Disney: Paying more and getting less!!!

[kandb]

We have been going to disney yearly for the last 7 years, we live in NJ. We (especially me) have loved our trips there. However, I do believe we will skip this year because of the price increases and the extraordinary crowds that disney has been getting. I just can't justify spending so much money to go and wait in long lines for more money that we have ever spent before. Is anyone not going or taking some time off? I am really going to miss our yearly trip but hopefully we will enjoy other vacation destinations.

 

[ErinsMommy]

We just went and won't be back for a few years. While we didn't experience very long lines, it's just an exhausting trip running around all day and we have other destinations we'll like to go to and expand DD's horizons.

 

[disnut8]

We have been going to disney yearly for the last 7 years, we live in NJ. We (especially me) have loved our trips there. However, I do believe we will skip this year because of the price increases and the extraordinary crowds that disney has been getting. I just can't justify spending so much money to go and wait in long lines for more money that we have ever spent before. Is anyone not going or taking some time off? I am really going to miss our yearly trip but hopefully we will enjoy other vacation destinations.

Not me. I want to go more. Because we are close (7-1/2 hours away), it's really a great time for us. I realize not very many people have that "luxury" but when I go to Disney World, I do escape from the real world. I suppose you can say that about any vacation destination but for me, I don't check emails, I don't look at the news, I just relax. I tend to do the other things when I in Gatlinburg or at my in-laws' place. At Disney World, that time is just mine.

But then again, I don't run around trying to get into every single attraction. We (my husband and I), don't do rope drops and for our upcoming Memorial Day weekend, we are going to spend some pool time together.

Disney Word, for me, is so much more than the attractions so I treat each visit as a true vacation. No hassles, no hustles, no fuss.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

I live 3 hours away and go very often. I go on an average of every 6 weeks. I have to say it was not fun leaving the MK park this past Monday evening when the monorails went down. After having to wait almost an hour (at 8pm no less) to get onto the ferry in what felt like a very dimly lit area only to reach the trams and wait another very long time because only 2 trams were running is getting a bit much to deal with. You wait in lines all day at the attractions, the least that Disney can provide is more trams and working monorails for what you pay for your admission. I am sorry, I have to agree, it is getting expensive for what they are providing, and this is coming from a very frequent visitor who lives only 3 hours away..

 

[Texas Barbie]

I intend to go more often than I have been. I have vacationed in many places, but the level of service and quality of the experience at Disney is unmatched. Crowded? Sure it is. The word is out about what they have to offer. We had monorail trouble too, but didn't allow it mar our visit. It's on my bucket list to go as often as possible, for as long as I can.

 

[Love Tink]

We have a trip planned for August and already my husband is talking about this being our last trip for a while. I might agree. I have two issues.

1) As a PP mentioned, the trips are just exhausting. They weren't so tiring when I was 28, but as I get older, my feet start hurting earlier in the week and no downtime saves the situation.

2) Our trips are getting so much more expensive. For one thing, prices on every single thing keep going up. For another, we used to go and just stay at an All Star resort and buy base tickets. But as we go more and more, and I spend time on here reading it starts being, "Lets try a moderate." "Let's try a deluxe." "Let's do the water parks." "Maybe we should try park hoppers." "I wonder if the boys would like this Pirates thing." And then it's hard to reverse course ("We went to Disney Quest last time!")

But I don't agree about the crowds. We've gone almost every month of the year, over many years, and every time I think the crowds are just fine - maybe slightly higher or slightly lower than I thought - and every single time I come back to the Dis and see threads about how CRAZY CROWDED and SO MUCH BUSIER THAN EVER BEFORE it was during the same week I was just there. So I ignore that now.

 

[cvjw]

Our family is getting some of the same feelings. We are DVC members, who have had AP's for many years. We generally spend 3-4 weeks onsite at Disney each year split between 3 trips. We have decided to sell one of our DVC contracts, and not get AP's next year. We are going to cut our visits down to only once per year.

For us, it isn't that Disney is that much more expensive, it is some of the things that Disney has done lately that make us not want to come back:

Waiting in the longer lines for entry because even though we are onsite guests, we can't put our AP's on the RFID key cards.

