Disneyland: Priciest Place on Earth

[kikismom]

I wish I could take out my family of four (two adults and two teens) for just $60 for dinner. We are lucky to be under $25 a person and this is for your national type chains. We can't even get a sit down breakfast for under $60.

Same! Our family of 3 can't eat out for $60 ever. Even Panera is $45 without drinks.

I have been on this soapbox forever. DL has never been more expensive than any food I've gotten at ballgames, concerts or realistically any other tourist place I've been to. I always used the burger basket as an example. You can get a Hungry Bear cheeseburger with fries for $13. I can't get that at my local fair for that price, or at a football stadium. Plus for me the ambiance is way better at DL.

 

[pennym]

Have you looked at Candy Cane Inn?
That is where we are going to be staying when we head over from New Zealand.

The prices are $$$ for hotels with the exchange rate on top but hey what can you do right. We are going to do a split stay as I have always wanted to stay at Disneyland hotel but can't justify the price for the whole stay so have tagged it on the end of the trip for two days.

Yeah we've stayed there before and I'm considering making a reservation, but when I did a dummy one they said rates subject to change whenever, which doesn't fill me with confidence. Still might make one which I can always cancel later if needed. I do like their free shuttle. When are you going?

 

[Malcon10t]

Been saying this for years. People complain about the prices, but compare it to a sports game or the theater or a concert, Disney offers a great product at a reasonable price. People complained about a large soda at Disneyland being $4, but forget the soda you get at a movie or ballgame is $6-8. Wheen I took my daughters and granddaughter to see Hamilton (3 hours) we spent $400 per person on tix for quality seats. I feel the same about Disney. My daughter went to Six Flags and was contemplating buying a pass. By the end of the day, she decided while it was considerably cheaper, she preferred the quality of DIsney and opted not to go back. Let's not forget, Disney does allow you to bring your own food. Many other parks don't. She works at a low income school. She chaperoned a class trip to Six Flags. Several kids packed lunch as they could not afford the park food. But you get to the gate, and the kids had to return their lunch to the bus and didn't have $$ for food. (Daughter handled it, but was shocked they didn't allow outside food.)

I have been on this soapbox forever. DL has never been more expensive than any food I've gotten at ballgames, concerts or realistically any other tourist place I've been to. I always used the burger basket as an example. You can get a Hungry Bear cheeseburger with fries for $13. I can't get that at my local fair for that price, or at a football stadium. Plus for me the ambiance is way better at DL.

 

[kirstyfly]

Yeah we've stayed there before and I'm considering making a reservation, but when I did a dummy one they said rates subject to change whenever, which doesn't fill me with confidence. Still might make one which I can always cancel later if needed. I do like their free shuttle. When are you going?

October so not to far away now. Can start to book the dinning reservations soon.

 

[Pluto468]

You have a great point about the cost of entertainment. My wife and I will often break things down to an hourly cost. For example we took our family of four to the movies last weekend (Top Gun-highly recommend). We paid $40 for tickets (discounted via perks at work) and about $50 for concessions. This came to roughly $10 per person per hour ($90/4people/2.25 hours). As you mentioned a concert or sporting event now a days is going to run towards $50 or more an hour. We are going to Hamilton in August and our tickets cost over $600 for the four of us. Before dinner or souvenirs that will be about $50 per hour ($600 for tickets/4 people/3 hours)

My daughter and I went to Disney last month for one day. We got one day park hoppers with Genie+ (About the most expensive ticket one can buy) This ran us $458. We spent about another $150 in the park so we'll call it $600 for the day at Disney. Yet, this ran less than $20 per hour ($600/2/16 hours). . Yes, not cheap and I felt every dollar, yet when compared to other entertainment Disney still does give some value.

