Is Disney parks becoming too expensive?

[Firsttimer15]

For us it is. Yes, I could spend the money, but I don’t want to anymore. 500$ plus for a family of 4 for one day to spend the day waiting in long lines with insane amounts of people and very mediocre food for crazy amounts as well.
Others will spend that happily.
If Disney did care they would limit attendance each day but selling more tickets for more money is of course better for them. And people keep coming.
The only questions for you is is too much for you? Our answers won’t help you personally to decide that I think

 

[Sand Wedge]

Perhaps Disney World NEEDS yet another park, to ease the strain? PLEASE don't turn this thread into a "is there gonna be a fifth park?!" thread!

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Makes my DVC purchase years ago that much more valuable to me. I only have to budget for tickets and food and since we always stay in a 1 bed room or larger we really only budget for lunch and most dinners out. Breakfast and some dinners are in the room.

And maintenance fees and taxes and opportunity cost on the money you have already sunk into DVC.

 

[Floridaman999]

Perhaps Disney World NEEDS yet another park, to ease the strain? PLEASE don't turn this thread into a "is there gonna be a fifth park?!" thread!

Good thing nobody brought that up then...






Oh wait...

 

[Sand Wedge]

Good thing nobody brought that up then...






Oh wait...

Yeah pretty foolish of me in retrospect. Still, cat's outta the bag, I have to reap my crops, lie in my bed, etc, etc.

But please, let's not go down that road, despite my best efforts

 

[kdonnel]

And maintenance fees and taxes and opportunity cost on the money you have already sunk into DVC.

In my case it wasn’t my money that bought the interest. It has been my money paying the maintenance fees.

I have got a tremendous amount of value out of my membership. My family has definitely become hotel snobs and have come to expect similar accommodations.

I wish I had more points.

 

[Magical2017]

It has been difficult to "maintain," if that makes sense. What was a good value five years ago has really increased for the same things today, even with inflation (a week onsite, 5 day passes, airfare, and food). We offset that increase last year with an offsite stay.

We put our 2020 vacation to a vote. Neither of the boys or DH chose Disney or Universal, so we booked a cruise. It will be a non-Disney cruise. I feel like it is an excellent value--much less than some Disney trips, but it is not really comparing apples to apples. Anyway, it will be nice to change it up. Maybe a 2021 Disney trip is in our future.

 

[3smithboys]

Disney used to be a great trip for our family of 5 when our kids were younger. We could comfortably fit in a moderate resort and loved POR. DH and I are both teachers, so we can only travel during Winter Break or the summer and have done both many times. We’ve also taken the boys on cruises... Disney, RC, and Carnival.

Now that my kids are older and it’s not easy to fit into a moderate resort, the cost for the 5 of us has increased quite a bit. We’ve not been back in several years because we’ve decided to cruise instead. They seemed to give us more for our money.

We are planning on coming back next summer for a family reunion. Because there are 16 of us, we are staying offsite (not my choice.) This will add a new dynamic to my Disney experience!

 

[Colleen27]

For me, it isn't that it has become too expensive... it is that it has become too expensive for what you get, which is something I think long-time/repeat visitors notice more than first-timers. Years of price increases along with cutbacks and add-on fees for things that were once included, along with a general decline in the quality of service, has put me in the position of feeling like WDW just isn't worth the money I'd spend to go any more. Not when the same budget goes so much further elsewhere. I don't feel like we're getting $2500 worth of enjoyment from our park tickets any more, much less finding any value in spending $200/night to stay in a themed motel plus $20/night extra to have a car because the buses can only sometimes get us to the parks in under an hour.

 

[Donald Schmuck]

I think the simple answer is no, because the crowds keep getting bigger.

 

[anniemae]

For us it is. Yes, I could spend the money, but I don’t want to anymore. 500$ plus for a family of 4 for one day to spend the day waiting in long lines with insane amounts of people and very mediocre food for crazy amounts as well.
Others will spend that happily.
If Disney did care they would limit attendance each day but selling more tickets for more money is of course better for them. And people keep coming.
The only questions for you is is too much for you? Our answers won’t help you personally to decide that I think

For me, it isn't that it has become too expensive... it is that it has become too expensive for what you get, which is something I think long-time/repeat visitors notice more than first-timers. Years of price increases along with cutbacks and add-on fees for things that were once included, along with a general decline in the quality of service, has put me in the position of feeling like WDW just isn't worth the money I'd spend to go any more. Not when the same budget goes so much further elsewhere. I don't feel like we're getting $2500 worth of enjoyment from our park tickets any more, much less finding any value in spending $200/night to stay in a themed motel plus $20/night extra to have a car because the buses can only sometimes get us to the parks in under an hour.

