Middle Class Priced Out???

[MamaBelleRN]

This has been an interesting thread to read! We made our first family trip to WDW in 2015. I was hoping to go every other year as we found it to be a truly magical experience. However, we have a large family and we like to have all the cash on hand to pay for the entire trip before booking anything. We are solidly middle class, but life and vacations are more expensive with five kiddos So, our next trip will be in 2018 instead of 2017.

I have also found it interesting to read about COL raises. I work two days a week as a RN and have always had at least a 3% raise. My DH has had more generous raises each being between 5-10% for the past four years. However, his company was recently purchased by a hedge fund and I am not holding my breath for another raise this year or in the next few years to come.

 

[Toon crazy]

I don't think it depends on just how much you make since $65,000 in NYC doesn't equal $65,000 in other places there are many variables.

Very true.

 

[ThistleMae]

This is how I feel too. We can afford to go and we are very much 'middle class' but the cost has risen so much in the last five years even that I am having more and more trouble justifying a week at WDW. My oldest graduates in 2018 and her request for a few years now has been to go for a grad trip (with her family) so we will go then. No other Disney trips on the horizon. Also, contemplating staying offsite for the first time.

My daughter is taking my grandson to Disney for his graduation in 2018. We all went together in 2015 and it cost her family of five around $ 7000.00 with free dining. She may not be able to get free dinning next time, depending on the summer dates being offered. If she has to pay for all their meals, I don't know what it will cost. She isn't taking a vacation this year, so they can save for the next one. But....in the past they have gone almost every year. They are die hard Disney fans but it definitely is getting harder for them to afford it. We have decided to stay at the Value resorts instead of the more expensive ones, feeling that they are just as nice. My nephew and his family are going during Spring Break and found a condo just a mile outside of the park for $ 900.00 for eight of them for 5 days. They are definitely on a budget but are able to do it by sharing the cost of the condo. I think people figure it out, just like most of us. Planning is part of vacation and so is saving for one. I'm on a fixed income now, but make adjustments for vacations. If people think it's too expensive to go to Disney, and are upset with how they raise prices, these folks may decide not to go. Disney will go on.

 

[ThistleMae]

I don't totally disagree with you, but I think its the rising cost of everything, not just WDW. I can't say WDW is pricing me out and ignore that airfare to get there for my family has doubled in the last few years.
I still think there are plenty of options to make WDW affordable to middle class families.

Airfare is costing way more than it used to....in 2015 @ $425 from NH to Orlando for a family of five was $ 2125. It adds up quick. And we frequently watch for airline sales. Add Disney to that and it's pricey but....when you can't travel off season because of school, etc. you will be paying high plane faire no matter where you go. It just is...what it is. We recently had a snow storm and so many flights were cancelled. When my sister tried to get another flight on another airline to get home sooner, there was one airline charging $ 2000.00 one way...taking advantage of the crisis. She ended up having to wait another week to get home to avoid the price hikes. Talk about greedy. Anyway...we love Disney and will go just the same...making compromises about how we spend the money.

 

[ThistleMae]

I'm so jealous of the folks who live near Disney....what a treat!

 

[havaneselover]

I agree. It is also the reason 3 and 4 day cruises on DCL are more profitable than 7 day cruises. You run twice as many people a week through your gift shops buying that special Tee shirt, or stuff animal.

Not sure that's true. Lots of people do double dips because it's cheaper to do a 3-day and a 4-day than a 7-day. So the cruise fare revenue is likely lower. We really have no way of knowing which is more profitable.

 

[dclpluto]

I'm so jealous of the folks who live near Disney....what a treat!

A lot of people that live near Disney can't afford to go to Disney. low wages

 

[Hikergirl]

A lot of people that live near Disney can't afford to go to Disney. low wages

There are alot of low wage earners everywhere that can't afford to go to things near them.

 

[dclpluto]

There are alot of low wage earners everywhere that can't afford to go to things near them.

Yes I know that

 

[Hikergirl]

Yes I know that

I'm sure the pp knows that there are alot of people that live near WDW who can't go too. Not sure what your point was in posting that, unless you just wanted to make the pp feel bad.

 

[dclpluto]

I'm sure the pp knows that there are alot of people that live near WDW who can't go too. Not sure what your point was in posting that, unless you just wanted to make the pp feel bad.

Don't know what you are talking about trying to make someone feel bad. Who? I'm done

 

[Darcy03231]

Did you price with the crazy discount they have going on right now? I'm being quoted 8K for 7 nights there and it only comes down to 3100 with the current promotion that is 65% off.

I just went to the Sandals website to get the quote. I used the week of September 13th in the Pin Gin room.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

For us what makes it harder are the expiring tickets. We invested in the 10 day non-expiring tickets and got a lot of trips out of them when the kids were smaller. I'm kicking myself that I didn't buy more before they finished selling them for good. Those really helped our family make WDW more affordable for us. We have some days left on those and I find myself being miserly with them only wanting to do a day here or there in the parks and the rest of the time enjoy the rest of Orlando, to make them last.

Except for our first visit, we've always stayed off site to save money and have more room. It doesn't bother us in the least not to be on property. We're heading down in May and renting a 2 bedroom at Bonnet Creek and are excited to experience all that resort as to offer.

