News Story: Has the cost of Disney World become unaffordable for the average American family?

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It’s also about how close you live like someone mentioned. We live w/in driving distance & find it much more enjoyable to do quick less expensive trips frequently. We have annual passes & stay inexpensively usually renting DVC points. But, this allows us to not feel like we have to do everything every trip. I couldn’t imagine spending $5000 or more on a week long trip & feeling like you missed out on things b/c of crowds. I understand that not everyone has this luxury, but I used to feel disappointed when we used to try to get it all done in a week. And I know ppl who live by us who could do it the same way as us, but insist on week-long trips & then get disappointed. We are on our way home now & had an absolutely wonderful trip this time. Character interactions were wonderful & every CM we encountered was pleasant. Also, I can’t imagine how crowded it would be if it were cheaper!

Meanwhile people are still trying to figure out how you make Disney work and you go sooo often when you lambasted it so much that it wasn't good for young kids and you're taking your toddler to all these trips

You may not spend $5K in a week but you sure go often enough to spend a decent amount (or so the assumption goes). APs aren't that cheap at Disney.

*I joke but I also am not joking

 

[john7994]

Disagree. I saw quite a few older people there this past weekend. There is a lot more then just coasters there. They have added lots to appeal to families. Their last addition was a jungle Cruise type boat ride for families.

Are you saying older people don't do roller coasters

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

New shows and attractions. Disney will continue to pump out new IP and new themed attractions at the parks to draw crowds. Sure some services have degraded. But I'll be shocked to see people leaving Disney in droves because the magic is no longer there.

New and replacement aren't the same thing. I'm not saying Disney is alone in this but it's not a net gain if you close an attraction and just replace it.

For replacing and adding new sometimes these things draw crowds sometimes they don't. I'm not sure how much Moana walk through is going to net and maybe Tron (and the railroad) will be open by the time Epic Universe is. Guardians I do think will attract people but it replaced Ellen's Energy. Star Wars and Toy Story are replacements for other attractions

And to be fair Universal's Fast and Furious was a dud and Kong not super impressive either. But VeliciCoaster is blowing people away and as my husband says "I loved the dragon coaster but this this is much better" so it was an upgrade for sure for my husband. I am hearing a lot though from people moving away from Disney to go to Universal, they getting that nudge they needed but there are plenty that replace those who left Disney so I'm not sure numbers-wise there's an impact there.

 

[BrianL]

it's a tough one. I agree that shows like Fantasmic needed to come back sooner. But there is also the severe labor shortage being experienced across ALL industries, including construction. Our current economic problem goes much deeper than just drop in stock prices, inflation, and rise in interest rates. Sure there are a lot of families struggling right now. But there are also PLENTY of families with money to spend, more than Disney can handle because they just can't hire people fast enough. Not enough want to work these jobs anymore!

I agree that th elabor issues are at teh crux of it all, and while Disney can't single-handedly solve that, it does feel like they aren't being too urgent about trying. I think that's what makes some of us critical - they don't seem to be trying too hard and may be ignoring the long-term game. It's just a little worrying.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

New and replacement aren't the same thing. I'm not saying Disney is alone in this but it's not a net gain if you close an attraction and just replace it.

For replacing and adding new sometimes these things draw crowds sometimes they don't. I'm not sure how much Moana walk through is going to net and maybe Tron (and the railroad) will be open by the time Epic Universe is. Guardians I do think will attract people but it replaced Ellen's Energy. Star Wars and Toy Story are replacements for other attractions

And to be fair Universal's Fast and Furious was a dud and Kong not super impressive either. But VeliciCoaster is blowing people away and as my husband says "I loved the dragon coaster but this this is much better" so it was an upgrade for sure for my husband. I am hearing a lot though from people moving away from Disney to go to Universal, they getting that nudge they needed but there are plenty that replace those who left Disney so I'm not sure numbers-wise there's an impact there.

