Need to vent about how expensive WDW is now

[5kidsmommy]

This thread was interesting to read. We took a few years off from Disney trips. We did a few trips at Universal and we've traveled other places. We don't do long vacations. We do 3-4 day trips and occasionally we will do a week. So last year we came back and we've had three trips in the space of 12 monnths. We find we really like the resorts. We ended up purchasing a resale DVC contract. We still find value in Disney mostly because of the customer service. I will admit we don't do a lot in the parks now. But yeah it's gotten pricey and I'm glad our kids are grown because life in general is expensive.

 

[Genie+]

Right. Everyone takes the "only QS" pledge which lasts less than a day LOL! Dining is the killer here and this year we will only do one or maybe two sit down meals...so I say again!

This is spot on! Exactly where our budget had a way to stay on track - and went off the rails. We intended 2 TS and the rest QS. Ended up adding on BoG, ‘Ohana (that means family! ), Biergarten, Yak & Yeti, Chef Mickey, Skipper Canteen along with some lounges, and drinking/eating around Epcot adds up quick.

 

[wabbott]

Right. Everyone takes the "only QS" pledge which lasts less than a day LOL! Dining is the killer here and this year we will only do one or maybe two sit down meals...so I say again!

Judging from the widespread availability of ADR's for the past few months, it looks like a lot of other guests are foregoing sit down meals.

 

[5kidsmommy]

Judging from the widespread availability of ADR's for the past few months, it looks like a lot of other guests are foregoing sit down meals.

We spent the first week of Janaury at WDW. We did two sit down meals. One at our resort (Olivia's) and one for my birthday dinner which was Teppan Edo. We also at one meal at Disney Springs and ordered one quick service breakfast from the resort. We also ate at the Contemporary quick service once. We had a couple snacks in the parks but cooked the rest of our meals in the room. We are just not big eaters and my husband especially doesn't see much value in Disney food. But he generally prefers my cooking over anyone else.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Judging from the widespread availability of ADR's for the past few months, it looks like a lot of other guests are foregoing sit down meals.

Places like Be Our Guest having availability for any time you want also shows that the negative reviews online are working against it. You can even grab Ohana day of nowadays.

 

[Minnie1222]

Judging from the widespread availability of ADR's for the past few months, it looks like a lot of other guests are foregoing sit down meals.

This works great for people like us who don't book Disney vacations more than 60 days in advance. I love LOVE the ability to get a last minute reservation. The new ADR system is fantastic.

 

[Minnie1222]

Places like Be Our Guest having availability for any time you want also shows that the negative reviews online are working against it.

Keep the negative reviews going. BOG is our current go-to restaurant at MK. Even with the wide availability, the place was always packed every time we went.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Keep the negative reviews going. BOG is our current go-to restaurant at MK. Even with the wide availability, the place was always packed every time we went.

I hope the place stays packed so that I can easily get reservations for the good restaurants around property : )

 

[mi*vida*loca]

With the DDP back I wonder if availability will go down again.

We loved it last trip being able to easily switch out reservations or book day of ADRs.

We also cut down a lot on TS to put into the G+ and ILL budget.

 

[john7994]

I hope the place stays packed so that I can easily get reservations for the good restaurants around property : )

So we can go to Tony’s?

 

[Smugpugmug]

So we can go to Tony’s?

You have fun there. I'll be sitting on a bench with a sandwich I made in my hotel room xD

 

[MICKIMINI]

This is spot on! Exactly where our budget had a way to stay on track - and went off the rails. We intended 2 TS and the rest QS. Ended up adding on BoG, ‘Ohana (that means family! ), Biergarten, Yak & Yeti, Chef Mickey, Skipper Canteen along with some lounges, and drinking/eating around Epcot adds up quick.

I swear we spent $400/night on the last trip with our son and DIL! She and our son and awesome at finding restaurants we haven't been too (thankfully that list is shrinking!) I feel your PAIN!!

 

[MICKIMINI]

Places like Be Our Guest having availability for any time you want also shows that the negative reviews online are working against it. You can even grab Ohana day of nowadays.

I was vomiting after our last trip to O'Hana...that is off our list!

 

[Robber Baron]

Can I please just vent for a minute?
I am in the very beginning stages of planning a Spring Break 2025 Disney World vacation. This week I decided to start looking into how much things will cost so we can set our budget and start saving for it. Boy am I glad I did that because it is definitely going to take over a year to save up for this trip.

The most astonishing thing to me is that we went to Disney World for Spring Break in 2021, and according to the notes that I have from planning that trip, it will cost us $3,500 more this time to do the EXACT SAME VACATION for the same number of park days (5) at the same hotel (Contemporary). That is crazy to me. 2.5 years later and the price has gone up by 38%. How do people afford to do this more than one time every 5 years?

This is going to be a special vacation for our family. My oldest will be a senior in high school and it will be our last big vacation before she graduates and moves to college. I want to splurge. I want to make it extra memorable. But I am feeling discouraged by the fact that it will cost us more than the first 2 cars that my husband and I bought after getting married-- combined.

We rented a 4 bedroom house on Hilton Head Island during the first week of June in 2020, big house, pool, hot tub, lanai, for $3,600. We had previously rented this same house 2 years previous, but, I don't remember the price.

I just looked up the price of this particular house for the same week this year and it's $6,700.

I also know the price of golf has gone up, restaurants, even bike rentals.

It's not just Disney.

 

[RivShore]

We rented a 4 bedroom house on Hilton Head Island during the first week of June in 2020, big house, pool, hot tub, lanai, for $3,600. We had previously rented this same house 2 years previous, but, I don't remember the price.

I just looked up the price of this particular house for the same week this year and it's $6,700.

