Has disney crossed the price threshold for most families?

[cedricandsophie]

I think it depends on how you like to do Disney, we are dvc and have lots of points, so we try to go a couple times a year. But out of a 10 day trip, we might do the parks one day and hit 2 or 3 parks in a day, from early morning to late night. And we just hit the big rides. So we might pay for genie + or even pay extra for an individual ride if we really wanted to do it. We spend most of our money on eating out at the signature restaurants. i much prefer aulani, which we used to do once a year or the Disney cruise, which we used to do a couple times a year. Our next one rescheduled from 2020 is the eastbound Transatlantic next may. i know how lucky we are to be able to afford all of that.

 

[MillauFr]

It is much cheaper to go to Disneyland. Plus the rides there are generally superior to their Florida counterparts

 

[CP3uhoh]

my favorite parts of the threads that complait about pricing is when they compare Disney to Six Flags......Yeah, same thing. Also, I guess people want the employesees to be paid more and have Disney eat all the increased costs due to supply chain issues on merchandise and even construction. That seems reasonable. Good luck buying a car if you're anchored to what you paid 5 years ago too. My second favorite part is the "we use to go 3x a year but now we're only going twice and won't buy annual passes." So you're going end up paying roughly the same price for admission for the year, multi day ticketsx2 vs. annual pass and the parks will be less crowded overall. Thats like their dream scenario and I always find it hilarious that people that travel from out of state 3x annually previously are balking at prices. You must really be suffering! From the time I was born until 20 we went twice, stayed at a Howard Johnson and took their bus every day after eating in the restaurant downstairs and then a time share another family member gifted us for a week off property. Some of the comments here are so ridiculous it's embarrassing. Many of them are probably being made while drinking a $6 cup of coffee. The lack of introspection here sometimes is really sad. The people who are actually being priced out don't even know this message board exists.

 

[lelew]

People talk about heading to Universal instead, but I don’t see Universal as a viable replacement. Sure it’s a theme park, but our experiences there have been underwhelming. It’s fine for a couple of days, but qualifies as a one and done for our family. Very little desire to repeat the experience, and quite frankly, after a couple of days, it was boring. We will likely find something entirely different to do with our vacation dollars. Disney has not priced us out, but it is too costly for what they deliver.

People talk about heading to Universal instead, but I don’t see Universal as a viable replacement. Sure it’s a theme park, but our experiences there have been underwhelming. It’s fine for a couple of days, but qualifies as a one and done for our family. Very little desire to repeat the experience, and quite frankly, after a couple of days, it was boring. We will likely find something entirely different to do with our vacation dollars. Disney has not priced us out, but it is too costly for what they deliver.

I agree we brought AP in July we will go back for Xmas and maybe spring break but I cant see myself going there every year like I did at Disney. Like you said we will try other destinations for vacation. My family have been asking to do other things for years and I always declined because I love WDW so much, now the time has come

 

[lelew]

It is much cheaper to go to Disneyland. Plus the rides there are generally superior to their Florida counterparts

I really want to try DL but when I price it out its seems more expensive to me. Maybe I dont put in enough research to find better lodging because the Disney hotels are pricey.

 

[Minniesgal]

We only go once every three years so while we still enjoy it we will pay the cost as once every three years it’s manageable

 

[MillauFr]

I really want to try DL but when I price it out its seems more expensive to me. Maybe I dont put in enough research to find better lodging because the Disney hotels are pricey.

There is very little reason to stay at the Disney hotels in Anaheim. The offsite hotels on Harbor are actually closer to the front gate, < 10 minute walk, than the Disneyland Hotel or the Paradise Pier Hotel. We stay at the Candy Cane Inn for about $!60 per night which includes free parking and free breakfast.

 

[bigtimmy]

I just left my hairdresser who is also a big disney fan. Her family normally goes every year. She just told me that tDisney is crossed off their family list as it has gotten too expensive. I wonder how many others feel the same way. Will Universal Studios be the likely landing place for those who feel disney has become too expensive?

Lots of people still trying to book Disney right no, you just gotta find the good deals.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I think it depends on how you like to do Disney, we are dvc and have lots of points, so we try to go a couple times a year. But out of a 10 day trip, we might do the parks one day and hit 2 or 3 parks in a day, from early morning to late night. And we just hit the big rides. So we might pay for genie + or even pay extra for an individual ride if we really wanted to do it. We spend most of our money on eating out at the signature restaurants. i much prefer aulani, which we used to do once a year or the Disney cruise, which we used to do a couple times a year. Our next one rescheduled from 2020 is the eastbound Transatlantic next may. i know how lucky we are to be able to afford all of that.

We're also DVC. Starting to prefer the cruises over the parks. Do you use your points towards the cruises?