I saw Hamilton earlier this year and it was $125 plus parking, concessions and souvenirs. So if I compare that price, which was for about 3 hours of entertainment, to a full day at Disneyland, park prices don't seem as bad.

ps...Hamilton was Amazing!!!!! I can't wait until it comes back to my area again. Have a great time

 

[Pluto468]

Been saying this for years. People complain about the prices, but compare it to a sports game or the theater or a concert, Disney offers a great product at a reasonable price. People complained about a large soda at Disneyland being $4, but forget the soda you get at a movie or ballgame is $6-8. Wheen I took my daughters and granddaughter to see Hamilton (3 hours) we spent $400 per person on tix for quality seats. I feel the same about Disney. My daughter went to Six Flags and was contemplating buying a pass. By the end of the day, she decided while it was considerably cheaper, she preferred the quality of DIsney and opted not to go back. Let's not forget, Disney does allow you to bring your own food. Many other parks don't. She works at a low income school. She chaperoned a class trip to Six Flags. Several kids packed lunch as they could not afford the park food. But you get to the gate, and the kids had to return their lunch to the bus and didn't have $$ for food. (Daughter handled it, but was shocked they didn't allow outside food.)

You're so right about other parks not allowing outside food. We went to an aquarium just last week that won't let you bring your own food in. Lots of places are like that. It's great that Disneyland lets you bring in food and drinks. I feel so bad for those kids! Thank goodness your daughter was able to help them out.

 

[pennym]

October so not to far away now. Can start to book the dinning reservations soon.

Would love to hear what your stay at CCI is like.

 

[PirateBrigade]

Been saying this for years. People complain about the prices, but compare it to a sports game or the theater or a concert, Disney offers a great product at a reasonable price. People complained about a large soda at Disneyland being $4, but forget the soda you get at a movie or ballgame is $6-8. Wheen I took my daughters and granddaughter to see Hamilton (3 hours) we spent $400 per person on tix for quality seats. I feel the same about Disney. My daughter went to Six Flags and was contemplating buying a pass. By the end of the day, she decided while it was considerably cheaper, she preferred the quality of DIsney and opted not to go back. Let's not forget, Disney does allow you to bring your own food. Many other parks don't. She works at a low income school. She chaperoned a class trip to Six Flags. Several kids packed lunch as they could not afford the park food. But you get to the gate, and the kids had to return their lunch to the bus and didn't have $$ for food. (Daughter handled it, but was shocked they didn't allow outside food.)

I saw Hamilton earlier this year and it was $125 plus parking, concessions and souvenirs. So if I compare that price, which was for about 3 hours of entertainment, to a full day at Disneyland, park prices don't seem as bad.

ps...Hamilton was Amazing!!!!! I can't wait until it comes back to my area again. Have a great time

+1 Hamilton, we saw it a total of 4 times between SF and LA, and yes definitely more expensive per unit hour than DL (and we sat in orch each time up close -- my vision sucks).

Disneyland isn't cheap, and it shouldn't be cheap, it's always been a premium product. They're not a charity. You can experience Disney the way most of us who grew up without money did, through its movies, television shows, and books from the library. Disneyland was a once a year experience for us growing up (cram in with family in the inland empire + eat homecooked meals in the parking lot + 1 day park visit only).

 

[MillauFr]

I wish I could take out my family of four (two adults and two teens) for just $60 for dinner. We are lucky to be under $25 a person and this is for your national type chains. We can't even get a sit down breakfast for under $60.

Exactly. We go for the happy hour half price menu and it still close to $200 for the 3 of us.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

On the flip side:


This upcoming vacation to CA/DLR is CHEAPER than WDW currently. Even though we are staying at a good neighbor hotel that was recommended to us by a DLR fan, we for fun just did a price comparison at GCH versus BWI at WDW......it was still about a grand cheaper. Granted every day we aren't doing DLR, but its still significantly cheaper than WDW with our one or two days at UOR during our WDW trip.

Everywhere has gotten expensive. My friend and his family got priced out of UOR when they were well within their means pre pandemic.

