Some disturbing Disney pricing info

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Captainkidd76

DIS Veteran
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Dec 7, 2017
Not that they care, but after 22 straight years of staying on property, they've priced us out. I say that simply because we won't even consider a Value resort after the room refurbs. Sorry to offend anyone, but the new rooms are sterile, boring and ugly. I can't imagine what Disney was thinking. And as much as I love the moderates, no way am I going to spend nearly $300 a night for one of those rooms when we can get a 2 bedroom villa with 1,000 more square feet of space at Bonnet Creek for less money.

To put Disney's ridiculous price hikes into perspective I read something interesting today. 35 years ago, to purchase a 3 day ticket was the equivalent of working 11 hours at what minimum wage was. Today, for the same ticket and at today's minimum wage, you'd have to work 51 hours. Since 2010, Annual Passes have doubled in price and park tickets have increased 80%.
 


Not that they care, but after 22 straight years of staying on property, they've priced us out. I say that simply because we won't even consider a Value resort after the room refurbs. Sorry to offend anyone, but the new rooms are sterile, boring and ugly. I can't imagine what Disney was thinking. And as much as I love the moderates, no way am I going to spend nearly $300 a night for one of those rooms when we can get a 2 bedroom villa with 1,000 more square feet of space at Bonnet Creek for less money.

To put Disney's ridiculous price hikes into perspective I read something interesting today. 35 years ago, to purchase a 3 day ticket was the equivalent of working 11 hours at what minimum wage was. Today, for the same ticket and at today's minimum wage, you'd have to work 51 hours. Since 2010, Annual Passes have doubled in price and park tickets have increased 80%.

I felt the same way until I stayed in one. It is really hard to judge by pictures. We ended up really loving the new Pop rooms. Storage is improved. :)
 
Not that they care, but after 22 straight years of staying on property, they've priced us out. I say that simply because we won't even consider a Value resort after the room refurbs. Sorry to offend anyone, but the new rooms are sterile, boring and ugly. I can't imagine what Disney was thinking. And as much as I love the moderates, no way am I going to spend nearly $300 a night for one of those rooms when we can get a 2 bedroom villa with 1,000 more square feet of space at Bonnet Creek for less money.

To put Disney's ridiculous price hikes into perspective I read something interesting today. 35 years ago, to purchase a 3 day ticket was the equivalent of working 11 hours at what minimum wage was. Today, for the same ticket and at today's minimum wage, you'd have to work 51 hours. Since 2010, Annual Passes have doubled in price and park tickets have increased 80%.
I'm sorry you feel that way. On the up side it means that the beautifully renovated rooms are available for those who enjoy a contemporary style and don't mind paying less.
 


I don't like the value resorts, the décor is too "gaudy" for my taste.
We are at WDW now. Today we moved from Disney Springs THE B Resort after staying a week. We got a great deal through mousesavers, it cost just under $900. The parking and resort fees were waived and I think the rate was discounted at 30%. You can make your FP's and ADR's the same as staying on property and their bus service isn't bad. It was always on time when we used it. The rooms are clean and roomy and this place isn't spread out like many of the Disney resorts. you are in the front door and to your room very quickly which is a big plus for us. The walk to Disney Springs was easy, about 10-15 minutes.
Today we moved from The B to the Coronado only because our SIL and daughter joined us today and he got us a pretty good military discount. This resort is HUGE and very spread out.
When checking in, she told me that this resort is almost always 98% full. Wow. no wonder they are building a huge
hotel building over to the side.
The recent Disney price hikes have really turned me off. Its not that we can't afford to pay their crazy prices. If I had known how much food and other prices were going up when we planned this trip, I would have taken my vacation dollars elsewhere. Disney can charge whatever they want. There will always be enough people willing to pay these crazy prices. But with the price hikes and the crowds, I'm disneyed out. Next year we will plan a different vacation and enjoy a different kind of trip.
 
Not that they care, but after 22 straight years of staying on property, they've priced us out. I say that simply because we won't even consider a Value resort after the room refurbs. Sorry to offend anyone, but the new rooms are sterile, boring and ugly. I can't imagine what Disney was thinking.
I agree about the price hikes and the sterility of some (though not all) of the renovated resort rooms. It's disappointing.
 
I'm sorry you feel that way. On the up side it means that the beautifully renovated rooms are available for those who enjoy a contemporary style and don't mind paying less.

Less than what? We're going for 2 weeks in July next year and paid less for Bonnet Creek than what the Value resorts were. I used to love All Stars, but part of the appeal was the rooms fun decor. Now, they look like they belong in a hospital.
 
