Breaking Point for Disney Cost

[Mousemommy1]

We ha priced out other vacations and still feel like we get the most bang for our Buck at Disney. When that ceases to be the case, we will consider other options.

 

[PetePanMan]

For us, as long as we think WDW is a good value relative to options for other vacations (which are going up in cost as well)

 

[Grandma G]

That castle forecourt is a shocker. My daughter swears there is AstroTurf instead of grass. Is that true?

That's my understanding ...

In 1986, my husband, my parents, my brother, my sister-in-law, my two nephews (four and five years old) and I visited shortly after I had written a letter that was ultimately published in WDW's in-house newspaper. And before we left home, I had received complimentary copies of the paper and an invitation for my family and I to appear in front of the Castle for a 'Special Occasion' on the Wednesday morning following our arrival.

When we got to the Castle, a crowd had gathered to watch several 'celebrities' being photographed with Mickey and Minnie (who, at that time, never appeared in the Parks together) in the beautiful grassy area in front of/to the right of it. I especially remember Mister T.

And then our entire party was ushered into the circle and photographed (first my nephews and then all of us) with Mister and Miss Mouse while Cast Members scooted everyone watching from beyond the fence to either the right or left so that the Castle in the background would appear unobstructed in the pictures.

And we still chuckle when we remember all of the whispered (and not-so-whispered) 'Who are they?'s surrounding us as the pictures were taken.

Later in the week, a Cast Member appeared at our campsite(s) with a beautifully-framed 8x10 of each of the two poses for each member of our family. Including the children. And, for our oldest nephew, there was also a print of the one of his parents that the Disney photographer had permitted him to take.

So, I really do wish that they hadn't messed with my family's grass ...

Note: The photographs are prominently displayed in my home but have never been scanned into any computer. Perhaps I can get my daughter to do that and I'll be able to share them.

Too, because this year is the Park's 60th Anniversary and I would like to be able to share those, I've also spent some time recently going through my parents' albums in an effort to find the several photos that were taken in August of 1955 when we visited a brand-new Disneyland. One of those is of my pretty-and-single aunt and the fully-costumed 'Astronaut' who ... evidently smitten ... strolled with her from Land to Land that day. We still chuckle about that, too.

 

[DisneyFive]

Man, I am in the EXACT boat as you...that's pretty much identical on all basis to our circumstances. It's SURE getting harder and harder to achieve this limit, isn't it?

No doubt! Whether it's Disney, a family cruise (non Disney), etc...

Dan

 

[Kalliope]

That castle forecourt is a shocker. My daughter swears there is AstroTurf instead of grass. Is that true?

Yes.

 

[gracelrm]

We're not at the breaking point, but we certainly have been forced to change our trips. We used to always stay 7 nights - now we shave off a day or two. We also are making the time between visits longer. We own DVC, so have the ability to eat more in the room. Originally, we only ate breakfast in the room and had snacks. Now we usually eat breakfast and lunch in the room and snacks. We don't enjoy the TS restaurants as much as we used to and have been cutting back on how often we eat at a TS the past several years. We do drive to Disney - so that expense hasn't increased too dramatically to affect our decision to go or not. I envision as our kids leave home, that we may make trips where we utilize our DVC accommodations without visiting the parks.

I do still believe that there's nothing that makes me happier than walking into the Magic Kingdom, so I don't think we'll quit going, but I do know that our trips and spending are vastly different than the first 15 years of trips.

 

[Bullseye]

Coral Beach Resort & Suites - goes for under $150 a night in Myrtle Beach and it's a top 10 property. Also the beach is free. At Disney, you're paying over $1,000 for a week of park access for a family of 4.

Worth is very subjective. People keep saying they could rent a house at the beach or an all inclusive for less. However that vacation would have absolutely no worth to me. I'm sun sensitive, I hate being sweaty, laying around in the sand is pretty much my idea of hell. Any price for the beach or a tropical resort is too much. I have enjoyed both cruises I've been on but that's not cheaper for me than Disney. I have done San Antonio, Chicago and other city destinations but again not particularly cheaper and take more planning (hotels, transportation, food) for me. So while there are cheaper vacations they are worse vacations that I would not enjoy and that would be a waste of money.

