Cost comparison DLR vs WDW?

[CrabbyPatty]

Also I wouldnt get park hopper tickets it just takes to much time to get back on shuttles and hop to other parks. Either way, how can you lose

I disagree with NOT getting park hoppers. True, if you are going all the way back to your hotel and then trying to get to another park, it's a bit of a long-haul. BUT, in some cases you can get from one park to another fairly quickly. From DHS (Disney Hollywood Studios) to Epcot is a short, very relaxing boat ride. We've taken the monorail from Magic Kingdom over to Epcot, and it's another nice ride - good on a hot day to relax a bit. Personally, I don't think Animal Kingdom is a full-day park (and it closes much easier than the other parks), so we tend to spend the morning and early afternoon there, take a nice long lunch, or go to the pool and relax, and then hop back over to MK for an evening of rides and fireworks, or Illuminations at Epcot.

Also, Free Dining at WDW is wonderful. We ate ourselves into a food coma the first time we did free dining, and honestly did not spend one cent extra on food or snacks. The second time we upgraded to Premium Dining and did just about every theatre/dinner show there, and I think we paid $150 per adult extra. It's an incredible value, IMHO.

 

[andee2000]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their replies. I like to respond to everyone individually, but the site is blocked at work. Boo! So I do read on my phone, but replying is a little harder. Thanks again.

 

[andee2000]

Hello Fellow New Mexican !

We have done both, and have always found WDW more expensive.

Usually we can find airfare to DLR less than 100. each way.
And, the main issue is we can do DLR in 3 days, and stay accross the
street for less than a WDW resort.

When we go to WDW we definately want to stay at least a week to see everything, with DLR we can go for less amount of time.

Either way, it's Disney and LOTS of fun !

Have a great trip !

Hey right back at you NM! I don't find many other New Mexicans on message boards for some reason. I grew up at DLR so it's in my heart, but it looks like we'll be making a trip to WDW in a few years.

 

[elaine amj]

A fair comparson will be without taking airfare/driving distance into account. Also it would be best to compare an equal number of days. yes, DLR takes less days to cover - but how is that a fair comparison when you compare 4 days at DLR to 7 days at WDW?

So let's try for 5 days at each place - how about in July during peak season? I'm going to use rack rates although definitely discounts are out there.

Hotel:
Pop Century @ WDW: $134 - $159 a night
$580
vs
Howard Johnson @ DLR: $179 a night
$837

Tickets:
5 day base @ WDW: $1103.30 (2 adults, 2 kids)
vs
5 day base @ DLR: $1000

TOTAL:
WDW: $1683
DLR: $1837

It was surprising to me as I always thought DLR would be cheaper. We always go to WDW during free dining so that saves a good $1000. We're planning a DLR trip next year and from the midwest it's going to cost us double in airfare plus about $500 - $1000 extra for food.

In a sense it's comparable as you can get discounted hotels in DLR in both places. Also, ticket prices USED to be much cheaper in DLR but now is almost the same. But free dining really makes WDW a much better deal for budget minded travellers (didn't do the numbers for deluxe hotels). That said, flight vs driving also makes a big difference so where you live also affects which park is cheaper for you.

 

[DLR29]

A fair comparson will be without taking airfare/driving distance into account. Also it would be best to compare an equal number of days. yes, DLR takes less days to cover - but how is that a fair comparison when you compare 4 days at DLR to 7 days at WDW?

So let's try for 5 days at each place - how about in July during peak season? I'm going to use rack rates although definitely discounts are out there.

Hotel:
Pop Century @ WDW: $134 - $159 a night
$580
vs
Howard Johnson @ DLR: $179 a night
$837

Tickets:
5 day base @ WDW: $1103.30 (2 adults, 2 kids)
vs
5 day base @ DLR: $1000

TOTAL:
WDW: $1683
DLR: $1837

It was surprising to me as I always thought DLR would be cheaper. We always go to WDW during free dining so that saves a good $1000. We're planning a DLR trip next year and from the midwest it's going to cost us double in airfare plus about $500 - $1000 extra for food.

In a sense it's comparable as you can get discounted hotels in DLR in both places. Also, ticket prices USED to be much cheaper in DLR but now is almost the same. But free dining really makes WDW a much better deal for budget minded travellers (didn't do the numbers for deluxe hotels). That said, flight vs driving also makes a big difference so where you live also affects which park is cheaper for you.

This is an old thread.

Anyway, by my math, $134 a night for 5 nights comes out to be $670 and $179 a night for 5 nights = $895. Using the upper bound for the hotel room would be $795 for a room.

If we use the upper bound for the value resort, DLR is $1895 and WDW is $1898. A $3 difference.

Granted, there are a lot of other variables like you mentioned like food and type of hotel and any add-ons to tickets, etc. But for the most part, one isn't necessarily more expensive than the other.

 

[elaine amj]

LOL!! Thanks for the catch!! I have been using the search engine a lot lately and WDW vs DLR is on my mind right now as I am planning a DLR trip. Most of the time I keep an eye on the date of posts, but the price comparison was interesting and it spurred me to do some quick calculations (which I haven't done yet).

 

[janatmovies]

I would LOVE to be in the "its cheaper to do DL" club! But I live in NY and flights are just sooo expensive, impossible to drive there! And the hotels out there seem so much more expensive than Florida, plus I'd need to rent a car (no Magical Express from airport, resort to park transportation, etc) and see Hollywood of course! So for me to go to DL it is almost twice the price as WDW! But I am dying to go and shooting for 2013.

 

[arthur06]

I might be a good test subject for the comparison. We live about equal distance to both WDW and DLR. 24 hour drive to WDW and about 28 hour drive to DLR, so we usually fly.

It really is hard to compare the 2 as they are unique experiences to each other. Both are wonderful times and should be appreciated.