35 years ago....Reaganomics and runaway inflation to set the times in historical and economic terms.
Long distance calls were kick butt expensive in any economic times dollars and unfortunately necessary on our end; conversations were hurried, LOL.
It cost about...20 cents to mail a letter, we rented a furnished cottage for the summer for $250.00 @ week and our NYC home cost $400.00 @ month plus utilities and was considered a bargain for the amt of space The utilities added $75.00 to the monthly budget. Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance cost around $300.00 a month for a family of 4 since neither of us were union members.
Never made minimum wage past my teenage years but our combined income was in the neighborhood of 35-40K. Most of our friends made similar incomes and nobody went to Disney since most were busy saving money to buy a house. Which would have cost between 75 to 110K with an income generating apartment on premises (the Golden Dream).

Oh and the house we bought in '85 for $109, 872.00 recently sold for a little under 2 million.
I'm guessing that owner has enough to go to Disney whenever they feel like it to a certain extent and still have enough to live comfortably for another 30 odd years -if they move to the Carolinas, AK or Florida:lmao:.
 
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It depends on where you live. Many areas of the country are suffering. Others are booming. Amazon has 6,000 job openings in Seattle that they can't fill even though many pay over $100k per year. They are struggling to attract workers here. Even in lower skilled jobs that require no education past a high school diploma are very difficult to fill here. Our transit agency can't hire enough bus drivers even though they are starting at $24 an hour. You get to $30 per hour after a few years plus as much overtime as you want. Many of the drivers are making over $100k per year. Even with those wages multiple runs are canceled every day because there are not enough drivers.

If you are making over $100k per year you can afford to go to Disney.
 
It depends on where you live. Many areas of the country are suffering. Others are booming. Amazon has 6,000 job openings in Seattle that they can't fill even though many pay over $100k per year. They are struggling to attract workers here. Even in lower skilled jobs that require no education past a high school diploma are very difficult to fill here. Our transit agency can't hire enough bus drivers even though they are starting at $24 an hour. You get to $30 per hour after a few years plus as much overtime as you want. Many of the drivers are making over $100k per year. Even with those wages multiple runs are canceled every day because there are not enough drivers.

If you are making over $100k per year you can afford to go to Disney.

Given the median household income in the U.S. is $59k, that doesn't bode well for most.
 
Given the median household income in the U.S. is $59k, that doesn't bode well for most.

The problem is the number of people in the US that move for economic reasons is way down. Not sure why that is? We are desperate for workers here. They keep raising wages to attract more people. Not sure how wide the spread has to get before more people start moving. It is a real problem here.
 
I stayed at Pop Century in a refurbished room in December of 2017. It was like staying in a sterile hospital room. They were even using the ugly fluorescent lights in some fixtures. All the finishes and materials were industrial grade, synthetic material. I'm assuming that the room design was developed exclusively to prevent wear and tear and be easier to clean. The kicker is that they aren't really cleaning the rooms. The laminate floors are disgustingly dirty. Don't believe me? Then wear a pair of white socks as you walk around the room and then look at the bottom of your feet. I never experienced that before these room refurbishments.

You are basically paying deluxe prices (compared to other hotels) for an iron clad dorm room that is not welcoming at all and lacks many of the services and amenities that you can find elsewhere.

Do your homework and stay off site. It's not worth it to pay those kinds of prices and have that kind of uncomfortable experience.

The Disney defenders can rationalize why the decline of Disney is ok all they want. The Disney of days past is gone. All management cares about is the stock price and if you can't see that then you aren't looking at all.

~NM
 
35 years ago....Reaganomics and runaway inflation to set the times in historical and economic terms.
Long distance calls were kick butt expensive in any economic times dollars and unfortunately necessary on our end; conversations were hurried, LOL.
It cost about...20 cents to mail a letter, we rented a furnished cottage for the summer for $250.00 @ week and our NYC home cost $400.00 @ month plus utilities and was considered a bargain for the amt of space The utilities added $75.00 to the monthly budget. Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance cost around $300.00 a month for a family of 4 since neither of us were union members.
Never made minimum wage past my teenage years but our combined income was in the neighborhood of 35-40K. Most of our friends made similar incomes and nobody went to Disney since most were busy saving money to buy a house. Which would have cost between 75 to 110K with an income generating apartment on premises (the Golden Dream).

Oh and the house we bought in '85 for $109, 872.00 recently sold for a little under 2 million.
I'm guessing that owner has enough to go to Disney whenever they feel like it to a certain extent and still have enough to live comfortably for another 30 odd years -if they move to the Carolinas, AK or Florida:lmao:.

