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

[greeneyedchick]

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 know people keep blaming the labor shortage but I've been to universal lately and they don't seem to be having a labor shortage.

 

[Jrb1979]

I agree. I thought Disney was insane until my child and I took an 8 day trip to the Grand Canyon and surrounding area. It cost us over $6000 for two people, which makes the $12,000 for 5 people Disney cruise that we originally had booked look like a deal.

That price is insane to me for both trips. My family just got back from a 5 day Cedar Point trip and it only cost us $1000.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

I know people keep blaming the labor shortage but I've been to universal lately and they don't seem to be having a labor shortage.

That may be true but Universal pales in comparison to Disney I terms of the sheer size of its operations

 

[StageTek]

I thought your 2022 figures wasn't including flight or park tickets or transportation or meals? But your 2007 figure does.

From what you wrote your figure of $1,954 only includes your room.

How in the world can you call that affordable that at least according to above you're paying more for just the room but lacking flight, tickets, meals and transportation?

You are correct; the 2022 numbers only include the room. Nothing else.
The 2007 number was all in; flight, tickets, meals, room, transportation.

reddogg21 asked "Did I miss when Disneyworld was ever affordable?" I showed it was affordable in 2007 by using my current 2022 trip as an example.

I apologize for not wording it correctly.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You are correct; the 2022 numbers only include the room. Nothing else.
The 2007 number was all in; flight, tickets, meals, room, transportation.

reddogg21 asked "Did I miss when Disneyworld was ever affordable?" I showed it was affordable in 2007 by using my current 2022 trip as an example.

I apologize for not wording it correctly.

No need to apologize I was just confused! Thanks for clarifying

 

[greeneyedchick]

That price is insane to me for both trips. My family just got back from a 5 day Cedar Point trip and it only cost us $1000.

I agree. The cruise was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. We had never spent anything close to that on a trip before (and didn't get to go due to vaccination requirements). I also thought that a trip out west would be a lot cheaper. Since we didn't plan for it until a few months before, the airfare was steep and the only hotel rooms available were the pricier ones. If I had planned it several months prior, I think I could have brought down the total. The cost of eating out on the trip was much less, but the necessary rental car and all of the gas needed for 16+ hours of driving to the different sites added up, too.

 

[Jrb1979]

I agree. The cruise was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. We had never spent anything close to that on a trip before (and didn't get to go due to vaccination requirements). I also thought that a trip out west would be a lot cheaper. Since we didn't plan for it until a few months before, the airfare was steep and the only hotel rooms available were the pricier ones. If I had planned it several months prior, I think I could have brought down the total. The cost of eating out on the trip was much less, but the necessary rental car and all of the gas needed for 16+ hours of driving to the different sites added up, too.

For my family we never spend Disney prices for any vacation. When we do Orlando for vacation we book Frontier or similar airlines cause they are cheap. Rarely stay on property, look for mid range hotels as for us it's only a place to sleep.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

For my family we never spend Disney prices for any vacation. When we do Orlando for vacation we book Frontier or similar airlines cause they are cheap. Rarely stay on property, look for mid range hotels as for us it's only a place to sleep.

Exactly for us too I can relax and go to a pool at my house I want to enjoy world premier entertainment and shows. To me there is absolutely no benefit to staying on property

 

[xipotec]

Being the cost for a week is approuching 10% of total yearly income for the AVERAGE salary….I would say its priced out quite a bit of people

 

[Hubie]

We're DVC and do feel that the cost of going to the overcrowded parks isn't worth the cost. There are so many more places to go in the US and overseas. As far as cost, taking a road trip out west to see the National Parks is much cheaper than going to WDW or taking a DCL Cruise. Europe trips cost about the same as a trip to Disney for us. Here's the costs of our last three trips.

Scotland (9/10/19 - 9/20/19)
Flight/Seats/Ins. $1379.36 + $ 97.90
ORD Bus + Tram $ 142.53
IHG Lodging $1460.38
Restaurants $ 428.51
Tour/Bus $ 951.78 + $123.54
Taxi $ 17.70
Coffee/Tea/Cake $ 127.59
Misc. & Visa Fees $ 193.75 + $ 45.21
Total $4968.25

WDW/Universal Studios (1/12/20 - 1/25/20)
Flight $ 428.93
Riviera Resort 387 DVC Pts.
Park Tickets $ 989.68 + $579.54
Restaurants $ 908.15
Groceries $ 99.98
Coffee/Treats $ 320.30
Clothing/Jewelry $ 250.00
Total $3576.58

Disney World (11/28/21 - 12/07/21)
Gas (2762 mi) $ 256.47
IHG Hotels $ 286.24
Saratoga Resort 225 DVC Pts.
Park Tickets $1,085.46
Restaurants $ 862.94
Drinks/Treats $ 169.78
Clothing/Misc. $ 839.93
Total $3,500.82

 

[Jrb1979]

We're DVC and do feel that the cost of going to the overcrowded parks isn't worth the cost. There are so many more places to go in the US and overseas. As far as cost, taking a road trip out west to see the National Parks is much cheaper than going to WDW or taking a DCL Cruise. Europe trips cost about the same as a trip to Disney for us. Here's the costs of our last three trips.

