Disney Debt!

[Dakota731]

I think my mom probably regrets not taking some trips when my sister and I were younger. Not to putting it on a credit card, but instead using some of the insane levels of cash she was socking away for retirement. Now she’s retired, my dad has passed away, and with her SS, 401K and pension she has plenty of money. But no one to travel with.

She keeps offering to take me & my family somewhere if we’d go with her. But for my mental state (and the fact that we can easily afford whatever we want), I just have no interest.

Parents don’t live forever. I would love to have another trip somewhere with my dad. We didn’t always have a charmed childhood, but I now miss spending time with him.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I think my mom probably regrets not taking some trips when my sister and I were younger. Not to putting it on a credit card, but instead using some of the insane levels of cash she was socking away for retirement. Now she’s retired, my dad has passed away, and with her SS, 401K and pension she has plenty of money. But no one to travel with.

She keeps offering to take me & my family somewhere if we’d go with her. But for my mental state (and the fact that we can easily afford whatever we want), I just have no interest.

We were dirt poor so never went on a vacation (no camping, no beach, no amusement parks - my grandmother did take us to the Jersey shore twice). Once I became a teenager my mom had a boyfriend and they would go to Florida at times but she’d never take us.

I highly doubt my mom regrets never being able to take us on a vacation since she lets me know I don’t have to take my kids anywhere. That they’re lucky we even take them with us since we aren’t obligated to give vacations. She also says she hates to travel now and when given opportunities she says she prefers her home.

I had a lot of friends/classmates growing up who were in the same boat of never going on vacations for various reasons.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Disney has always been expensive but I do think the overall value for the money you spend is slowly diminishing. Personally I am looking to do more non Disney focused vacations going forward. There's a big world outside the mouse!

This is why we go to Disney every 2-4 years. There’s so many other places we want to go. We can do 2-3 vacations for the cost of one Disney trip.

 

[msmayor]

Parents don’t live forever. I would love to have another trip somewhere with my dad. We didn’t always have a charmed childhood, but I now miss spending time with him.

This is a big reason why my husband and I choose experiences over stuff - and take every opportunity to find special ways to spend time with our adult kids. I treat every opportunity we get to do something together as if this was 'the last time we get to do this'.

My daughter and I started 'girls trip' last year, just the two of us to Disney as a sort of celebration after a particularly tough year health-wise for each of us. It was pure bliss...and we decided to build on that tradition each year, to take a long weekend at Disney for just the two of us. It's as much for bonding and time together as it is for Disney magic. We go this year in 8 weeks...I wouldn't trade that time for anything.

 

[Smugpugmug]

This is why we go to Disney every 2-4 years. There’s so many other places we want to go. We can do 2-3 vacations for the cost of one Disney trip.

So true. As a single person, I can travel internationally for cheaper than Disney. I am fully aware it's way more expensive for families, before anyone comments that

 

[gmi3804]

I think my mom probably regrets not taking some trips when my sister and I were younger. Not to putting it on a credit card, but instead using some of the insane levels of cash she was socking away for retirement. Now she’s retired, my dad has passed away, and with her SS, 401K and pension she has plenty of money. But no one to travel with.

Make no mistake, she absolutely did the right thing socking away for retirement. She probably should have retired earlier, however, though hindsight is 20/20.

Disney has always been expensive but I do think the overall value for the money you spend is slowly diminishing. Personally I am looking to do more non Disney focused vacations going forward. There's a big world outside the mouse!

Slowly?!

We have some really nice cruise trips planned with some of th money we'd have spent on Disney:

12-night Tokyo in March 2025. Then Tokyo Disney.
7-night Norwegian fjords in July 2025
14-night Venice to Rome in October 2025
13-night Antarctica exploration cruise in January 2026
14-night Alaska in May 2026
141-night World Cruise in January 2027. Miami-NYC, but westbound!

Yup, experiences over stuff. We want to bounce our last check.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

So true. As a single person, I can travel internationally for cheaper than Disney. I am fully aware it's way more expensive for families, before anyone comments that

I only go with DD18 now. Paying for 2 isn’t so bad. I’m planning to go with my SO in the next few years also. We just tend to plan other trips that he doesn’t want to give up for Disney.

