Sticker shock!!

[pwrflpills]

I agree with you that Disney resorts are overpriced in general. My moment of disbelief came last year while staying at AKL when I ordered one of the Moroccan beers at the bar over Boma. $8 for an average at best (actually, pretty poor), but rare, imported beer?! But think about it for a second. What else are they supposed to do? They have created this whole experience, including hotels, restaurants, merchandise, etc., and they've done a really good job at it. Millions of people like what they've made, so why not charge as much as they can for it, while also keeping it within the realm of possibiliy for much of the capitalized world? And regarding the beer, of course it's more because it's so bad no one in the US would drink it, so they have to bring in small amounts, which is going to cost more.

If you opened a store, lets say a bakery, and it turned into the Starbucks of bakeries throughout the world, don't you think that corporation, while doing a good job, would also charge as much as it could for a chocolate croissant? Lets say, $10. Crazy, right? But it's the best and people want it and hundreds of thousands of people figure out a way to pay for your delicious croissants every year, so what's the harm? Is it wrong that you've created a successful business and charge a lot for something because a) you make a superior product that costs more to make, b) because your product is superior people are willing to pay more for it, and c) because you're a business you're in it to try to make as much profit as possible? You've done a good job making something nice that people enjoy, so why aren't you entitled to profit from that? What about your shareholders?

So yes, it's unfortunate to have to pay $350/night for an average hotel room, but about half of that is paying for the experience, and that's why you're there in the first place. There's really no reason that an on-property hotel room should be anywhere near the price of an off-property Travelodge down the road. But I can't say the budget Disney rooms look much better.

I'm not wealthy and I'm not trying to say that I'm any less put-off about it than you are, I'm just trying to provide a little bit of perspective.

Oh, and about the supposed fall-offs in service by CMs lately. I agree that it's possible and that many of you have encountered a disenchanted CM a few times int he past few years, but I also think for a lot of people on here, while they love Disney as much as ever, they know what to expect. I think if you've been to Disney 10 times and you go on a consistent basis, you're not as wide-eyed and might pick up on what could be deemed as poor service more than if it was one of your first couple trips there. Just a thought.

 

[LilGMom]

Sticker shock is why we finally joined DVC. We ahve been going two to three times a year since 1999 and prefer to stay in either the moderates or deluxes. Eventually when our boys are old enough we'll need two rooms and I can't imagine how much that would run us . DVC is not for everyone and if we hadn't taken the plunge we would have started looking into renting points from DVC members for our trips. The CRO price for a one bedroom or two bedroom is insane!

Heck I remember being able to get WL for $129/night (that included tax) and any of the moderates for around $80 (tax included). Prices go up, heck look at the price of gas and milk but the increases were getting to where they were cutting a little too deep.

Good luck!

 

[disneyfan55]

DVC is the way to go if you want to visit WDW once a year or more. Disney's resort prices are getting way crazy; in fact, I believe there strategy is to increase there resort rates in hopes to push more people to join DVC. DVC is one of Disney's biggest profit centers. But, it is a good deal for frequent guests so I guess it's a win-win for everyone.

Joining DVC also provides you with several perks and discounts; i.e. $100 off an AP.

I seem to remember that annual passes were free when the DVC was first being offered. I think it was up to 2000 or something like that not forever. The 100 is still a good deal.

 

[disneyfan55]

Heck I remember being able to get WL for $129/night (that included tax) and any of the moderates for around $80 (tax included). Prices go up, heck look at the price of gas and milk but the increases were getting to where they were cutting a little too deep.

Good luck!

Yes, I remember those days. We had similar prices with the annual pass even during the summer!

 

[Kristie36]

The Disney price increases have forced us to stay offsite for our upcoming Feb 2008 trip. While I loved staying on Disney property for our previous trip, this year we're trying offsite for the first time. Last year we ate all our meals onsite, this year we'll be doing a mix of on and offsite.

We'll see how it goes staying offsite. But so far, I've estimated our upcoming trip will be way cheaper than last year. If we like staying offsite, Disney may have just lost us to ever staying onsite again unless prices come down. I know it is all supply and demand, but I just wish it wasn't soooo expensive to go and have the complete, onsite Disney vacation.

 

[goodferry]

I may be a bit of a Polyanna when it comes to Disney, but comparing what you get to what you pay, I still say it's not that bad. We too always stay deluxe, if you take the price per night during holiday season, it is still not even half of what we pay for a room with two double beds in Saratoga Springs, NY during racing season.