This is the same with us. I admit I'm a thalassophobe (fear of ocean) so going to the beach, unless it's fresh water...not in gator country, doesn't hold any appeal for me. Plus it's not something that would hold my attention for more than a couple days anyway . I don't want to just lay around and relax...I want to be thrilled and entertained ! Different strokes for different folks. Some like the ocean, or the mountains, or the deserts, or historical places. We like theme parks, water parks, plushy resorts and good restaurants, so WDW / US-IOA is perfect for us . Even though some of the parks are going through some changes, to us there is still enough return for what we are paying.

We have already cut back on our trips a lot. We take our RV and park it at a local campground instead of on site hotels. Much cheaper and we have a full kitchen plus the back area for the kids instead of a tiny hotel room where we can barely walk around in. The last trip we ate the food there we were just meh about almost every single meal. I would rather be meh about a sandwich that costs pennies instead of a ts meal that cost hundreds. So we don't eat on site anymore. I just set the crock pot before we head out for the day. And I find we enjoy our trips a lot more now because I'm not trying to make it worth the cost. We can afford the hotels and on site food but we just weren't enjoying them anymore so that was our breaking point. I'm just grateful the two teens are still happy to go with us.

Wow... with a decent RV this sounds like an awesome way to do WDW!

That castle forecourt is a shocker. My daughter swears there is AstroTurf instead of grass. Is that true?

The grass in many areas is artificial but I couldn't disagree more about the new hub itself. IMO It looks really nice and there is so much more open space. It's not nearly as stifling during parades and fireworks anymore.

 

[hsmamato2]

when it gets too expensive for my budget, or they truly don't enhance the parks experience with excellent things to replace all the closures. I don't mind spending some $$$ to enjoy a vacay, but I won't spend it if it's not worth it anymore. Right now it's kind of at a breaking point, and if I were paying anything close to *normal* prices for our overall trip,I would cancel the Disney portion. (I'm not, so we are still doing Disney) I still love the experience of a nice FL hotel or resort to relax at...no worries- but Onsite? ummmm it's like others have said, if the quality of overall experience goes/stays low, then that's our breaking point. many here are just quoting airfare and hotel prices...to me, the one thing you can't avoid are the heinously high ticket prices (in most cases you have to pay it) and that's a big consideration for me. That's the biggest difference between a Disney vacay and a vacy anywhere that I can put together.

 

[hsmamato2]

also want to add.... even though last year,there were many closures at the parks, Disney seemed to 'step it up' with lots of great entertainment,and I love entertainment-I personally love it more than attractions....so we were never short on fun things to do...if Disney can keep that end up, it's still good for me!

 

[DisneyPrince1982]

This is the same with us. I admit I'm a thalassophobe (fear of ocean) so going to the beach, unless it's fresh water...not in gator country, doesn't hold any appeal for me.

You don't wanna swim with this little guy?

 

[Bullseye]

You don't wanna swim with this little guy?

Heck no ...all my Florida relatives tell me I'm totally irrational, but I'll admit I'm a coward when it comes to swimming with things that want to eat me!

 

[disneyseniors]

Just had to add my 2 cents worth We use a certified WDW travel agent, and she always finds us the "deals" on our travel package; ie: lowest air fares, best room off (PIN) rates, fd, special rates, etc. We will continue to go if we continue to get these deals that we can afford. Just to compare: we went to a lake on the Canadian border out in the middle of no where!!! No malls, amusement parks, etc, only the lake! It cost $4,000.00 for the week for a large 6 bedroom lakefront cabin. It had a hot tub, firepit, and dock for the boat. The resort store had games and they had a large blow up slide/bouncy thing off shore to use. So, it was a completely different type of vacation. Our daughter paid for it because that's the kind of vacation she likes - lake front with a good book, fire, beach. To ME, it's not a vacation!! I love to be entertained, not sit on a beach. That's why we love Disney. There's so much of a variety to things to do, food to eat, shows to see, parades, shopping, rides, entertainment, etc, etc plus the Atmosphere of being at WDW. So, I guess it boils down to what type of vacation you love. For us, it's something to do all the time that's interesting.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

