Breaking Point for Disney Cost

[BugsDaddy]

I have taken a lot of different types of vacations and I will say that I always end up spending about the same amount of money when all is said and done. All inclusive beach vacations, cruises, etc. are all very compatible with a Disney vacation in terms of cost. Just depends on the type of vacation we are looking for and that can change year to year. So, no, we are not "priced out" of Disney.

 

[batmansmom25]

Crnflkgrl, you sound like me. LOL We went 3 years ago, it was the first time I had been to Disney since I was 12. Thanks to the wonderful people on this site I was able to plan our trip and it was wonderful. Crazy as it may sound to someone like you and I, it is magical. You will have a great time whether you come back or not. We're going again but I told my husband (Disney lover) this is it. There's a lot more out there to see in this beautiful country and I want to watch my children see it, especially many of the National Parks. That's why I will not stay at Wildneress Lodge, I'm saving that for when I'm actually at the Grand Canyon.

 

[cornflkgrl]

Crnflkgrl, you sound like me. LOL We went 3 years ago, it was the first time I had been to Disney since I was 12. Thanks to the wonderful people on this site I was able to plan our trip and it was wonderful. Crazy as it may sound to someone like you and I, it is magical. You will have a great time whether you come back or not. We're going again but I told my husband (Disney lover) this is it. There's a lot more out there to see in this beautiful country and I want to watch my children see it, especially many of the National Parks. That's why I will not stay at Wildneress Lodge, I'm saving that for when I'm actually at the Grand Canyon.

We are staying at Wilderness Lodge for that very reason We spent 5 years living 35 miles outside of Yellowstone National Park and had a parks pass for Yellowstone and Grand Teton and we visited those two parks, Badlands, Mount Rushmore, etc. Basically all the surrounding areas for the years we lived out west so we thought we'd go with the "Magical imaginary" version of what we've already experienced just for a fun theming experience. And maybe you are right. Maybe the more Disney = the less magical? Maybe the trick is to go every 10 years

 

[kathy884]

For me I typically have a budget of about $5000 for a week long vacation, so that's sort of my breaking point. Is putting together a vacation at that price point something that sounds good here? We do occasionally do special things that go over that (For DS's high school graduation we let him pick something more exotic than we usually do and spent $7000 to go to Kauai). // Disney/SeaWorld/Universal still fits in that budget, but right now it doesn't sound appealing to me to go to Orlando. And I'm spending more than what an Orlando trip would cost to go other places. The next three places on our list are (1) Estes Park/Rocky Mountain National Park -- actually as we can fly there so reasonably and that all our entertainment is taken care of with a $20 weekly pass to the National Park it's less expensive than Disney // After that South Dakota -- Badlands, Mount Rushmore, and other national monument caves and sites. This will cost us more than Disney, as air and accommodations will be more. // And another place on our list is Acadia / Bar Harbor -- Because of the air that's higher than Disney and the charming little inn I want to stay at this trip will be shorter than Disney to be the same cost as a Disney trip.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

I still find Disney a decent value. Once you are there with your park tix, everything is included with the exception of your food and spending money. We'd usually get a 7 day hopper tix for DH and I. Current price is $850 for the 2 tickets. That's $121 a day for us both. There is no place we could travel and be entertained all day for $121 for the 2 of us. We like to scuba dive, that's about $200 for the 2 of us for a three hour excursion. Going to Vegas where there is a lot of free activities seeing a decent 90 minute show is $121 for one of us. Going to the Georgia Aquarium is about $80 admission for 2 and isn't a full day event.

I feel the hotels are comparable with other large city comparable hotels. As for dining, I find it the same as in a big city as well. No matter where we travel to, we aren't ones that have huge meals multiple times a day. We usually do a mix at Disney of CS and TS meals.

 

[gonitts]

Our October trip this year will be our first since 2010. Our boys will be 14 and 6. Since our last trip we have done all inclusives and cruises and I can say they were cheaper than this trip and we are even staying at a vacation rental. So of course we have to rent a car but it's still cheaper this way than staying at a moderate resort which we were planning. But I have to say when I hear of friends and relatives on what they spend for a week at the beaches around here such as Maryland or New Jersey you are definitely getting more bang for your buck at Disney. I would never spend that kind of money. Many hotels in these areas are dumps.

