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.)

 

[Twilghtsprkle]

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.

I’m not even going to say how much we spent on airfare to Japan. When it comes to Disney, it’s a 3 hour flight and we can manage with economy. 14 hours to Japan is just not something we can do anymore (I could in my 20’s but sleeping funny wrecks my body for days & my husband is 60 & 6’3” so cramming into economy is a no go).

I think Japan is cheap ish if you are traveling with 2, but once you have kids over 12 years old they are ‘adults’ so you have to pay up for apartment hotels for all or get 2 rooms at regular hotels. Not like in the US where you can always fit 4 in a regular hotel room. We are at the Sheraton Hiroshima right now & had to get 2 rooms for about $190 each per night.

We have a ryokan in Matsumoto for 1 night and that is $1000 for the 4 of us. It does have a private onsen (teens won’t try the shared bath) and includes dinner & breakfast.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I’m not even going to say how much we spent on airfare to Japan. When it comes to Disney, it’s a 3 hour flight and we can manage with economy. 14 hours to Japan is just not something we can do anymore (I could in my 20’s but sleeping funny wrecks my body for days & my husband is 60 & 6’3” so cramming into economy is a no go).

I think Japan is cheap ish if you are traveling with 2, but once you have kids over 12 years old they are ‘adults’ so you have to pay up for apartment hotels for all or get 2 rooms at regular hotels. Not like in the US where you can always fit 4 in a regular hotel room. We are at the Sheraton Hiroshima right now & had to get 2 rooms for about $190 each per night.

We have a ryokan in Matsumoto for 1 night and that is $1000 for the 4 of us. It does have a private onsen (teens won’t try the shared bath) and includes dinner & breakfast.

We flew Zipair with lay flat seats, other carriers would have been several thousand more for a comparable seat. Like I said it was the most expensive part and mostly unavoidable unless you do fly more low-cost (zipair is already considered a budget airline).

As far as economy my husband is taller than yours, exit row seats we have done to Europe in economy to help with that.

Japan is quite inexpensive overall though when you're looking at what you can do once you get there. You're correct about the hotel situation because in Japan most beds are twin sized and may only have one bed in the room depending on the hotel. The costs however, even if getting two rooms doesn't have to break the bank. $190 is quite a good price, like I mentioned in my comments our other accommodations cost $100-$200 per night. That's not really easy to get on-site Disney (if comparing).

As far as comparing flight time....well yeah...but that's not the point nor the point for the article writer who flies from Australia. I can get to a lot of places being in the middle of the country fairly quick but it doesn't make it actually cheaper. If I were to use flight time and overall experience domestic travel is more expensive than international travel all things considered (distance to location, what the location is, etc) and that's just flying SWA. For international travel unless flying on ultra budget carriers you also get food.

As far as your ryokan costs, typically they are the most expensive accommodations you can get in Japan, ours had a private bath on the balcony food also included as well as having first come first served several private baths in actual onsens and then several shared ones as well; we chose to use our private bath on the balcony instead. 2 rooms would have still costs us several hundred less than you spent although our room had two twin beds and a separate eating area and was quite large. Ryokans vary in costs and season as well as location. But again as I pointed out in my comment it was the most expensive outside of Disney, I already spoke to that. But you don't have to stay at a ryokan either, but it can bring more culture to it. FWIW our hotel in Takayama was technically an onsen though I didn't use it.

This is getting off topic for the thread but my crux of my comment is that hearing Japan often makes people think it's super expensive but for the most part (and I stress that) the airfare is the bulk of your costs. To go to WDW on a 10-day non-park hopper would cost close to $1400 for two people, we never spent anywhere near that on all of our activities in Japan, not even remotely close, including the Tokyo Disney tickets.

 

[peder]

I mean, yes. It's way more expensive than anything else and it's been a major status symbol for the last several years because it's so expensive. We just got back from Europa-Park and there's a pretty good chance we'll do it again before visiting Disney World. In part because of all the ride refurbishments, etc. at Disney World, but still, price is a major factor, and we're even DVC owners! And now that I've discovered Aulani and Hilton Head (and I want to try Vero Beach as well), we might use most of our points for those resorts instead.

For a family of five, we're at $1,000 just to get in the door at Magic Kingdom. And the experience with long lines throughout Disney World is awful, so we always got Genie+ and ILLs (haven't yet been with the new Lightning Lane multi system).

It very quickly makes financial sense to either head to Disneyland Paris or Europa-Park, in our experience.

