Concerned about theme park pricing

[IrishNYC]

I think many people balk at the cost of a disney vacation because at the end of the day, it's a theme park. People expect 10K to be spent in Italy, Dubai or on a luxury cruise, not a theme park.

The day I blow 10K on a Disney trip is the same day you'll see me on tv because I won the lottery.

 

[mjdis17]

I hope I don't get chewed out for this, but it's something that I realize more and more each time I go on a non-Disney vacation, so here we go:

I think one thing to keep in mind as well is that while ticket prices are pretty pricey, your base ticket alone can give you an entire day's worth of things to do. Each day you have the ability to let that one day of admission give you at least 10 hours of non-stop entertainment and things to do in the park. So while I'm not saying that the price is "cheap" by any means, you can get a good value per se simply by realizing how much time your ticket buys you.

To keep your family thoroughly entertained and kept busy with constant activities and things to do from say 9a-9p at another destination, chances are you wouldn't be saving THAT much money per person/per day compared to what you are spending on theme park tickets at Disney when you break it down. I'm not saying that you couldn't save money, but in order to have multiple days in a row of constant things to do at all times (that don't include a day at the beach or other cheap all day excursions), it's going to cost you.

I have been on cheaper vacations and I have been on more expensive vacations, and none of them kept me on the go at all times or included as much jam-packed entertainment and availability of things to do than Disney does. While I realize that not everyone can/does/wants to be in the park all day, at least the price you are paying does allow you the possibility.

PS- I'm talking about multi-day tickets...not necessarily single day tickets. Also, the more people you're footing the bill for then the less this may ring true, but I still feel it's a point of view to be considered.

 

[quandrea]

It certainly does, I kept a very careful account of expenses as this was a "challenge" trip for us to see how inexpensively we could do it and have a great time. As stated, I didn't include the cost of groceries because we would eat the same if we were home. We spent a week at POP in December, and our total was much higher because we ate all meals at the parks.

On this trip, we bought only two quick service meals at the park, both of which DH and I split.

We are lifelong campers and enjoy camping. We have spent many years tent camping, and our current camper is quite luxurious in comparison. Although, we did little more than sleep and eat there during our Disney trip. I realize not everyone owns a camper, but there were lots of tent campers at the Fort and it was beautiful weather.

But since this conversation was started over ticket prices, those are better than ever as far as options go. We got the weekly annual passes last year for the first time, and it is literally half the price of what we were paying for our passes prior. They have already paid for themselves, and then some, by the time this trip was taken.

It's true that we have the advantage of living just 2.5 hours away from Disney, and get FL resident and passholder discounts. But, may I ask you what you think I left out of the equation?

I was with you until this post. The ticket option you have access to is the single most affordable option Disney offers to FLORIDA residents! If everyone could buy this ticket this discussion would not exist. If my family could purchase this ticket it would likely slash our ticket costs by at least two thirds if not three quarters. But most people can't buy this ticket. They are stuck with the high priced multi day tickets. If you look at where ticket prices when up most it is in the three, four, five day category. Disney knows that's what people buy and they are price gouging.

And you talk about camping. I get that people can get tent sites but even that costs money up front. If I were to buy the supplies needed to camp it would be a significant capital expenditure. I'd probably just be better off in a value room. I don't own a tent, sleeping bags, cooler, camp stove, etc.

I like your main point that Disney can be done more affordably but citing the weekly annual pass and camping as a road to a cheaper holiday just doesn't hold up for most people.

 

[Srbright]

From the top

1) If Walt had known how popular it would get I doubt he would have an issue. Say we drop the ticket prices to $65/day; a bit more than Cedar Point. The park would be at capacity every day. Instead of having to book dining 180 days in advance you would have to choose your attendance day a year in advance. God for bid you want a 7 day trip because what if you could only get tickets for 2 of your days? Ride lines would be hours long all the time. At $65/day they would probably have to start some type of lottery system for demand.

2) What's wrong with the $480 portion of this thread? Its showing the jealousy that she can do it and the rest of you can't. If you don't want to pay thousands of dollars for flights then move to FL. The cost of a Disney world vacation is cheaper if you live in Florida. Don't take it out on her just because she's illustrating just HOW MUCH cheaper it can be.

Including the cost of the flights is misleading. Disney World doesn't get up and move every year.