We don't exactly travel extensively, but I have priced out vacations to Hawaii, beach houses, etc and Disney really isn't out of line. I know that doesn't ease the sticker shock, though. I think that what shocked so many people with this years price changes was that Disney joined the rest of the hotel industry in charging different prices depending on the day of the week and month instead of charging the same price per day from the first day of your stay until the last.

You want to talk about sticker shock, we were at a Steelers football game Sunday and DH decided to have a beer, $6.25 for a COORS LIGHT!!! Isn't that ridiculous, but people were walking through the aisles carrying two at a time...

 

[Pakey]

We paid a little over $1100 per night for a concierge room on Maui (we were there in March) and the room was not even close to the quality of the rooms at GF and the lounge offerings were very disappointing also. I think that prices everywhere in the U.S. have climbed as more people are vacationing here rather than traveling outside of the country. I'm very glad we have DVC for the trips to WDW we take with our adult children. My DH and I still stay deluxe when we travel just the 2 of us but when we take the kids/spouses, we stay DVC. We have just as much fun and the family is grateful to have a bed anywhere!!!

 

[ransom]

I totally understand your shock at the price!

Like others, we joined DVC because we wanted to stay at on-site, Disney Deluxe hotels but we couldn't justify the cost. Well, not more than once or twice a decade....but we wanted to stay at least once a year!

With DVC, our annual costs still go up about the same percentage thanks to maintenance fees/annual dues, but the absolute dollars are far, far lower this way.

Without DVC, we would have stayed at WDW twice and then called it quits.

 

[MS_mom_1965]

Question for you DVC owners - I know you have yearly maintenance fees and such. If you don't visit DW for a year and rent out your points, do you get enough money to cover the maintenance fees, and is there any extra?

For instance - just throwing out numbers - if your fees are $500, do you get around $500 for your points, $1,000, or more?

Just wondered if by renting out the points, and only visiting every three or four years, if you could actually make enough to pay the fees and part of the actual payments.

 

[Disney MAINEiac]

Question for you DVC owners - I know you have yearly maintenance fees and such. If you don't visit DW for a year and rent out your points, do you get enough money to cover the maintenance fees, and is there any extra?

For instance - just throwing out numbers - if your fees are $500, do you get around $500 for your points, $1,000, or more?

Just wondered if by renting out the points, and only visiting every three or four years, if you could actually make enough to pay the fees and part of the actual payments.

If, and this is a big if, I were to rent my points one year for say the bottom of the going price range. i could conceivably pay my dues and pocket between $1000 and $1500. But, I didn't buy them to not go so it really isn't an option for us. What we get is a deluxe accommodation with a locked in rate for 50 years. so essentially i stay for the cost of dues, tix and food. when I did the math for us, given our vacation habits our break even for the initial DVC purchase was 7-years. (loving my DVC, given the history of lodging increases, and not just at disney)

 

[Disney MAINEiac]

The Disney price increases have forced us to stay offsite for our upcoming Feb 2008 trip. While I loved staying on Disney property for our previous trip, this year we're trying offsite for the first time. Last year we ate all our meals onsite, this year we'll be doing a mix of on and offsite.

We'll see how it goes staying offsite. But so far, I've estimated our upcoming trip will be way cheaper than last year. If we like staying offsite, Disney may have just lost us to ever staying onsite again unless prices come down. I know it is all supply and demand, but I just wish it wasn't soooo expensive to go and have the complete, onsite Disney vacation.

I understand exactly what you are saying, but unfortunately I can't see prices coming down so long as the parks remain full and the rooms keep being rented at near capacity. Disney, like any any other business, will charge what the market will bear and thus far they have not reached a level where business has suffered.

 

[MissionMouse]

THINK OF THIS...............THE LAWS OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND: WHEN PRICES GO UP, FEWER PEOPLE BUY, WHEN PRICES GO DOWN: MORE PEOPLE BUY...

That is a part of it, but as operating cost rise this will be perioidically passed on to the consumer. You can also expect Disney gives nothing away for free, so the Year of A Million Dreams...Dining Promotions...etc...are all paid for by...thats right...the guest...in one way or the other.