But our days of us paying the bill for a family of 4 is over. It is so expensive to pay for 4 Disney adults. We will go all together when the kids can and want to pay for themselves or at least contribute a portion of the trip. My son is 24 and doing different trips and doesn’t want to spend his money at Disney right now when he can do much cheaper trips elsewhere.

 

[kathy884]

Parents don’t live forever. I would love to have another trip somewhere with my dad. We didn’t always have a charmed childhood, but I now miss spending time with him.

I get what you are saying.

My dad always loved Disney and took us so many times. I'm so happy that in 2021 (He was 85 at the time), that I took him in March to Epcot Flower and garden for two days (something he and I both despite numerous Orlando trips had never been too) and SeaWorld (his favorite park). An OMG it was just going to be me and my dad for a week with three relaxing days and three theme park days, but hearing dad / grandpa was coming eight additional extended family members joined us. There is no place else dad would have enjoyed more. He has more limited mobility (cane and walker for most things and for parks needs a scooter). Boy though he loves how scooter friendly the parks are. It's the only place besides visiting me in my home he would have considered traveling to.

I'm very fortunate that I still have my dad, but he doesn't travel anymore and is now in assisted living.

 

[DCLMP]

Just for perspective

2012
https://www.disboards.com/threads/when-does-disney-become-too-expensive.3017273/

2009
https://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-too-expensive.2215771/

2008
https://www.disboards.com/threads/is-disney-becoming-too-expensive.1700392/

2005
https://www.disboards.com/threads/n...ensive-right-now-hows-january-pricing.840003/

My observation from reading those threads is that there are not a lot of young middle class families on these forums anymore skimping and saving for a trip. Has it gotten too hard or is it not worth it the effort.


Those threads were also during the recession. Since there’s are cycles we will see that again.

 

[redrosesix]

How Disney Vacations Became Too Expensive For Many Americans​

Are you now changing your vacation spot from Disney to other places (eg, cruises)? We have been to Disney World several times over the years. Our last family trip was last year, but because of college costs, our previous trip was in 2014. So, we don't go every year. Before our last trip in 2023, DH and I agreed that that trip will be our last because of the price increases. Well, we are going back again in 3 weeks. We had a great time in 2023, even though we all came back home with Covid.

So, is Disney too expensive for you?

It's not really about it being too expensive...for us it just hasn't been a good value in the past few years, so we didn't go. We're booking now with a discount for Canadian residents but it will be less than 1 week and we won't be shopping in wdw...which we used to do a lot of when everything in the parks was not the same from park to park and year to year. We also were able to send everything back to the resort and go and buy some more. We used ME and EMH, even got a reservation for dining that was only for resort guests...none of that is there anymore, and if you're just as well off staying offsite then it's just not worth the higher rates.

and we're also planning our next two trips to Florida now, and neither will be to wdw. The price of the park tickets just is not worth it and the perks for staying onsite aren't enough to make it magical. I'm hoping they go back to the old ways with Iger being back at the helm but I'm not holding my breath. It used to be worth it for us to go every year, but for the same price we could take a family trip to Europe or Africa so...

 

[gsdweller]

It is never going back to how it was before. This price inflation is killing everything.

 

[DCLMP]

It is never going back to how it was before. This price inflation is killing everything.

With the economy contracting you may see price drops in discretionary items. Not in the things we need though. It’s such a weird environment right now. War is always inflationary. Who know what’s going happen.

 

[NYCgrrl]

It’s not too expensive….yeah but then again maybe it is.
I need to think on this more before answering.

I thought on it.

It’s too much money for the return. Been vacationing here for several years and from the first noted that the hotels didn’t live up to their stated designations but with care a nice meal could be had at many locales. Yet it was a place where you could laugh and play and that was good. Unfortunately, some are having to bring their woes with them in the form of debt and by the way the upper middle income bracket is just not going to fall for this facade without more changes in price or service or both.

We are going this coming December and I’m sure we will enjoy ourselves but next year will be a different year in our lives and Disney shouldn’t take our coin as a given.

 

[Darcy03231]

While I can still afford to go to WDW, I no longer see the value in it. We've branched out to other trips (cruises, all inclusives, dude ranch, other land-based vacations) and really haven't looked back.

