Is Disney becoming too expensive?

[mtblujeans]

We have a few tickets left with one or two days on them and we bought some 10 day passes just before the last main ticket increase. After those tickets are gone, I think that will be it for us, as far as WDW goes, for quite a while. The 10 day, non-exp, water park + ticket "special price" that just came out by email is still almost $500 per person! Then, add the room, meals, possibly a rental car, and airline tickets.....too much. We have decided we can see the rest of the world for that price.

 

[crisi]

We, on the other hand, discovered when our kids were little that we absolutely wanted the hour of sitting and having someone bring us an umbrella drink - planning and ADRs were worth being able to sit down. As onsite snobs who don't rent a car, we are stuck with Disney restaurants. NONE of these choices are budget choices - when friends ask me for advice on planning a cheap trip, I give them advice that sounds a lot like what Steve does - stay and eat offsite.

However, the dining plan isn't for us. When we were non-dining plan eaters, we'd usually split dessert, maybe get an appitizer, and we'd generally drink water (plus the glass of wine - the umbrella drinks are usually by the pool). The dining plan presented us with the opportunity to have a ton of food we didn't want. And for us, sharing dessert isn't a budget thing - its a no need to waste food when we both tend to like the same dessert thing.

 

[crisi]

Yes it is becoming too expensive...and yet I still do it every year. It's just part of my DNA I guess! My particular issue is that DH insists now on staying at Deluxes (1 minute at AKL changed his view on Values!). But I think for what you get at a Disney Deluxe as opposed to what I would get at a local hotel for the same price...It's nutty. Of course there aren't local hotels with giraffes outside but you get the point.

On the other hand, I am a firm believer in the value of the dining plan. I have my frustrations with it. But overall it's been a very good value for my family.

If you go once a year and love AKL, you may be a good DVC candidate. That might help with the budget bite - though its a lot of money up front, and dues aren't cheap either. But neither are Savannah View room rates.

 

[nana2tots]

 

[JoanneNC]

Please tell me details please...DH reallly wanted to go skiing next and I couldn't figure out how to with lodging, ski rentals, flights, lift tickets, etc. Wow. Must know....pm if you'd like but I'd really love information...and how does NC compare to say Colorado? We looked into driving to Michigan and for 4 nights it was close to $1K... [we live in IN].

Sadly NC doesn't come close to comparing to CO
One is a bunny slope and one is 14,000 ft...

BIG difference
I live in NC but moved here from CO
So of course I find NC a joke BUT its better then nothing

 

[dvcgirl]

That would definitely turn me against it, if I wasn't already. We enjoy some non-Disney restaurants and have favorites that we go to every year. We like to have dinner at Sweet Tomatoes one night. We almost always get Flippers Pizza one night. And we always eat breakfast in our room/condo/house. That's true no matter where we travel. We did a little getaway trip last weekend and ate breakfast out both days which was highly unusual. I can't remember the last time we had breakfast in a restaurant anywhere.

I wouldn't mind doing the dining plan for part of our trip and planning meals accordingly to take advantage of it, but I definitely wouldn't want to be locked into it for the whole stay.

We had a Flipper's pizza near where we lived in Orlando. We liked their pizza!

As for the dining plan, I don't think it's a bad deal overall. I think it's an awful lot of food though and if you aren't a big eater it can feel like a waste of money.

 

[JeremyGNJ]

I've been reading this thread and there's some serious misconceptions that I see.

1. Disney World is one of the cheapest vacations

This is simply not true AT ALL. For example, I just did a QUICK price quote at Sandals.com and 2 people can go to a resort in jamaica for 6 nights, exactly $3015 with airfare.

I looked at the same week at Disney.com, and to make it comparable i selected the Deluxe dining package and Magic Express. The total came to $2,765 with airfare.

What's the difference. At sandals you have a NICE room, not a shoe box....all alcohol is included....NO TIPPING. With kids the equation would likely make it even cheaper to go to th Carribbean. You also wouldn't spend hundreds on souvenirs.

2. Disney is the master of nominal "extras". They make everything seem magical for "just a little more money". People dont generally track how much those extras are REALLY costing them.

3. You dont NEED to stay on disney property. It really is cheaper to get hotel and food off disney property, and the extra shuffling around isnt really that big a deal. Most other theme parks dont have on-property resorts, and people have plenty of fun at them.

 

[mari360]

I think Dis is expensive but so is everywhere else.....this was it was either a trip to WDW again or atlantis in the bahamas.... WDW won...

 

[marcyinPA]

Yes, the food is becomming more and more expensive but have you bought a hot dog and drink at a pro sports game lately? Talk about outrageous!

Ain't that the truth!! I dropped about $13 bucks on 3 cups of ice cream last summer at a Phillie's game. Holy cow!!!

 

[EMom]

That's true, and important to keep in mind when comparing offsite to onsite accomodations. And parking is one thing that has definitely been getting more expensive in recent years, though it really doesn't have an impact on the cost of our trip. We usually do the parks 5 days, so an extra $1 or $2 per day for parking only adds $5 or $10 to the total cost of the trip.