The numbers are there in revenue and attendance, both of which are hitting record highs. Sure it may still be related to "revenge" tourism. But why aren't all these people "revenge" touring else where? Because they love Disney and still find value in it.

 

[LSUmiss]

Meanwhile people are still trying to figure out how you make Disney work and you go sooo often when you lambasted it so much that it wasn't good for young kids and you're taking your toddler to all these trips

You may not spend $5K in a week but you sure go often enough to spend a decent amount (or so the assumption goes). APs aren't that cheap at Disney.

*I joke but I also am not joking

Not “people”, you… b/c I know you have been fixated on that.

But, Ftr, I maintain it’s not for little kids. We make it work because we can go often. And we also now drive to the parks. Much much easier! Example, last night was packed after the fireworks as usual & they were making ppl with strollers wait to board the ferry boat to tt&c.
It should be first come first served regardless. That’s a great example of where it’s more difficult for little kids. If anything, adults can wait longer to board the boat. But, I would have been ok with just the order that you got in line. But, DS is 4 now so also easier. I took him on the bus back to the room & DH waited in that obnoxious line to get back to the car. But, again, would have been a nightmare to an inexperienced family with little kids.

And, yes, we spend about $5000-$7000/yr, but that’s going every couple of months for usually like 20-30 park days a year so that’s a much better value than $5000 for 1 week.

 

[john7994]

FWIW it appears you've been on the Boards quite some time but I don't know how active you are. Ever since I've joined in 2015 the conversation has been Disney pricing out people. I do think what is different now and supersedes the Recession is a flurry of stuff like high inflation, stagnant income, high gas prices (more recently in the last several months), car pricing nutty and lack of cars to begin with, housing pricing being so high, and seeing that Disney is a per usual tone deaf to it all. Now the people who have disposable income are traveling to Disney but some of that is sheer luck in how things panned out for them. And right now there's a lot that is either gone for good at Disney or unavailable. I mean we were were there only MK parking trams were in service (AK coming back in a few days) and right as we parked one afternoon in DHS a woman behind us talking to her kids said "it's way too expensive to not have those things back" and she was meaning the parking trams. It's not that she thinks she's entitled to parking trams nor would I think that way either, it's more like "for pete's sake Disney", small detail but big impression is probably how I would describe it.

Trying to wrap my tiny brain around this statement - I can see certain institutions might have more of an active role in curbing the issues you listed, but how exactly is "Disney Tone Deaf to it"? I mean beside the popular price increase/nickel and diming bashing ... what do you think Disney's specific role is here?

 

[HIRyeDVC]

I agree that th elabor issues are at teh crux of it all, and while Disney can't single-handedly solve that, it does feel like they aren't being too urgent about trying. I think that's what makes some of us critical - they don't seem to be trying too hard and may be ignoring the long-term game. It's just a little worrying.

There's nothing wrong with criticizing an entity we love. I understand the frustrations. Heck, I sorely miss some of the old things, like Max Pass, early hour entry, ToTW lounge, shows, etc. But since the reopenings, we've been to DLR and WDW three times now and loved it every time. Were things different? Sure! Can things get better? Yes! But I'm willing to give Disney the benefit of the doubt. We're still coming back from the biggest pandemic the world has ever seen. The economy is all kind of kooky right now. And crazy things are happening everywhere. I just am really thankful to have the parks open again so we can escape the harshness of reality. Disney take my money cause God knows I'll spend it some other stupid krap.

 

[BrianL]

There's nothing wrong with criticizing an entity we love. I understand the frustrations. Heck, I sorely miss some of the old things, like Max Pass, early hour entry, ToTW lounge, shows, etc. But since the reopenings, we've been to DLR and WDW three times now and loved it every time. Were things different? Sure! Can things get better? Yes! But I'm willing to give Disney the benefit of the doubt. We're still coming back from the biggest pandemic the world has ever seen. The economy is all kind of kooky right now. And crazy things are happening everywhere. I just am really thankful to have the parks open again so we can escape the harshness of reality. Disney take my money cause God knows I'll spend it some other stupid krap.

