Is Disney becoming too expensive?

[samples78]

After reading this entire thread I think a lot of how we think of the value of a vacation depends on what is really important to us on our time off. For my husband an ideal vacation might be staying in a cabin, cooking out and hiking. For me this only sounds nice for about one or two days. For me, I would rather go to Disney World but have a somewhat relaxed time doing it (I like to alternate days at the park with slower days exploring the resorts and taking it easy by the pool). So to him my vacation sounds very expensive, but he is comparing it to his ideal vacation that would only cost our family about $100 a day.

In the end we compromise and take multiple short trips to the mountains and other nearby locations and then save up for a longer, more expensive trip to Disney every few years. I also like to remind him that he really enjoyed our last two trips and that instead of putting my extra money to playing golf like he does I like to save up and go to Disney.

 

[HelenePA]

I am spoiled by the fact I have an amusement park by me that is still pay as you ride. No 35$ to get in each day per person, parking is FREE, you can just go walk around if you want. No its not "disney" but my kids go there every weekend in the summer and have a GREAT time, and it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg to go each week. Sometimes we go with less than 30$ and that includes food money! Also they let you picinic on site for free, they even have small fire pits to use again for FREE (you supply your own wood) I about had a heart attack last year when I first looked into disney and found out it was costing me 800$ for my family in just park tix!!! But we all loved it and we are doing it again, this will be the last time for at least a few years.

 

[JeremyGNJ]

Park tickets are definitely outrageous. People say "32 per day" all day, but most families arent able to afford a TEN DAY vacation. I think most families can go on vacation for 1 week. That means 5 days at the park. If you go for 5 days....it's almost $50 per person / per day or $40 if you use base ticket. That is not cheap by any means.

Six Flags in NJ is like $60 for a ticket, and the second day is (i think) a $10 fee. That is $35 per day for 2 days.

Disney makes their money by making it APPEAR that it's cheaper to spend more days there.....however the daily cost of food/hotel/shopping/activities makes it significantly more expensive.

If I didnt pay for airfare with Flier-Miles and 2 nights of my hotel with Marriott points....we would be not going to Disney.

 

[mamalle]

I agree it seems the people that state its the most affordable are staying the longest so their ticket prices are lower. Not everyone stays for a week at a time or longer so you really have to look at the bigger picture and what you are willing to spend on a vacation for your family and are the current costs worth it.

just to use as example since we are about to take our family vacation:

ski lessons, rentals and lift ticket special for me: $58
ski rentals and lift ticket for dh: $58

kids- ski rentals, helmets and lift tickets: $82 total for 2. Now for their ski school its $75 total per kid per day includes everything plus lunch.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I think everything is just getting more expensive in general. Food, gas, heat, ect. is going up all the time.

We go to Disney usually once every three years and I get sticker shock every time I'm pricing stuff out.

When we went in 2005, we stayed at ASMO. I found our receipts today while digging for some other paperwork and discovered it cost 1475.00 total for 5 days. There were 4 of us. We ate breakfast in our room each morning and ate mostly counter service with just one TS service. We spent 99.45 on souveniers. That trip cost wasn't too bad.

But I've had sticker shock while planning our Sept. 08 trip. It's not going to stop me from going though.

Someday, Disney will be too expensive for the average person unless wages jump too. But until then, I know I'll be enjoying it!

 

[james'mommy]

ticket prices are insane which is why we buy 10 no exp hoppers since they can be spread out over a few trips. since we are dvc we usually end up in disney no matter how much it costs. since i'd rather use the points at disney where we get the best value instead of any where else

 

[racefanof88]

We have been very lucky to be able to go to Disney World 10 times since 1999, but we have only stayed onsite 2 times. We stay off site and usually only eat one meal in the park(sometimes we leave to eat). We love Disney and really don't want to go anywhere else. Now, that being said I don't know how much longer we will be able to afford going.The idea that my youngest will be 10 and paying adult prices next year is really dishearting. We have plans to go this May and stay off site. We will be buying two adult AP and one child AP and 2 adult 7 day parkhoppers(long story). Tickets alone will cost $1830. We rent a car and drive so no air fare. I just hate the idea that we may not be able to go every year after this next trip.

 

[Pinnochio]

simple comparison: bought 4 adult AP's in 2000 for $992...bought four in October 07 for $1908....nuf said....

 

[Sweetbug74]

I think its personal taste and personal value. I was planning a trip later this year, but realized that after being there over 26 times (averaging 2 visits per year), I rethought what I was going to do there and realized that its not really worth the money as it was, say, 2 years ago.

I also love cruising and consider it a great value, so I changed my plans to go on a cruise. Its a ship and cruise line that I've never been on. Its going to cost about the same as my WDW would have been staying in the ASM (we're getting a cabin with a veranda and taking tours and such), but I'll be on the ship longer, and the airfare is tons cheaper.

I'm probably going to lay off WDW for a while, at least for long trips. I love it, always will, but there's just other places that I'd rather visit for my money and vacation time.

 

[Sweetbug74]

simple comparison: bought 4 adult AP's in 2000 for $992...bought four in October 07 for $1908....nuf said....

Good gosh!

 

[eliza61]

All this week I've been trying to price out a beach vacation.

Ocean city Maryland,
1 week ocean front motel (and they are no where near as nice as a disney resort) is running $1600-2000 bucks for July & August.
Food is almost as expensive

1 bedroom condos are in the same price range.

Virgina Beach, Virginia.
Ocean front motel for the week ~2200/week.

No food included, no free bus service. Nothing Just the beach.

