How WDW dumped the Middle Class

[MikeNamez]

The only thing this article did for me was confirm that I'll be getting Premier pass next week.

 

[DCLMP]

The top 1-5% are not vacationing at Walt Disney World. It's the middle class, they make it work, even with increasing prices. And Disney knows this.

The top 1-5% are absolutely vacationing at WDW. Who do you think is paying for the 800+ a night rooms at the deluxe resorts. Who books the suites and the club level rooms. It's not the middle class. We used to book CL at WDW and we are middle class. No longer can we do that. A moderate is now the cost of what I paid for a Club level room at AKL 7 years ago. Sure if I desperately wanted to go I could figure out a way to do it on the cheap. It's not the type of vacation I want so I don't go.

It's not just the cost the experience isn't what it used to be. I feel the same way about DCL I hate their new ships. The cost is tripled since we started cruising. I'm starting to book other cruise options.

 

[focusondisney]

The top 1-5% are absolutely vacationing at WDW. Who do you think is paying for the 800+ a night rooms at the deluxe resorts. Who books the suites and the club level rooms. It's not the middle class. We used to book CL at WDW and we are middle class. No longer can we do that. A moderate is now the cost of what I paid for a Club level room at AKL 7 years ago. Sure if I desperately wanted to go I could figure out a way to do it on the cheap. It's not the type of vacation I want so I don't go.

It's not just the cost the experience isn't what it used to be. I feel the same way about DCL I hate their new ships. The cost is tripled since we started cruising. I'm starting to book other cruise options.

Please don’t speak for the whole middle class. We have never been in the 1-5%, always middle class. We have been staying CL since the late 90s. And we still stay CL, including an upcoming 10 night stay. Everyone has different costs of living & priorities for how they spend their money.

CBNC’s report from earlier this year considers incomes of almost $200K middle class. Certainly enough money for CL if that’s how people choose to spend it.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/21/income-you-need-to-be-middle-class-in-every-us-state.html

The upper bound of what’s considered middle class for households exceeds $100,000 in every U.S. state, according to a SmartAsset analysis of 2023 income data, the most recent available from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The report, which crunched the numbers for all 50 states, is based on Pew Research’s definition of middle class: two-thirds to double the median household income.

On that measure, Massachusetts has the highest threshold for middle-class salaries, overtaking New Jersey from last year’s rankings. A household there needs between $66,565 and $199,716 to be considered middle class, with the upper boundary increasing by nearly $11,000 from the previous report.