Interesting Dis article. Is Disney Really a MORE Expensive Destination?

[Willow Ufgood]

https://www.wdwinfo.com/disneylandc...s-disney-really-a-more-expensive-destination/

I didn't author the article. I'd love to get the Budget Board perspective. My guess is that opinions will vary considerably.

My feelings are an emphatic YES! It really is a more expensive vacation destination but it depends on what you are comparing the final costs to.

 

[comicguy]

Generally, I feel Disney CAN be more expensive than other places (of equal footing) but it is all relative. We did an Alaskan Cruise last year with Cruise cost, excursions, hotels and other transportation, 2 days prior in Anchorage, plus added land package for Denali (2 nights), 7 night cruise, and 1 night in Vancouver at then end it was just about 15K for the two of us (well worth it IMO!), conversely WDW with airfare, accomodations (usually value 7 nights), food, park tickets (7 days), lightning lanes (usually 4 days), and transpotation to and from airport generally run the 2 of us about 5K total, so yes expensive but it really depends on what you are comparing.

Starting to look at a Tokyo Disney trip (3 days Tokyo Disney and 1.5 weeks in greater Tokyo area) The costs seem to be adding up (airfare, hotels, sightseeing, etc...) as I am starting to do a budget for saving purposes!

My wife is leaving for a trip with her sister and 2 neices, an ABD river cruise and her cost was about 7K plus airfare again all relative based on what is considered expensive. She will be gone 12 nights.

If I take my nephew to the "local" six flags, which is 1.5 hours away it is 75 each for admission plus another 50 for food and snacks/drinks at the park, plus another 25-30 for dinner on the way home, plus gas. So a day out for 2 people at six flags is about 250 dollars, This trip I consider an expensive trip! Again all relative

 

[VGCgroupie]

We were shocked how the price of food at WDW hasn’t increased like it has in our local city. Eating quick service was just same price or often cheaper than what we get at home eating out. So I agree with this point in the article.

Another comparison I have is a night out attending a concert or sporting event is often just as much as a day at Disney and the food is always more money at those venues.

 

[Minnie1222]

I think Disney is a bargain.

 

[JayMass]

I’d have appreciated some actual cost comparisons in the article. It’s not very persuasive because it’s such a ridiculously broad proposition. Disney CAN be done cheaply, but so can travel to London, Paris, or Tokyo (to use the comp cities from the article.) There are just so many uncontrolled variables!

I would find it more interesting to read a true comparison of a WDW trip to say London from the US. Keep the length of stay, accommodations, food, attractions, etc. all as relatively comparable as you can and then compare final costs. Maybe do this with a variety of destinations, too. Then, depending on the results, you can make a sound argument regarding how Disney is or isn’t as expensive as people think.

 

[barkley]

my comparison data is....well...dated but that said-

we did a 10 day stay at wdw in 2013 so when we (family of 4 adults) started talking about doing what I THOUGHT would be a comparably (adjusted for inflation) priced 10 day stay at universal planned for late 2019 I budgeted accordingly. we like to cash flow our vacations so I was budgeting a good chunk more each month to set aside for about a year leading into the trip. I WAS SHOCKED at how much less expensive (much nicer accommodations) were at universal and how much less park tickets ran. I initially thought I must have tripped over some really good promotion or sale-nope, I actualy ended up months after making the reservation spotting a sale and with a call they gave me a lower rate . as far as dollar value went we also appreciated (and took advantage of) the long wdw resort eliminated concept of 'pool hopping' as a non park day activity vs. when we would stay at wdw and a non park day activity generally entailed some kind of added costs. as far as the cost of food went we spent less I think in large part b/c the servings seemed much larger at the in park options and particularly at the city walk and hotel sit-downs. the prices were in some cases comparable to Disney but in most-less expensive.

we did not skimp, in fact probably did a bit more nicer dining (and drinking), more souvineers than we planned for yet we still ended up coming out at WAY LESS than we had budgeted-??? somehow I saved money on vacation (and I later in the planning ran the numbers for a lower level accommodation at wdw, comparable tickets-our budget would have been grossly insufficient before we walked on property).

i'm jaded I know. my first stay on a disney property was back in the 70's. I remember the ticket prices in the 60's. I just think while a disney vacation (even staying off-site to save as much as possible) was a reasonable and fairly attainable goal for most families back in the day they've out priced themselves for that market.

If I take my nephew to the "local" six flags, which is 1.5 hours away it is 75 each for admission plus another 50 for food and snacks/drinks at the park, plus another 25-30 for dinner on the way home, plus gas. So a day out for 2 people at six flags is about 250 dollars, This trip I consider an expensive trip! Again all relative

in agreement with you. I will say though that the closest amusement park to us is still a bargain compared to wdw-1 day ticket for a kid with access to the large water park runs $47 (adult $74) as compared to wdw just a single park/no water park access at (non sale/discounted) a minimum of $104 up to $154 for the kid alone.

 

[HopperFan]

SO .... the article is by an author that I usually do not read here. I have found too often the information given as fact is not and honestly most of her pieces are just editorials/opinions that bring no valuable conversation. This article is not different. She is just rambling why she thinks she is right.

Okay, so it's not expensive to the author to travel worldwide to Disney parks but they also have a budget where they are traveling from Australia, so her budget is likely much higher than others! and it's her perspective without relation to others experiences. Again a pointless article.

Yes we eat very inexpensively when we go because we are fine with eating in room or at QS (over the years we've eaten at many of the TS) but for many who want table service consistently on their vacation - if like me I walk away feeling like I paid WAY too much for what was given to me. Everyone vacations different and has different expectations ~ and Disney prices are often above and beyond many places.