If you live on the west coast then you would have to buy plane tickets if you want to go there or Washington DC or NYC. Any vacations where you have to fly across the country is going to be expensive when you include the flight.

Disney, the Smithsonian, the Guggenheim... none of those places are going to lower their prices just to offset your plane ticket price.

Stacy

 

[IrishNYC]

2) What's wrong with the $480 portion of this thread? Its showing the jealousy that she can do it and the rest of you can't. If you don't want to pay thousands of dollars for flights then move to FL. The cost of a Disney world vacation is cheaper if you live in Florida. Don't take it out on her just because she's illustrating just HOW MUCH cheaper it can be.

Including the cost of the flights is misleading. Disney World doesn't get up and move every year.

If you live on the west coast then you would have to buy plane tickets if you want to go there or Washington DC or NYC. Any vacations where you have to fly across the country is going to be expensive when you include the flight.

Disney, the Smithsonian, the Guggenheim... none of those places are going to lower their prices just to offset your plane ticket price.

Stacy

If the $480 portion isn't wrong then neither is including the cost of flights. She lives in Florida, can drive there in a few hours, and gets a resident discount. That's just as pertinent as flights in your argument, because the whole world can't get up and move to Florida.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I was with you until this post. The ticket option you have access to is the single most affordable option Disney offers to FLORIDA residents! If everyone could buy this ticket this discussion would not exist. If my family could purchase this ticket it would likely slash our ticket costs by at least two thirds if not three quarters. But most people can't buy this ticket. They are stuck with the high priced multi day tickets. If you look at where ticket prices when up most it is in the three, four, five day category. Disney knows that's what people buy and they are price gouging.

And you talk about camping. I get that people can get tent sites but even that costs money up front. If I were to buy the supplies needed to camp it would be a significant capital expenditure. I'd probably just be better off in a value room. I don't own a tent, sleeping bags, cooler, camp stove, etc.

I like your main point that Disney can be done more affordably but citing the weekly annual pass and camping as a road to a cheaper holiday just doesn't hold up for most people.

Well people tried explaining that point to no avail. I mean I totally got the base message of "hey there are things you can do to lower your costs" but it was muddled with the well it almost came off as boasting (though I really don't think that was the intent) about how cheap they were able to do Disney.

It isn't ideal I believe for most people to eat pre-fixed meals the whole vacation (aside from 2 split meals in the parks) but I suppose you could look at that as no different than bringing in food like sandwiches into the park. The thing is though you would still want to include that (like the grocery cost) in the overall cost of your trip because otherwise you're not accurately representing what your "cheap as can be" trip is. And yeah most people don't have the camper nor all the camping gear to make it work the way the poster was able to.

It probably also help your (the general your not actually you) case if you say I purchased these tickets available to really a limited amount of the public based on location so my experience/cost analysis will vary greatly from someone else.

 

[Rusty2rules]

I hope I don't get chewed out for this

I for one don't know why you would get "chewed out". I completely agree with what you said. It's spot on.

 

[mjdis17]

I for one don't know why you would get "chewed out". I completely agree with what you said. It's spot on.

Sometimes, you just never know what people will say haha

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

2) What's wrong with the $480 portion of this thread? Its showing the jealousy that she can do it and the rest of you can't. If you don't want to pay thousands of dollars for flights then move to FL. The cost of a Disney world vacation is cheaper if you live in Florida. Don't take it out on her just because she's illustrating just HOW MUCH cheaper it can be.

Including the cost of the flights is misleading. Disney World doesn't get up and move every year.

If you live on the west coast then you would have to buy plane tickets if you want to go there or Washington DC or NYC. Any vacations where you have to fly across the country is going to be expensive when you include the flight.

Disney, the Smithsonian, the Guggenheim... none of those places are going to lower their prices just to offset your plane ticket price.

Stacy

I think you're confusing what people's issues are with how the other poster explained their cheap cheap Disney trip. Jealousy is not in the equation for me and I highly doubt it is for the other posters. It's interesting that for you if someone has an issue with how another person explained their cheap cheap Disney vacation it's gotta be because they are jealous .

It's not that she lives in FL, but at least for me her statement of
was preceeded by explaining the various ways she was able to get her vacation down to $480 for her trip.