My suggestion to everyone is really look for deals/utilize employee discount sites/figure out what you do and don't want to do/grocery delivery service/etc. This goes for anywhere. Another friend and their family rented a VRBO earlier this summer and it was cheaper to bring a ton of food from home then shop for it up there (they did still shop for stuff like milk and juice up there, but most of the other stuff they bought from home!)

 

[DodgerGirl]

When my family went to Disneyland for the first time in 1991 my mom used a travel agent to help us plan our trip and we got lucky because our travel agent found us a package that also included a Hollywood tour and tickets to Universal Studios Hollywood but we declined the Hollywood tour and kept the Universal Studios tickets and my mom got a really good deal on a room at the Ramada Maingate and that package saved us a lot of money too and we even got a good deal on a character breakfast too back when Disneyland had the Early Bird Breakfast deal. And if you took a family to Disneyland today by using a travel agent you probably would make a smart choice and save a lot of money on your trip by using a travel agent. I mainly think people who plan a Disneyland trip in the early stages think that it's wise to just go and not worry so much about ticket prices because it's like being a contestant on Let's Make A Deal when Monty Hall asks you to choose which door has the Big Deal and people think "should we go with the Disneyland deal that offers us more stuff or should we wait for a better and cheaper deal?" And most people like to think smart and wait. But if your family and kids have their hearts set on a Disneyland trip the wise thing to do when you're planning a Disneyland trip is to think smart and if you find a good travel deal grab it when you can

 

[beachdreamr1229]

I think you get what you pay for. I'm not saying they aren't overpriced. They definitely are and I really wish it was more affordable for larger families like mine. But, at least for the time being, they have a superior product. I love theme parks and visit as many as I can wherever I am. Disneyland has more attractions and lower wait times than other parks in the area. Universal is slightly less expensive but regularly has 2-3 hour waits during peak times for attractions because there aren't many of them to choose from. Knott's is much cheaper, but also has had recent issues with crime. Legoland's prices have increased substantially and it's mostly geared toward younger kids. I haven't been to Magic Mountain in 20 years so I can't comment on that one, but there's a general pattern there. I also compare it to seeing live theater or a concert in which case a trip also comes out ahead as you get 12+ hours of entertainment whereas a concert or theater production is only maybe 3 hours.

I really do miss the days of annual passes for under $100 though. I used to go so often back then. Now it's just a once a year thing for us (and we can drive there unlike a lot of people who have to factor transportation costs in as well).

 

[Jrog92]

Have you looked at Candy Cane Inn?
That is where we are going to be staying when we head over from New Zealand.

The prices are $$$ for hotels with the exchange rate on top but hey what can you do right. We are going to do a split stay as I have always wanted to stay at Disneyland hotel but can't justify the price for the whole stay so have tagged it on the end of the trip for two days.

I've always wondered how anyone can afford to stay at the Disney hotels. I never thought to split up the trip! What a good idea.

 

[TeamRiley]

I think people have a skewed view of the past. Lets face it, in the 70s and 80s - even into the 90s, people didn't go to Disneyland because the rides were so awesome. They went because the experience (characters, ambiance, shows, etc.) was awesome. No one ever drove 800 miles so they could ride Its A Small World. In the 80s if you wanted great rides you went to Magic Mountain.

These days it is a different game. The rides are AWESOME, and they cost a fortune to create. The ambiance may be somewhat diminished compared to the past, but it is still awesome. Combine those two elements, and it means everybody wants to go there, and it costs a small fortune.

The only way to get back to the days of yore with low crowds and cheaper prices is if they downgrade the rides and push the interaction element. In this world, doing that would make them go bankrupt.

Yes, I admit the higher prices suck. Yes, I will keep paying. I only wish they would eliminate any kind of local pass for the rest of time. That would help with the crowds a bit.