Oh yeah, I am right there with you. I don't think they've lost value for me - yet. I actually want to go right no SO BAD, but it hasn't been working out for other reasons. I still thik there is plenty of magic and I think cast members are doing the best with what they have. I just don't want it to see it slide to the point where it really is bad, but it feels like some of the Disney higher-ups wouldn't care if it did. Maybe that's not even true, but they don't do anything to prove it wrong either.

 

[xipotec]

Here now. Sure are a lot of wealthy ppl in the US. Much more than I thought b/c it’s packed as usual.

You confusing debt with wealth….

 

[buzlite]

I said pre-pandemic..we're talking before 2020. It was fairly well discussed people were concerned that Disney would be hit because of Brazil's economy tanking among a few other countries as they comprised of a large international group who came to Disney. Sorry no brushing off your comment due to "economic changes in the last year" because that wasn't even a blip on the radar when the SA tour groups started dropping off heavily.

Ethnicity-wise with respects to exactly how you spoke you were talking about white people in the U.S. and not subtly at all interjected white privilege as a reason. I think that came out pretty resoundingly clear.

White privilege is usually used to describe non-measurable benefits of being seen as racially white. I was speaking about measurable effects of being white. IE I can factually look at the data of average income by race and see white people were and still are higher than most black and brown people.
This is supported by facts and data. Now if you believe the term white privilege refers to measurable effects then really you can't argue against the plethora of data supporting it...
I brought up white skin color because it appears that being a white middle class american has the highest correlation with people visibly complaining. Could their be bias to this? Yes of course. It could be that white middle class people are more likely to air their complaints publicly or they have a stronger forum to do it. I am stating correlation and not causation. I understand that have smaller amounts of melanin in your skin doesn't magically make you a disney complainer.

You said it not I:






I pretty much have always been of the opinion that Disney is something unattainable for people but it was overall more attainable in the past. The thing is their competition isn't nor has been on the same expense level. Trying to frame it like you are completely goes left field and makes honestly no real sense (no offense intended).

Did you search "white Disney vloggers" or something on youtube? I don't have the time nor the inclination to seek out only white vloggers but there's many vloggers these days too many to sift through so if you're going to say something like that it should be backed up with a extensive search of all the vloggers Disney has and count up the ethnicity and race of them all otherwise it's more like a selective bias statement you're making (I don't think you really intend to prove me wrong but you are employing a bias in your statement).

I did a search of the top 10 disney vloggers by view online. 9/10 were white.

We make more money than we did in 2017 when we did our last trip before this one a few weeks back (which was for a wedding otherwise we would not have gone down at this time) and while my feelings aren't of anger, I think the conversation can be discussed just how drastically more expensive our trip was in comparison to 2022. Our tickets alone were almost double (although to be fair we purchased our 2017 trip tickets in 2016 at 2015 prices).

FWIW it appears you've been on the Boards quite some time but I don't know how active you are.

Had a previous account that I lost access to.

Ever since I've joined in 2015 the conversation has been Disney pricing out people. I do think what is different now and supersedes the Recession is a flurry of stuff like high inflation, stagnant income, high gas prices (more recently in the last several months), car pricing nutty and lack of cars to begin with, housing pricing being so high, and seeing that Disney is a per usual tone deaf to it all. Now the people who have disposable income are traveling to Disney but some of that is sheer luck in how things panned out for them. And right now there's a lot that is either gone for good at Disney or unavailable. I mean we were were there only MK parking trams were in service (AK coming back in a few days) and right as we parked one afternoon in DHS a woman behind us talking to her kids said "it's way too expensive to not have those things back" and she was meaning the parking trams. It's not that she thinks she's entitled to parking trams nor would I think that way either, it's more like "for pete's sake Disney", small detail but big impression is probably how I would describe it.

