Theme park inflation

[bladiator]

That's true, using APs in that way greatly reduces your park ticket costs. Ironically, when we add a few days at Universal, that actually swells the cost of our trip.

For us, going to Orlando and skipping Disney is inconceivable, especially when they keep adding new goodies like Pandora. I actually don't mind the cost increases TOO much, as long as they keep reinvesting in their parks. Disney is, indeed, reinvesting billions.

I know this feeling precisely. I always want to see what the hubbub is about Universal, but I can't NOT go to Disney if I travel to Orlando, and then my somewhat financial side says "You can't buy 2-3 day tickets at Universal, that's a waste!" so then I just buy week long Disney and I'm ok with that. But maybe sooooomeday, we'll try Universal.

It's not that we were priced out but last time we went at the end we asked ourselves was this really worth 6k and nah it wasn't. We are on a break we've been doing yearly trips so far.

We haven't come to the break yet (in fact, the longest I have been away during 8 years of marriage was about 15 months between when my wife was 7 months pregnant and my daughter turned one this year), but I feel like it is probably coming after our first try at the AP runs out. I love the flexibility with the APs, but I can also tell that I won't be able to financially talk myself into going again after they expire for a while.

I don't have the financial fatigue that I see a lot of people talking about because even though I would love to stay at the moderate or deluxe resorts, I just love my money way more. I also buy almost no merchandise (after a dozen trips, I may have about 7 things I've bought ... 5 of which are probably coffee mugs), so my trips can be all about rides, fireworks, and food (which it took a while on the food). The only reason I stayed in the values was for the free parking which I don't need with an AP. So now I stay offsite in a townhouse, and do a couple TS and then the rest quick service and eat breakfast at home. We have to fly from Texas and we get a rental car (as a diabetic, I like to control my own destiny and not be beholden to a bus). At the end, it still costs the 2 of us (in the off season) $2000 ... and that's not adding in anything for the tickets!

I can pretend that that's fine, but I have to think about my wife and whether or not she wants to drop $2000 every 6 months or not. And I happen to know that she would like to buy a new couch.

 

[mombrontrent]

I know this feeling precisely. I always want to see what the hubbub is about Universal, but I can't NOT go to Disney if I travel to Orlando, and then my somewhat financial side says "You can't buy 2-3 day tickets at Universal, that's a waste!" so then I just buy week long Disney and I'm ok with that. But maybe sooooomeday, we'll try Universal.



We haven't come to the break yet (in fact, the longest I have been away during 8 years of marriage was about 15 months between when my wife was 7 months pregnant and my daughter turned one this year), but I feel like it is probably coming after our first try at the AP runs out. I love the flexibility with the APs, but I can also tell that I won't be able to financially talk myself into going again after they expire for a while.

I don't have the financial fatigue that I see a lot of people talking about because even though I would love to stay at the moderate or deluxe resorts, I just love my money way more. I also buy almost no merchandise (after a dozen trips, I may have about 7 things I've bought ... 5 of which are probably coffee mugs), so my trips can be all about rides, fireworks, and food (which it took a while on the food). The only reason I stayed in the values was for the free parking which I don't need with an AP. So now I stay offsite in a townhouse, and do a couple TS and then the rest quick service and eat breakfast at home. We have to fly from Texas and we get a rental car (as a diabetic, I like to control my own destiny and not be beholden to a bus). At the end, it still costs the 2 of us (in the off season) $2000 ... and that's not adding in anything for the tickets!

I can pretend that that's fine, but I have to think about my wife and whether or not she wants to drop $2000 every 6 months or not. And I happen to know that she would like to buy a new couch.

You travel very similar to us. We fly, rent a car, stay in a condo, eat breakfast at the condo, do maybe 2-3 table service restaurants and the rest QS.

We have done one day at Universal once and one day at Seaworld once. Our next trip we are going over Halloween so we have decided to buy tickets to Universals Haunted Nights to get a little bit of Universal in and the kids really want to go to that event. So we will see some of Universal that way and then buy 5-6 day Disney tickets.

A Disney trip usually cost of about $6000 for five people, which to me is reasonable but to get it down to that price we stay offsite, don’t get dining plan ect. The park tickets are what cost the most and there really isn’t much flexibility price wise with those.

 

[hllb]

A Disney trip usually cost of about $6000 for five people, which to me is reasonable but to get it down to that price we stay offsite, don’t get dining plan ect. The park tickets are what cost the most and there really isn’t much flexibility price wise with those.

We are staying at the Poly. If we didn’t have the dining plan, even with plane tickets for 5, we’d be paying about $5800 for 7 nights, 6 days of park hopper tickets.

 

[mombrontrent]

We are staying at the Poly. If we didn’t have the dining plan, even with plane tickets for 5, we’d be paying about $5800 for 7 nights, 6 days of park hopper tickets.

That is not a bad price. My $6000 is the cost for everything, 10 Nights at bonnet creek, plane tickets for 5, all food costs, car rental, Disney tickets and shopping (we typically buy very little in souvenirs) plus any extras we do, (dinner shows, cirque du soliel ect.) Plus the $6000 is about what we average.

 

[bladiator]

We are staying at the Poly. If we didn’t have the dining plan, even with plane tickets for 5, we’d be paying about $5800 for 7 nights, 6 days of park hopper tickets.

Is this one of those extreme labor day deals, or is this just regular AP discount cost?

 

[hllb]

Is this one of those extreme labor day deals, or is this just regular AP discount cost?

We don’t have APs. This is a great deal - it’s an agency exclusive rate. We are going during value season - late January, early February.

 

[hllb]

That is not a bad price. My $6000 is the cost for everything, 10 Nights at bonnet creek, plane tickets for 5, all food costs, car rental, Disney tickets and shopping (we typically buy very little in souvenirs) plus any extras we do, (dinner shows, cirque du soliel ect.) Plus the $6000 is about what we average.

