Disney is a good value

[elaine amj]

No, Disney is not a great value. That doesn't mean it's not worthwhile, but it is no way a discount or budget choice. Things I can do for less money:

- Cruise in off-season; if you choose an ocean view cabin, this is less than $100/person/day and includes entertainment and food.

- Rent a beach house or a lake house. We can do this for about $500/week for a two or three bedroom place.

- Someone mentioned Washington DC, which is a great place to take kids. We've done it three times, and we can always get hotel rooms for $50-70, and the museums and activities are mostly free.

- Las Vegas is cheaper than Disney. We paid only $40 for a Priceline hotel, and entertainment there is cheap. Food was expensive, but it was good food; whereas Disney food was the same price for sandwich type stuff.

- You mentioned sports tickets -- those vary widely, and -- in all fairness -- you were comparing professional sports and top-notch tickets. We can get a "family pack" to watch a minor league baseball game for $40. That includes good seats, dinner and popcorn. When our Sunday School class goes to a hockey game and gets group tickets, it's less than $20/person.

- Next week our high school's putting on a play. Because I'm a teacher, I'll go for free, but my family's tickets will only be $5 each. We can see really good quality plays and concerts at the university down the road for similar prices.

I can think of dozens of things we can do for less money than visiting a Disney Park. In fact, I have trouble thinking of things that cost MORE a Disney visit -- the Cirque show we saw in Vegas was more expensive, but after that, I'm kind of stuck.

Keep in mind that none of this means you shouldn't visit Disney or that Disney isn't a fun vacation. It just isn't in any stretch of the imagination a budget choice.

Disney may be a better value than some other places, but if you do a little research there are some amazing deals for non-Disney destinations.

A couple off the top of my head:

1. Washington, DC.--You can stay at an inexpensive hotel in Arlington (like the Americana Hotel) for under $100/night and visit all the free sights.

2. Las Vegas--Play the MyVegas facebook game and get most of your food and lodging for free.

3. Museums--Become a member of a museum that participates in a reciprocal admission program and gain free admission to hundreds of museums.

4. National Parks--Get a National Parks annual pass and receive admission to 2000 national recreation sites. Cost is $80/year for adults, but if you are 62 you can get a senior lifetime pass for only $10!

So I'm not the only crazy person in the world to compare the cost and quality of my vacations Keep in mind I am travel-obsessed and yet also extremely value-oriented and constantly on the hunt for the best "deals".

We didn't do WDW last year nor do we have plans this year - so my price comparisons are from our end of August trip in 2012. Our flights were free with points. We did a 12 night trip for 2 adults, 2 kids (Disney gets cheaper the longer your stay) with free dining (upgraded to DDP) at a Value hotel with 6 day park tickets + 6 day WPF&M. This cost us $3200. Plus tips, say $3500.
So 12 day August 2012 at WDW: $73 pp/day.

I'll do some comparisons to other vacations. Yes, there are other ways to travel but this is taking into account our schedule (kids at school!), our budget, our interests, and our wants:

- March break 2012 cruise on Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas
- 5 nights plus 2 nights in Fort Lauderdale. Incl. tips, excursions, food and sightseeing in FLL (hotels and flights free with points): $3000. $107 pp/day
I decided this one was not good value as we spent more and had less fun than Disney

- Christmas 2013 Washington DC.
4 days focused on free museums. (hotel & flights free with points). $262 for transportation (OUCH!) and food. Ate only at food court or cooked in room with groceries. $16 pp/day
This was a "cheap" getaway. But no nice meals out and turns out my kids only have limited patience for museums. They stayed in the hotel half the time watching TV while DH and I hit the museums. It was just an OK trip.

