Budget..... I'm in shock right now... (rant of an old person here)

[tinkerbelletreasure]

I hear you on Space 220! My husband is pretty liberal with budgeting for a dinner experience. We’ll pay $40-50 a plate without him batting an eye, and he was really wanting to try Space 220 when he first heard about it. But once the menu and pricing came out, he said he didn’t want to anymore. As it turns out, we are planning on being in Disney for my birthday next year and we are going to try for CRT as a splurge, and Space 220 would be at least $20 extra per person on top of that. It really put it into perspective for me. But then there’s the new Star Wars hotel and experience coming out in a year or two, and I can’t imagine paying those prices either. But I’m sure plenty of people will.

 

[shh]

I’ve got a daughter with a wedding in less than two years that we will help with,

NOW we're talking about an expensive day - a wedding blows any 1 day WDW tic outta the water - even with Genie + and the top-priced TS.

 

[shh]

Sometimes I really wonder if the majority of people on the boards just make more money than we do. And it’s ok if that is the case .. I just can’t fathom $200-$300 a day for table service on top of those ticket costs on top of the astronomical hotel prices. We are employing every trick in the book to keep our costs down , and while it helps it’s still so expensive I can barely justify it, and certainly won’t be going every year like we used to.

I've come to that conclusion myself and I accept it. We have always traveled fairly frugally: we will splurge on a nicer hotel, meal or experience as a occasional treat, if it's something we really want and is a good value (like WDW used to be), but we usually stick to budget hotels under $100-125/night with free parking/low or no resort fees and lower cost restaurants.

When WDW started charging value resort parking and upping rates, then took away EMH, we voted with our wallet and stopped going. Never impacted our fun and we will be retiring much earlier than most folks, as a result of that.

Some people do make a lot more money, but many others are posers: they chant "YOLO" as their mantra & live way above their means. It comes back to bite them eventually.

 

[afan]

I hear you on Space 220! My husband is pretty liberal with budgeting for a dinner experience. We’ll pay $40-50 a plate without him batting an eye, and he was really wanting to try Space 220 when he first heard about it. But once the menu and pricing came out, he said he didn’t want to anymore. As it turns out, we are planning on being in Disney for my birthday next year and we are going to try for CRT as a splurge, and Space 220 would be at least $20 extra per person on top of that. It really put it into perspective for me. But then there’s the new Star Wars hotel and experience coming out in a year or two, and I can’t imagine paying those prices either. But I’m sure plenty of people will.

The lounge doesn't require the price fixe menu, you might watch how getting a table there works and try it.

 

[Jax1023]

this is what I mean..... whose wages have jumped this fast to keep up? Yes, if I wanted to plan a 5 day trip,I know the cost per day would drop. This huge jump in cost has just got me SMH... I think a lot of regulars got used to dated pricing (hello price hikes) and now this.... close to $250 for ONE.DAY. (taxes added y'all) in a THEME.PARK. In real life, does anyone else here appreciate what you can buy for $250? I'm not going to lie and say I *couldn't* buy this.....I'm saying I'm shocked,and I can't be the only person who thinks this way. I've gone to Uni,and always managed to find some decent discounts there in the past also, I will confess I haven't checked lately either for those.

I mean tickets to a Broadway show, or a mlb or nfl game can easily run 200 dollars for 2-4 hours of entertainment.

disney is expensive, so are many other things.

 

[RamblingMad]

I mean tickets to a Broadway show, or a mlb or nfl game can easily run 200 dollars for 2-4 hours of entertainment.

disney is expensive, so are many other things.

And I can go boondocking for free.

Really, it's a choice for people: vacation in a tent now or live in a tent in retirement.

There is no way I'm justifying Disney pricing given how much faster it's grown relative to wage growth.

 

[Jax1023]

And I can go boondocking for free.

Really, it's a choice for people: vacation in a tent now or live in a tent in retirement.

There is no way I'm justifying Disney pricing given how much faster it's grown relative to wage growth.

I go to disney and I save plenty for retirement.

However, I live in a small house and almost never eat food I don’t cook myself.

everything has increased in pricing in the last year- houses, food, hotels, gas. salaries haven’t. We know this.

im just saying- I work with people who don’t understand how I go to Disney cause it’s too expensive. But then they drop a thousand bucks to go to an eagles game. plus beers and parking and a jersey and dinner after.

