disney is really starting to get expensive!!!!

[lisam427]

i am a disney fanatic. it is our favorite place to be. we have gone almost every year since 2005 and am greatful and fortunate to do so. .when we went this past September they raised prices for everything, the food, beverages, the ECV’s, absolutely everything.

also this past trip i felt that i was offered less for my money . this year we waited 65 minutes just to leave orlando airport on magical express. the past years we only had a 5-15 minute wait. the disney bus transportation to get to the parks was the worst. some mornings we waited 45-60 minutes to get to the parks and we stayed at a moderate resort. buses never ran that infrequently in previous years/trips and we always have been fortunate to stay at moderates. food portions were also noticeably smaller in comparison to last year at some of the counter service locations. in 2011 they also cut monorail service when magic kingdom has extra magic hours.

today i was considering taking my daughter and nephew this coming august. i priced out my vacation and was disgusted. next year it will cost quite a bit more for the three of us to go as it did this year thanks to increases in park tickets and the hotel rooms. to me this is disgusting.

i will not be going back this coming year and am heartbroken because of it. i understand that disney is there to make $$$ but they should be ashamed of themselves. if i had to pay more for a vacation than offer me more or at least the same.. with disney vacationers are paying more for much less of everything.

this year i will be paying $900 for a week on a cruise boat to the bahamas (which includes meals and entertainment) compared to $1700-$1900 (depending on park tickets) for week at disney without meal plan. when disney stops their trend of making vacationers pay more for much less, i will be back. until then we will be making other vacation plans for a while..

 

[Disneybuckeye]

Yes, Disney can be expensive, but when you compare it to a week in Vail it is pretty darn cheap. Watch for offers and hopefully you can make it work again sometime in the future.

 

[scrapquitler]

i am a disney fanatic. it is our favorite place to be. we have gone almost every year since 2005 and am greatful and fortunate to do so. .when we went this past September they raised prices for everything, the food, beverages, the ECV’s, absolutely everything.

also this past trip i felt that i was offered less for my money . this year we waited 65 minutes just to leave orlando airport on magical express. the past years we only had a 5-15 minute wait. the disney bus transportation to get to the parks was the worst. some mornings we waited 45-60 minutes to get to the parks and we stayed at a moderate resort. buses never ran that infrequently in previous years/trips and we always have been fortunate to stay at moderates. food portions were also noticeably smaller in comparison to last year at some of the counter service locations. in 2011 they also cut monorail service when magic kingdom has extra magic hours.

today i was considering taking my daughter and nephew this coming august. i priced out my vacation and was disgusted. next year it will cost quite a bit more for the three of us to go as it did this year thanks to increases in park tickets and the hotel rooms. to me this is disgusting.

i will not be going back this coming year and am heartbroken because of it. i understand that disney is there to make $$$ but they should be ashamed of themselves. if i had to pay more for a vacation than offer me more or at least the same.. with disney vacationers are paying more for much less of everything.

this year i will be paying $900 for a week on a cruise boat to the bahamas (which includes meals and entertainment) compared to $1700-$1900 (depending on park tickets) for week at disney without meal plan. when disney stops their trend of making vacationers pay more for much less, i will be back. until then we will be making other vacation plans for a while..

I was just there in October, and I stayed in a value. We never experienced the wait for the bus that you describe (once we needed to wait about 20 minutse because we JUST missed a bus as we got to the stop, other than that, waits were 10 or less) We waited less than 10 minutes for ME as well.

Yes, Disney is an expensive vacation, but I've priced other vacations, and I think that overall, Disney gives us more value than an all inclusive or a beach trip.

And prices have been going up on EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE. That's just the way it goes.

 

[gracie1]

Im with ya on the whole cruise thing. I am doing a 7 night cruise to bermuda next october and it's $599 a person And it's great to know that all that wonderful food is included! I loved the last cruise I went on. And you get to see a new part of the world!

 

[wdw4rfam]

I totally agree. We have gone every year since 2002, and every year it goes up, and up, and up. We just spent over $5000 on our April trip, but like other person said its not bad when you price out other vacations. We just priced out Hershey, PA this summer for 3 nights, and it was almost as much as a week at Disney with free dining, so........ back to Disney we go in March. Now, if and when Disney does away with free dining..... this family of 5, will not be making the annual trips anymore ( it was a saving of $1600 this coming trip). I will also agree that quality has really gone down everywhere on property. From busing, to dining, etc.

 

[burnurcomputer]

I totally agree. We have gone every year since 2002, and every year it goes up, and up, and up. We just spent over $5000 on our April trip, but like other person said its not bad when you price out other vacations. We just priced out Hershey, PA this summer for 3 nights, and it was almost as much as a week at Disney with free dining, so........ back to Disney we go in March. Now, if and when Disney does away with free dining..... this family of 5, will not be making the annual trips anymore ( it was a saving of $1600 this coming trip). I will also agree that quality has really gone down everywhere on property. From busing, to dining, etc.

