it is around $50 cheaper to get the week-long ticket at the Disney gates. Yay for 1.6 dollars to the pound!!!

With regards to hotels offsite:

(OT as it is) for 2 weeks and a 1 bedroom suite with living room and sofa bed + kitchenette the price hasnt really changed for us.

£3332 is the price for July '12 with 4 adults and return air fare to UK. So around $5.5k if my math serves me right. I wonder how that compares to Disney resorts?

 

[disneyholic family]

Being from England-land, I'll give my take on this.

Now, I dont stay with disney resorts, so I cant speak for them. However, with regards to tickets, the 14 day ticket is a really good offer.

For people like us though, who stay for 2 weeks and visit other parks too, the 7-day non-hopper is actually cheaper at the gate.

Factoring in exchange rates, it is around $50 cheaper to get the week-long ticket at the Disney gates. Yay for 1.6 dollars to the pound!!!

With regards to hotels offsite:

(OT as it is) for 2 weeks and a 1 bedroom suite with living room and sofa bed + kitchenette the price hasnt really changed for us.

£3332 is the price for July '12 with 4 adults and return air fare to UK. So around $5.5k if my math serves me right. I wonder how that compares to Disney resorts?

of course disney is giving you the deal for the 14 and 21 day tickets...
they want you to visit the parks for the full time you're there..
they don't want to give you any encouragement to only visit the parks for a week - when they know most are coming for longer than that...

 

[DeaverTex]

I suppose it's all about what you see as affordable. Just for grins, I put together a package. Leaving on October 16 and returning October 22, which is based on how tough it is to get time off from my job and Mrs. Tex's too.

From AUS to MCO, using American (just 'cause I get miles) $776
Baggage (1 suitcase plus carry-on) $ 25
Parking at AUS (covered lot, Mrs. Tex gets a discount) $ 100
5 day NON park hoppers (two, of course) $ 535
Food (I'm lost here, so I'm assuming $50/day each?) $ 500
Souvenirs (We're cheap. Likely only a couple of t-shirts) $ 50
Snacks while traveling $ 25
POP ($95/day + tax, and we WANT to stay on site) $ 535
TOTAL $ 2546

I've probably forgotten something, and this involved NO research so I may have missed a discount possibility. When I did a test on the Disney site for a package (separate air fare, though), that included the TS dining plan, it came out a little less, but still over $2,000.

This is not an inexpensive vacation (nobody so far has claimed that it is), and honestly, I have serious sticker shock every time I look at stuff like this. I've never spent more than about $1,000 for a vacation in my life, and the big reason I'm on these forums several years before we can ever think about WDW is to desensitize myself to the incredible cost of going to the House of Mouse. (I'm doing the same thing about cruises, on a different forum.) I don't know if I'm completely out of touch with costs, or if I'm not really convinced that I should spend that much money for a week away from work. It's three months' worth of mortgage payments.

 

[carlene]

My gosh...what the heck are you paying for and for how long is the trip...I have never heard of anyone spending that kind of money...except to get married there!!!!