You can only compare apples to apples. Each person has to decide if that apple is worth the price to THEM, and it makes no difference what someone else thinks. Your vacation, your way and your determination of value. I can do Disney for much less than Universal and for me the parks are not comparable.

I go 4-6 times a year, I have a FL Annual Pass, I don't mind eating in room (I drive and take food) or QS meals (we play a game to keep it to $15 per person per meal quite successfully), we rarely buy snacks or souvenirs, we do parties or tours or special events about once per year .... so our vacations there are reasonable. BUT I know for others that go much less and want to do lots of things (TS, shopping, snacks) plus higher priced hotels and tickets it really adds up. And then it is no longer an inexpensive trip. Author doesn't seem to have a grasp on final costs to so many when booking a full Disney resort stay. Why negate others experience?

 

[Rory607]

There are too many ways to “do” Disney to compare. Some people will stay offsite and/or get groceries and eat in their hotel room to save money. I’m not doing that at Disney, personally. We go once every 2-3 years, so yes we’re buying souvenirs. I’m not fighting Orlando traffic to drive to the parks everyday. I want Disney transportation. We do one sit down meal each day on most trips, which is obviously not cost-effective. My way is not necessarily the right way, but it’s my preferred way to go to Disney.

But our vacation this summer is to a beach condo. We will go to the store for groceries and eat breakfast, lunch and a couple of dinners at the condo. The kids will do the beach and pool most days, go on bike rides, and play family board games, so not much spent on lots of extra activities. Everyone maybe gets a t-shirt and we get ice cream most nights for the “souvenir” budget. So yes, this is way cheaper than Disney for us.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Starting to look at a Tokyo Disney trip (3 days Tokyo Disney and 1.5 weeks in greater Tokyo area) The costs seem to be adding up (airfare, hotels, sightseeing, etc...) as I am starting to do a budget for saving purposes!

Personally the most expensive part of a Japan trip is really the airfare for us. It was more than $4k for two of us RT the past October. However, the hotels are extremely inexpensive by our standards. I know one we stayed at was $60 (Tokyo Asakusa). Outside of the Hilton we stayed at for Disney I believe the most expensive hotel was mid-$300 for the ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) the rest being $100-$200 per night. Food is very inexpensive and many things like temples and whatnot are inexpensive or free. Trains are not that expensive overall either. Tickets for Tokyo Disney aren't expensive either although unfortunately there isn't a whole lot that can be done to save costs on hotels if you're staying right there (we stayed at Hilton Tokyo Bay). A tip would be to also consider a weekday pass or a weekend pass for Disney. This allows you entry into the parks at 5pm for the weekday and 3pm for the weekend; although it's curtailing your park hours it can save on costs. We did a weekday pass for the evening we arrived back in Tokyo from Takayama thereby still getting in some park time at a reduced price of what a full day would have been and using the evening time more strategically (instead of just doing nothing).

If I have a suggestion it would be go expand beyond Tokyo especially because you have that time there. Fly to Japan but only going there you're missing so much for all that effort plus talk about costs Tokyo may be costing you more than other areas out there.

We actually only spent a night in Tokyo and looped back for just Disney (one evening at DL, full day at DL, two days at Disney Sea) but outside of that we saw Kamakura, Hakone (where the ryokan was, also went to the volcano/sulphur there), Kyoto, Nara, Kanazawa and Takayama and that's just basically touring central Japan. We sacrificed Tokyo to see other places and sacrificed other places to do Disney but we got to see a lot more of their culture by expanding outside of Tokyo; I'd also add a lot of tourists go to just Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka missing other places.

 

[comicguy]

Personally the most expensive part of a Japan trip is really the airfare for us. It was more than $4k for two of us RT the past October. However, the hotels are extremely inexpensive by our standards. I know one we stayed at was $60 (Tokyo Asakusa). Outside of the Hilton we stayed at for Disney I believe the most expensive hotel was mid-$300 for the ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) the rest being $100-$200 per night. Food is very inexpensive and many things like temples and whatnot are inexpensive or free. Trains are not that expensive overall either. Tickets for Tokyo Disney aren't expensive either although unfortunately there isn't a whole lot that can be done to save costs on hotels if you're staying right there (we stayed at Hilton Tokyo Bay). A tip would be to also consider a weekday pass or a weekend pass for Disney. This allows you entry into the parks at 5pm for the weekday and 3pm for the weekend; although it's curtailing your park hours it can save on costs. We did a weekday pass for the evening we arrived back in Tokyo from Takayama thereby still getting in some park time at a reduced price of what a full day would have been and using the evening time more strategically (instead of just doing nothing).

If I have a suggestion it would be go expand beyond Tokyo especially because you have that time there. Fly to Japan but only going there you're missing so much for all that effort plus talk about costs Tokyo may be costing you more than other areas out there.

We actually only spent a night in Tokyo and looped back for just Disney (one evening at DL, full day at DL, two days at Disney Sea) but outside of that we saw Kamakura, Hakone (where the ryokan was, also went to the volcano/sulphur there), Kyoto, Nara, Kanazawa and Takayama and that's just basically touring central Japan. We sacrificed Tokyo to see other places and sacrificed other places to do Disney but we got to see a lot more of their culture by expanding outside of Tokyo; I'd also add a lot of tourists go to just Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka missing other places.

What you are talking about is pretty much what I am envisioning, with the exception of staying 3 nights at one of the Tokyo Disney Hotels, but otherwise spot on! Great Minds think alike!

 

[Smugpugmug]

This is an extremely nothingburger article, but as someone else pointed out, that seems to be a trend with this particular author. It's word salad of why she thinks she's right with no real comparisons made to the other destinations she mentions (which btw, you can do for cheaper than WDW. Every hotel I stayed at during my recent Japan trip were about the price of a moderate but were WAY nicer in terms of the actual room and amenities.)