Does Disney charge too much for its experience

[AdamEfimoff]

thoughts

 

[jdb in AZ]

Disney charges whatever the market will bear. People keep cruising and going to the theme parks, so the prices keep on rising.

And yes, I think they're overpriced. WDW is about double what I consider a good deal. Fortunately our son-in-law gets a military discount, which makes a real difference.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

Disney charges whatever the market will bear. People keep cruising and going to the theme parks, so the prices keep on rising.

And yes, I think they're overpriced. WDW is about double what I consider a good deal. Fortunately our son-in-law gets a military discount, which makes a real difference.

for what hotel?

 

[starvenger]

As a strict “yes” or “no” question, I’d have to say “no”. There are more than enough people willing to pay DCL’s rates so the demand is there.

From a personal standpoint, however, it’s a “yes” as the cost is too much for me.

 

[jdb in AZ]

for what hotel?

The military has a hotel near the Polynesian. It's called Shades of Green. It's a tad dated, but the rooms are good sized and quite reasonable. Park tickets were about half price.

 

[JoeFromSeoul]

This is a very personal decision. For us, the expense is worth it. I'd love to go more often, both parks and cruises, but it is a significant portion of our entertainment budget. So we save for our vacations and make the most of our trips when we can. As long as we can do it without going in to debt, it is worth it to my family.

 

[Laughfreely]

The price does not stop me from booking, just how often lol. And I love concierge!

 

[MSPeeler]

The price does not stop me from booking, just how often lol. And I love concierge!

Exactly this. I'd LOVE to go more often, but their pricing has caused our Disney vacations to stretch out further... So, yeah... a tad over priced IMO. Hotel prices are insanely over priced for us. We book off-site always.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

As a proponent of the Free Market system, I say absolutely not. They’re still doing a really good job of keeping their ships relatively full. As someone who has actually branches out and tried cruises on other lines on comparable ships, I say they are absolutely charging too much. However, that comes with the caveat of, it’s a completely different experience - it’s not totally apples to apples. Disney does some things better than Carnival and Carnival does some things better than DCL. I’ll continue to sail both but I guarantee I’ll never do another standard 7 night eastern or western Caribbean on DCL again, (unless the new ships just knock my socks off). The other cruise lines have some ships that are must tries in my book, for much less expense than the Fantasy. We tried the Carnival Vista in the Mediterranean because it was only $800/person for 8 nights. We went in with a totally open mind and fell in love with her. We’ve been on her 3 times, are booked on her sister Horizon for 2019 and will be on Panorama, when she comes out in 2020. There are other amazing experiences to be had, if you go into them with an open mind and pick the right ship. Case in point, I can tell you there is no way I’d ever do a 3-4 night cruise on one of Carnival’s Fantasy Class ships, they are the smallest and oldest in the fleet and I have no desire to try one.

 

[OKW Lover]

thoughts

I don't know how you decide what is "too much" for the experience. It certainly depends on what your financial circumstances are and what the experience is. Everybody needs to decide that on their own.

 

[cyclenut]

I wonder how many threads there are that follow this theme?

Short answer is, maybe.

It's all about perceived value. The dollar I have is not worth the same to me as it may be to you. Yes, my dollar can by the same things as your dollar, but I may need my dollar to put food on the table and your dollar may be discretionary. My vacation dollar may require me to use a credit card, which includes interest, so spending my vacation dollar may be more expensive for me.

Assuming both my dollar and your dollar are both available for vacation spending without borrowing or creating hardship, then what we value in a vacation may be different. I know some enjoy lots of alcohol, for example. They may value an all inclusive or drink package. I have no such interest, so choosing a vacation that offers unlimited drinking isn't of value to me.

I will pay marginally more for Disney than I will for another cruise, but not a LOT more. I've done that and I don't think paying double for the same itinerary on another ship is worth the extra cost. I find Disney service superior to most lines. I'm willing to pay more for that because that matters to me. It doesn't matter to some. I enjoy a good theater experience, have seen several shows on broadway and own season seats to the musical theater season where I live. Disney shows are far superior to mos, so I'm willing to pay a bit extra for that. Some don't care about the shows so those better shows aren't worth paying more for.

It's exceptionally difficult to have a discussion on how someone feels about paying more for Disney (anything Disney really) for those (and many other) reasons. All we can really look at is the results. Disney continues to fill their ships. They continue to get rave reviews from customers and they have continued to disrupt the cruise industry, causing other lines to innovate to keep up. Disney has been a key contributor to revitalizing the entire cruise industry in much the same way they did for Broadway in NYC (Beauty and the Beast).

That's why the answer is "maybe".

 

[CarolynU]

Depends.

I used to cruise only with my adult son and his wife. They have been platinum for the longest time. Then my son changed jobs and got a lot less vacation time. As DCL costs rose, it became a matter of, "well do we really want to do a cruise or for that money in my scarce vacation time would I prefer to go to Hawaii for example and stay in a beautiful hotel?"
Hawaii has won out! So in October that's what we are doing. A pre-booked DCL cruise will be cancelled to accommodate this.
We have decided that we would prefer to explore other options and not cruise at all.

Now at the same time my daughter and son in law have just given me my first granddaughter who is a real Disney baby! We took her on her first DCL cruise last August at sixteen months old and we were all blown away. I saw the cruise experience through completely fresh eyes, and we have our next cruise booked this July. No other cruise line could bring us to tears of joy like Disney seeing everything through our little girl's eyes.

So I can see us in the future changing our pattern of cruising to examine the cost and then see what other forms of vacation are out there, and decide according to that. For the adult party anyway, and then who knows what when the grandkid is older. I think that she will then probably get more fun out of rides and thrills, so for a while DCL might be put on hold. I love the experience, but if prices rise and rise so steeply then I'm happy to cruise no more or only occasionally if there are other alternatives that appeal to be more.

 

[DCSWO]

The military has a hotel near the Polynesian. It's called Shades of Green. It's a tad dated, but the rooms are good sized and quite reasonable. Park tickets were about half price.

Disney also offers the Armed Forces Salute discount on passes as well as hotels for active duty and retirees (20+ years of service). The discount are considerable.

Ticket prices for 2018:

• Four-Day Park Hopper Tickets for $226.00
• Four-Day Park Hopper Plus Tickets for $266.00

• Five-Day Park Hopper Tickets for $246.00
• Five-Day Park Hopper Plus Tickets for $286.00

Room discounts have changed for this year and are now “up to” these rates: 30% Value, 35% Moderate, & 40% Deluxe.

I will not go to WDW without using this.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

For me, it really depends. We've sailed on other cruise lines and have done many domestic and international land destinations. It really depends on what kind of experience we want. If we are looking for a Caribbean, Bahamas or European cruise, DCL is definitely number 1 on my list for Caribbean and Bahamas and definitely in my top 2 for Europe. We've been on other cruise lines in the DCL "class" (NCL, RCCL) and, while they may be cheaper, they just don't compare, IMHO. I do price shop though and have done both concierge and regular staterooms based on what I'm looking for in a cruise. Also, when you add everything in - room, food, entertainment, I find you can typically get a good deal. For instance, we got a great price on a March cruise the week before most other's spring breaks. After looking at some other options (Mexico, going to a resort in the Caribbean, even just going to WDW), the DCL cruise was definitely the biggest band for our buck. So, no, I don't think they charge too much for their experience, because I think they provide an experience that no other cruise line can provide. Yes, you can find cheaper cruises, but they don't compare, IMHO.

 

[MUN]

thoughts

My neighbor likes to say "Price is what you pay, value is what you get."