August 2013, 3 nights tent camping at a beautiful park about 8 hours away
Focused on hiking, fishing, and canoeing. (1 night hotel on the way up - free with points). Groceries: $50. Meals out: $70. Campsite: $126 (camping is expensive in Ontario!). Canoe rental: $60. Firewood: $30. Total: $336. $28 pp/day
We love camping and we do a lot of it. So a very good value trip for us. I don't know if we would spend a week camping though - we usually only go for 3-4 nights at a time. it's quite possible costs will go up if we add more activities. Renting canoes is expensive enough.

Dec 2013 3 nights Phoenix/Sedona, adults only
Focus on hiking and free activities. $100 for hotel (flights/hotels mostly free with points). $200 for meals, $100 for rental car/gas/park entry. Total: $400. $66 pp/day

For us, Disney is expensive, but not THAT expensive - particularly since I focus on the best deals for our family. I do consider it good value, although as prices continue to climb I will have to reassess. We've been fortunate enough to travel to a lot of different places (including a recent trip to Europe). We will continue to travel all over the place - but our hearts are at Disney and yes, I will pay a little more because for us, it's worth it. Getting super excited about a trip to DLR next March!

 

[elaine amj]

In 2010 our family of 5 went to Disney for the first time. DH and I planned it for no other reason than we figured "everyone has to take their family at least once". DH, who by the way is the cheapest person I know, was shocked at the cost. To make a long story short, we went and fell in love with the parks, characters, people, POR everything.Immediately started to plan the next trip which happened this past Nov. Fell in love all over again! Hoping next trip will be Jan. 2016. To us Disney can't be a yearly trip- simply can't afford it. However, even though it's expensive it was well worth it to us. DH especially loves that we stay on site and do the dining plan so everything is pre-paid. By the time we arrive we pay for vey little out of pocket! Not going is not an option...We're hooked!

ROFL! My DH and I are ultra cheap too. Everywhere I go I hunt first for "free things to do". I never expected to fall in love either and said for years there was no point spending thousands on a Disney trip when we could have just as much fun doing cheap stuff. We went for a quick weekend because free Give a Day tickets were burning in my pockets. We fell head over heels in love and were back just 3 months later for a long trip. DH in particular really loves it there. Our friends are baffled.

 

[squirrel4569]

This is an interesting topic and one my wife and I have discussed a few times. Last year we were searching for a vacation and Disney came out to be one of the cheapest options overall. We had a few parameters around our trip though. In 2012 we did 8 trips of over 1200 miles each way driving. Disney was one of those. In 2013 we wanted to do as little driving as possible, so flights were a requirement. My wife also didn't want to vacation in Texas (where we live) so we had to venture out a little further than the Gulf shore to the south of us. We looked at checking out Southern California, Northern California, DC, Vegas (without kids,) All inclusive vacations in Mexico (both with and without kids) and found that once we added up the flight, rental car (if needed,) hotel and food our budget was busted. Flights during the summer were just ridiculously high. I had some points on Delta that allowed me to reduce the price of tickets by $100 per person. Flights to just about everywhere else were in the $400 range after the discount. Flights to Orlando? $167 per person. DME means no rental car needed. Dining plan, a value resort (we are hardly in our room anyway) and 6 days of tickets and we had ourselves a wonderful time.

We drive on a lot of vacations and Disney is a place we've driven to (and will drive to again) so that can save money in regards to costs, but like a previous poster we're not camping, hiking, skiing type people, so some of those options aren't great for us. I love the beach and would love a vacation sitting in a chair while someone brings me drinks and food while I read a book and take a nap, but I know 5 minutes of that and my kids will be bored. Museums and aquariums are ok for a side trip somewhere, but I couldn't do a week of it.

Recently I priced out what a day or two at Cedar Point or Six Flags would be. I was blown away that they charge $50 per person to get in, then another $65-100 per person for their front of the line passes. Toss in $20 for parking plus food and drink and it adds up quick! Great Wolf Lodge is another one that is up there in price. A weekend there could easily run you a few hundred.