 

[Markonefive]

I would anticipate that Disney has a whole data analytics division constantly reviewing ticket prices, attendance levels, attendance demographics, local vs travellers, food and souvenir sales, time of year etc and uses this to come up with optimized ticket prices, desirable crowd levels (not necessarily maximum capacity which results in poorer visit experience) and preferred crowd mix. Population growth and returning interest vs attracting new visitors (and how to encourage them to be repeat visitors) also taken into account. Notice how Disney CA added new lands instead of new hotels on the available space as a business decision. The shift to paid LL vs universal free fast pass. Scheduling of blackouts. Their ultimate goal is not to be affordable, necessarily, but to be profitable, maximizing demand and supply, and ability to deliver a positive entertainment experience. Yes, the attraction price is so high, but bottom line is that they haven't charged so much that crowd levels are dropping too much. Disney will always be more costly because of they are creating an experience, not just being an amusement park (same as their cruise line). They will need to ensure quality to meet expectations, though. I do wish it didn't cost as much (going next week) but the memories will be worth it.

 

[Britrawr]

Same! Our family of 3 can't eat out for $60 ever. Even Panera is $45 without drinks.

I have been on this soapbox forever. DL has never been more expensive than any food I've gotten at ballgames, concerts or realistically any other tourist place I've been to. I always used the burger basket as an example. You can get a Hungry Bear cheeseburger with fries for $13. I can't get that at my local fair for that price, or at a football stadium. Plus for me the ambiance is way better at DL.

Burgers at dennys are 15$ now. I lived in California my whole life so I have always thought the prices at Disneyland for food where actually reasonable.

 

[tink89]

Burgers at dennys are 15$ now. I lived in California my whole life so I have always thought the prices at Disneyland for food where actually reasonable.

I have always thought prices were reasonable as far as quick service but I'm also from California.
we went to our local fair recently and purchased a corn dog for $8 and a funnel cake for $10 both were given to us cold. They also had churros at $6 lol did not buy one of those.

DL is way cheaper, could have gotten an Angry dog with a bag of chips for the price of the corn dog.
We ate at a local taco place at home and it was around $45 for the three of us at DL we ate at Rancho and got two chicken plates and shared them between the three of us all for less than the tacos at home.

DD went to a local theme park and she paid around $20 for just chicken tenders, fries, and a drink for herself. Lines there were also almost all 1 hour wait for all rides.

DD wanted food after a game we went to and we stopped at Mickey Ds and it was almost $40 for fast food. Pretty comparable to prices at DL for quick service burgers.

 

[amyg1975]

I find the food prices quite reasonable as well (CA local). Our local fair had funnel cakes priced at $18!!!!!

 

[Epicnemesis]

Supply is limited, demand is high, prices go up. At some theoretical price point demand would go down, but they don’t seem to even be close to that yet.

What makes me more curious is why weren’t the parks packed to capacity every day back in the days when tickets were a few bucks? It wasn’t all that long ago when tickets were only $25.

I’m scared to open this can of worms here, but APs. We go 20 times a year with our APs, if we didn’t have them we probably wouldn’t go at all, that day ticket is tough to justify for the current experience.

APs bring in extra crowds compared to back in the day because it incentivizes people to get more “value” out of them by going more. If they didn’t exist the crowds would plummet and Disney would have to lower prices or try to throw together some sort of bulk ticket buying scheme for locals.

 

[Lisa24jks]

I have always thought prices were reasonable as far as quick service but I'm also from California.

I went to a hockey game at Honda Center last season and it was $12 for a fountain soda. Their soda brand? RC COLA. Not Coke, Not Pepsi. RC.

A large fountain soda at Disney is like $5.29 and a bottled soda is about the same price. And they're always consistently good! (And ice cold if you get bottled sodas.) So, yeah, that's more than I WANT to pay for a soda, but still better than the Honda Center. (And I'm from Vegas, where everything on the strip is so expensive, it makes Disney look like the McDonald's value menu.)

Certainly Disney food & beverage probably isn't a bargain if you come from a cheaper area of the world to live in. But for those of us that live in costly places, it's like, yep, well... could be worse.