 

[dkrauss]

As you know this is a very subjective question............my wife and I love the deluxe hotel experience..........to us its more than a room.......its location, amenities, restaurants..........but that's us. We're doing a quick long weekend trip in December for the DISapalooza event. To make that happen we'll be staying at AoA.........purely for cost considerations. For us it depends on the event. We're doing the WDW Marathon in January..........this one we've been saving for more than a year. We rented DVC points at the BWV.........and got a room rate equivalent to $270/night. For us that's a deal........now for many that may be extreme (especially if you children)..........but for just the two of us its all about the planning and saving. We're actually saving now for the purchase of AP's. We'll purchase in November 2016............with all the discounts attached we believe 2017 (and that November trip in 2016) will be the YEAR OF DISNEY! For us.................

No matter what do what's best for your personal situation..................we save for about a year.......for most trips...........and we always try to use cash to pay for the room/tickets..........but again that's us.

Doug

 

[scoobygrl79]

Family of 5 here. $6000 is my upper limit right now for any annual family vacation 7+ nights, all expenses included.

Dan

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?

 

[3DisneyFanz]

This is a question we've asked and just aren't sure there is a right answer. I've been going at least once a year since '81 and my wife and I used to go 3 to 4 times a year for the first 10 years of our marriage then it backed down to 2 times and now it's 1. For us it's just the changes that many other people have mentioned that are wearing thin on us. We're not big planners and that just kills you now at WDW. We liked the flexibility of just bouncing around and deciding where to go the night before or that day over breakfast. Outside of that just seeing how the parks have changed in terms of maintenance just drives us nuts. The fact that there isn't an attraction without a broken animatronic is pretty hard to swallow for people who grew up in the times of constant repair and repaint.

I certainly can't see just stopping cold turkey because there's no feeling like the one you get when you hit Main Street but as the old saying goes "never say never".

 

[Ceryssa]

I think we're there, or will be after this trip. My husband agreed to go back this year (last year was our first family trip) but he absolutely refuses to go back anytime soon. Not because he doesn't like WDW or even so much how much it costs, but he doesn't feel the value is there. More the hotels than the parks, but he prefers the more relaxing pace of a beach trip (which of course is totally subjective). I know we'll go back at some point, but we won't be staying onsite--he can't understand why anyone would want to pay so much for a single room which is, when you take away the themed decorations, just a hotel room, when you can get much more for your money offsite. I'm not totally in agreement with him, but I do see his point. I started off planning this trip very much on the other side of the spectrum and quietly trying to figure out how I could talk him into going back sooner, but after the ADR wrangling, last-minute announcements (despite requiring guests to plan very far in advance) that will impact touring, rising costs, difficulty and frustration securing discounts (that honestly seemed deliberately released in a way to be as difficult to acquire as possible, not to mention frustration-inducing, and again with releasing them far, far after many things are required to be planned), and continuous news of attraction closures/super slow progress of construction, I'm really not fighting him on it anymore. It could be the area we're in, but we can take a beach vacation for a third of what it costs to go to Disney. I'm pricing all-inclusives for next year and it's far less than what we're paying for Disney--even after airfare which is quite a bit more than it costs us to fly to Orlando, and they even include alcohol. I think after this trip we'll have had enough of Disney for a while.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

We haven't reached it yet. Disney is just such a big part of our lives, its always been worth it.

Airfare, however, is really what drives the cost up for us. It's insane and while neither of us have an issue driving, we live 23 hours away and that's extra days we need to take off work, etc, or less days at Disney.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Sounds crazy but I really wouldn't mind paying a lot if it meant the parks were less crowded.

My wife and I came to this conclusion many years ago and began planning all of our trips for times with lower crowds. Some of those lower crowd times have become much more crowded, but there are still about 10 weeks in the year in which crowds are very low. And, get this - they are the least expensive times of the year to travel to WDW.

Love WDW, but not enough to deal with crowds higher than a 5 (and prefer much lower). Would not go for free during seasons with crowds higher than a 6. So, for us, it isn't about the money but we clearly have our breaking point with WDW.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

Even though we live close by we only go twice a year and stay a couple of days. Thankfully it has been easier because of the military discounts. We will be going for F&W again this year but won't be doing the spring trip over. Hard to get FP , very crowded ,and a lot of renovations going on. WDW has been our escape for many years and I hope it will be for many more.