I’m not justifying Disney prices. But its not the only expensive thing out there.

 

[RamblingMad]

I go to disney and I save plenty for retirement.

However, I live in a small house and almost never eat food I don’t cook myself.

everything has increased in pricing in the last year- houses, food, hotels, gas. salaries haven’t. We know this.

it’s decisions and balances. I’m not justifying Disney prices. But pretending that Disney is the only expensive thing with crazy prices is a stretch.

I can't wait to see how much my property taxes have gone up

 

[Jax1023]

I can't wait to see how much my property taxes have gone up

Nothing certain in life but death and taxes. Hasn’t changed much since Ben Franklin apparently.

we can add in Disney yearly price increases I guess

 

[sheilafri]

Sometimes I really wonder if the majority of people on the boards just make more money than we do. And it’s ok if that is the case .. I just can’t fathom $200-$300 a day for table service on top of those ticket costs on top of the astronomical hotel prices.

We are employing every trick in the book to keep our costs down , and while it helps it’s still so expensive I can barely justify it, and certainly won’t be going every year like we used to.

I remember a SNL skit advertising self-help finance booklets with titles like “If you don’t have the cash, you can’t afford it.” In 40 years of marriage there have only been two or three months when we didn’t pay our CC bill in full. We save up for what we want to buy and do. We may put it on a CC to get the rewards but we pay it off. When we visit WDW, we stay offsite to save money, we often share QS meals, we take in water and a soda, and we don’t buy souvenirs. So we can afford to go every year if we choose. We have money left over to travel to Europe most years —pre-pandemic. Gotta get a Dole Whip, though. And we do enjoy our trips. We just set our expectations to match what we are willing to spend.

 

[pigletto]

For fun I looked through my email and found what we paid in 2013.
2 adults, one Disney adult (15) , one child (8) for 7 nights in February . Preferred room at Port Orleans Riverside , 2 day base tickets - $2491.18
Exact same trip with same inputs in 2022 - $3945.10 .
A difference of $1453.92. The 2013 trip included free dining and free Magical Express.

I’ll just leave that for people to look over. I feel that’s a huge jump in 9 years but others might not. I guess it’s all a matter of our personal tolerance level.

 

[CouponGirl]

For fun I looked through my email and found what we paid in 2013.
2 adults, one Disney adult (15) , one child (8) for 7 nights in February . Preferred room at Port Orleans Riverside , 2 day base tickets - $2491.18
Exact same trip with same inputs in 2022 - $3945.10 .
A difference of $1453.92. The 2013 trip included free dining and free Magical Express.

I’ll just leave that for people to look over. I feel that’s a huge jump in 9 years but others might not. I guess it’s all a matter of our personal tolerance level.

If you had driven, the 2013 trip would have also included free parking.

Interesting to see the comparison.

 

[amylevan]

For fun I looked through my email and found what we paid in 2013.
2 adults, one Disney adult (15) , one child (8) for 7 nights in February . Preferred room at Port Orleans Riverside , 2 day base tickets - $2491.18
Exact same trip with same inputs in 2022 - $3945.10 .
A difference of $1453.92. The 2013 trip included free dining and free Magical Express.

I’ll just leave that for people to look over. I feel that’s a huge jump in 9 years but others might not. I guess it’s all a matter of our personal tolerance level.

Just for funsies, assuming 2% per year inflation, the trip would be $2,977. So $1000 more than just accounting for inflation and no free dining or ME. Ouch.

 

[hsmamato2]

For fun I looked through my email and found what we paid in 2013.
2 adults, one Disney adult (15) , one child (8) for 7 nights in February . Preferred room at Port Orleans Riverside , 2 day base tickets - $2491.18
Exact same trip with same inputs in 2022 - $3945.10 .
A difference of $1453.92. The 2013 trip included free dining and free Magical Express.

I’ll just leave that for people to look over. I feel that’s a huge jump in 9 years but others might not. I guess it’s all a matter of our personal tolerance level.

add todays (insane) onsite dining prices to that number and the inflation rate is even higher.Plus the cost of paying a shuttle,or renting a car and paying to park it. And the new Genie+ stuff you'll inevitably want to add on to ride a few headliners.....