I also know the price of golf has gone up, restaurants, even bike rentals.

It's not just Disney.

I said the same earlier in this thread. And another example - we went to the Central Florida Zoo and their Holiday Lantern show over the holidays and it was close to $50 per person for the Zoo and event tickets. This was for maybe 3-4 hours of "entertainment". An AK ticket does not so out of line given how much more you get.

 

[Genie+]

I swear we spent $400/night on the last trip with our son and DIL! She and our son and awesome at finding restaurants we haven't been too (thankfully that list is shrinking!) I feel your PAIN!!

It still feels a little crazy to me. Meals out that hit $200 used to feel expensive. Now $200 is the ‘affordable’ meal

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

This is going to be a special vacation for our family. My oldest will be a senior in high school and it will be our last big vacation before she graduates and moves to college. I want to splurge. I want to make it extra memorable. But I am feeling discouraged by the fact that it will cost us more than the first 2 cars that my husband and I bought after getting married-- combined.

I love WDW also and haven't been since March 2021 also because I can't justify the cost. We also like deluxe resorts.

There are plenty of special, memorable places in the world, the real world, to visit.
Visit Europe. There is so much to see and do and I find it's even more interesting when those places are my ancestral roots. YMMV.
It probably isn't much more than the cost of spending a week at WDW.

Sorry, I haven't read through 15 pages but this is jmho.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I love WDW also and haven't been since March 2021 also because I can't justify the cost. We also like deluxe resorts.

There are plenty of special, memorable places in the world, the real world, to visit.
Visit Europe. There is so much to see and do and I find it's even more interesting when those places are my ancestral roots. YMMV.
It probably isn't much more than the cost of spending a week at WDW.

Sorry, I haven't read through 15 pages but this is jmho.

I have to agree with this. Once my kids were older (teens and up), WDW held zero interest for them. They'd rather see the world! My oldest even bemoaned one day having to take a (hypothetical) daughter to WDW--she'd rather take her, pretty much anywhere else. I suggested Disneyland Paris for a day or two as a compromise. That could possibly work for the OP as well--go to France, see tons of interesting, new things...and appreciate a different Disney park.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I have to agree with this. Once my kids were older (teens and up), WDW held zero interest for them. They'd rather see the world! My oldest even bemoaned one day having to take a (hypothetical) daughter to WDW--she'd rather take her, pretty much anywhere else. I suggested Disneyland Paris for a day or two as a compromise. That could possibly work for the OP as well--go to France, see tons of interesting, new things...and appreciate a different Disney park.

Yes! We stayed 3 nts at DLP at the end of a London/Paris trip. While still in Paris ds27, then 20, asked if he could skip DLP and just spend more time in Paris on his own. (Ummm, no.) He also asked (while still planning at home) if we could visit Normandy/Omaha Beach, being the history buff he is. It forced me to rearrange plans but I was so glad I did. It turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip.
The whole trip was a huge splurge with zero regrets. Our London hotel had a Big Ben view and our Paris hotel was only a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower with a massive view from our window & balcony. Our younger ds was 16 and rebellious at the time, quite a PITA regarding school & friends. He literally jumped 2 feet in the air when he saw the view from our Paris hotel saying over & over, " OMG Mom, you did it! This is the greatest place ever!!"
This is how you get your rebellious 16 yr old to want to hold your hand walking the streets of Paris. I don't think he's been that happy in his entire life. I will NEVER forget it.
That also goes for the American Cemetery near Omaha Beach and the Paratrooper Museum in St. Mere Eglise that saved soooo many artifacts from WW2. Europeans are amazing at preserving history.

We went to WDW at least 25 times over their lifetime. There is no way to make something you've done that many times memorable or special. We enjoyed our time there, every time, but looking back now, it's all a blur.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Yes! We stayed 3 nts at DLP at the end of a London/Paris trip. While still in Paris ds27, then 20, asked if he could skip DLP and just spend more time in Paris on his own. (Ummm, no.) He also asked (while still planning at home) if we could visit Normandy/Omaha Beach, being the history buff he is. It forced me to rearrange plans but I was so glad I did. It turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip.
The whole trip was a huge splurge with zero regrets. Our London hotel had a Big Ben view and our Paris hotel was only a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower with a massive view from our window & balcony. Our younger ds was 16 and rebellious at the time, quite a PITA regarding school & friends. He literally jumped 2 feet in the air when he saw the view from our Paris hotel saying over & over, " OMG Mom, you did it! This is the greatest place ever!!"
This is how you get your rebellious 16 yr old to want to hold your hand walking the streets of Paris. I don't think he's been that happy in his entire life. I will NEVER forget it.
That also goes for the American Cemetery near Omaha Beach and the Paratrooper Museum in St. Mere Eglise that saved soooo many artifacts from WW2. Europeans are amazing at preserving history.

We went to WDW at least 25 times over their lifetime. There is no way to make something you've done that many times memorable or special. We enjoyed our time there, every time, but looking back now, it's all a blur.

Ha! I see no way that this perfectly well-thought-out plan could go wrong!

Seriously, though, Europe has so many interesting things--fun, cultural, and outside the comfort zone. When we went in 2018, our youngest was 13 (he'll be 18 next month). His two favorite things were seeing the Eiffel Tower light up at midnight, and the Sistine Chapel. Go figure! We have so many amazing memories, from making mosaics to herding alpacas to visiting Montmarte. In fact, DS17 wants to major in International Relations in college. Since that trip to Europe, he's been back to France--and also Germany, South Korea, and will go to Japan this summer. My pocketbook says I should have thought this through a little better, but he really appreciates travel and other cultures.