I respectfully disagree with this. I live very close to the above mentioned area and could find you VERY reasonable rates for hotels or private offering for the area. A Hershey Park season ticket is less then $150 per person, good for the calander year includes free parking, Zoo America and a coupon book. A season pass for both Hershey and Dutch Wonderland is around $200 for the year with a few more perks.

Just like Disney, if you stay off-site (which Hershey doesn't have on-site hotels, just hotels nearby that offer shuttles) you find find better prices. But I am reasonable sure that I can guarantee that you will pay a ton more for Disney then you would for a week at Hershey.

 

[DawnM]

Our Disney vacations have gone up a little. Although this upcoming trip is great because DH's work is sending him down so our gas is paid! That saves us about $300.

However, if you do Disney the way we do (cheap!) the 10% increase to 20% increase is not too bad.

And everything is going up! Food, Netflix, it is all increasing.

 

[quigs3]

Yes, Disney has raised their prices, but so have so many other places! It's unfortunately a result of our economic times. I have to scrimp and save more than ever just to be able to take my two children, but I manage to get the money together and we keep going back! Just keep watching for their special deals and rates! They can make a big difference. I prefer the room discounts to the free dining.

 

[mercydisney]

It is in 2003 we stayed at a moderate for 6 nights with free dining for 2 adults and 2 kids, including 1 ticket for each for a little under $600.

I'm glad I kept the reciept (paper work) because I wouldn't believe it myself.

If I were to stay their today considering my kids are now considered adults I would have to save up for a very long time.

 

[bear_mom]

We went to Cedar Point this summer for three nights, two park days. I priced staying on-site and it would have only been $300 more to stay at Disney (and that was with 3 days of park tickets) than at Cedar Point.

Food was more expensive at Cedar Point, not as good, and smaller portions. In Disney we can order two adult meals and one child meal and have more than enough food for the four of us. Not at Cedar Point, dds kids meal barely fed her. Older dd ate an entire adult meal.

Water would have been more expensive (we brought in water bottles) plus you can't bring in food like you can at Disney.

Emily

 

[eliza61]

I was just there in October, and I stayed in a value. We never experienced the wait for the bus that you describe (once we needed to wait about 20 minutse because we JUST missed a bus as we got to the stop, other than that, waits were 10 or less) We waited less than 10 minutes for ME as well.

Yes, Disney is an expensive vacation, but I've priced other vacations, and I think that overall, Disney gives us more value than an all inclusive or a beach trip.

And prices have been going up on EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE. That's just the way it goes.

See this is where I totally disagree. IMO disney is the only venue raising prices and cutting services.

Most other vacation venues are giving way more in the way of value than disney. probably except for beach vacations.

Cruises. 1) food 100X's better. 2) entertainment way better. Now most of them have kids clubs with superb activities for kids.

I just went to Europe last May for about the same price I do disney, now granted I stay deluxe so I know I could do disney cheaper but for the same price I spent a week in Paris, at a true deluxe, had outstanding food, did 2 days at DLP and included air fare.

I too have cut way back on my disney trips, I use to be an annual visitor but prices go up, restaurants are mediocre at best with a few exceptions, cuts in fantasmic, live entertainers and hotel staff.

I use to be a devote, loyal visitor but now I think disney is turning into one big "forget the service" theme park.

 

[Pigeon]

The last straw for me was reading that they are now tacking on a charge for nothing on each meal at many of the more popular restaurants during the periods when we can go. There's no reason behind this except greed, plain and simple. I had been thinking of planning a trip next year, but when I saw this, I was so disgusted I said forget it. The food is already insanely expensive for what it is and how it's presented. To pay extra for eating during certain weeks? Forget it.

For us, Disney is way more expensive than most of our other vacations. And the kids are bugging me. Not to go to Disney, but to rent a house on a lake in the Adirondacks again. I figured that vacation would be lame for them compared to Disney, but they loved it, and it cost us about a third of what WDW costs.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

I used to stay onsite Disney, now I never do. I live just 3 hours away and go about every 4-6 weeks. In order to continue to afford going that often, I have to stay off site now. Disney has priced themselves out of my pocketbook... I have stayed from values all the way up to deluxe concierge level and now I refuse to pay what they want...

Instead, I now use E-bay's auctions on timeshares for my long stays.. Priceline & Hotwire for my shorter stays.. and am very happy. I am not living in the rooms... I cannot see paying what Disney is charging anymore.

As far as their food.. I will not do Disney's character meals anymore. They are not worth the nearly $40 bucks they want for them. I can remember paying under $20. I don't eat $40 worth of food in one sitting, why should I pay that much for it They aren't super Restaurants I prefer to eat off site, but I will do some onsite meals.. just not their super over priced character meals (which are really Golden Corral meals in my opinion just minus the characters).

