I'm begining to think maybe Disney isn't that way over priced

[goodeats]

We've been skiing a lot this year and I'd say it's on par with Disney. We get a condo that's generally around $200-$250 a night. It has a kitchen and DH and I get private sleeping quarters, but that's about the same price we're paying for our Wilderness Lodge room in August (value season). Lift tickets (depending on how world class the ski resort is) are as much if not more than Disney theme park tickets. We have season passes, but when you add in kids ski lessons and the price of food on the mountain I'd say it's very comparable to Disney if not more expensive.

I'm dreading to add up how much all our food will be in August for an 8 night trip, but other than that I'm pleased with the cost of our lodging/tickets.

 

[misse336]

But no one pays that gate price...I mean Groupon has been running 1 day tickets every year for $45/day...most theme/amusement parks are built on this "no one pays gate price" paradigm...Disney and Universal are the only 2 who aren't...so you have to compare real gate entry prices, not gate prices...

I wish that I could find a Groupon for Bush Gardens, Williamsburg or any attractions in Williamsburg that we want to visit. We've been thinking of going to Williamsburg this summer and I haven't been able to find any deals for it for places we'd like to go.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I wish that I could find a Groupon for Bush Gardens, Williamsburg or any attractions in Williamsburg that we want to visit. We've been thinking of going to Williamsburg this summer and I haven't been able to find any deals for it for places we'd like to go.

You just missed the BG Groupon They usually run it somewhere between beginning to mid-March and sometimes again in the fall. FWIW, I think BG and and Water Country are both worth full price or the cost of the Fun Pass that gets you into both. It's a beautiful park and does have a lot of great rides. Meals there are often big enough to be split between two people. We're about 45 minutes from King's Dominion and 1 hour 45 minutes to BG and we always prefer to drive to BG.

 

[bluehen]

We've been skiing a lot this year and I'd say it's on par with Disney. We get a condo that's generally around $200-$250 a night. It has a kitchen and DH and I get private sleeping quarters, but that's about the same price we're paying for our Wilderness Lodge room in August (value season). Lift tickets (depending on how world class the ski resort is) are as much if not more than Disney theme park tickets. We have season passes, but when you add in kids ski lessons and the price of food on the mountain I'd say it's very comparable to Disney if not more expensive.

I'm dreading to add up how much all our food will be in August for an 8 night trip, but other than that I'm pleased with the cost of our lodging/tickets.

We went skiing every year with the kids. I agree that it is comparable to disney. I will actually say that the way we did disney, disney was much cheaper. I know as the kids grew up it was getting harder and harder to justify the cost of our yearly trip. I do think that disney may want to notice the cautionary tale of the ski industry. I know the VT ski industry has not done well. Consolidation has allowed them to compete, but thrive is not the word to describe how they are doing.

 

[crazylady]

Funny you brought this up because we also went to Pigeon Forge last week and I found myself comparing prices to Disney also. Sounds like we fared better than you. Our cost was less than $1900 for a family of 4 for activities, food and a one bedroom condo for 4 nights. I think we probably ate out less than you.

 

[AngieInOH]

Funny you brought this up because we also went to Pigeon Forge last week and I found myself comparing prices to Disney also. Sounds like we fared better than you. Our cost was less than $1900 for a family of 4 for activities, food and a one bedroom condo for 4 nights. I think we probably ate out less than you.

We were a party of 5 for 5 nights. So that added to our cost compared to you. Lots of people there weren't there? I was hoping everyone would be headed to Disney or the beach for Spring Break! Guess not everyone! LOL!

 

[TwoMisfits]

I wish that I could find a Groupon for Bush Gardens, Williamsburg or any attractions in Williamsburg that we want to visit. We've been thinking of going to Williamsburg this summer and I haven't been able to find any deals for it for places we'd like to go.

What are you hoping to see and how long are you going for (and do you have kids)?

 

[misse336]

You just missed the BG Groupon They usually run it somewhere between beginning to mid-March and sometimes again in the fall. FWIW, I think BG and and Water Country are both worth full price or the cost of the Fun Pass that gets you into both. It's a beautiful park and does have a lot of great rides. Meals there are often big enough to be split between two people. We're about 45 minutes from King's Dominion and 1 hour 45 minutes to BG and we always prefer to drive to BG.