We are getting there. Going in October, but staying moderate instead of the deluxe we normally do. We cut our park days back as well. We eat at very few table service restaurants, because we feel the hype of the dining plan has dumbed down the food, and raised the price of meals. Adding the fact that we have to plan our fast passes before even stepping foot in the park has taken away the experience for us. We are doing the halloween party this year, but am astonished at the cost compared to a few years ago. Additionally, since they add so many party nights, it's the only real way to experience the MK at night that time of year, which is really ridiculous as well. It's my favorite time of year at the parks, and we haven't been for awhile, so I'll splurge. But we really are tired of all the capital spending going towards the stupid Frozen sisters, and not towards any other park improvements. We haven't hit our threshold completely, but it's getting close. But...then again, you can drop the same money at the beach for a week too....

Pretty much this for us, too. I just hate the pre planning. I've been going since 1972, and I personally have been over 50 times. We started going as a family in 1988, and at that we stayed in a time share not a mile from Downtown Disney. We always enjoyed waking up and deciding what we were going to do that day; plus, we always had time to go to Universal a couple of days (always got season passes), and Sea World. Starting in 2008 we started staying onsite. One of the problems is that you aren't inclined to leave Disney property. With the onset of free dining, walking into a restaurant without a reservation became a thing of the past, unless you got lucky. Now you have to know what park you want to go to 2 to 6 months out in order to get the fps and line them up with the ADRs. The DVC resort we stayed in was not clean, the buses crowded, and the parks even more crowded than ever. I was armed with fps and ADRs which made everyone miserable. Last trip we scrapped the plans mid week, partly over frustration over not having time to go to US, so we are actually talking about going back in 2016 but this time my DS and family will stay onsite 2 or 3 days (for the DGDs to get the "Disney Experience" but then it's back to a condo. We plan to stay at the Hilton at Sea World, and it's close to US. I would do one of the US hotels, but we can do a trade on a time share for a 3 BR at the Hilton so why not? No ADRs except 2 and maybe a couple of fps, but that's it. Hopefully we won't have to spend a better part of our day standing in line for the ever growing meet and greets. We'll do one of the character meals with princesses to get the girls their princess fix. We want to spend more time at the water parks and other places besides Disney. This may make me and my family happy again. We'll see

 

[bobbiwoz]

Senior citizen couple, DVC owners with AP's here. I cannot imagine not going to WDW each year for at least Flower and Garden time, Christmas Holiday time and finally for the NYE fireworks! Sometimes we throw in a trip around Food & Wine. We'll go for next 4th of July, just waiting for 11 months out to book our DVC accommodation.

We both think the Frozen Fireworks are Disney's best ever set to music. We were there last weekend and had the FP+ for Wishes fireworks. It was great to see the pre fireworks castle show in such a good location, the park itself was crazy crowded!

I am sorry to see some things close, (like Animation lessons, I hope they come back someplace!) but I do look forward to the next new things!

 

[eliza61]

Pretty much this for us, too. I just hate the pre planning. I've been going since 1972, and I personally have been over 50 times. We started going as a family in 1988, and at that we stayed in a time share not a mile from Downtown Disney. We always enjoyed waking up and deciding what we were going to do that day; plus, we always had time to go to Universal a couple of days (always got season passes), and Sea World. Starting in 2008 we started staying onsite. One of the problems is that you aren't inclined to leave Disney property. With the onset of free dining, walking into a restaurant without a reservation became a thing of the past, unless you got lucky. Now you have to know what park you want to go to 2 to 6 months out in order to get the fps and line them up with the ADRs. The DVC resort we stayed in was not clean, the buses crowded, and the parks even more crowded than ever. I was armed with fps and ADRs which made everyone miserable. Last trip we scrapped the plans mid week, partly over frustration over not having time to go to US, so we are actually talking about going back in 2016 but this time my DS and family will stay onsite 2 or 3 days (for the DGDs to get the "Disney Experience" but then it's back to a condo. We plan to stay at the Hilton at Sea World, and it's close to US. I would do one of the US hotels, but we can do a trade on a time share for a 3 BR at the Hilton so why not? No ADRs except 2 and maybe a couple of fps, but that's it. Hopefully we won't have to spend a better part of our day standing in line for the ever growing meet and greets. We'll do one of the character meals with princesses to get the girls their princess fix. We want to spend more time at the water parks and other places besides Disney. This may make me and my family happy again. We'll see