We aren't fans of the new fast pass system - it will really alter the way we tour Disney. Our boys like to ride the roller coasters over and over - that is some of our best memories at Disney, and what keeps us coming back. With the new system, it will be only one fastpass ride, and the rest standby. That makes us not even want to go to the parks.

These are just a couple of our reasons, but for us they make Disney lose some of it's magic for our family.

 

[kandb]

We will always have our disney memories and we will go back. I do wish we lived closer because I feel like then, there wouldn't be so much stress associated with going to the parks. Since we only went once per year, I would always say before the trip, "we are going to go slow and enjoy just being at disney", but as soon as we get to our parking space, I would be jumping out of the car to rush to get to the next tram coming. I don't know what comes over me,, I just get commando and feel like we are going to miss something.

 

[minnie mum]

You have to spend your vacation dollars as you see fit. If that means going elsewhere, then I hope you have a wonderful time. It's a great big beautiful world out there to explore and enjoy.

Disney has never been our sole vacation destination. Just a regular one. And we will continue to visit it. Because we like it. And because it is actually one of the less expensive vacations that we take.

I really don't even mind if a lot of folks feel like you about WDW. That will mean less crowded parks for us when we're there. So it's all good.

 

[ellyn2000]

I took my 3 children for many years without my husband because there was no way he would take a week off (small business owner) AND he hates theme parks. Finally got him to go a few years ago and he was surprised that DW was actually "OK". But now that our children are grown, married and living away from us, he sees our every 2 year WDW vacation as an amazing way to enjoy our whole family together without the issues of work, cooking, cleaning, etc... that we have at holidays at home. After our Thanksgiving trip recently, I decided I wouldn't "make" him go next trip in 2 years. Well he came in last week and told me to book a trip for our entire family for this October! We enjoy so much breaking off into smaller groups for the day and then meeting throughout the day for meals and especially dinner, which we always plan something special. Our adult children love nothing more than these vacations with the whole family. The cost is still agreeable to us because its so much more than just another Disney trip. Vacations are personal, so if someone feels they want to do something different, they should do that. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so you may long for a WDW trip again someday after a break.

 

[lynypixie]

I wish I could go more often, but we are a low income family of 5, so it will be a few years before we get to go again.

But while it is seriously expensive, we tought we had our money's worth. We stayed in a suite at AoA and it was behond our wildest dreams. It was just awesome. We also splurged for a DxDP, a photopass and BBB. We were more than satisfied with everything.

But Disney won't be our only destination either. It was cool, but there are other places in the world to see and experience. While we are totaly in love with the place, it wouldn't do my kids a favor to always bring them there.

 

[disnut8]

We have a trip planned for August and already my husband is talking about this being our last trip for a while. I might agree. I have two issues.

1) As a PP mentioned, the trips are just exhausting. They weren't so tiring when I was 28, but as I get older, my feet start hurting earlier in the week and no downtime saves the situation.

2) Our trips are getting so much more expensive. For one thing, prices on every single thing keep going up. For another, we used to go and just stay at an All Star resort and buy base tickets. But as we go more and more, and I spend time on here reading it starts being, "Lets try a moderate." "Let's try a deluxe." "Let's do the water parks." "Maybe we should try park hoppers." "I wonder if the boys would like this Pirates thing." And then it's hard to reverse course ("We went to Disney Quest last time!")

Then I'm confused. Why would you keep going if your feet hurt? When we reach that point, we just go back to the resort and take it easy. Why do you feel the need to go on and on and on? That's what I meant about it being a true vacation.

And for the second point, I think you just do that to yourself. Why continue to try more upscale things? I stay at a value, don't do Disney Quest or water parks and still manage to have a good time.

I guess someone needs to explain why they have to be at rope drop, stay until the last extra magic hour guest is gone, then drop into their beds at night exhausted only to get up the next morning and do the same thing.

My son and his family are infrequent visitors. They don't do rope drop, they don't stay late, they take their time and see things as they happen. And somehow, they managed to have three very pleasant trips to Disney World in the past ten years. Maybe because they focus on their family time and don't keep a scoreboard of how many characters they have seen, how many pins they have traded, what "premier" restaurant they have a reservation for, or how many attractions they have visited.

