Concerned about theme park pricing

[Baymax1076]

Hi everyone. Appreciate all the input so far. A lot of the comments regarding ways to more affordably enjoy Disney and comparisons to other parks and types of vacations were very interesting. Also, I do agree with posters who point out that there is excellent value for what Disney offers and what is paid.

There is one thing I wanted to add that maybe I didn't emphasize in my original post. While Disney is first and foremost a business, I believe (without any proof to back it up haha) that they are one of the few businesses that can afford to keep their price increases to a minimum or at least at a glacier like rate.

Allears.net has an interesting ticket increase guide on their website that I looked at today showing what the original prices were and the increases if any each year. According to their guide for a regular single day ticket in 1971 the price was $3.50. 30 years later in 2001, the price was $48. Now only 16 years later its up to $115.

I know the parks offer more now than in the past and the increases in recent years probably supported the building of Animal Kingdom and upcoming Avatar land, Star Wars land,etc. But those additional projects have brought/will bring more revenue for Disney as well so I'm hoping the torrid rate of price increases will slow down at some point.

My fear/concern is that Disney has been recently basing and will continue to base their pricing strategy on what they know they can "get away with" as opposed to what might be more financially doable for their customers. I'm sure this goes against basic economics but I do think it would actually be to Disney's long term benefit to make a profit and maintain/preserve their customer base instead of trying to make maximum profit today and eventually price out/reduce their customer base.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Didn't read all the responses, but skimmed many. If I have more time later I will read better.

Noteworthy points:
1) How much is a camp hook up at FW for a week? I'm guessing that's $400+ right off the rip.

2) Jealousy?? Only speaking for myself, but pre cooking & eating frozen meals for a week is not my idea of a vacation. Certainly not jealous of that.

We live about 20 minutes from WDW and have resident passes.
If we visit three days in a row, bring our own food, and only buy a bottled water, can I say I did a WDW trip for $3 ??

MG

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My mother did this for years. Our version of vacation was camping for 1-2 weeks at a time and one year we drove the station wagon to Colorado. She made all of the meals ahead of time.

She made hamburger patties in a hamburger press, stacked them in coffee cans between sheets of waxes paper and froze the cans. She made stew and froze it in coffee cans. She made chili and frozen it in coffee cans. You get the picture.

You could buy a camper and make all of your meals at home. They chose to do it that way to make it cheaper.

So, add the extra $5 for the tickets. Here in MI a good camper is about 1500 (less if you buy it for 500 and fix it up). $1500/10 years is a max of $150 for that year and that's only if they used it that one time. Say she's right and they use it all the time and they said used it twice this year, that's only $75.

So max she might be $100 off, $580 instead of 480.

You too could live in Florida. It's a free country, no visa needed. You choose to live where you do. The only way you don't is if you're interred at a CIA black site in the USA (highly unlikely). There may be reasons that your choose to do it (job, family) but it's still your choice. Disney has absolutely zero effect on your choice to live where you do.

Or you could get a camper and drive because I drove one from MI to Oklahoma for the same reason. I needed to take a trip and do it as cheaply as possible. That meant driving a camper and staying at a campground instead of flying and staying in a motel. We also brought most of our food. Heck, the drive down we slept in a rest stop to save room instead of spending the money.

Here is a sample ready to use trailer for $1500:
https://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/rvs/6006789312.html

Stacy

Ok the fact that you are suggesting to me options to buy a trailer or a camper or whatnot for a Disney trip tells me you have completely missed the mark on understanding what others and I have said.

Good lord where am I going to park this trailer or camper at home? Can't park it at my house for sure so there is storage fees you've got to add on. There's insurance that needs to be bought for these items too..hello extra expenses. What am I supposed to do with this trailer or camper once my trip is up?? Sell it? Sure but then I've got to find a seller who will give me at least some of my investment back not only to mention the storage fees I've got to add on and insurance fees until it has sold. I mean come on that's not feasible, practical nor helpful at all to advice people in order to save money for your Disney trip just go buy a camper or trailer and heck not to mention you've got to have the right vehicle; don't think my 2002 Ford Escort ZX2 nor my husband's 2010 Mazda 3 is going to cut it so yeah let's on that expense as well. And even if I'm going to keep it afterwards the storage fees and insurance costs don't change much and now I've got regular maintainence I need to consider too.

If you want to say "hey if you're into camping or being in that environment you might look into renting an RV or camper that might lower your cost down a bit" that's a totally different thing and even if you rent you would still include that in as a trip expense and would go into your overall trip expenses.

If you want to say "hey make some meals to eat in your room rather than eating always at the park that might lower your cost down a bit" that a totally different thing and even if you do you would need to include grocery cost into that because that is a trip expense. If a person is able to go through what is in their pantry, fridge, etc and find everything they need to make all the meals they were planning on eating then sure I'll say they don't have grocery expenses for the trip (though they may need to stock up when they get home).

If you want to say "hey look into your ticket options see if there is a authorized reseller that may have a deal for you or look into how many days you really want to do for the parks" is totally different than having excellent priced tickets (which again I get it but still aren't being calculated in their costs)

But no any person who has an issue with how the person explained, used their experience to attempt to help others, and calculated their cost must just be jealous.

