Is it just me, or has Disneyland Hotels gotten ridiculously expensive?

[auteur55]

I feel ya. I absolutely love staying at the DLH. It adds so much to me being in the bubble. Considering I only go once a year I want the full experience to get my fix. But holy hannah the pricing is getting outrageous. My wife has never stayed onsite so I really want her to experience a trip to Disney at DLH. We are going in the summer and I expected some discounts for end of June but nothing. I can't believe I'm paying $600 a night to stay there. It's probably the last time.

 

[HydroGuy]

You're not crazy! It's just the economics are not working in your favor. Disneyland's popularity continues to grow so they can charge continually higher prices. Supply & demand- it's just good business sense. WDW has 6 theme parks (water included) to DL's 2. Therefore DL should have 1/3 the room capacity to compare apples to apples to apples. Well, WDW has over 30,600 rooms according to TP... but DL has less than 3,000 Disney owned rooms. A FAR cry from 1/3 the rooms WDW hosts! Therefore, rooms are MUCH more in demand at DL and more expensive, if you want them to drop in price wait for a big recession- and hope you're recession proof.

Add to this that Orlando, Florida, is, well, how should I say this???, it just ain't Southern California. In general and specifically with regards to real estate prices.

 

[amyg1975]

Fun video about the economics of Disneyland. Around minute 3, it starts discussing prices of tickets.

 

[otten]

I agree that the prices are getting ridiculous...I'm sad that they no longer offer the discounts they previously did, like AAA/CAA and the senior's discount.

EVery offsite hotel I looked at had a AAA discount.

 

[whoever]

Entertainment (at least the Disney kind) is at a premium price point for sure. Last I checked, hiking, swimming, and general other activities were VERY low cost.

 

[Westcoastwild]

Add to this that Orlando, Florida, is, well, how should I say this???, it just ain't Southern California. In general and specifically with regards to real estate prices.

True. COL, minimum wage, trade wage in general (plumbers, contractors, etc.) all higher in CA. Plus, it also come so down to the amount of space you're talking about. People here tell folks that they'll be surprised by Disneyland all the time, but it was WDW that I was surprised about. There's tons of land there they CAN develop, even within the parks. Anaheim, though- any expansion means tearing something else down, whether that means a hotel or a parking lot or attraction. Like, for example, I loved BOG. But they would never have the space to build that in DL. Same with animal kingdom. Same with the sprawling resorts (DL hotels are HOTELS not RESORTs like just about everything in FL.)

[/QUOTE]

EVery offsite hotel I looked at had a AAA discount.

I think it's possible that they mean onsite, and that is because Disney no longer has an agreement with AAA. I know because I used to buy tickets with them, and there's no longer a point.

But did Disney ever offer a senior discount?

 

[Westcoastwild]

Entertainment (at least the Disney kind) is at a premium price point for sure. Last I checked, hiking, swimming, and general other activities were VERY low cost.

And those are almost all better in California, anyway, lol. I mean, I love me some Disney, but California's state parks and historic parks are all so freaking magical

 

[tanyaegangibson]

But did Disney ever offer a senior discount?

Yes, the DLR resorts offered a senior discount until about 3 years ago--and it was available for up to 2 rooms. Since our DLR fall trips were with my in-laws, it made our 3-generational trips a lot more affordable. (GCH was within range for a splurge in a way that--between the continually raised prices and the lack of discounts for periods we go--no longer is.)

 

[alvernon90]

Last I checked, hiking, swimming, and general other activities were VERY low cost.

I once got into an argument with someone who insisted that she could not vacation more economically at any other place in the entire United States, because Disneyland is such a great deal. I told her she should book her Disneyland trip and do everything she planned, except instead of going to the Disneyland gates, go to the beach. Boom, saved $1,000.

It's cool if you want to spend your money at Disneyland, but don't pretend it's a bargain compared to other options. This place is ludicrously expensive, and getting more so!

 

[onlyoneash]

I say it's already nuts.
But I still go and join the crowds, just like so many others.

I'm curious about how the crowds will be once StarWarsLand does open.
I can only imagine..

Haha! I LOVE Star Wars, so like many others, I will brave the crowd. At least we are not Disneyland Tokyo. Heard that place is shoulder to shoulder and 3 hour wait times! Well, we aren't there yet.

 

[onlyoneash]

I once got into an argument with someone who insisted that she could not vacation more economically at any other place in the entire United States, because Disneyland is such a great deal. I told her she should book her Disneyland trip and do everything she planned, except instead of going to the Disneyland gates, go to the beach. Boom, saved $1,000.

It's cool if you want to spend your money at Disneyland, but don't pretend it's a bargain compared to other options. This place is ludicrously expensive, and getting more so!