 

[Darcy03231]

For the way we travel, yes it's a lot more expensive which is why I haven't been back for an onsite stay in well over 10 years. in 2017 DH and I did a quick 3 night/2 day trip after a cruise so he could see Pandora - - he's a huge Avatar fan. Haven't been back since.

Every time I price it out, I find we can go to other destinations for less. For example we did a two week trip (cruise) the end of March 2025. The cruise (which included all food and alcohol) with airfare, gratuities, pre & post cruise hotel, and shore excursions came to about $4500. WDW, on the other hand, for 14 days at a value resort, 10 day park hopper plus and DDP came to almost $8,000, before we added airfare, which would have been another $600-$800.

We're going to Maui this summer for two weeks and it's still coming out to less than a WDW vacation, although not as much less as the cruise was.

 

[kathy884]

I can understand why the author says no. The trips I am taking these days are more expensive than an onsite Disney week at a value resort, but not all that much more expensive than that.

I've for decades done Disney on the cheap -- bunch of people in an offsite condo (good deal with rental from an owner or a timeshare trade), breakfasts in, bring sandwiches into the park, in a week long trip do three park days and three resort days, usually only one table service meal at a special place, a pizza night, and maybe dinner in two other nights too. I have great memories of time with extended family and of the Disney parks doing Orlando this way -- SeaWorld too -- we'd usually hit that one for a day on each trip also. And for years we'd for our three park days do two days at SeaWorld -- use the second day for free deal and one day at Disney (alternating what Disney park we'd do so we'd hit them all eventually, but do the MK a little more frequently than the others). For quite a while we'd do this almost every year.

Doing the trip they way we did it in Orlando - more family Orlando time than Disney really meant for me that the Orlando trip was quite a bit less expensive than the second week long trip I did every year (usually just 1/2 the price per person of the other trip unless we were camping.). Our second trip would usually be something out west like a national park or other pristine natural area in the summer. And cabins / condos high season out west are not inexpensive. Sure the ranger guided hikes and talks are wonderful and free, but transportation, lodging, and food would always be higher than Orlando for a week.

I hate to say, though, now that offsite visitors can't do rope drop, this very fun relatively inexpensive model for an extended family vacation in Orlando no longer appeals to me. This is just me, but I don't see myself ever doing a week long Orlando vacation again. And if I were to give advice to those doing a one and done Disney trip, I would for the rope drop advantage recommend onsite and more park days. But me personally, I can't for me fathom spending the prices for lodging for onsite Disney. Yet this year I am forking out similar dollars to a Disney value high season to stay at in Glacier National Park high season in well located but basic motel rooms with private bath. I'm willing to pay a premium for that pristine nature experience, but I am not as much as I love the theme parks willing to pay that for onsite Disney. Right now I'm more into National Parks than theme parks. I think it's just for me the decades of having had so much fun at the theme parks and offsite Orlando condos, doing it on the cheap and the been there, done that, bought the T shirt that I don't want to go back and do it onsite (which is what I would want because of rope drop) for what they are charging. I might do a theme park day here or there when visiting relatives in the area, but I am no longer a Disney destination girl like I was for decades. I'm more like someone who might hit the MK for a day every three years or so.

 

[disney-inspired]

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.

Exactly - I'm seeing McD's food in my area close to the cost of quick service in the parks. Soft drinks are overpriced but not by much now.
That's why I buy bottled water from walmart or Publix and have it delivered to my room. We usually do a pack of Coke zero too. I can get a 40 pack of 16 oz water bottles for $5.97 while ONE bottle of water at the parks is like $4.69.

 

[hsmamato2]

What a ridiculous title Of course it is! Just factoring in park tickets, without the cost of travel,lodging,food etc and YES it's expensive! (add to that the "must do's on every influencers page now with paid skip the line options) ...now IF one is a FL resident and can get a discounted AP, that changes things (a bit)... but the food costs are high (unless you diy your food while there). I've found a few ways to keep the costs low when I want to visit, but it's still a pricey vacation- I can (and do) visit so many other places for so much less money. But again,how one chooses to vacation, no matter the destination will alter how "expensive" each place is.

 

[bnf0522]

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.

I totally agree that there are too many options for a Disney vacation to compare!

Disney, like any other trip people can take, is as cheap or as expensive as one wants to make it.

Thankful for forums like these that help most of us save money by giving us tips and tricks to make our trips more affordable for our family!

 

[mjkacmom]

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.



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.

Plus a season pass costs a few bucks more than a one day ticket, and you can buy the djning plan for cheap and eat free at every visit. I remember WDW in the 70’s, with the different tickets for rides.