My point is that the reason people are complaining is not that people are being priced out. They are complaining that THEY are being priced out. Just as you are complaining that your trip price increased to an amount significant enough to make you upset.

These same people were not complaining when it was other groups that couldn't go or couldn't afford Disney. But now that THEY are having some more difficulty, then disney has somehow abandoned its roots and become an un-ethical company. This leads me to believe that they believe Disney is un-ethical because Disney is making it harder for them to go to disney. The "they" I am referred to are more likely to be white middle class americans for reasons explained above. Therefor white middle class americans are upset that white middle class americans are having more difficulty paying for Disney Trips.
If I learned 1 think living in America it's that people somehow become super sensitive as soon as race is brought up. It's almost less offensive to be passively racist with a micro-aggression then to tell someone they made a prejudiced remark. NOTE: I am not calling you a racist. I don't know you and assume you are a good person.

I am not saying Disney isn't getting more expensive. I am saying where were you when Disney was not possible for the rest of us. You were enjoying your time at Disney and telling us to work hard. To "pull up our bootstraps". And that's why I don't feel guilty paying higher prices that I can afford to reduce the number of guests, line size and increase the bespoke experience. The complainers didn't have our backs when we weren't able to go so I don't see any reason that people should feel empathy for people that are having their trip cost go up from previous trips.

Please excuse my grammar as I'm trying to respond while at work and don't have time to spell/grammar check.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The numbers are there in revenue and attendance, both of which are hitting record highs. Sure it may still be related to "revenge" tourism. But why aren't all these people "revenge" touring else where? Because they love Disney and still find value in it.

Revenue no. That for any company can be accomplished by pricing strategies which we know Disney has been employing. It was a tangent comment in that people are jumping over to Universal (in actually a staggering number IMO based on my time on the Boards) leaving WDW bye bye. But like I said new people come.

Finding value is a bit hard right now if you present a fair argument. In order to ascertain there is still value there you need to have gone more than once time. Because just going once doesn't mean you find value in it if you swear it off after that one time. And to be fair in that comment when you last went changes how you value things. Infrequent visitors (such as myself) it's harder to quantify value because between my 2011, 2017 and now 2022 trips and if you include 2019 at DLR they all had big big big differences in how Disney operated.

2011-Legacy FP
2017-FP+
2019-MP
2022 Genie+/LL

My value could have been found in each of those trips or one of those trips could have been the point where I said no more value.

In regards to your revenge travel they most certainly are vacationing elsewhere, not sure where you're getting the idea that people have decided only Disney is their choice of destination.

 

[LSUmiss]

You confusing debt with wealth….

Lol. I was being sarcastic.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Not “people”, you… b/c I know you have been fixated on that.

But, Ftr, I maintain it’s not for little kids. We make it work because we can go often. And we also now drive to the parks. Much much easier! Example, last night was packed after the fireworks as usual & they were making ppl with strollers wait to board the ferry boat to tt&c.
It should be first come first served regardless. That’s a great example of where it’s more difficult for little kids. If anything, adults can wait longer to board the boat. But, I would have been ok with just the order that you got in line. But, DS is 4 now so also easier. I took him on the bus back to the room & DH waited in that obnoxious line to get back to the car. But, again, would have been a nightmare to an inexperienced family with little kids.

And, yes, we spend about $5000-$7000/yr, but that’s going every couple of months for usually like 20-30 park days a year so that’s a much better value than $5000 for 1 week.