If I was to price out a vacation, Disney does price out cheaper for me doing offsite as opposed to going out of the State. I do get a FL Resident Annual Pass, so that saves me a ton of money. Staying offsite, and eating offsite saves money too.. so yes, in the long run, it is a cheaper way for me to go away compared to say Hersey, or Vail as others have compared it to.. but then again.. I live less than 3 hours from Disney and get there and back in one tank of gas... heck, if I pushed it, not that I could.. but some can.. it could even be a day trip.. if I was younger, I could do it for a day, then drive home.. I did many moons ago.. just can't do it now.. I do need to sleep before driving home after a day at a theme park...

 

[gracie1]

I respectfully disagree with this. I live very close to the above mentioned area and could find you VERY reasonable rates for hotels or private offering for the area. A Hershey Park season ticket is less then $150 per person, good for the calander year includes free parking, Zoo America and a coupon book. A season pass for both Hershey and Dutch Wonderland is around $200 for the year with a few more perks.

Just like Disney, if you stay off-site (which Hershey doesn't have on-site hotels, just hotels nearby that offer shuttles) you find find better prices. But I am reasonable sure that I can guarantee that you will pay a ton more for Disney then you would for a week at Hershey.

I'm with you on this one. And if you stay right at Hershey, you will pay more. When we went we stayed about 10 miles out and the rooms were so reasonable!! And free full breakfast at the Country Inn and SuitesHershey in no way is near the same cost as disney

 

[MinnieForMe]

I have to agree with you! Now, that we have two children over 10 years old, Disney costs us a small fortune!

If you want to feel like you are getting a good value, vacation in Williamsburg, VA. We went this summer and had the absolute best time. Tickets for our family of five were about $500 total including Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens and Water Country (for a week). We drove instead of flying like we do for Florida and we used our timeshare ($169 transfer fee). It was one of our best and cheapest vacations!

 

[TJA]

I think part of the problem is that there are people out there that pay full price in disney. As long as people keep going back and paying the price, I doubt disney will offer great deals since they won't need to fill the rooms. We will only go with an approx 40% discount, so I'm holding out hope for 2012 to see what they offer us.

 

[Macprincess]

I used to stay onsite Disney, now I never do. I live just 3 hours away and go about every 4-6 weeks. In order to continue to afford going that often, I have to stay off site now. Disney has priced themselves out of my pocketbook... I have stayed from values all the way up to deluxe concierge level and now I refuse to pay what they want...

I could have written this.

Okay, I live an hour and a half away but you have nailed how we go to Disney now. I use to be a die hard will only stay on site person but we just can't swing it much anymore. We might, and it's a big might, do a few nights on site if it's for a special reason (B-day) or we get an awesome passholder rate. The passholder rates may be 40% off the rack rates but IMO the rack rates are insane! 40% off such high numbers are still too darn high.We're also a family of five. Staying on site even when we get a decent rate is more of a pain then it's worth for us now a days. We get far more much needed space off site.

Two of my children are now adult price for park tickets and meals. We have found that even with the discount of our Tables in Wonderland card that we tend to eat off site more and more as well. We started eating more meals off site a few years back when ADR's became so hard to get. As a local I often have no idea that I will be in the parks 180 days in advance. Now we have lots of off site places we look forward to going to as much as we use to look forward to on site meals. The bonus is they're a fraction of the cost of on site meals.

I use to use my savings from doing WDW this way for Disney Cruises. (Love them!) We have another one planed for May. However, we're pretty sure this will be our last DCL. The prices for 2013 that we're just released are just not doable for us. I never thought I would be booking on RC with the kids but we're doing a 7 day for less then a 4 day on Disney. I hope we like it because Disney has priced us out of their market.

 

[DawnM]

And how much was your timeshare maintanence fee and how much did you spend on food for the week?

We typically get the Disney YES tickets and spend under $1000 total. We also drive down, stay in a condo for $150-$250 PER WEEK including taxes, eat mostly our own food, and haven't found anywhere to be much cheaper.

We did Williamsburg two years ago and came home commenting that it wasn't much cheaper than Disney! Maybe $300-$500 cheaper for the week at most.

Don't get me wrong, we do enjoy going elsewhere, but we don't find it much cheaper or places we would go to over and over again like Disney is.

Dawn

I have to agree with you! Now, that we have two children over 10 years old, Disney costs us a small fortune!

If you want to feel like you are getting a good value, vacation in Williamsburg, VA. We went this summer and had the absolute best time. Tickets for our family of five were about $500 total including Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens and Water Country (for a week). We drove instead of flying like we do for Florida and we used our timeshare ($169 transfer fee). It was one of our best and cheapest vacations!