 

[Dakota731]

It’s all In individual priorities. We only go every three years to save up. And I’m very frugal - I never get a manicure, pedicure, massage or designer clothes like friends I have who complain about money. A co-worker stops at Starbucks every day and spends $5 on special coffee every day. Do the math on that - $1200 a year x three years She would have $3600 for a vacation. People think littke things don’t matter but they add up over a year or two.

 

[SteveH]

@hsmamato2 Feel free to rant away. This is the new Di$ney where they have replaced the tagline "The Most Magical Place On Earth" with "It's all about the money!"

 

[StuckInKS]

I can totally relate to what you are saying. We have been to Disney many, many times over the past 23 years and I can remember the days of $49/night rates in early December at the All-Stars.

We have only been going since 2009 and can still remember getting email deal for $65/night a values. We even got it about that cheap in 2017 with an AP discount and 2019 with a CM discount. Now it is $175 for an All Star (which honestly isn't that bad considering that is how much we paid per night for each hotel on our drive back from DL) and even more for POP.

 

[RamblingMad]

@hsmamato2 Feel free to rant away. This is the new Di$ney where they have replaced the tagline "The Most Magical Place On Earth" with "It's all about the money!"

It's been like this since about 2000. It's just taken this long for more people to feel the pain in their pocketbook.

 

[tvguy]

Hard to believe in the late 1970's that three friends and I would go to Disneyland for 4 days and 3 nights, park admissions, food, 800 miles of gasoline (split 3 ways) and motel (split 3 ways also) for under $100 eacg

 

[kathy884]

I feel your pain. Going to the parks now for a day is a premium experience, similar to the cost of a popular Rock or Pop concert, ski lift ticket at at popular ski resort, etc. And to park hop for a single day is super pricey (Universal or Disney). We typically will just do one Disney park per day. Day tours at vacations destinations are similarly priced too (e.g. full day bus tour our to Puerto Vallarta to see a neighboring city, etc.).

There are more people than ever who can afford to travel and parks and tourist destinations all over are crowded.

The universal tickets are crazy expensive for a day, similar to the price of a Disney one day park hopper. For a two park one dayticket over our spring break week -- March 22nd when some in our party want to go -- $194 for the two park ticket one day ticket per person. OK it will be crowded, so let's add the express pass once per ride for $130 per person on that day. So that means I need to budget $324 pp before tax. We find we can do everything we want to do in the Universal parks in just one day, but the pricing makes that day super pricey for sure. // Oh and if I want to spend a little more, let's instead of the one time express passes, I can get the least expensive universal room that offers the unlimited express pass for that day. I can get Royal Pacific for one night March 21-22 for the bargain price of just $565 for a throw away room, and those prices are all before taxes, so my break even point is 4.3 people (324/130). Sure if someone wants the unlimited express pass or is going for more than one day (you can get two days of express pass for one room), the throw away room looks like it will save you some dollars.

And OP just as you alluded to, if you do one park family on one trip and another on another and more days at the same park family your park per day costs go down. But we only want to do one day at Universal and we only want to do two days at Disney. And we don't have plans to do Orlando a second time next year or go in 2023 or 2024, so want to do what we want to do there when we go there. Most in our party for our spring break and six nights in Orlando are doing two days at Disney (not hoppers) and one day at SeaWorld. We are doing resort days/nature stuff the other three days. Some are doing those same parks plus the very expensive one day park to park at Universal. Hey SeaWorld is a great park and a bargain for $90 for the day.

The saving grace for me in Orlando is that our lovely offsite condo is a bargain. And staying offsite, we will do some eating in. At parks we do counter not table service and meals offsite that aren't cooking in are at moderately priced offsite places. With that, our Orlando trip is similarly priced to trips we take to Colorado to visit national parks and do a few tours, etc. On those we aren't getting the expensive theme park tickets, but a nice condo that is not nearly as nice as the timeshare condos in Orlando we rent is a lot pricier than Orlando. The offsite nice condos in Orlando (quality for price) is the one bargain that we find there. And we lower our theme park days to have time to do a little hanging out there too.