Those ways are ways that so very few and I mean very few people can actually utilize. So yeah Disney can be only as expensive as you want to make it...and it sure is dirt cheap (at least the way she describes it) if you own a camper, make all your meals from home ahead of time (but don't include the cost of the groceries because she didn't in her evaluation), only getting 2 meals in the parks but splitting those 2 meals, have the ability to buy very inexpensive tickets (and hey I get it but those tickets aren't available to everyone) but she didn't include the monthy expenses for those tickets in her calculation, etc.

The issue was that to her $480 is the amount she paid for her trip...but to many other people what she used to get to the $480 is incomplete/inaccurate information.

 

[wilkeliza]

I hope I don't get chewed out for this, but it's something that I realize more and more each time I go on a non-Disney vacation, so here we go:

I think one thing to keep in mind as well is that while ticket prices are pretty pricey, your base ticket alone can give you an entire day's worth of things to do. Each day you have the ability to let that one day of admission give you at least 10 hours of non-stop entertainment and things to do in the park. So while I'm not saying that the price is "cheap" by any means, you can get a good value per se simply by realizing how much time your ticket buys you.

To keep your family thoroughly entertained and kept busy with constant activities and things to do from say 9a-9p at another destination, chances are you wouldn't be saving THAT much money per person/per day compared to what you are spending on theme park tickets at Disney when you break it down. I'm not saying that you couldn't save money, but in order to have multiple days in a row of constant things to do at all times (that don't include a day at the beach or other cheap all day excursions), it's going to cost you.

I have been on cheaper vacations and I have been on more expensive vacations, and none of them kept me on the go at all times or included as much jam-packed entertainment and availability of things to do than Disney does. While I realize that not everyone can/does/wants to be in the park all day, at least the price you are paying does allow you the possibility.

PS- I'm talking about multi-day tickets...not necessarily single day tickets. Also, the more people you're footing the bill for then the less this may ring true, but I still feel it's a point of view to be considered.

Totally agree with everything you said. Our local Six Flags rack rate is 72.99. The online discount for slow season brings it down to 45 but being at a theme park when it is 40 degrees isn't my cup of tea haha. We spend a ton of baseball tickets and those are 3 hour games. Each game costs between 55-75 for the time period and then the food costs are comical compared to Disney. We actually save on food costs at Disney but of course that is a regional thing. I think soda is $4.50 for the smallest size at Citi Field now. I usually end up spending $6 so I don't have to get up a lot and pay another 4.50 later in the game. Heck you can't even bring in your own water so just a bottle of water is 4 bucks.

 

[IrishNYC]

Totally agree with everything you said. Our local Six Flags rack rate is 72.99. The online discount for slow season brings it down to 45 but being at a theme park when it is 40 degrees isn't my cup of tea haha. We spend a ton of baseball tickets and those are 3 hour games. Each game costs between 55-75 for the time period and then the food costs are comical compared to Disney. We actually save on food costs at Disney but of course that is a regional thing. I think soda is $4.50 for the smallest size at Citi Field now. I usually end up spending $6 so I don't have to get up a lot and pay another 4.50 later in the game. Heck you can't even bring in your own water so just a bottle of water is 4 bucks.

Well look at that, we're practically neighbors! See you at CitiField! (I agree, CF prices make Disney look downright cheap!)

 

[wilkeliza]

Well look at that, we're practically neighbors! See you at CitiField! (I agree, CF prices make Disney look downright cheap!)

I think where someone lives brings so much to the conversation on priced in or out. To my family that can go out for a nice dinner back home in Texas for about 25-30 a person prices at Disney are astronomical. When I know that same 25-30 will get me mediocre at best and then great can go upwards of 100-150 then Disney suddenly doesn't look so bad. We tried to price out a non-Disney staycation to do some NYC things with friends and just in food along I spent $400 across 3 days with a friend and that wasn't even every meal. Add in the theater tickets, museum tickets, transportation and we could have gone to Disney over the staycation but of course being local the transportation was a cost I would have typically had and we have no qualms about paying less then the suggested rate at museums.

 

[IrishNYC]

I think where someone lives brings so much to the conversation on priced in or out. To my family that can go out for a nice dinner back home in Texas for about 25-30 a person prices at Disney are astronomical. When I know that same 25-30 will get me mediocre at best and then great can go upwards of 100-150 then Disney suddenly doesn't look so bad. We tried to price out a non-Disney staycation to do some NYC things with friends and just in food along I spent $400 across 3 days with a friend and that wasn't even every meal. Add in the theater tickets, museum tickets, transportation and we could have gone to Disney over the staycation but of course being local the transportation was a cost I would have typically had and we have no qualms about paying less then the suggested rate at museums.