There's a lot that I love about Disney that I consider a good "value." I love that I don't need a car, even if I drive my own to get there. I love the dining plan and having 90% of my expenses for the trip paid for once I get there. I love the fact that it's a unique experience and not something that I'll see at home (or most anywhere else for that matter.) I love that there are things for the whole family to enjoy, not just one or two of us. We're captivated from the moment we start planning until weeks after we get back home and are still talking about the great time we had. That's value to me.

There are less expensive places to go. There are less expensive things to do. As of yet I've not found something that we enjoy more as a family than Disney though.

 

[KennesawNemo]

We did a 12 night trip for 2 adults, 2 kids (Disney gets cheaper the longer your stay) with free dining (upgraded to DDP) at a Value hotel with 6 day park tickets + 6 day WPF&M. This cost us $3200. Plus tips, say $3500.
So 12 day August 2012 at WDW: $73 pp/day.

One thing to consider is that you are comparing a 12 night trip to 3, 4, 5 night trips.

It's almost universally true that you pp/day cost goes down as you increase your days of vacation. This does not just apply to Disney.

 

[AquaDame]

One thing to consider is that you are comparing a 12 night trip to 3, 4, 5 night trips.

It's almost universally true that you pp/day cost goes down as you increase your days of vacation. This does not just apply to Disney.

The flights/points thing irks me too. If I could take a free flight anywhere of course the value goes up because that is a huge chunk of budget out the window right there. I don't know how people fly for free all the time... I have been saving points for years and still don't have enough for even two free domestic tickets. Do y'all travel for work or something?

 

[Marionnette]

The flights/points thing irks me too. If I could take a free flight anywhere of course the value goes up because that is a huge chunk of budget out the window right there. I don't know how people fly for free all the time... I have been saving points for years and still don't have enough for even two free domestic tickets. Do y'all travel for work or something?

Owning a business and putting almost all of the overhead on a business rewards credit card goes a long way toward racking up a ton of free air travel. We earn points at a rate of 1 RT domestic ticket every 2 months. I realize that our situation, while not unique, is the exception and not the rule for the casual traveler.

 

[Lewisc]

I avoid state or county fairs for the reasons you stated. I paid almost $10 for one funnel cake at a fair--outrageous! The rides are ordinary and very pricey.

I paid $20 to park at Six Flags, and other than the cirque show, nothing was special.

I have blown $100 at an Indian casino in an hour or two, with little return. I have paid $28 for the aquarium in SF, for a few hours. These are just a few examples of poor value.

You can't compare money spent gaming with vacations. It's a different experience. People who game think will say it's one of the few activities in which you might leave with more money then you came with.

You paid $28 for your aquarium. I suspect you could have purchased an annual family membership for around $100. You probably could have purchased discount admission for $20. I checked, the aquarium charges locals $18. Some libraries have admission passes available for local museums.

elaine amj--It's clear your family values your WDW vacation more then most of the alternatives. Your numbers are of little or no value. A longer trip will generally cost less per day. You pay for airfare with points for some trips but pay for transportation for other trips. You were able to take advantage of off peak pricing (free dining) for Disney but booked your cruise during a peak travel week.

Your Disney numbers a skewed. The numbers work for you. A family of 4. One room. Value resort. Free dining. You can't get a better deal then that. Your numbers would be dramatically different if you got a room discount and paid for dining. If you decided you wanted two rooms. If you were a family of 6.

 

[jimandami]