I agree with both of these, especially the bolded. It is expensive for what you get. The prices keep creeping up and the quality/benefits keeps creeping down. We still love Disney but no longer are going every year.

 

[Darcy03231]

We used to be yearly visitors (sometimes 2-3x a year). Last trip was in 2017 when DH and I added two days onto a cruise so he could see Pandora (he's a huge Avatar fan). Prior to that we hadn't been in a couple of years. For us, the value just isn't there anymore. We find our vacation dollars go further in other destinations. Having said that, we don't have young children anymore (our baby is 25), which would arguably make Disney a more attractive vacation option. in 2017 we did 3 nights in AKL with a two day park hopper - no meals or alcohol included. This fall we're doing a 5 day cruise, which includes our meals, bar package and shore excursions for almost the same price.

 

[RangerPooh]

For me, it isn't that it has become too expensive... it is that it has become too expensive for what you get, which is something I think long-time/repeat visitors notice more than first-timers. Years of price increases along with cutbacks and add-on fees for things that were once included, along with a general decline in the quality of service, has put me in the position of feeling like WDW just isn't worth the money I'd spend to go any more. Not when the same budget goes so much further elsewhere. I don't feel like we're getting $2500 worth of enjoyment from our park tickets any more, much less finding any value in spending $200/night to stay in a themed motel plus $20/night extra to have a car because the buses can only sometimes get us to the parks in under an hour.

I agree with this. As a family of 6 it's an expensive cost to be sure. But Disney is important to us so we make it work. But the value that we get has certainly decreased. Ticket and food prices continue to increase, but the quality has not improved. Parks seem to be more crowded. We have done a few non Disney vacations and ultimately agree that Disney would have been a better choice for us. So now we alternate trip destinations.

 

[CdnCarrie]

A concert costs over a hundred dollars as does a sporting event (Winnipeg Jets tickets are at least $90 for the most part...) and that is for 3 hours of entertainment.
The WDW tickets are for 12 hours of entertainment. I think they are a decent deal.
We pay about the same if we go to any big city and visit museums, zoos, shows, etc for several days.

 

[Anchored]

We are local and have AP's that we pay monthly so tickets don't become a factor for us
However, let's just say this - my boyfriend and I went just for the day on Saturday. We spent:
$9 for two Powerades shortly after arriving (this is with AP discount)
$18 at one Epcot booth for 1 lobster tail, orange shortcake and orange slushy (shared)
$11 at another booth for cheesecake and a beer (shared)
$12 at Sunshine Seasons for a pork sandwich and potato wedges (shared, drank water)
rode some rides
Decided to hop to Magic Kingdom but stop at Tambu Lounge before heading in so we could let the heat die down a bit with the sun
$55 there for wings, 2 spring rolls, 2 vodka tonics and a bread pudding - shared

So for one day as a local, no hotel no tickets, just the 2 of us, no souvenirs, etc over $100. We go weekly. We often take our 4 children.
We watch Disney pull money in hand over fist. They make over a BILLION (with a B) dollars every year just in parking fees.

Let's put into perspective, Bob Iger makes a yearly salary of $3million, with like $12million in bonuses and $65million in stock options
That doesn't include money paid to shareholders, other employees, etc

Is it TOO expensive? Absolutely. I think Bob Iger could make his salary and bonuses and they could stand to decrease prices to the tune of that $65million. It's corporate greed. He will never spend that much money in a lifetime. But it could mean the difference to so many children experiencing the joy that Walt wanted to bring them


TL;DR - yes it's too expensive, and Disney is paying execs obscene amounts of bonuses and stock options at the expense of the working class.

 

[Kristina]

I wonder if the price increases are actually intended to slow down the traffic? For years, folks have been complaining that it is getting too crowded, so if they raise the prices significantly, less people come, and one less problem.

Disney has been fiddling with both the amount of staff but mainly ride capacity by only running one track on two track rides for example which has increased wait times and increased the amount of people (crowds) walking around. TouringPlans . com were featured on the Dis podcast discussing their methods to figure this out and be certain. Disney doesn’t mind that it’s crowded as long as we’re spending..