I actually thought I was the only one who noticed just how much you complained and yet went back but I found out I was not alone at all in that. It's people, trust me, you just have to know where to look sorry it was a little ribbing I was doing in truth not meant to harm just that I truly did think I was the only one for a while til I found out I wasn't. And in full disclosure I'm known as the one who responds with long posts. I own that

In fairness to you and your previous viewpoint as you go more often you may be changing just how you view the difficulty. When we were there a few weeks back while we didn't ride the ferry after fireworks (because it's insanity trying to leave the parks after fireworks and is generally a plan we don't do) the 3 times we did ride the ferry strollers boarded whenever AND strollers made sure they were they were congregating at the back where it would offload. The peeps in strollers were not necessarily aggressive but there wasn't any way any person was getting past them. As far as adults can wait longer..yes please tell that to my blister-filled feet, *sigh* I suffer from getting those no matter what I try but it does no one any good to assume things about people and their ability to do this or that. Families in strollers seemed far better off than me hobbling around but my friends did get a kick out of my kinesiology taped feet

IDK it was just interesting that you'd pop onto this thread considering how often you go. I agree being within driving distance absolves a flight but that doesn't necessarily mean you're spending less than someone else. You're dropping more than I could ever dream of for a repeat destination. Plus even with generous PTO we couldn't think to spend that many days in the parks no matter driving distance. We can't even make the lake of the ozarks (a 3 hour or so drive) that frequently.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Revenue no. That for any company can be accomplished by pricing strategies which we know Disney has been employing. It was a tangent comment in that people are jumping over to Universal (in actually a staggering number IMO based on my time on the Boards) leaving WDW bye bye. But like I said new people come.

Finding value is a bit hard right now if you present a fair argument. In order to ascertain there is still value there you need to have gone more than once time. Because just going once doesn't mean you find value in it if you swear it off after that one time. And to be fair in that comment when you last went changes how you value things. Infrequent visitors (such as myself) it's harder to quantify value because between my 2011, 2017 and now 2022 trips and if you include 2019 at DLR they all had big big big differences in how Disney operated.

2011-Legacy FP
2017-FP+
2019-MP
2022 Genie+/LL

My value could have been found in each of those trips or one of those trips could have been the point where I said no more value.

In regards to your revenge travel they most certainly are vacationing elsewhere, not sure where you're getting the idea that people have decided only Disney is their choice of destination.

I applaud those who leave Disney to go elsewhere like Universal because they no longer find value in Disney. That is the point. Not everyone has to love Disney. Not everyone has to be entitled to "fair" pricing. Finding value right now might be hard for you but it's not across the board as I still find tremendous value, things that can't be tangibly measured and varies greatly from person to person. And I'm coming all the way from Hawaii, paying an extra $1-3k in airfare every time. Do I wish it was cheaper? Yes. Do I wish things were better? Most definitely. But mostly, I'm thankful for the parks to be open because I so vividly remember how suffocating it was when they were all closed and we couldn't leave our house for a better part of a year.

 

[LSUmiss]

I actually thought I was the only one who noticed just how much you complained and yet went back but I found out I was not alone at all in that. It's people, trust me, you just have to know where to look sorry it was a little ribbing I was doing in truth not meant to harm just that I truly did think I was the only one for a while til I found out I wasn't. And in full disclosure I'm known as the one who responds with long posts. I own that

In fairness to you and your previous viewpoint as you go more often you may be changing just how you view the difficulty. When we were there a few weeks back while we didn't ride the ferry after fireworks (because it's insanity trying to leave the parks after fireworks and is generally a plan we don't do) the 3 times we did ride the ferry strollers boarded whenever AND strollers made sure they were they were congregating at the back where it would offload. The peeps in strollers were not necessarily aggressive but there wasn't any way any person was getting past them. As far as adults can wait longer..yes please tell that to my blister-filled feet, *sigh* I suffer from getting those no matter what I try but it does no one any good to assume things about people and their ability to do this or that. Families in strollers seemed far better off than me hobbling around but my friends did get a kick out of my kinesiology taped feet

IDK it was just interesting that you'd pop onto this thread considering how often you go. I agree being within driving distance absolves a flight but that doesn't necessarily mean you're spending less than someone else. You're dropping more than I could ever dream of for a repeat destination. Plus even with generous PTO we couldn't think to spend that many days in the parks no matter driving distance. We can't even make the lake of the ozarks (a 3 hour or so drive) that frequently.