 

[theotherlostprincess]

I’m personally an every year trip kind of person and was willing to keep up with the price increase but honestly we are going for 10 days, decided to stay on site, and are doing both Christmas and Halloween and it’s just too much. I had originally booked offsite for the first time in a really long time but then changed my mind to do on-site because of overpriced car rentals but this will prob be the last time I do it for another 2-3 years because I’m getting priced out now. I could have taken 3 or 4 trips for the price of this trip and while I absolutely love spending money on Disney and going, putting that into perspective for myself really made me re-evaluate my Disney trips.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Disney has been an unachievable dream for many families for a long time (I’ve heard “I’d love to go to Disney but it’s just too expensive” for a very long time from a lot of people). But it has recently gotten sooooo much more expensive that lots of folks who could previously afford it now can’t. So many friends of mine have said “never again” after seeing all the new nickle snd diming. It’s really sad. In 20 years only millionaires will be able to afford it, lol.

 

[maciec]

YES! We use to go close to every year. I have been looking at going other places now because it's just not affordable for us anymore to be able to go and enjoy ourselves without having to worry about money. When we go to Orlando we will stay at our DVC and do other things or just rent our points out. It's getting to the point of being offensive with the pricing.

 

[Hisgirl]

We typically went twice a year and spent large sums...Grand Floridian style. And we had annual passes. We would host large family trips, bring friends...

We're not buying annual passes, don't have any reservations.

We're like that big ol' bear that got poked one too many times.

We woke up, and we're in a bad mood.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

WDW is a huge cost for us, mainly because flying from California is really, really expensive for a family of 5. Without the flight, it's still pretty reasonable though. So, for us, the rule is that the kids get one visit as children and we can go back again when they're all adults. We do, however, go to DL at least once a year since it's only a 90 minute drive.

 

[MillauFr]

It’s really sad. In 20 years only millionaires will be able to afford it, lol.

Yes but in 20 years with the federal reserve running the printing press 24/7, a million dollar salary won't be that big of deal. You already have new college graduates getting out making 6 figure salaries with $40k more in stock options at the tech companies in Seattle.

 

[crisi]

People talk about heading to Universal instead, but I don’t see Universal as a viable replacement. Sure it’s a theme park, but our experiences there have been underwhelming. It’s fine for a couple of days, but qualifies as a one and done for our family. Very little desire to repeat the experience, and quite frankly, after a couple of days, it was boring. We will likely find something entirely different to do with our vacation dollars. Disney has not priced us out, but it is too costly for what they deliver.

We've done Universal a few times, and while it used to be clearly inferior to Disney, it really isn't any longer. Disney has a lot of tired stuff in it. But then, as our little ones became teens, they outgrew Disney - and preferred Universal. And when they became adults, we'd found we'd outgrown a lot of Disney. As you said, very little desire to repeat the experience yet again....its gotten boring - and we only ever did Disney for a few days. Disney hasn't priced us out either, but for several years, other places have gotten most of our vacation dollars (African Safaris are INCREDIBLE. I want to spend more time in Amsterdam. I had tea in the Pump Room in Bath. And saw Madame Butterfly at the Sydney Opera House. )

 

[robinb]

Maybe they are aiming for a one and done spectacular vacation. .. then in 20 years or so those kids are parents. It's crazy that I use to complain about shelling out $500 for six flags season passes for our family. I just spent 3k .

They have been aiming for the “one and done” family for years. There is always a fresh new wave of parents who are willing to spend whatever the Mouse wants and allow Mickey full access to their wallet. Returning guests with APs don’t spend nearly as much per day.

 

[quandrea]

We've done Universal a few times, and while it used to be clearly inferior to Disney, it really isn't any longer. Disney has a lot of tired stuff in it. But then, as our little ones became teens, they outgrew Disney - and preferred Universal. And when they became adults, we'd found we'd outgrown a lot of Disney. As you said, very little desire to repeat the experience yet again....its gotten boring - and we only ever did Disney for a few days. Disney hasn't priced us out either, but for several years, other places have gotten most of our vacation dollars (African Safaris are INCREDIBLE. I want to spend more time in Amsterdam. I had tea in the Pump Room in Bath. And saw Madame Butterfly at the Sydney Opera House. )

We were at universal in 2017. Wonder if it’s improved since then, even? My youngest two, 12 now love Harry Potter. They did in 2017, but now even more so. I agree on travel elsewhere. Newfoundland was, for us, an unexpected treasure.

 

[sponica]

It is much cheaper to go to Disneyland. Plus the rides there are generally superior to their Florida counterparts

Yeah, but the time zone math doesn't work for my kiddos. My feeling is that this year is a weird year, the people who ARE traveling don't care how much they're spending. (Points at self). After this next trip in April 2022, we'll wait for things to normalize before we plan the next trip.

You figure once you get through the glut of people taking their much delayed vacations, things will start to normalize (discounts returning, etc).

 

[grossmansr]

Yes. We were priced out a few years ago, although I still try to make it work by cutting corners.