 

[rie'smom]

We've stayed at every moderate and deluxe WDW hotel. A couple of years we wanted to try something different. One year we rented a pool home-this is great if you have a rental car. My daughter and her friend were both 11 at the time and there was not only a private pool but a game room. 5 minutes from AK. Priced at 135.00/night and 2 master suites,2 bedrooms,family room and stocked kitchen.
Another year we tried the Swan-loved it so much that we had to try the Dolphin. Frankly, these hotels are so far above anything we found at the WDW deluxe resorts. The staff is outstanding. The price with AAA/Teacher or Gov't rates is hundreds cheaper per NIGHT.Even though we are DVC members, we have to spend a few days at one of these hotels on every trip.
BTW, it DOES feel like Disney. The only thing missing is the cheesy Disney wallpaper and toiletries. Oh and you can't use ME. If you take a cab, you get there much sooner.

 

[Pakey]

Question for you DVC owners - I know you have yearly maintenance fees and such. If you don't visit DW for a year and rent out your points, do you get enough money to cover the maintenance fees, and is there any extra?

For instance - just throwing out numbers - if your fees are $500, do you get around $500 for your points, $1,000, or more?

Just wondered if by renting out the points, and only visiting every three or four years, if you could actually make enough to pay the fees and part of the actual payments.

We paid cash for our DVC points so I don't know about covering payments but I do know that we could rent our points for more than the annual fees are. But with the ability to bank/borrow points from one year to the next and to use the points at other locations besides Disney, we have never had any left.

 

[DVC Mike]

I couldn't afford to keep going to WDW in a Deluxe resort -- so I too joined DVC!

The other option is to go with moderates or value resorts, or even to stay offsite.

 

[chickenskin]

I guess I am jaded from living in a beach resort town, rental properties and hotel room rates in an otherwise average beach community are outrageous, people paying from $200 and upward of $400 per night for nothing more than an average hotel room. I'm not saying Disney is a deal, but they're not the only ones with high rates.

 

[huey578]

You don't have a right to vent if you are using concierge. Stay off-site if you don't want to pay extra to be on WDW property.

All I can say is WOW! I started pricing our 2008 trip last night and I am really bothered by the cost increase again! We only do one vacation a year and it's always WDW. We don't take wknd. trips with our kids (yet). As our toddler gets more managable, we'll venture out on other trips and vacations and hopefully do Disney every 2nd or 3rd year. But for now, we've been splurging each year and doing Concierge at Poly or GF. I feel really angry right now. Disney as so good at sucking us all into the "magic". We fall for it everytime (since 1973)! This is just a reminder to me that they know they "have us" and will continue to raise prices as long as people pay the price! We buy into that "magic" and justify irrational costs as a result. I just had to vent. I'm not looking for ways to cut costs or stay somewhere else. I've decided we'll either go or we won't go next year and I have to really think it through. Anyone else feel the frustration about resort costs (no matter where you stay)!?

 

[WoodysRoundup]

You don't have a right to vent if you are using concierge. Stay off-site if you don't want to pay extra to be on WDW property.

That is an irresponsible point and judgemental...
Anyone has a right to vent. While I appreciate what you're saying, the purpose of my statement was to say that IMO, the hotel rates are out of control at WDW. Given our vacation style, we choose concierge and that is our "choice". Just b/c we choose a certain level of accommodation doesn't give me anymore or less "right" to complain. For what you get at WDW concierge levels, the price does not justify the cost as compared to concierge levels at other hotels we've seen around the country. Even if concierge level is taken out of the equation, still too expensive ,IMO, for our yearly trip. And in my original post, I stated that I wasn't looking for other hotel options, I realize we could stay offsite if we wanted.....just not what we prefer to do.....not saying it's not a great option, just not our preference.

Thanks for all the interesting replies. Many of you have made us SERIOUSLY think about DVC......something we've thought about in recent years.

 

[kevin75]

i keep reading about DVC and i did some research and my question is always, who really has $16+K to spend on it? i know that i certainly don't when i only make around $35K per year.

 

[disneyfan55]

i keep reading about DVC and i did some research and my question is always, who really has $16+K to spend on it? i know that i certainly don't when i only make around $35K per year.

I just received an email from Disney Visa and the are offering 500 Disney Dollars as an incentive to buy DVC. It is a lot of money for me too. I guess maybe you can buy on a payment plan and some do have that kind of money. The club is for the deluxe type rooms so those staying at this type of room would most likely be spending quite a bit already and think 16,000 a bargain in the long run.