I acknowledged most can’t go that often. And the point of the amount, is that ppl are saying they feel really disappointed when they spend $5000 for a family for a week & don’t get the value. I would too. Otoh, I pay the same amount for several more days so it’s easier for us to find value.

DH gets 6 weeks off a year & I work for a school system so we have plenty of time off. It’s not all weekdays. This trip was only 3 days off of work for him.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I applaud those who leave Disney to go elsewhere like Universal because they no longer find value in Disney. That is the point. Not everyone has to love Disney. Not everyone has to be entitled to "fair" pricing. Finding value right now might be hard for you but it's not across the board as I still find tremendous value, things that can't be tangibly measured and varies greatly from person to person. And I'm coming all the way from Hawaii, paying an extra $1-3k in airfare every time. Do I wish it was cheaper? Yes. Do I wish things were better? Most definitely. But mostly, I'm thankful for the parks to be open because I so vividly remember how suffocating it was when they were all closed and we couldn't leave our house for a better part of a year.

I think you're taking my comments to mean I'm arguing against what you're saying. I assure you I'm not. I always have believed that Disney isn't for everyone anymore than Universal is. A lot of people on the Boards try to convince other people of things and I've been more or less like "it's okay to not want to go to X".

I never said I didn't find value I think that might be you projecting a level of protectiveness towards Disney. What I did say is that because our trips are infrequent and because the changes have been so vast that value is hard to just say it isn't there. In order for me to know if the product Disney is giving me at that time is worth it for me that is usually going to mean I have to go. I mean not always but that's how it's been. How was I supposed to know if FP+ was the line in the sand unless I experienced it? Then again I'm sure there could be a change in the future where I just know means it's time for me to move on. It benefits us personally to only go so many years. It's always more expensive for us but we get to explore other places too and that's something that some people don't make a priority, they just simply only go to Disney.

Your frequent visitor is going to be the one most often to say there's no value because they have many more trips and closer together to actually compare and contrast.

For example people who went right when the parks reopened experienced a different park than when Genie+/ILL was launched, and has time as gone on people who did trips when it was first launched now may have different experiences too as crowds (which really seemed to pick up in March and on). My local Orlando DISer friends have had quite the things to say over time.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

I think you're taking my comments to mean I'm arguing against what you're saying. I assure you I'm not. I always have believed that Disney isn't for everyone anymore than Universal is. A lot of people on the Boards try to convince other people of things and I've been more or less like "it's okay to not want to go to X".

I never said I didn't find value I think that might be you projecting a level of protectiveness towards Disney. What I did say is that because our trips are infrequent and because the changes have been so vast that value is hard to just say it isn't there. In order for me to know if the product Disney is giving me at that time is worth it for me that is usually going to mean I have to go. I mean not always but that's how it's been. How was I supposed to know if FP+ was the line in the sand unless I experienced it? Then again I'm sure there could be a change in the future where I just know means it's time for me to move on. It benefits us personally to only go so many years. It's always more expensive for us but we get to explore other places too and that's something that some people don't make a priority, they just simply only go to Disney.

Your frequent visitor is going to be the one most often to say there's no value because they have many more trips and closer together to actually compare and contrast.

For example people who went right when the parks reopened experienced a different park than when Genie+/ILL was launched, and has time as gone on people who did trips when it was first launched now may have different experiences too as crowds (which really seemed to pick up in March and on). My local Orlando DISer friends have had quite the things to say over time.