Maybe it was only offered in certain areas because I've been checking and there hasn't been one offered whenever I've checked?

 

[misse336]

What are you hoping to see and how long are you going for (and do you have kids)?

3 kids between 8 and 13 years old - so 5 people total. Only for sure right now are historic Williamsburg sights and hopefully Bush Gardens if we can find a discount on it as 5 tickets at full price may price us out. Our kids have been to Hershey Park before and loved it so I'm thinking that they'd love Bush Gardens too. I'm still in the researching phase as to what other places/attractions would be a good fit for my kids and will fit in our budget. The time there will be between a 4 day long weekend to an entire week depending on what exactly we decide to do and how much everything costs (if we'd need to cut down on hotel nights to afford the attractions).

 

[TwoMisfits]

3 kids between 8 and 13 years old - so 5 people total. Only for sure right now are historic Williamsburg sights and hopefully Bush Gardens if we can find a discount on it as 5 tickets at full price may price us out. Our kids have been to Hershey Park before and loved it so I'm thinking that they'd love Bush Gardens too. I'm still in the researching phase as to what other places/attractions would be a good fit for my kids and will fit in our budget. The time there will be between a 4 day long weekend to an entire week depending on what exactly we decide to do and how much everything costs (if we'd need to cut down on hotel nights to afford the attractions).

So, is $90/person + taxes for both BG and WCU for a week too much? That would be $450 + taxes for the fam...If it is, you can use the code bgwoffer to take $25 off the 1 day price and get $65/person for BG and I think $35/person for WCU - but you can see if you wanna do both, it's better to spring for the pass, since you get 7 days...

And if you wait, you may get a better deal...the Groupon deal was around last week and they may run another deal for Memorial Day...of course, they may also go away (probably depends how many people trade theme park location vacations this year...

 

[DisneyMandC]

Maybe it was only offered in certain areas because I've been checking and there hasn't been one offered whenever I've checked?

Try Richmond, VA next time you search Groupon. I tried it yesterday though and it was no longer available.

 

[misse336]

So, is $90/person + taxes for both BG and WCU for a week too much? That would be $450 + taxes for the fam...If it is, you can use the code bgwoffer to take $25 off the 1 day price and get $65/person for BG and I think $35/person for WCU - but you can see if you wanna do both, it's better to spring for the pass, since you get 7 days...

And if you wait, you may get a better deal...the Groupon deal was around last week and they may run another deal for Memorial Day...of course, they may also go away (probably depends how many people trade theme park location vacations this year...

What I normally do when we go to a new vacation spot is research all of the possible things that there are to do in an area and how much accommodations will cost. Then I list the possible items to do, along with the cost of each item, and we discuss as a family which ones we would like to do and which ones we can do within our budget. So if we'd do that it would take a large chunk out of our budget leaving little for other activities. Wish the Groupon would have been in our area too. Thanks for the other discount codes though!

 

[misse336]

Try Richmond, VA next time you search Groupon. I tried it yesterday though and it was no longer available.

I was searching under VA, but it still never came up for me. Here's hoping that they didn't sell enough and offer it again in more areas.

 

[570traveler]

3 kids between 8 and 13 years old - so 5 people total. Only for sure right now are historic Williamsburg sights and hopefully Bush Gardens if we can find a discount on it as 5 tickets at full price may price us out. Our kids have been to Hershey Park before and loved it so I'm thinking that they'd love Bush Gardens too. I'm still in the researching phase as to what other places/attractions would be a good fit for my kids and will fit in our budget. The time there will be between a 4 day long weekend to an entire week depending on what exactly we decide to do and how much everything costs (if we'd need to cut down on hotel nights to afford the attractions).

Have you tried looking at the vacations that Busch Gardens offers via their website? We are going back this year and booked our trip through them. We got a package that includes hotel (with free breakfast), tickets to BG and WC and Colonial Williamsburg, free parking at the parks and 2 meals each at the parks. We are a family of four (2 kids both 17) so all considered adults. I didn’t think the price was bad at all. I researched a lot before booking and know there’s discount tickets but what really sold me on the package was the ability to cancel it if needed. If we just purchased tickets separately, they are non-refundable. We really enjoy our trips to Williamsburg!