I don't really understand your answer. What does your experience with the cost of things in the early 80's have to do with the price of the resort now? The OP was commenting on how they are priced out. Their analogy has more to do with how long you needed to work at minimum wage to pay for park tickets 35 years ago vs. today. It is comparing apples to apples. Your post is talking about your experience living in the NYC area in the early 1980's. Everyone's priorities are different. As a young couple starting out I may prioritize buying a house over a Disney vacation also. If you wanted to go to Disney 35 years ago you could have saved for that instead of a house. It was that simple and it was easier to do back than. It takes a lot more money to stay in the MK resorts now than it did then. Yes they have cheaper options but like the OP stated they would rather stay offsite than pay those prices for what you get. I agree with them.

BTW, the person that bought the 2 million dollar house may not be able to afford Disney because they are trying to pay the mortgage on their house. It is all relative. There are plenty of people who figure out a way to afford to go to Disney because that is their priority. They would rather spend their money there than somewhere else and they find every discount so they can afford it.
 
I don't want to turn this into a Disney vs. Universal debate, but it should be said, we are paying no more to stay at Hard Rock Hotel in January than we did 10 years ago. Disney resort rates have increased 75% (give or take) in that time.

I love both and there are certain advantages to Universal, namely convenience and on site perks. That being said, nothing compares (for me) to Disney, but I have my limits. I used to say in a passive aggressive manner that Disney was starting to price us out. Now, it's simply a fact. Very sad.
 
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Less than what? We're going for 2 weeks in July next year and paid less for Bonnet Creek than what the Value resorts were. I used to love All Stars, but part of the appeal was the rooms fun decor. Now, they look like they belong in a hospital.

Less than anything else on property. I don't drive so staying on property is a must so I stay at values and often get a room for less than $100 a night. I've stayed in only refurbished rooms in Pop and Movies and love the contemporary style of both. The floors have never been dirty and I've always received excellent service.

Pricing isn't awful. Costs go up everywhere not just at Disney.
 
Not that they care, but after 22 straight years of staying on property, they've priced us out. I say that simply because we won't even consider a Value resort after the room refurbs. Sorry to offend anyone, but the new rooms are sterile, boring and ugly. I can't imagine what Disney was thinking. And as much as I love the moderates, no way am I going to spend nearly $300 a night for one of those rooms when we can get a 2 bedroom villa with 1,000 more square feet of space at Bonnet Creek for less money.

To put Disney's ridiculous price hikes into perspective I read something interesting today. 35 years ago, to purchase a 3 day ticket was the equivalent of working 11 hours at what minimum wage was. Today, for the same ticket and at today's minimum wage, you'd have to work 51 hours. Since 2010, Annual Passes have doubled in price and park tickets have increased 80%.
Completely agree about the rooms looking sterile!!! We stayed at CSR last month and simply did not like the new rooms! Felt like my mom's hospital room!
I found our pamphlet from my first WDW trip in 1984 and the price listed for a 3-day World Passport is $42 for an adult, $34 for child (age 3-12). It was a "hopper"! Yes, it's just 2 parks.... but still a hopper and included transportation between parks. In 1984, minimum wage was $3.25.... I was lucky enough to be making about $6.25 at the time. So for me.... I had to work 6.72 hours to pay for the 3 day ticket.... so a little less than a day's pay. But if someone was only making minimum, that's just under 13 hours of work.
Now, today..... For a 3 day hopper, I have to work just under 20 hours to purchase it online from a dealer at a discounted price. If I was making minimum in Oh, $8.30 .... It would take me 46 hours to pay for that same ticket!!! WOW!!! That is pretty eye-opening!!! Our vacations to WDW that I thought were "very affordable" when my kids were little, simply are NOT so affordable for my grandkids!

......
The recent Disney price hikes have really turned me off. Its not that we can't afford to pay their crazy prices. If I had known how much food and other prices were going up when we planned this trip, I would have taken my vacation dollars elsewhere. Disney can charge whatever they want. There will always be enough people willing to pay these crazy prices. But with the price hikes and the crowds, I'm disneyed out. Next year we will plan a different vacation and enjoy a different kind of trip.
So many people are feeling the same now!
 
I don't want to turn this into a Disney vs. Universal debate, but it should be said, we are paying no more to stay at Hard Rock Hotel in January than we did 10 years ago. Disney resort rates have increased 75% (give or take) in that time.

I love both and there are certain advantages to Universal, namely convenience and on site perks. That being said, nothing compares (for me) to Disney, but I have my limits. I used to say in a passive aggressive manner that Disney was starting to price us out. Now, it's simply a fact. Very sad.
I definitely agree with you about Universal. Last year we spent 5 days at Disney and 5 at Universal. Disney about $2700 for a TPV room at the Contemporary. Universal about $1400 for a Club level room at the HRH with express pass included. Big difference. Also able to pick a room with a king size bed at HRH. Couldn't do that at CR.
 
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