I can totally sound like a Disney apologizer sometimes. I try not to be. I guess I can't help it sometimes, especially when it comes to this specific topic. I get that old timers and frequent visitors are frustrated. I guess I can't relate because I'm not them. But the very topic of this thread has so much to unpack. Is Disney SUPPOSED to be some public service that the "average" American family can afford? What is an "average" American family? Is it people who make a certain amount of income? Is it white middle class suburbans as another poster was alluding to? The topic itself is a non starter IMO as words like value and unaffordable, and even the word "American" is so completely subjective. Sorry if I sounded a bit argumentative as for it wasn't my intention.

 

[BrianL]

I can totally sound like a Disney apologizer sometimes. I try not to be. I guess I can't help it sometimes, especially when it comes to this specific topic. I get that old timers and frequent visitors are frustrated. I guess I can't relate because I'm not them. But the very topic of this thread has so much to unpack. Is Disney SUPPOSED to be some public service that the "average" American family can afford? What is an "average" American family? Is it people who make a certain amount of income? Is it white middle class suburbans as another poster was alluding to? The topic itself is a non starter IMO as words like value and unaffordable, and even the word "American" is so completely subjective. Sorry if I sounded a bit argumentative as for it wasn't my intention.

You know, I don't think that most of us think that Disney should be some public service, it's more that we worry that IF Disney continues to raise prices that they will price out a large portion of their fans and also if they continue to deliver a less-than-stellar experience, the more well-to-do fans might not want to come back either. This will lead to a general decline in the place that we love so much. There is definitely emotion involved, but it's also logical. We see some effects already - granted some of it is a bit exaggerated - but I do think that some concern is warranted. Disney doesn't seem to have a plan to address their problems - which they don't have to do right now, but the time will come. It can't be all pump and slash forever!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I get that old timers and frequent visitors are frustrated. I guess I can't relate because I'm not them.

I don't often relate either although I do get some of the complaints but you're talking to someone who hates parking fees at hotels just on principle and resort fees lol so sometimes I have a bit of a "get off my lawn" viewpoint.

One of the more divisive things I have found is that I focus on rides and attractions and cost whereas plenty of people on this board (because they go so often) end up focusing on trash on the ground, food quality and CM interactions. Between those things value often gets added in so someone may comment "all this trash overflowing Walt would be so upset" or "I saw a CM in a beanie hat I just don't like seeing street clothes, it breaks the theming" and I might say "whew these onsite hotel costs are sky high I couldn't even dream of staying on there" and "dang it I didn't get to ride this before it closed down for good"

**caveat we did stay on site in 2017 but it was my dream to do that. We stayed at All-Star Sports for rack rate $100 and $123 per night. A discount came around and the pricing then went to $113.60 and $92.80 per night. That same hotel (well All-Star Movies) is now $161,$175 and $181 and $191 (there's more variance in pricing than there was back in 2017 when we only had two different rate pricing during the same time period). Now that is crazy. And yes All-Star Movies (and Sports will be too) has the renovations so I wouldn't expect the rate to stay the same but consider that our money went further in 2017 in general than it does now even the increase income given by my husband switching jobs and the increase in room rates has sucked that all up. And for transparence sake we don't consider ourselves wealthy Millennials but that fact that we do own a home has put us financially ahead than many of our counterparts. Now we can afford that but we just paid $134 over at Universal for their Value hotel (which is actually bigger than Disney's although with the renovation the murphy bed would have suited us better as just a couple compared to queen beds Universal has in their value).

But the very topic of this thread has so much to unpack. Is Disney SUPPOSED to be some public service that the "average" American family can afford?

If you go back there's been virtually this same conversation for years. Prior articles and blogs and such. Like I said in my one comment I think this time might be just having more vocal aspect due to just how much is going on.

Growing up to the people I knew Disney was like a place few ever go think to go to, it was like this special place that just was out of reach for the most part. But in this moment I think it's just out of reach for more people than it was in the past and that may be causing more angst. Much like the "childless Millennial" rant some of this is conflated out to be more than it really is because I don't think you're going to find many people who truly believe Disney is supposed to be available to them by virtue of their birth (or color of their skin).