Disney's not looking all the bad

 

[Sweetbug74]

wow after reading the entire thread, im a bit scared going on my first trip to WDW in late April and was hoping for around 1500.00 for wifey, myself and 2yr old daughter... this will be our first trip there since we live in LA and trips to Disneyland are common like 2x a month.

but plane tickets seem to really be killilng me will be around 400.00 average from LAX to MCO. OUCH!

FYI, I went to Disneyland and stayed at the DL Hotel in 2006. My first time at DL (and in CA). We paid A LOT less at DL than we have at WDW. Prices are cheaper there. I was just pleased as punch with the whole trip and felt that it truly was an incredible value. We stayed at the DL Hotel for $200 and it truly was a deluxe resort, and DL park was just wonderful. Because I've been to WDW so many times, everyone said I wouldn't like DL, but I thought it was wonderful. I hope to go back soon.

 

[tinaluis]

I agree with eliza61, everything is getting to be more expensive. At least with WDW and US/IOA I know that we'll have a good time and there will be plenty to do. I think, when you figure everything in, WDW and especially US/IOA, give you a lot of bang for your buck. My kids are so used to go, go, go when we're there that a vacation to the beach pales in comparison. That said, however, we're foregoing all vacations until we have our mortgage paid off. It's been hanging around for too long and we want it gone! Probably not much lift to the general economy but it will be a HUGE lift to us when it's gone.

 

[lts862]

Foolishly, we decided not to go to Disney World for our vacation in 2007. We rented a house one block from the beach in Ocean City for a week. By the time we rented the place, had to buy all food and drinks, tons of $$ for boardwalk activities like rides and mini golf, it cost us more than flying to WDW, staying at DVC for six nights with annual passes and all of the AP and DVC perks and discounts. Even worse, we got one beach day as it rained and was cold virtually every day during our week in August.

At least for the same amount of money, we could have been in disney where we could enjoy the parks and attractions even in the rain or cloudy weather.

It is getting more expensive to vacation at Disney World but everything is going up in price!!! We just get "more" for our vacation dollar in Disney.

 

[mpls_mm]

I usually plan a big vacation and we go all out once or twice a year. This year to be more frugal (can you use that word with Disney) and still have nice accomodations, I bought into DVC. We got a small one, but it cost less than I would have spent on just one of my annual trips. I will probably add on next year. We took a vacation to Wisconsin Dells to "save" money. It is within driving distance from us, but we spent way more money. There was more driving and saying now what? At Disney, we never run out of things to do. With the DDP changing, we will make some adjsutments. We'll buy annual passes and stay at Universal at the front or end of our trip this time and maybe do more offsite stuff because we will have the kitchen and won't be held in by the DDP.

 

[kfeuer]

Does anyone have historical ticket price info? I didn't know they had gone up that much. I'm curious now. I'll have to see if I still have the records of what I paid in 2005. I know we bought 10-day passes in '05 and again in '07. I guess I can check my credit card receipts.

I was just cleaning out my bill drawer and ran across my email confirmation from Ticketmania for the tickets I purchased in 2005, which gives detailed info on what each ticket cost. I just compared it to what they're asking now, take a look

10 Day Magic Your Way Adult Ticket, no expiration
2005 $318 2008 $420

10 Day Magic Your Way Adult Ticket, no expiration, w 5 pluses
2005 $346 2008 $459

10 Day Magic Your Way Child Ticket, no expiration
2005 $274 2008 $380

2005 total $938
2008 total $1259

That's a 34.2% increase I don't disagree that they're a good value in comparison to other entertainment options. However, I know my income sure hasn't gone up that much since 2003, so they definitely *feel* alot more expensive. Plus we have to have 2 kids tickets now. Oh well, I'm thankful for all the cheap trips we've gotten to enjoy while our kids are young.

 

[disneysteve]

10 Day Magic Your Way Adult Ticket, no expiration
2005 $318 2008 $420

Thanks for those numbers. I didn't realize they've gone up so much. At least accomodations (offsite) and food haven't really changed, so total cost of the trips isn't much different.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

Thanks for those numbers. I didn't realize they've gone up so much. At least accomodations (offsite) and food haven't really changed, so total cost of the trips isn't much different.

Nor did I realize they had gone up so much!!!!!!! But like Steve, we stay offsite which we feels helps the wallet (we trade our timeshare-which is 2 weeks- to FLorida so we can use it when at Disney!!) We also sometimes bring our own food in for atleast one meal during the day. There are some ways to really cut your costs at Disney. I know it's very costly, but it is a trip that we know us AND the kids will enjoy. At this point in our lives, our kids would not enjoy a trip to some tropical island where we sit on the beach all day sipping umbrella drinks. Nor would they enjoy a cruise, unless it was a Disney cruise!!!

 

[disney[xo]sweetie]

wow! i know, disney have became more expensive in the fact where the ticket prices have gone up, but think of it this way. there are so many more rides and fun things to do every year, they kind of have to! but its still a "woah!" feeling everytime you order the tickets. but whenever we try to book a vacation somewhere else, its almost the same to even more expensive! and then you have to buy all the travel quides to figure out how to entertain the kids, stay on a budget but dont get into the "ghetto" places for hotels! and it gets SO confusing! (and a little scary!) and with disney, i know i have 2,000 buddies on here that can help me out, and i can help them out and learn more to get the best out of our disney trips!
but, if you think eggs and milk are expensive,
try figure skating
coaches require at least 4 nights of ice time,
coaching fee
competition fee
music fee
new competiton dresses, 1 for every event [sometimes up to 4!]
off-ice training
hotels for competiton...
the list goes on and on and on.
sometimes i wish she could have fell in love with rec soccer or something else!

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

I do realize that they have to increase their prices to keep up with things such as energy costs and things like that. Where else can you get fireworks every night????????? *dreamin' of Disney*