Scotland (9/10/19 - 9/20/19)
Flight/Seats/Ins. $1379.36 + $ 97.90
ORD Bus + Tram $ 142.53
IHG Lodging $1460.38
Restaurants $ 428.51
Tour/Bus $ 951.78 + $123.54
Taxi $ 17.70
Coffee/Tea/Cake $ 127.59
Misc. & Visa Fees $ 193.75 + $ 45.21
Total $4968.25

WDW/Universal Studios (1/12/20 - 1/25/20)
Flight $ 428.93
Riviera Resort 387 DVC Pts.
Park Tickets $ 989.68 + $579.54
Restaurants $ 908.15
Groceries $ 99.98
Coffee/Treats $ 320.30
Clothing/Jewelry $ 250.00
Total $3576.58

Disney World (11/28/21 - 12/07/21)
Gas (2762 mi) $ 256.47
IHG Hotels $ 286.24
Saratoga Resort 225 DVC Pts.
Park Tickets $1,085.46
Restaurants $ 862.94
Drinks/Treats $ 169.78
Clothing/Misc. $ 839.93
Total $3,500.82

I will say paying that much for a vacation is insane. My family's average vacation cost is roughly half of that. We have done Disney/Universal and it cost us a lot less then that.

 

[Hubie]

I will say paying that much for a vacation is insane. My family's average vacation cost is roughly half of that. We have done Disney/Universal and it cost us a lot less then that.

The costs above are for just the two of us and I don't think we spend excessively, except for dining out. Would have cost us a lot more if we had to pay for staying at our WDW resorts.

 

[Jrb1979]

The costs above are for just the two of us and I don't think we spend excessively, except for dining out. Would have cost us a lot more if we had to pay for staying at our WDW resorts.

For my family we just spent a week at Cedar Point and it was only $1000. Last time we were in Florida we did Universal for 5 days and it only cost us $1500. Then again I look for ways to save on things to go. I don't look for high end hotels. This past week for Cedar Point we stayed at a motel that each $90 a night.

 

[bsmcneil]

You are correct; the 2022 numbers only include the room. Nothing else.
The 2007 number was all in; flight, tickets, meals, room, transportation.

reddogg21 asked "Did I miss when Disneyworld was ever affordable?" I showed it was affordable in 2007 by using my current 2022 trip as an example.

I apologize for not wording it correctly.

It definitely read like this the first time (affordable in 2007 - not now, given the cost stayed relatively the same and many things were removed ... let alone that the 07 cost was lower!)

 

[robinb]

I watched the video. It was interesting hearing from “real” guests and not “super fans” like us on the DIS. A couple of the interviews did get a little FOXy, but that was expected from the platform .

I added up the estimated cost of my May 2022 trip on this thread: https://www.disboards.com/threads/how-much-is-your-2022-disney-vacation-going-to-cost-you.3874647/ and was shocked that even with APs and DVC we were spending $400 per day for 2 people. And we were not planning to eat at many table service restaurants.

 

[Mommyof3boys2017]

I'm a substitute teacher and even though I work a lot, I do not make enough in one year to pay for our upcoming Disney/Universal trip. We are even staying off property to save at least $1,000 over on property and still it's going to be about $8000. We're using our $1,500 in Disney Visa rewards to pay for all the food and souvenirs so that's not even in there. We are splurging on MNSSHP, and the price of that completely doubled since our 2018 trip!
6 bedroom house 8 nights: $2,200
6 day base ticket: $2,400
Universal 2 day ticket: $1,677
Hard Rock Hotel 1 night: $544
MNSSHP: $946
That's not including gas, parking and cheap hotels on the way down since we're driving.

If it was $4,000 we would go more often, I just can't spend this much each year when a beach vaca (full week, directly on the beach) costs less than half and we LOVE the beach!

 

[john7994]

I'm a substitute teacher and even though I work a lot, I do not make enough in one year to pay for our upcoming Disney/Universal trip. We are even staying off property to save at least $1,000 over on property and still it's going to be about $8000. We're using our $1,500 in Disney Visa rewards to pay for all the food and souvenirs so that's not even in there. We are splurging on MNSSHP, and the price of that completely doubled since our 2018 trip!
6 bedroom house 8 nights: $2,200
6 day base ticket: $2,400
Universal 2 day ticket: $1,677
Hard Rock Hotel 1 night: $544
MNSSHP: $946
That's not including gas, parking and cheap hotels on the way down since we're driving.

If it was $4,000 we would go more often, I just can't spend this much each year when a beach vaca (full week, directly on the beach) costs less than half and we LOVE the beach!

Thank you for being an educator! I hope you have the best trip ever.

 

[gharter]

While I agree the recent price increases seems crazy and the cost for a trip at an all time high, so far they seem to be filling to what ever level they want.
Sadly, that means the price isn't too high yet. Simple economics. At some point they will find the line when they are too expensive, but sadly, it doesn't seem that they have found that line yet.

 

[gorkt]

Lets see - dropping it into MDE, you can do 6 nights at All Star Music with basic park tickets for about $4K for a family of 4 for a week in November. From where I live, its $1500 minimum for airline tickets, and food, if you are eating mostly QS and the occasional TS is going to run another $800 or so. With airline transfers and souvenirs, its about 7K for the lowest price on property trip for someone like me. You probably save a thousand or so staying off property and making sandwiches and bringing snacks.

Yeah that's a lot of money for a vacation and would definitely price out a lot of people. I go every 3-4 years and I spend more than that since I like to stay moderate or rent DVC points. I use credit card points for food, which pays for most of it so that helps.

 

[tano]

With inflation eating away at what was previously disposable income, i think a lot of people will have to reduce their travel budget. Add that to post-covid travel tapering to 'norm' .. I don't think Disney has much room to increase prices...