This is an interesting topic and one my wife and I have discussed a few times. Last year we were searching for a vacation and Disney came out to be one of the cheapest options overall. We had a few parameters around our trip though. In 2012 we did 8 trips of over 1200 miles each way driving. Disney was one of those. In 2013 we wanted to do as little driving as possible, so flights were a requirement. My wife also didn't want to vacation in Texas (where we live) so we had to venture out a little further than the Gulf shore to the south of us. We looked at checking out Southern California, Northern California, DC, Vegas (without kids,) All inclusive vacations in Mexico (both with and without kids) and found that once we added up the flight, rental car (if needed,) hotel and food our budget was busted. Flights during the summer were just ridiculously high. I had some points on Delta that allowed me to reduce the price of tickets by $100 per person. Flights to just about everywhere else were in the $400 range after the discount. Flights to Orlando? $167 per person. DME means no rental car needed. Dining plan, a value resort (we are hardly in our room anyway) and 6 days of tickets and we had ourselves a wonderful time. We drive on a lot of vacations and Disney is a place we've driven to (and will drive to again) so that can save money in regards to costs, but like a previous poster we're not camping, hiking, skiing type people, so some of those options aren't great for us. I love the beach and would love a vacation sitting in a chair while someone brings me drinks and food while I read a book and take a nap, but I know 5 minutes of that and my kids will be bored. Museums and aquariums are ok for a side trip somewhere, but I couldn't do a week of it. Recently I priced out what a day or two at Cedar Point or Six Flags would be. I was blown away that they charge $50 per person to get in, then another $65-100 per person for their front of the line passes. Toss in $20 for parking plus food and drink and it adds up quick! Great Wolf Lodge is another one that is up there in price. A weekend there could easily run you a few hundred. There's a lot that I love about Disney that I consider a good "value." I love that I don't need a car, even if I drive my own to get there. I love the dining plan and having 90% of my expenses for the trip paid for once I get there. I love the fact that it's a unique experience and not something that I'll see at home (or most anywhere else for that matter.) I love that there are things for the whole family to enjoy, not just one or two of us. We're captivated from the moment we start planning until weeks after we get back home and are still talking about the great time we had. That's value to me. There are less expensive places to go. There are less expensive things to do. As of yet I've not found something that we enjoy more as a family than Disney though.

We just did Great Wolf this weekend and even with an Amazon local deal for $199/night (which was almost 50% off rack rate!) we spent a total of $1100!!! In two days!! Obviously, we could have skipped some of the extras and it would have been cheaper, but still....that's a lot of money! I do think Disney can be a good value, especially for longer trips.

 

[kymom99]

The rewards/air miles issue is something people need to realize when setting their expectations. My brother in law travels for work and he and my sister have taken some awesome trips because of his miles and hotel rewards. Those of us who are not in the same position have to realize that the same vacations would cost us much more. Some folks say they would never drive, but for us we can save a bundle by driving since we don't have the ability to accumulate air miles at the rate that some people can.

 

[AquaDame]

The rewards/air miles issue is something people need to realize when setting their expectations. My brother in law travels for work and he and my sister have taken some awesome trips because of his miles and hotel rewards. Those of us who are not in the same position have to realize that the same vacations would cost us much more. Some folks say they would never drive, but for us we can save a bundle by driving since we don't have the ability to accumulate air miles at the rate that some people can.

Yup.. and some, like us, live too far away that driving isn't an option. As a childless couple working for the man we don't have the spending power of a business to earn miles with and neither of us needs to travel further than one state over for work so when it happens we drive. If I am spending $400 for airfare to WDW per person each time, that $360 to Hawaii or $500 to puerto rico starts to look mighty good in contrast never mind the cost of food and hotel (which in our experience tends to be equivalent or less than paying Disney prices).

Really what matters is dollars to dollars if you're going to generically say its good value, not "its good value because we could leverage x y and z and my kids were a butt on that trip that one time".

 

[daughtersrus]

A week in the Wisconsin Dells will cost you more than a week at Disney.

 

[crisi]

A week in the Wisconsin Dells will cost you more than a week at Disney.

That depends on what you do in the Dells. If you go to every tourist trap - yep, but saying that Disney is a good value as far as tourist traps go is sort of damning with faint praise.

 

[sheetz]

There's also an art to using frequent flier miles/hotel points. You can't just redeem them for a flight/hotel and say the trip was "free." You also have to look at how much the same trip would have cost if paid out of pocket as well as what the points would be worth if going to a different destination. For instance, using 25K miles for a transcontinental flight is generally a much better value than using the same number of miles for a shorter flight on a route serviced by Southwest.

