Even Disney Is Worried About the High Cost of a Disney Vacation

[HopperFan]

But then I also think a about how a big discrepancy is the price difference and pass options for Florida residents vs people traveling to WDW.

There is a big discrepancy in the price difference between deluxe and value resorts, should we eliminate value resorts so all guests pay Disney the same? Many AP holders have block out dates and sometimes just blocked out of good dates, just like value resorts might be missing some options.

Someone who is already paying for a flight, and possibly paying for onsite hotels, is getting a much worse deal than someone who just happens to live nearby.

You are ASSUMING Pixie Pass holders live nearby. Florida is a big state and I'd venture most don't live nearby. I have Pixie Pass, I travel and must have a hotel and spend money on dining etc. I have a Disney Resort booked for 4 trips so far in the rest of 2025, ADRs, Tours and will be booking LL.

A yearly pixie pass that gives access (for what around 200 days through the year) is around the cost of 2 park days for an out of state visitor! A little over $2 per possible park day vs around $200 lol.

Other than a local who makes their living covering Disney World, I'd like to know who these people are that are going to Disney every single day = 200 days a year. That is just doing fuzzy math to try to prove a point. In 2025 I will probably have 20 park days. Yes, still a bargain but that also means I am giving Disney money for about 25+ hotel nights and all the meals plus to go with it. I cost them nothing by being in the park, but I am giving them lots of money those 25+ days.

I would look at getting rid of the pixie pass, or at least severely limiting how many reservations the lower tiers of the passes a park gets each day. They clearly make way more money on a guest buying a ticket package vs a cheap florida-only annual pass.

The Pixie Pass and other Florida discounts are their firewall against bad times. It’s the locals that keep the doors open during downturns. I really don’t think they have any interest in messing with that.

SO MUCH THIS^ For the last 20 years, when things were bumpy and slow in the economy, I was still going to Disney World because I had an annual pass. APs are the "escrow money", the base they can depend on. The locals who have APs often go to the parks, have a nice dinner, buy drinks, maybe a ride or two, watch some fireworks, hang with friends. They often do not impact park lines at all but they are spending money, booking the extras, filling in all the gaps.

Florida APs are a cash flow they depend on, and can depend on it happening.

A one week vacation to just about anywhere is going to cost over $1800. According to the NYT, the median Millennial household spent almost $7K on vacations in 2023. Maybe it’s less about the affordability of a WDW vacation, and more about the increasing income inequity since Covid?

I want to know where someone is going that their family only spends $1800 for a week. Travel, Lodging, Dining, Entertainment .... ?? Now I am talking a full packet of costs.

 

[tjkraz]

A one week trip for a family of four is at least 10K (being frugal) and more likely 15K (just a bit less frugal).

You can get park tickets and a Disney hotel for a week for about $5k. Then it comes down to what people spend on travel and food. Those within driving distance—even 8-10 hours away—it’s just a couple tanks of gas.

Are families really spending 15-20% of their net income on Disney trips? I would say the number of middle income families visiting is dropping. Those annual visits are no longer sustainable.

When did annual visits become the barometer? You have to be a really die-hard Disney family to even WANT to visit every year. Our family is like that and we know a couple others who are similar. But for most, it’s a childhood rite of passage or something you splurge on once or twice in a lifetime.

At last check, Magic Kingdom hosts about 22 million visitors per year. Every turnstile click is a visitor, so a family staying for a week might visit MK 3 or 4 times. Locals and Passholders visit much more often. That 22M visitors is probably closer to 10-12 million UNIQUE guests. In a nation of 300 million. With many of those 10-12M being international visitors.

Visiting WDW has always been something that was unaffordable—or uninteresting—to a large portion of the population.

 

[HopperFan]

Visiting WDW has always been something that was unaffordable—or uninteresting—to a large portion of the population.

I think the majority of the population.

And for many it is interesting once and they afford it by saving for years. Disney actually seems to target that demographic, the ones who save to blow the big budgets for their one and only trip for the family bucket list. They will then become uninterested in going back but their will be a line of the same coming behind them.