I hear ya about the non expiring tickets! I bought a family set of 10 day no expire hoppers with waterpark fun back in 2011. When ours are all used up, I will be really bummed. Between those tickets, buying Disney giftcards with 4x fuel points at Kroger for food, driving 12 hours from Virginia and trading our timeshare, we have been able to go to Disney World very cheaply without it feeling cheap. Except for the first time we went, Disney is an add on vacation for us, not our main trip for the year. I can't go unless I can do it inexpensively. The most we ever paid was on our first trip - $3400 for a week for a family of 4 (all Disney adults). After that, the trips have cost less (even our 2 onsite trips - one with free dining, one with a group rate discount).

DH and I are going again with DD's high school softball team for 4 nights during Easter Week. Due to team fundraising, DD's trip (4 nights at Pop, QS dining plan, 3 day hoppers, ESPN tournament, bus from Va) will cost $390 for 4 days. The same team rate Disney package for DH & me in a room with bus transportation from Virginia was $2350. If we used our no expire tickets, gift cards for food, booked 4 nights at Pop (with Sun & Fun room only offer) and used the bus transportation from Virginia it would be $1134 total for 2 people. We ended up not booking onsite. We traded our timeshare for Vacation Village at Parkway for $230 for the whole week. We'll drive our own car down, spending less than $200 on gas. We already have the no expire hoppers and $500 in Disney Gift cards for food. We'll only be 5 minutes away from the team, and we'll save so much money! DD starts college in a few short months (DS is already in college); we need to save where we can.

After April, I only have one more trip left on those no expire tickets.

 

[tvguy]

Not sure that's true. Lots of people do double dips because it's cheaper to do a 3-day and a 4-day than a 7-day. So the cruise fare revenue is likely lower. We really have no way of knowing which is more profitable.

Yes, some double dip. Not sure it is more than a few dozen at most per cruise. As they say in the marketing world, they are after the "uniques". 5,000 unique customers a week buy more than 2,500.

 

[EveDallas]

Again that isn't Disney fault though. So the real answer is not that Disney is pricing people out but rather massive groups of people are seeing no pay raises even though COL is going up every year. Now that is something I think needs to be looked into because a lot of companies are making "record" profits but the average employee isn't seeing it.

Disney would be one of those companies. Most of their employees make barely more than minimum wage.

 

[havaneselover]

Yes, some double dip. Not sure it is more than a few dozen at most per cruise. As they say in the marketing world, they are after the "uniques". 5,000 unique customers a week buy more than 2,500.

Missing the point. You stated 3 and 4 day cruises are more profitable for dcl. I poointed out that the cruise date of a 3 and 4 day is typically less than a 7 day and you have no way of knowing what's more profitable.

 

[tvguy]

Missing the point. You stated 3 and 4 day cruises are more profitable for dcl. I poointed out that the cruise date of a 3 and 4 day is typically less than a 7 day and you have no way of knowing what's more profitable.

Yeah I am missing the point. If you are getting twice as many customers per week through your gift shops, as you are with 2 cruises per week on the ships running 3 to 4 day cruises, versus the 7 day cruises, how can it not be more profitable? Genuine question.

 

[SirDuff]

Yeah I am missing the point. If you are getting twice as many customers per week through your gift shops, as you are with 2 cruises per week on the ships running 3 to 4 day cruises, versus the 7 day cruises, how can it not be more profitable? Genuine question.

Easily. The fare for the seven-day is more than the combination of fares for the three-day and four-day. If that excess cost is more than the extra spent in gift shops (how much, on average, do people really spend in the gift shops?) then the seven-day is more profitable. You also have to have factors in extra costs that DCL incurs for having two cruises in terms of swithcing over cruises (e.g. embarkation/disembarkation port charges, cleaning, etc.). Not sure that all of them is compensated for (or, rather, more than compensated for) by some extra gift shop purchases. It might be, but not sure that it is.

 

[kandb]

Not being sarcastic but is there a definition for "middle class". We live in northern NJ where the cost of living is super high, including our property taxes and my husband and I both make a decent living but I don't know if we would be considered middle class. Is there some formula to calculate "middle class"? We go to Disney yearly but find discounts and watch our dollar, like we usually do, but to be honest, I think the price of tickets to the parks are outrageous. We only spend around 4 to 5 hours a day in the parks and paying so much when you don't go commando, is really a waste of money in a way. If the economy crashes, I think Disney will really start hurting because people aren't going to spend $100/day to go to an a amusement park.

 

[kathy884]

When I was growing up going to Disney (70s) was taking the pop up camper down to Florida for the week, doing one day at the Magic Kingdom, doing one day at SeaWorld, and doing other inexpensive recreational things for the other four days. A vacation like that is still a middle class vacation. That stay onsite, do a theme park every day stuff, has never IMHO been a moderately priced vacation or a typical modestly priced vacation for what that article is calling the middle class. These days we can fly down with inexpensive airfare or points, rent a condo from a timeshare owner (offsite), and do two or three theme park days (still have the inexpensive resort activities for the other three days) or do a four night/three day trip (accommodations offsite) to keep things moderately priced. // So the choice then becomes how we want to spend our vacations dollars.

We usually do one full week vacation every year and one mini vacation. Recently Disney/Orlando has often made it as our mini vacation. Next year, though, our mini vacation will be Key West and our longer vacation will be South Dakota (whatever strikes our fancy that fits in the budget).