The poster in question said:


Let's be honest here it's probably not going to help others when they can't replicate any or very few of the things that allowed the poster to have a cheap trip (even if we aren't caring about squabbling over the $480 part). I don't negate at all the overall message the poster had but I don't think it was executed well in my personal opinion.

 

[ThistleMae]

I feel no matter what the prices, Disney will stay in business. It's truly a magnificent place. One person talked about how there is so much entertainment for so many hours, it would be hard to fill your day for less anywhere else. Bottom line, either folks can afford to go or not...or they will figure out how to reduce the cost as much as possible. I can't afford to go everywhere I'd like to go, but I make compromises and do what I can to make it more affordable. I do love Disney and I will pay the higher costs, adjusting my budget by staying at a value resort and bringing some of my own food items to reduce meal costs. I don't buy trinkets, unless I have points on my Disney Card. Some folks will stay fewer days or book a room reservation offsite, which can be considerably less. The one thing I know from reading all these posts, is people in here must love Disney enough to be in here talking about it all the time! LOL!

 

[FortForever]

Also, most of the nation would not be eligible for the cheap weekday pass. Most of us have to pay regular prices, or close to regular prices, for our tickets and APs. So that would not be a valid price point for most families, even if they could drive there pulling a camper for $20 gas (not likely, but whatever), pre-cook all their meals, and spend absolutely nothing in park.

That was $20 each way. Actually $20.52. Please accept my apologies for not being specific. We live 153 miles from Disney. We get 17 mph highway while towing, about 20 mph when not towing. We paid $2.28 gallon for gas.

We did spend money in the parks. In fact, as mentioned, I bought two Christmas ornaments and four Scavenger Hunt games.

To those who have filed complaints about me not including the cost of groceries - would we not have needed the same groceries had we been home? Not a vacation expense, just a life expense. We camp often, and have all of our lives. I have always precooked most meals for our camping trip. The only things I don't are things that we cook over the campfire.

No, everyone cannot do this. There are prerequisites, such as enjoying camping, owning camping equipment, and living in Florida.

As far as this not being a vacation for most, "spending a week in a 20 year old camper" and such - true. It's not for everyone. However, it is for many people. And just for the record, our 18 year old camper is fully remodeled (by us) and very comfortable. The Fort stays booked up and is much harder to get reservations at than the resorts. Check out the camping section on this forum. Lots of families do Disney in a tent.

However, it was never my intent to start a bunch of controversy. We don't usually stay this cheaply. It was off season and our campsite was only $52 a night. The same site will be $77 night next time we camp, in May.

I'm also sick of reading how I told other people that any family could do it for this price. I never said that. I said WE did, and also pointed out that we are just a couple, don't have children with us, and live in Florida. HOWEVER, if you live as close as we do and are campers, you CAN do it this cheaply. We had to pay much more when we lived up north also, and I certainly didn't hate on people because they lived in FL and could vacation cheaper. Florida residents get discounts on cruises, too, is everyone going to get their panties in a knot over that?

If none of this is "your idea of a vacation" that's fine, but you decide how much luxury you pay for. But, seriously, bashing me for doing it is just ridiculous.

Signing off this hateful thread now. If you want Weekday Passes - MOVE TO FLORIDA!

 

[CloveLeaf]

Hi everyone. Appreciate all the input so far. A lot of the comments regarding ways to more affordably enjoy Disney and comparisons to other parks and types of vacations were very interesting. Also, I do agree with posters who point out that there is excellent value for what Disney offers and what is paid.

There is one thing I wanted to add that maybe I didn't emphasize in my original post. While Disney is first and foremost a business, I believe (without any proof to back it up haha) that they are one of the few businesses that can afford to keep their price increases to a minimum or at least at a glacier like rate.

Allears.net has an interesting ticket increase guide on their website that I looked at today showing what the original prices were and the increases if any each year. According to their guide for a regular single day ticket in 1971 the price was $3.50. 30 years later in 2001, the price was $48. Now only 16 years later its up to $115.

I know the parks offer more now than in the past and the increases in recent years probably supported the building of Animal Kingdom and upcoming Avatar land, Star Wars land,etc. But those additional projects have brought/will bring more revenue for Disney as well so I'm hoping the torrid rate of price increases will slow down at some point.

My fear/concern is that Disney has been recently basing and will continue to base their pricing strategy on what they know they can "get away with" as opposed to what might be more financially doable for their customers. I'm sure this goes against basic economics but I do think it would actually be to Disney's long term benefit to make a profit and maintain/preserve their customer base instead of trying to make maximum profit today and eventually price out/reduce their customer base.

$3.5 to $48 in 30 years is 8.7% annual increase. $48 to $115 in 16 years is 5.67% annual increase. So Disney increased ticket price at a higher rate from 1971 to 2001 than from 2001 to 2017

 

[Baymax1076]

$3.5 to $48 in 30 years is 8.7% annual increase. $48 to $115 in 16 years is 5.67% annual increase. So Disney increased ticket price at a higher rate from 1971 to 2001 than from 2001 to 2017

Wow that's very interesting. I'm very surprised since to me raising the price $44 in 30 years seems like a lower or slower rate than raising the price $67 in 16 years.