 

[Mirabell Rose]

A household is everyone who lives in a single dwelling. So 3 roommates is 1 household, if I've understood that correctly.

A household as defined for governmental purposes is those in a single dwelling who prepare and eat most meals together. So 3 roommates are 3 households. A couple plus one more roommate are 2 households. A family of 3 is 1 household. Children 22 or younger that reside in parent’s household are considered a part of that household. So if looking at government counts of household to use for a data point, wouldn’t the governmental definition be used?

 

[Mirabell Rose]

Of the extended family and immediate family that we have taken post Covid, only 1 person thought park tickets value>=cost. Pre Covid only 1 person thought park tickets were more costly than the value received. So, while never cheap, a combination of price increases, shorter hours, and loss of free fast pass has made a significant difference in the minds of those we bring.

I have never charged any family to stay with us on our DVC trips, so I can’t comment on how they feel about a change in value for the stay. I still have family that want to come, but with the exception of one, they don’t want to go into the parks.

 

[LAS2AMS]

A household as defined for governmental purposes is those in a single dwelling who prepare and eat most meals together. So 3 roommates are 3 households. A couple plus one more roommate are 2 households. A family of 3 is 1 household. Children 22 or younger that reside in parent’s household are considered a part of that household. So if looking at government counts of household to use for a data point, wouldn’t the governmental definition be used?

No, a household is everyone who shares a housing unit regardless if they’re related. That’s why area like Salt Lake City have lower W2 wages but higher household incomes.

https://www.census.gov/programs-sur...entation/subject-definitions.html#householder

 

[wendlle]

I don't think they need to make it cheaper, but they need to stop taking away the "extras" that make it feel like you're getting more.

I think that is the issue most people are having. It's all the extras you now have to pay for that's making it harder and harder for a lot of people to go and enjoy themselves. Or extras that are getting shorter like the extra "hour" is now an extra 30 mins.

Sure I can still go, but I'm not enjoying myself when I can't afford to pay for LLMP, LLPP and transportation when those things used to be included and could save me some $$

 

[lentesta]

You can get park tickets and a Disney hotel for a week for about $5k. Then it comes down to what people spend on travel and food. Those within driving distance—even 8-10 hours away—it’s just a couple tanks of gas.

Most Americans live a two-day drive (each way) away from a Disney park. It's in the blog post.

 

[reddog21]

No one buys a fourth meal

I wish I could tell my kids that

 

[Mirabell Rose]

No, a household is everyone who shares a housing unit regardless if they’re related. That’s why area like Salt Lake City have lower W2 wages but higher household incomes.

https://www.census.gov/programs-sur...entation/subject-definitions.html#householder

No, exactly from your link:

Household, nonfamily​

A nonfamily household consists of a householder living alone (a one-person household) or where the householder shares the home exclusively with people to whom he/she is not related.


This means 3 non family people are each a household.

 

[Minnie1222]

I think 3 roommates filing separate taxes are considered 3 separate households.

 

[Brian Noble]

Most Americans live a two-day drive (each way) away from a Disney park. It's in the blog post.

Any statistics on the distribution of distance for drive-to vacations? I suspect that a fair chunk of families do not consider two full days to be a drive-to destination—and that’s pretty much all of the Northeast and the upper half or more of the Midwest.

Getting back to the major point: I do not think it is surprising that Disney targets the upper end of the income range. There are enough potential guests in that tranche to keep the parks busy. Throw in the families that will stretch because it’s a rite of passage and/or a status marker to make the trip, and Bob’s your uncle.

I’ve been around a while—not as long as Len, of course, but a while. Every time the price of soda in the parks goes up a quarter, the response is predictable: “This time they’ve gone too far!”

They never have yet.

Of course, they could. And if they do, to quote Dr. Seeker: “that’s not good.” But the fact that there are people in the pricing strategy discussions asking this question and surveying guests incessantly strikes me as evidence that they likely won’t. It would be much more concerning if everyone In the room thought there was no limit.