 

[elaine amj]

One thing to consider is that you are comparing a 12 night trip to 3, 4, 5 night trips.

It's almost universally true that you pp/day cost goes down as you increase your days of vacation. This does not just apply to Disney.

COMPLETELY true, especially at Disney. Which makes a 12 day WDW trip a very good value for us. There's just not a whole lot of places I want to spend 12 precious vacation days at, kwim? Like I said - my comparisons were strictly from my own perspective based on our budget, schedules, interests, etc. I decided to focus strictly on trips I had made - not on trips I could take. I've got 10 days booked at a cabin in the Smokies this summer - very excited for it and it will be interesting to see our total expenses at the end of it. Our share of the cottage is $500, so i'm guesstimating a total of $2000 for everything. So about $50 pp/day. Unless we end up doing too many expensive activities/eating out a lot.

A super cheap summer was what we did in 2011. We shelled out $400 for 4 Platinum Passes for Cedar Fair parks. That summer, we drove to our nearby parks about a dozen or more times from June to October. We visited 3 parks within a 4 hour radius, with the vast majority at Cedar Point. Some were long weekends, some were day trips. Cost us a total of $1500 for the whole summer. It was awesome. (Unfortunately, it was also NOT Disney and despite the incredible value we got, we still needed our Disney fix).

The flights/points thing irks me too. If I could take a free flight anywhere of course the value goes up because that is a huge chunk of budget out the window right there. I don't know how people fly for free all the time... I have been saving points for years and still don't have enough for even two free domestic tickets. Do y'all travel for work or something?

I churn credit cards. I only got into it a couple of years ago. I too spent 7 years saving stupid airmiles, putting verything on my one CC. Then found out that the surcharges were ridiculous for ANY flight I wanted to take. Ended up with about $700 worth of airmiles which I used to redecorate my living room.

Google it - its very interesting and particularly awesome for Type A folks since it takes a certain amount (okay, a LOT) of strategizing. I only travel a little for work and am not in the position to spend tons on a credit card. That said, I've described it to my friends and none have been interested in taking the plunge. Certainly not a game for everyone. (and yes, I look at it as a game).

elaine amj--It's clear your family values your WDW vacation more then most of the alternatives. Your numbers are of little or no value. A longer trip will generally cost less per day. You pay for airfare with points for some trips but pay for transportation for other trips. You were able to take advantage of off peak pricing (free dining) for Disney but booked your cruise during a peak travel week.

Your Disney numbers a skewed. The numbers work for you. A family of 4. One room. Value resort. Free dining. You can't get a better deal then that. Your numbers would be dramatically different if you got a room discount and paid for dining. If you decided you wanted two rooms. If you were a family of 6.

Yep - it is the numbers for OUR family and for what we are interested in and for the way we like to travel. It really does make Disney a super deal for everything we get. Which is a big reason why we have been going back. Whether we will continue to see WDW as a good value will depend on how rising prices affect OUR family.

 

[elaine amj]

There's also an art to using frequent flier miles/hotel points. You can't just redeem them for a flight/hotel and say the trip was "free." You also have to look at how much the same trip would have cost if paid out of pocket as well as what the points would be worth if going to a different destination. For instance, using 25K miles for a transcontinental flight is generally a much better value than using the same number of miles for a shorter flight on a route serviced by Southwest.

A solid way of looking at redemption value. I'm all about squeezing value out of those miles.

That said, I also look at it from the perspective of: "is my miles/points taking me where I want to go?" e.g. a few years ago, I dished out 40k Delta Skymiles to get us to Orlando. PER PERSON. It was ridiculous. But I really didn't want to pay cash (yes, FOR ME, there is a psyhcological value in "free") and I had nothing else I wanted to do with the miles at the time. It's a fact of life - there is constant inflation in the miles/points game and hoarding isn't a good thing. I used it. It was wonderful.