That's what a vacation is all about.

 

[MichiganDVC]

How can someone dislike not having APs on RFID cards? It's one time a day (maybe two) that you have to deal with that. I use my AP, gasp...paper, just yesterday and it took me the whole of 15 seconds to get through the nonexistent line...
Even worse, how can you already dislike the fastpass+?! It hasn't started yet!!

 

[disneysnowflake]

I think Disney is just like the grocery store. Prices go up and products reduce.

We ran numbers on what our 2013 trip would be, and we decided to keep saving, wait until 2014, and have a really special vacation. It was a little sad to know in 2012 we'd have to wait until 2014, but it is what it is.

With more people going to WDW, could you imagine what it would be like without Fastpass?

 

[Shannon12]

How can someone dislike not having APs on RFID cards? It's one time a day (maybe two) that you have to deal with that. I use my AP, gasp...paper, just yesterday and it took me the whole of 15 seconds to get through the nonexistent line...
Even worse, how can you already dislike the fastpass+?! It hasn't started yet!!

Because It's been reported that over the last few weeks, there were waits to get through the turnstiles with the paper tickets exceeding *gasp* 30 minutes with little to no wait for the rfid cards. Not the first time thats shown up on the Dis and its all over easyWDW.
There was no need to be snide there.

 

[Stinky_Pete]

I'm beginning to feel the pinch myself. For over a decade I had stayed onsite, first as a DVC member, then in the WL (my favorite). But the prices have gone up so much recently I just can't justify it.

I was thinking I would maybe stay in a value for my next trip as it is just going to be me, but even they are over $100 a night in value season with a code! It was only a couple years ago when they were $69/night. And I look at the WL rates and think there is no way I could justify spending that kind of money for a hotel room.

Not to mention the price of food. A plain hamburger and fries for $10?!? Really?!?

I upgraded my tickets to an AP, so I will go once more to get the value from that. But I will probably stay off site, unless there is some serious discounting on WDW hotel rooms. Then take a break. I am finding I really enjoy cruising and have come across some great values. And I get to visit real foreign countries.

 

[stargazertechie]

I guess we aren't feeling the pinch yet. But we are the types to bring a suitcase of food and only do 1 or 2 big meals during the trip.

We are also lucky enough to be able to utilize friend/family resort rates, or we rent DVC points. We tended to travel in the off season in the past.

I will day the dining costs are getting ridiculous though

 

[nhmommy]

Our family is getting some of the same feelings. We are DVC members, who have had AP's for many years. We generally spend 3-4 weeks onsite at Disney each year split between 3 trips. We have decided to sell one of our DVC contracts, and not get AP's next year. We are going to cut our visits down to only once per year.

For us, it isn't that Disney is that much more expensive, it is some of the things that Disney has done lately that make us not want to come back:

Waiting in the longer lines for entry because even though we are onsite guests, we can't put our AP's on the RFID key cards.

We aren't fans of the new fast pass system - it will really alter the way we tour Disney. Our boys like to ride the roller coasters over and over - that is some of our best memories at Disney, and what keeps us coming back. With the new system, it will be only one fastpass ride, and the rest standby. That makes us not even want to go to the parks.

These are just a couple of our reasons, but for us they make Disney lose some of it's magic for our family.

Have you thought of going to the other DVC resorts Hilton Head or Aulani?

 

[csummerlin55]

We will always have our disney memories and we will go back. I do wish we lived closer because I feel like then, there wouldn't be so much stress associated with going to the parks. Since we only went once per year, I would always say before the trip, "we are going to go slow and enjoy just being at disney", but as soon as we get to our parking space, I would be jumping out of the car to rush to get to the next tram coming. I don't know what comes over me,, I just get commando and feel like we are going to miss something.

I am the exact same way. We have that big "lets take it slow" discussion then rush rush rush.

 

[nabi]

It totally depends on time of year traveling. We don't travel during a busy season and the experience is still rather nice.