 

[tjkraz]

Of the extended family and immediate family that we have taken post Covid, only 1 person thought park tickets value>=cost. Pre Covid only 1 person thought park tickets were more costly than the value received. So, while never cheap, a combination of price increases, shorter hours, and loss of free fast pass has made a significant difference in the minds of those we bring.

After every trip, we receive survey links from Disney. Questions are often focused on the quality and value of the experience.

I see the frustration from some people and I'm not trying to sound like a Disney sycophant. They would be wise to monitor consumer satisfaction. But Disney has been losing customers (and gaining new ones) at its theme parks for decades. Individual tastes and perceptions are always subject to change.

Via these surveys, it's rather straighforward to track broad consumer opinions on the value of their product. That's where the decisions are made.

 

[lentesta]

Any statistics on the distribution of distance for drive-to vacations? I suspect that a fair chunk of families do not consider two full days to be a drive-to destination—and that’s pretty much all of the Northeast and the upper half or more of the Midwest.

From the National Household Travel Survey Summer Travel:

HOW FAR WE TRAVEL​

• The average summer long-distance trip is 284 miles one-way.
• More than three out of four (78 percent) summer trips are 50-249 miles in length. We also travel:
  • one out of 10 (11 percent) trips — 250-400 miles
  • one out of 20 (5 percent) trips — 500-999 miles
  • one out of 20 (5 percent) trips — 1,000+ miles
• (Totals do not add to 100 percent due to rounding.)

I don't have any reason to believe spring/fall/winter travel distances is going to be that much different.

ETA: In an attempt to answer a potential follow-up question, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Average Domestic Airline Itinerary Fare tracker says flights to Orlando average $270 per person at the moment.

For a 3-person household that's $810, which prices out 40% of US households right off the top.

 

[Brian Noble]

That suggests to me that very few people north of the Mason-Dixon would consider it drivable for a typical US vacation of <1 week.

I'm also reminded of a Kevin Yee article from back in the days when Peak Oil was a possibility. The upshot: If air travel becomes significantly more expensive, WDW is screwed. DLR, not so much.

Edited to add: that article appears to be lost to the internet (even the wayback machine can't find it), but here's a reference to it:
https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/200709/472/

Edited again: I suppose it is more accurate to say "I can't find it with the wayback machine." It might be in there somewhere.

 

[LAS2AMS]

P pop pop

No, exactly from your link:

Household, nonfamily​

A nonfamily household consists of a householder living alone (a one-person household) or where the householder shares the home exclusively with people to whom he/she is not related.


This means 3 non family people are each a household.

No, those are subsets of households. It clearly defines a household as everyone sharing a living space.

 

[clarker99]

In order for more people to afford more things (Disney or otherwise), the wealth dynamics of the world need to shift. Money needs to find its way from the most wealthy downwards. This would require our good friend Capitalism to tone it down a bit by sharing more of the wealth instead of hoarding it at the top.

Targeting the top end of market makes sense if that is where the money is.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

I wish Bob Iger would leave sooner than next year. I’m hoping though that his successor will lower prices and bring back offerings like Magical Express.

Prices won’t go down, they will stagnate where they are.

 

[LAS2AMS]

The metrics for the article are flawed. I pointed out some to the person who supplied the data, but they are ignoring anything that challenges the validity of their argument.

Be rational. Disney hotels are largely occupied by Disney families, not average travelers. Everybody has hobbies they spend disproportionate amounts of income on and for Disney families, it’s Disney. A lot of Disney families take on additional income (like a housewife working PT seasonally at Target) and make sacrifices to fund their hobby. When I was in high school, while all my classmates were wearing expensive trendy clothing, I had $1 Mervyn’s brand t-shirts and $3 jeans from the outlet store.

Nor is staying onsite, eating Disney meals, having LL or park hopping tickets, etc. an essential part of a WDW vacation. There are tons of hotels with great amenities in Orlando that sell for far less than elsewhere.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Prices won’t go down, they will stagnate where they are.

They will go down. We’ve already seen oodles of discounts that weren’t offered in 2021 and 2022. Lost prices no but discounting is still a price decrease.