It is still sometimes worth it for me to pay cash. e.g. I have done a number of stay twice, earn 1 night free deals. I'll stay at $50/night hotels. A $100 later, I'll earn a free night. Giving me 3 nights for $100 - just $33+ a night. A great value.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

That depends on what you do in the Dells. If you go to every tourist trap - yep, but saying that Disney is a good value as far as tourist traps go is sort of damning with faint praise.

We drove 8 hours to the Dells, 3 nights (midweek) at GWL, did Noah's Ark 1 day, drove around to several local attractions, hit house on the rock on the way home. Total price ~$1,100. 3 days at Disney would be $1,077 just for the tickets.

 

[crisi]

COMPLETELY true, especially at Disney. Which makes a 12 day WDW trip a very good value for us. There's just not a whole lot of places I want to spend 12 precious vacation days at, kwim? Like I said - my comparisons were strictly from my own perspective based on our budget, schedules, interests, etc. I decided to focus strictly on trips I had made - not on trips I could take. I've got 10 days booked at a cabin in the Smokies this summer - very excited for it and it will be interesting to see our total expenses at the end of it. Our share of the cottage is $500, so i'm guesstimating a total of $2000 for everything. So about $50 pp/day. Unless we end up doing too many expensive activities/eating out a lot.

And one of the reasons why its never been a good VALUE for us. When the kids were little we'd be there six days - but even then on day six we were bored. Now, its four half days for us. Which is barely worth the airfare.

Disney has two costs that make a longer trip a better per day value - transportation - which for most of us is airfare - and tickets. But that only helps if its a place you want to spend a lot of time at.

I'm like that with cruising as well. I like cruising - for four or five days. A week on a cruise ship I find boring.

 

[crisi]

We drove 8 hours to the Dells, 3 nights (midweek) at GWL, did Noah's Ark 1 day, drove around to several local attractions, hit house on the rock on the way home. Total price ~$1,100. 3 days at Disney would be $1,077 just for the tickets.

If you open up a dictionary, House on the Rock is pictured under Tourist Trap.

We did the Dells, spent the day hiking, stayed in hotel not close to the Dells, and then went to Taliesin for the day. The Taliesin house tour is pretty expensive at $50 a person. But its Taliesin.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

If you open up a dictionary, House on the Rock is pictured under Tourist Trap.

We did the Dells, spent the day hiking, stayed in hotel not close to the Dells, and then went to Taliesin for the day. The Taliesin house tour is pretty expensive at $50 a person. But its Taliesin.

Yeah, DD9 had read about it in a book about a family traveling cross country stopping at tourist traps

 

[elaine amj]

We just did Great Wolf this weekend and even with an Amazon local deal for $199/night (which was almost 50% off rack rate!) we spent a total of $1100!!! In two days!! Obviously, we could have skipped some of the extras and it would have been cheaper, but still....that's a lot of money! I do think Disney can be a good value, especially for longer trips.

I've priced out similar trips. and totally agree with you

And one of the reasons why its never been a good VALUE for us. When the kids were little we'd be there six days - but even then on day six we were bored. Now, its four half days for us. Which is barely worth the airfare.

Disney has two costs that make a longer trip a better per day value - transportation - which for most of us is airfare - and tickets. But that only helps if its a place you want to spend a lot of time at.

I'm like that with cruising as well. I like cruising - for four or five days. A week on a cruise ship I find boring.

Totally different value equation then. And I agree, that makes Disney trips rise in price for you. What about non-expiring tickets? Last year I wanted to go to Disney for 1-2 days and simply couldn't justify it, so did some Disney math and ended up buying 10 day non expiring tickets with WPF&M. I think I calculated it out to something like under $35 per person per park now. Perfect for short trips. Thinking of running down for Thanksgiving just to get my Disney fix.