We've never stayed offsite, but a friend has a condo he can't use and we might try that. Can you tell me about parking? We'd stay for 7-10 days. Do we pay a one-time parking fee for the entire trip or do you pay a daily fee? How much is the fee? Do you have to pay another fee if you park hop? Any info would be appreciated.

 

[HelenePA]

We've never stayed offsite, but a friend has a condo he can't use and we might try that. Can you tell me about parking? We'd stay for 7-10 days. Do we pay a one-time parking fee for the entire trip or do you pay a daily fee? How much is the fee? Do you have to pay another fee if you park hop? Any info would be appreciated.

as far as I know its an 11$ daily fee, not sure about the hopping

 

[abeyst]

Pay 1 time, and you can hop. You have to show your receipt that you already paid.

 

[BeckyScott]

Hmm. Interesting points made.

Yeah, I do remember when I was growing up, vacation consisted of a cabin at the lake an hour away, with an excessive amount of bugs and not much to do. We took a trip to Yellowstone once and I remember our "hotel room" was sleeping in the back of a panel van. (but that was the 70's and we weren't the only ones)

When oldest DS was born, I remember wanting to take him to Disney. It's only this past year we've been in a financial position to pull it off, and he's 10! For us this is a huge deal. But lots of other people we know (like co-workers, other moms at school, casual aquaintances) have been there done that like it's no big deal. Although none of them seemed to do the Type-A Commando Planning that I'm doing.

Neither kid has been on an airplane- and I hadn't been on one until I was out of college. They've only stayed at a hotel once before, and that was this past summer.

I don't know if/when we'll ever get back, because we're also the type of people that would be just as happy loading in the car and heading west without much pre-planning.

 

[disneysteve]

I've been reading this thread and there's some serious misconceptions that I see.

1. Disney World is one of the cheapest vacations

This is simply not true AT ALL. For example, I just did a QUICK price quote at Sandals.com and 2 people can go to a resort in jamaica for 6 nights, exactly $3015 with airfare.

I looked at the same week at Disney.com, and to make it comparable i selected the Deluxe dining package and Magic Express. The total came to $2,765 with airfare.

I love Sandals resorts. We've been to 3 of them, 2 in Jamaica and 1 in St. Lucia. But you really can't compare a Sandals trip to a Disney trip. The point I'm always trying to make is that although Disney can be expensive, it doesn't have to be expensive.

The cost for Sandals is relatively fixed. Other than going in the off-season and choosing the cheapest room category, there isn't much you can do to economize. With Disney, there are tons of things you can do to reduce the costs.

You say Sandals would cost just over $3,000 for 6 nights. My wife and I could very easily do 7 nights at Disney for less than $1,500, and we would have much nicer accomodations than at Sandals.

So Disney can be very affordable if you want it to be.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

I agree Steve that Disney can be quite affordable. I am debating this with my sister. She wants to go when we go in April 2009 with her significant idiot, uhhh, I mean other, and their 3 kids. She is all like "We can't afford it, blah, blah, blah." Okay, we are providing the accomodations. All she has to pay for are her tickets, airfare, and food. So frustrating....sorry this turned into a vent. LOL...

 

[disneysteve]

She is all like "We can't afford it, blah, blah, blah."

I've had so many people say they can't afford to go to Disney and wonder how we do it every year. Then I tell them how much we spend and they are shocked. Next thing I know, I'm planning their trip for them.

 

[mtblujeans]

I agree Steve that Disney can be quite affordable. I am debating this with my sister. She wants to go when we go in April 2009 with her significant idiot, uhhh, I mean other, and their 3 kids. She is all like "We can't afford it, blah, blah, blah." Okay, we are providing the accomodations. All she has to pay for are her tickets, airfare, and food. So frustrating....sorry this turned into a vent. LOL...

I think the tickets look like an overwhelming purchase! Once you get them purchased and/or paid off, you are over it, for the most part. But, that lump sum just kinda' smacks you in the face....really hard.

 

[fakereadhed]

I think the tickets look like an overwhelming purchase! Once you get them purchased and/or paid off, you are over it, for the most part. But, that lump sum just kinda' smacks you in the face....really hard.

ITA. The tickets are the hardest. The rest can be done more cheaply with discounts and dining choices, but the park tickets are never discounted enough. We would take more trips if the tickets didn't cost so much.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

I've had so many people say they can't afford to go to Disney and wonder how we do it every year. Then I tell them how much we spend and they are shocked. Next thing I know, I'm planning their trip for them.

I KNOW!!! LOL

 

[kfeuer]

Compared to other vacation spots/entertainment choices, Disney has been very affordable the last few years. However, the last couple hikes in ticket prices have been pretty steep. We have six days left on our current set of
10-day non-expiring tickets, and I just can't see buying another set when these are gone. I just checked undercover tourist, and the tickets cost over $300 more then the last time we bought them

We've discussed stretching those remaining 6 days over 2 trips, and I think that's what we're going to need to do. We have some plusses left on our old passes, so we could do a day at one of the water parks. My kids are also getting old enough to enjoy DisneyQuest, so we could do that as well.