Once we broke the "bubble" it became easier and easier to not go back. Last time we went was in 2017 when we tacked 2 days/3 nights on the end of a cruise so DH could see Pandora. Last full trip was in 2015.

I still price compare and I imagine we'll go back at some point when the grandchildren are a bit older, but for right now, I have no plans to return. I've found we can take longer trips to other locations for less than a WDW trip and have just as much, if not more, fun.

 

[gmi3804]

Once we broke the "bubble" it became easier and easier to not go back.

Agreed. Not going back was mind over matter. We've been traveling to other destinations for about a year now, and honestly don't miss the Disney of our last trip there, which by most accounts has gotten even more problematic.

 

[jo-jo]

Make no mistake, she absolutely did the right thing socking away for retirement. She probably should have retired earlier, however, though hindsight is 20/20.


Slowly?!

We have some really nice cruise trips planned with some of th money we'd have spent on Disney:

12-night Tokyo in March 2025. Then Tokyo Disney.
7-night Norwegian fjords in July 2025
14-night Venice to Rome in October 2025
13-night Antarctica exploration cruise in January 2026
14-night Alaska in May 2026
141-night World Cruise in January 2027. Miami-NYC, but westbound!

Yup, experiences over stuff. We want to bounce our last check.

In 200 words or less, can you share about that 141 night cruise? I don’t know about any of your other destinations, but being on a ship for 4 1/2 months boggles my brain.

 

[gmi3804]

In 200 words or less, can you share about that 141 night cruise? I don’t know about any of your other destinations, but being on a ship for 4 1/2 months boggles my brain.

So many logistics to think about. Fortunately we have over two years to figure them out. Hardest thing is going to be leaving the dog for five months.

Here’s the link to the page. You can see the itinerary.
https://www.rssc.com/2027-world-cruise

 

[mort1331]

I find that everything is so expensive. That in comparison Disney doesn't feel as exorbitant.
For Example. Our local county fair. Admission went up to $20 per person. It used to be under $10 only a couple summers ago. They have a wristband special for riding the rides. $40 per person unlimited during special hours. Or you buy tickets to pay for the rides individually. The ticket route makes each ride on average $5. $5 to ride one time. So for the wristband you need to ride 8 rides to "break even" to the ticket cost. The lines to ride were so incredibly long. My kids just got to the break even point. Never exceeded it. Regardless of going early and staying late.
The food rivals Disney in cost. $5 for a small soda. $14 for a ice cream sundae. Used to be a hotdog/soda combo was less than $5. They didn't even have that food truck at all this year.
All of the carnival games started at $5 per game. Which is of course a waste. Because they are designed for you to fail. And if you do win your prize is so tiny and junky. But kids love to play these games.

So $60 for just entrance and rides. When I compare that to a full day at Disney even at current prices I don't feel Disney as horrible. And at least at Disney the rides are safe. And the atmosphere is picturesque. And you're not walking around a dirt field.

Sounds like the CNE,, or EX here in Toronto. But wife and I just went and watched 2 comedians and it was $250 for both tickets, and if I wanted a beer,,cough cough $14 per. So for just a few dollars more instead of 2.5hours of a show, I can have a whole day of entertainment. Hmm lets see what I would pick. Yes all those expenses are wrapped up into 1 week, but its something we remember until the next year. I dont think we will be talking about the comedians next week.

 

[jo-jo]

So many logistics to think about. Fortunately we have over two years to figure them out. Hardest thing is going to be leaving the dog for five months.

Here’s the link to the page. You can see the itinerary.
https://www.rssc.com/2027-world-cruise

Brain still boggled. Some rooms are as big as some homes. A zillion ports with an 8-10 hours to visit.

Thanks for the link.

 

[gmi3804]

Brain still boggled. Some rooms are as big as some homes. A zillion ports with an 8-10 hours to visit.

Thanks for the link.

The nice thing is that they have some multi-day tours (all tours are included, but probably not those) where you leave the ship in one port and catch up to it one or two ports away. We definitely want to do this to visit the Taj Mahal, which is quite a bit inland.

We've sailed on Splendor (as recently as July when we did the Iceland sailing), so we love the ship and Regent in general. We're splurging and getting one of the larger suites, as we want more room if we're going to be there for five months. It should be the trip of a lifetime.