I know! I feel ya. We just got back from Cancun. All inclusive most beautiful place with everything included for $1,000 less than we are spending on this trip. Hubby isn't a Disney fan, but our 3 little boys love, LOVE all things Mickey, Star Wars and Marvel. Not because we push it on them, it is just everywhere. We took them to DL 2 years ago and they still talk about it like it was yesterday. Dang that Disney Magic!

 

[onlyoneash]

I feel ya. I absolutely love staying at the DLH. It adds so much to me being in the bubble. Considering I only go once a year I want the full experience to get my fix. But holy hannah the pricing is getting outrageous. My wife has never stayed onsite so I really want her to experience a trip to Disney at DLH. We are going in the summer and I expected some discounts for end of June but nothing. I can't believe I'm paying $600 a night to stay there. It's probably the last time.

Oh man! I hope it's the most magical vacation ever then!

 

[Westcoastwild]

I once got into an argument with someone who insisted that she could not vacation more economically at any other place in the entire United States, because Disneyland is such a great deal. I told her she should book her Disneyland trip and do everything she planned, except instead of going to the Disneyland gates, go to the beach. Boom, saved $1,000.

It's cool if you want to spend your money at Disneyland, but don't pretend it's a bargain compared to other options. This place is ludicrously expensive, and getting more so!

Well...in her defense, it MAY be for her. I've a friend who likes expensive touristy stuff, and I wouldn't go to, say, Boston with her because she'd want to do 4 museums in 4 hours. That's more than 100 bucks in Boston, plus she'd want to stay at a Marriott (400 a night) plus she'd want to shop. Take the same girl to Disney, and it would be easily half that. I mean I still wouldn't call it a bargain but it definitely limits the damage she can do.

Me on the other hand- hostel: 50, 1 museum for 5 hours; 20, park or neighborhoods: free...that's like less than one night at just a hotel near Disney so Disney is definitely a costly splurge for me even before the food. The only way I spend Disney budget without going to Disney would be theater every night. And when you look at it that way, it's crazy expensive.

gulp. Now that I've thought of it that way...maybe I'm better off skipping my next trip to the Mouse and putting the cost of the ticket towards seeing Hamilton or a plane ticket to Europe

 

[StormyCA]

We usually stay onsite, but our last two long weekends were spent offsite (about .5 mi from DLR) and we used Uber for transport. It was so easy and the round trip was cheaper than DL parking. Door to door transportation in a private car without the hassle of parking was great and we never waited more than 5 minutes for pick up.

We were talking about it and we think that as more people find out how easy Uber/Lyft are that they'll be more willing to stay a bit farther out in exchange for a cheaper stay. You can get a nice hotel 5-7 miles out for a lot less and the lower rate plus the cost of Uber/Lyft will still be cheaper than a walking distance hotel, let alone onsite.

It may not be practical for families with carseat needs or who need nap time, but if you're a rope drop to closing group or can make do with a half hour sit down on a bench to refresh, it's a viable option.

 

[MacMama0930]

I really enjoy staying onsite, but it's a splurge. A splurge that is hard to talk some of my family members into. Luckily we got a 40% off pin code so I was able to score our next stay at DLH for $243/night, which I think is totally reasonable. There's been rates I've paid that are a little over $600/night. That's a bit too steep. I do think staying onsite should come with more perks. It would add to the value. I think early entries should be for onsite guests only, and maybe something else...not sure.

 

[BayouQueen]

I've found travel costs overall to be really high right now. Or in some cases, like cruises, prices levels might be the same, but there's been lots of upcharges added or services taken away.

But still, yeah, I expected to see some "deals" when I went to book the GC, because the pool is "down." I was stunned that a hotel without a pool could be so expensive!

 

[Nonsuch]

...did Disney ever offer a senior discount?

Senior Discount was 30% off (60 or older), available every day. Discontinued at the end of 2012, likely because of increased bookings from Cars Land which opened in June 2012.

 

[Westcoastwild]

Senior Discount was 30% off (60 or older), available every day. Discontinued at the end of 2012, likely because of increased bookings from Cars Land which opened in June 2012.

Wow, I can see why people would miss that. Normal senior discount seems to be 10-15%

 

[fly girl]

It's not you, even with our military discount the room rates are crazy expensive.

 

[ddwlms]

DLR hotel prices went up when they added early entry. The usage also increased with the prices. A CM told us that the DL hotels are consistently booked at 97% since the change. What is interesting to me is how the increase in DLR hotel prices, with the added benefit of EE, seems to have increased the prices of non resort hotels, that come with no added benefit.

For me the EE is worth paying the higher prices for. (as long as the whole family is traveling together, not so if it is just me) We stay on sight more now than we use to.