 

[NYCDiane]

I've never been to Disney and never will. I'm on these forums for the budget board and other interesting stuff.

Disney overpriced? Gee, ya think??? They pay their workers barely minimum wage and yet charge you guys $10 for a bottle of water. It's ridiculous. I would never give my very hard-earned money to them.

When Walt created the mouse and friends, I'm sure he did it to make people happy and not to obscenely overcharge people for a vacation and charging 100s of $$ per ticket. Oh, and let's not forget the souvenirs!

 

[Turksmom]

I've never been to Disney and never will. I'm on these forums for the budget board and other interesting stuff.

Disney overpriced? Gee, ya think??? They pay their workers barely minimum wage and yet charge you guys $10 for a bottle of water. It's ridiculous. I would never give my very hard-earned money to them.

When Walt created the mouse and friends, I'm sure he did it to make people happy and not to obscenely overcharge people for a vacation and charging 100s of $$ per ticket. Oh, and let's not forget the souvenirs!

Your estimates of what water and tickets cost are a bit off. If you're interested in budgeting, I'm sure you regularly choose which things you think give you good value for your dollar and which do not. Some people find that spending $x at Disney gives them better value than spending $x or $y at a different location because it suits the way they like to vacation. It's a matter of personal preference.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I've never been to Disney and never will. I'm on these forums for the budget board and other interesting stuff.

Disney overpriced? Gee, ya think??? They pay their workers barely minimum wage and yet charge you guys $10 for a bottle of water. It's ridiculous. I would never give my very hard-earned money to them.

When Walt created the mouse and friends, I'm sure he did it to make people happy and not to obscenely overcharge people for a vacation and charging 100s of $$ per ticket. Oh, and let's not forget the souvenirs!

I believe bottled water was $3 at the parks which I found to be less than many other venues I've been to that had bottled water. Tickets are expensive but not $100s per ticket..unless you were more meaning multi-day tickets.

 

[crazylady]

Just got back from a 5 night trip to Pigeon Forge, TN. Grand total of the trip $4,200.

I haven't priced a Disney vaca for awhile but pretty sure a stay at Value resort with Dining plan would be close to that range for 5 nights. The only thing that would make it alot more expensive would be our plane tickets. So I complain about the price hikes and how expensive it is just like everyone else, but realistically it's probably in line with a lot of other vacation locations.

Bored today so I priced out a 5 day WDW vacation for you for next week. Your cheapest option would be Riverside. With 4 days base tickets and the dining plan your cost is $4800 so you are correct! (I assumed 3 Disney adults and 2 kids). I would choose Disney for aa differenc of $600. Too bad there is airfare too.

For my hypothetical Disney trip (4 nights, 3 days and dining for 4 adults at POP) was 3200 so a difference of about $1300 from my Gatlinburg trip. I don't think I'd choose Disney with a $1300 difference but maybe of we hadn't been in a while.

 

[Iya]

I own DVC and we go regularly as well. I don't try to justify my Disney obsession to anyone anymore. We just go and have a good time when we are there. However, I am no Disney apologist and as a long-time visitor, it rubs me the wrong way to see the recent spate of money grabbing that is occurring as well as the decline in value that I have seen. I'm looking forward to the renewal of HS, which has suffered greatly in the past 10 years and I hope that the plans for EPCOT move forward quickly. I wish that Disney could put as much effort into refreshing their parks as they put into building new DVC resorts! You can still love Disney and see the flaws for what they are. Sometimes it takes stepping away from Disney for a while to appreciate what it offers. Or, OTOH, to see that there is much more to see in the world than what in contained in the World Showcase.

 

[Iya]

I've never been to Disney and never will. I'm on these forums for the budget board and other interesting stuff.

Disney overpriced? Gee, ya think??? They pay their workers barely minimum wage and yet charge you guys $10 for a bottle of water. It's ridiculous. I would never give my very hard-earned money to them.

When Walt created the mouse and friends, I'm sure he did it to make people happy and not to obscenely overcharge people for a vacation and charging 100s of $$ per ticket. Oh, and let's not forget the souvenirs!

LOL I'm no disney apologist but your numbers are very, very wrong.