 

[aretha30]

We love Disney, it is where we relax and get to just be together as a family. When we are there we stay on property and don't leave so we get to be in our Disney "bubble" and shut out everything else. For these reasons I'm not sure we will ever hit a breaking point; we may go less frequently or cut out certain extras (dessert parties or TS) but unless there is something major that happens we will continue to vacation there.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We are a family of 7.

We have a vacation planned for later in 2016 and that will probably be our last one for a while. Our longest has been 5 days and we would like to do an 8-10 day. Now that we are back local, Disney is now our non-vacation thing to do.

As we have done for a long time, we will likely have a break between passes and not renew. And then get them again for the vacation and then not renew. For us, the tickets alone can be a vacation somewhere. Since we like to wander the country, that is our "breaking point".

We have other vacations we would like to get to. We don't feel lack of value at Disney. But it isn't Yosemite or Paris or _____ destination. And to get to those places would mean not doing Disney so that we have the money to go to those places.

 

[Naughty Nurse]

Having only visited Disneyland before once...and a planned trip to WDW in December this year...I am not really familiar with what the actual costs are...but for this December what is making our trip really expensive is a really bad exchange rate whereby instead of paying the 4200 USD...it will actually be costing us around 6000 AUS...thankfully we have managed to get the free dining...so that was a bonus...and of course flights from Australia are also very expensive...the one good thing though is school holidays here are different mostly than what they are in USA...so normally when we visit USA we can go off peak times thankfully...In regards to the magic of Disney....having only been once...I definitely have not lost that...my experience at Disneyland in 2013 was amazing...yes there was some rides shut down...but the parks themselves...the amazing and very professional CMs...the neatness of the parks...everywhere looked like it had just been painted the night before...much better than the few theme parks we have here...my trip there was unforgettable...even the lines didn't affect my enjoyment...and I very much am looking forward to a magical xmas at WDW in less than 5 months time

 

[isaboo]

This will probably be our last trip for a few years...like other have said, too many eliminations combined with the ever-steady price hikes.

Our five-day trip this year will cost $1000+ more than a nearly identical trip we took at the same time two years ago, and that is just with the hotel and park ticket increases. We will be paying more for food too!

Also, my husband says our kids need to experience other trips besides Disney World. I'm thinking we will do a cruise next year.

 

[abouley]

Disney is definitely getting more and more expensive but I think frequency and how we do it is what is changing for us. We live near DL and have had AP for the last 9 years but have decided it no longer makes sense at least not every year. So, we have taken a break and decided to do WDW this year. But, my son is 11 and we are having to do things differently. We haven't booked very many TS restaurants, especially buffets and character meals, as I can't see spending close to $200 on these meals. I look for ways to save where possible. We used points for airfare, have about $1000 in rewards points towards our tickets, got the magical deal for the poly for 5 nights and then will stay in a condo off-site for the remainder of our trip. We are hitting US this trip which added about a $1000 to the cost (we decided to stay one night on-site there for the express pass) so that was a big hard to swallow. Car rentals are not nearly as cheap as normal this time. I'm just glad that most of the trip is already paid for so that all we'll have to pay for after is the car and spending money! We figure this may be one of the last trips with the kids, but we'll see how it goes. Living so close to DL they are actually more excited about US this time (we've never been). We also want to do some other trips before my son is out of the house.

We went to Hawaii last summer, stayed in Kauai for 6 nights in our timeshare and then Aulani for 4 nights. That vacation ended up being quite a bit less than this trip although we did probably spend close to $1000 on excursions.

 

[Eoywin]

For most of my trips, the gap between them has been many years. Our last trip and our next trip are only 3 years apart which is the shortest gap we've had.

Because of the gaps, I doubt we'll ever be priced out.

 

[916chipndale]

My wife and I came to this conclusion many years ago and began planning all of our trips for times with lower crowds. Some of those lower crowd times have become much more crowded, but there are still about 10 weeks in the year in which crowds are very low. And, get this - they are the least expensive times of the year to travel to WDW.

Love WDW, but not enough to deal with crowds higher than a 5 (and prefer much lower). Would not go for free during seasons with crowds higher than a 6. So, for us, it isn't about the money but we clearly have our breaking point with WDW.

Yep I am thinking that whenever my next trip might be it will be in September as that seems to still be consistently low crowds. Of course that can change. It wasn't that long ago that December (besides Christmas-New Years) was a great time to go with low crowds now those are average-above average.