I was planning a staycation for March with DD doing the "tourist thing" and couldn't believe the prices. No thanks! I have no qualms about paying when I'm being a tourist away from home, but I can't pay tourist prices where I live! My wallet glues itself shut!

 

[NJlauren]

Totally agree with everything you said. Our local Six Flags rack rate is 72.99. The online discount for slow season brings it down to 45 but being at a theme park when it is 40 degrees isn't my cup of tea haha. We spend a ton of baseball tickets and those are 3 hour games. Each game costs between 55-75 for the time period and then the food costs are comical compared to Disney. We actually save on food costs at Disney but of course that is a regional thing. I think soda is $4.50 for the smallest size at Citi Field now. I usually end up spending $6 so I don't have to get up a lot and pay another 4.50 later in the game. Heck you can't even bring in your own water so just a bottle of water is 4 bucks.

You can't bring water in! You can bring your own water into Yankee Stadium.... but yes stadium prices around here are crazy!

 

[IrishNYC]

I'm pretty sure you can't bring anything in to CitiField. I've been asked to remove juice boxes from my bag, even when DD was 3 or 4 years old.

 

[quandrea]

I hope I don't get chewed out for this, but it's something that I realize more and more each time I go on a non-Disney vacation, so here we go:

I think one thing to keep in mind as well is that while ticket prices are pretty pricey, your base ticket alone can give you an entire day's worth of things to do. Each day you have the ability to let that one day of admission give you at least 10 hours of non-stop entertainment and things to do in the park. So while I'm not saying that the price is "cheap" by any means, you can get a good value per se simply by realizing how much time your ticket buys you.

To keep your family thoroughly entertained and kept busy with constant activities and things to do from say 9a-9p at another destination, chances are you wouldn't be saving THAT much money per person/per day compared to what you are spending on theme park tickets at Disney when you break it down. I'm not saying that you couldn't save money, but in order to have multiple days in a row of constant things to do at all times (that don't include a day at the beach or other cheap all day excursions), it's going to cost you.

I have been on cheaper vacations and I have been on more expensive vacations, and none of them kept me on the go at all times or included as much jam-packed entertainment and availability of things to do than Disney does. While I realize that not everyone can/does/wants to be in the park all day, at least the price you are paying does allow you the possibility.

PS- I'm talking about multi-day tickets...not necessarily single day tickets. Also, the more people you're footing the bill for then the less this may ring true, but I still feel it's a point of view to be considered.

Well said. Much of what brings us back to Disney again and again is the variety of choice available right at my doorstep. I will add though that even going into the parks is not a necessity. Like many dvc members, we go into the parks less and less. There are plenty of free and lower cost activities that fill our days. Our last trip was ten nights, no parks. We swam, spent time at Community Hall, went to the movies, went out for ice cream,walked, rented a Surrey bike, rode the monorail, window shopped at Disney Springs, roasted marshmallows, had movie nights (free with our dvc membership), watched fireworks. We still had a blast and spent way less than park tickets. Not entering the parks isn't for everyone but it is a way some dvc members control costs.

 

[NJlauren]

I'm pretty sure you can't bring anything in to CitiField. I've been asked to remove juice boxes from my bag, even when DD was 3 or 4 years old.

Crazy! But makes sense at the same time

 

[Srbright]

Those ways are ways that so very few and I mean very few people can actually utilize. So yeah Disney can be only as expensive as you want to make it...and it sure is dirt cheap (at least the way she describes it) if you own a camper, make all your meals from home ahead of time (but don't include the cost of the groceries because she didn't in her evaluation), only getting 2 meals in the parks but splitting those 2 meals, have the ability to buy very inexpensive tickets (and hey I get it but those tickets aren't available to everyone) but she didn't include the monthy expenses for those tickets in her calculation, etc.

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

 

[wilkeliza]

You can't bring water in! You can bring your own water into Yankee Stadium.... but yes stadium prices around here are crazy!

You can bring a soft plastic bottle under 20 ounces but even though the rules say you can I've always been asked to throw it away if it was already opened. So I guess you can by the rules but in practice not so much.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I spend just about the same amount on LSU season tickets as I do on a Disney trip. And let me tell you, those games aren't always as fun!