Amen I swear I'm starting to feel like I'm planning the invasion of Normandy on D-day instead of a vacation. I absolutely hate it and the problem is now you are "forced" to do it. My kids hate it also. I have college students, their real life is already jammed packed with schedules and deadline, it's horrible that now on vacation they have to do it also.

I must be an anomaly because I get awesome deals at other vacations. case in point, my kids and I did royal carribbean Oasis of the seas, we had a jr suite balcony cabin and that ran me about 4K, that included air fare from philly to ft. Lauderdale plus an excursion on 2 out of the 3 island stops. Ship was gorgeous, food 1000% better and my tips were included.

Next my sister and I are mulling over a trip to Paris late in September. the dollar is doing great against the Euro, almost dollar to dollar. Canada, the value is also great. I think 1 us dollar willl get you 130 CAD. we found a deal on travelocity. 8 nights at a 4 star hotel PLUS rt nonstop airfare from JFK to Paris for 1774 per person. The cheapest room rate I got for disney if I don't use my points (staying at a deluxe) would be over 4K. that includes a park hopper but no air fare.

So we may kick our food and wine trip to disney to the curb. Europe is just about the same, if I keep every thing apples to apples.

 

[DisneyPrince1982]

Next my sister and I are mulling over a trip to Paris late in September. the dollar is doing great against the Euro, almost dollar to dollar. Canada, the value is also great. I think 1 us dollar willl get you 130 CAD. we found a deal on travelocity. 8 nights at a 4 star hotel PLUS rt nonstop airfare from JFK to Paris for 1774 per person. The cheapest room rate I got for disney if I don't use my points (staying at a deluxe) would be over 4K. that includes a park hopper but no air fare.

That's a great deal. And I speak from personal experience, the meals in Paris will be much cheaper than what you would pay at Disney World for Chefs de France, Biergarten, Tutto Italia (just to name a few examples). And the quality will be 100000000000000000000000000x better.

 

[CuseWazowski]

We'll find out next month if we've reached that point. Our last trip was in August 2013, so we haven't experienced MB or FP+ yet, as they were in trials at that point. Taking this vacation is extravagant for us. We work hard to be able to do it and every trip certainly gets more expensive. If we find that we aren't happy with the experience, either in terms of quality or value, we'll explore other options, but we have always looked forward to our trips and expect to have a magical time!

 

[bcrook]

We'll find out next month if we've reached that point. Our last trip was in August 2013, so we haven't experienced MB or FP+ yet, as they were in trials at that point. Taking this vacation is extravagant for us. We work hard to be able to do it and every trip certainly gets more expensive. If we find that we aren't happy with the experience, either in terms of quality or value, we'll explore other options, but we have always looked forward to our trips and expect to have a magical time!

The MK and Africa in DAK sure look different! Have a good trip. I had about that same time difference in my trips. IF you can find a slow time, I would walk through that Peter Pan standby queue. It has some fun elements.

 

[DCbride]

We still go 3 times a year. But, the cost of hotel decides if we stay on property. Paying close to $200 a night for Pop Easter week is ridiculous! But $225 for Beach Club in summer makes sense. I know peak vs non peak, but that is our breaking point. I would stay off before paying $200 for a value.

The other is TS. I will not pay a weeks worth of groceries for 1 meal for my family.

 

[epcotty]

We're currently using nonexpiring tickets and when those are used up, it'll have to depend on whether or not we can get a decent price (quite a bit lower than price of 1 day) while still being able to use the days on the ticket before it expires. Being FL residents still makes that easier with the 3 and 4 day passes, especially the Discover Disney passes, otherwise it'd be a lot tougher. At some point if we still really want to go we'll go to Annual passes