It is a good deal, but I could’ve gone much cheaper too (though your trip is longer but my husband doesn’t have much vacation time). We could’ve saved $600 on our flights by taking a budget airline (no thanks lol, Delta it is). We could’ve saved another $1200 or more staying at a value or mod hotel. I had a rental car booked for $200 though opted to cancel it. We could eat on about $1000 if we wanted to (but we don’t lol). While it’s still a lot of money, there are lots of ways to make it more affordable. But we opted to try a deluxe this time. This is only our third trip - we don’t go often, maybe every 5 years.

 

[hllb]

Is this one of those extreme labor day deals, or is this just regular AP discount cost?

I will say, the DIS boards clued me in to agency exclusive deals. This saved us about $1100 over the Contemporary we originally had booked.

 

[mombrontrent]

We don’t have APs. This is a great deal - it’s an agency exclusive rate. We are going during value season - late January, early February.

 

[mombrontrent]

It is a good deal, but I could’ve gone much cheaper too (though your trip is longer but my husband doesn’t have much vacation time). We could’ve saved $600 on our flights by taking a budget airline (no thanks lol, Delta it is). We could’ve saved another $1200 or more staying at a value or mod hotel. I had a rental car booked for $200 though opted to cancel it. We could eat on about $1000 if we wanted to (but we don’t lol). While it’s still a lot of money, there are lots of ways to make it more affordable. But we opted to try a deluxe this time. This is only our third trip - we don’t go often, maybe every 5 years.

We always fly Southwest, love it! Only stayed onsite once, our first trip at Pop in two connecting rooms, after that we got spoiled by the condo and haven’t been able to vacation any other way since. Hope you have a wonderful trip and enjoy the Poly, we will be there on our trip to enjoy ‘Ohana!

 

[hllb]

We always fly Southwest, love it! Only stayed onsite once, our first trip at Pop in two connecting rooms, after that we got spoiled by the condo and haven’t been able to vacation any other way since. Hope you have a wonderful trip and enjoy the Poly, we will be there on our trip to enjoy ‘Ohana!

We did stay offsite our first time there because we had a larger group - 5 adults and 2 kids. It was fine, and for a group that size onsite would’ve been too pricey. We were by Sea World. But, now that more rooms can accommodate 5 onsite, we like that. But, like I said, we don’t go often at all so splurging a bit is ok. I will likely come back in the next couple of years with a friend for Run Disney, but don’t expect to be back with the family for years, if at all. My older two start high school next fall.

 

[PlainJane]

Tickets have increased tremendously. My first trip was in 2012 and the premier AP (good at both WDW and DLR) was $750-775 [including tax]). This year, it was $1500-ish each so we decided just to get regular park tickets (1 park per day).

Rental rates have gone up too. Back in 2011/2012, I was paying $10/point. Now, people are asking $15-20/point. Luckily the person I rented from in 2012 still gave me a better rate

I looked into renting points recently, there wasn’t really a savings vs. just doing a general public discount with Disney. It used to be a huge savings, oh well. On top of that you lose a lot of control over the reservation and you have to do it months in advance with no ability to cancel. So, I’ll have to find savings elsewhere.

I’m glad you were able to still get a good deal.

As far as Disney being expensive...I think the travel industry in general has started jacking up prices. When we travel, even to boring places, the hotel prices are obscene. And I always think in terms of what it would cost at Disney, like “I could be staying at CSR for less than this” when it’s just some run of the mill Hampton Inn (which I like, but it’s not on the same level as a Disney moderate or entry level deluxe) type place.

 

[mombrontrent]

We did stay offsite our first time there because we had a larger group - 5 adults and 2 kids. It was fine, and for a group that size onsite would’ve been too pricey. We were by Sea World. But, now that more rooms can accommodate 5 onsite, we like that. But, like I said, we don’t go often at all so splurging a bit is ok. I will likely come back in the next couple of years with a friend for Run Disney, but don’t expect to be back with the family for years, if at all. My older two start high school next fall.

My oldest who was 17 last trip opted out and stayed home and next trip it will be me, dh, dd16 her boyfriend 16 and dd11. It’s just easier for us to stay in a condo instead of trying to fit into a single room plus it’s cheaper. We probably won’t be back until 2020 or 2021 after our fall trip.

 

[ruthies12]

I know the first time we went in 2009 it was under $1000 for two adults, one baby staying at pop century and that included airfare. Our last trip was over $5000 for the four of us cause we now need park tickets for both kids but I still find the price insane considering we were staying in our camper that we drove down in and brought a lot of our own food and bottled water and everything with us. We paid $120 a night for a campsite- now that is crazy!

 

[toddinboston]

Our last trip, from late October to early November, cost us $2000 apiece (for two adults). In the past, we have always been able to do our theme park vacations for roughly $1500 apiece, for approximately the same number of days.

I was just wondering if it's the same with all of you. Has theme park inflation swollen the cost of your vacation (hey, that rhymes!) And has that induced you to change your vacation plans?

like most people, our family's them park trip costs have continually increased on two fronts...theme park admission prices steadily increase by 5%+ annually like clockwork (along with food/bev prices inside the parks)...also, as my kids have grown, park tix for them have gone from "free" (under 2 yrs) to "child" (under 10) to now "adult" (10+) for all 4 of my kids...
we just did a US/DC/Seaworld trip in November, our first Orlando park trip in 5 years. tix for 5 park days for the 6 of us cost $3K...that kinda hurts...

 

[KenHutch]

Disney is a business and I understand that and I understand something that their board does not. For every bull market there is a bear market and recession's. It might take a bit but when the next retraction comes they will be scrambling to right their ship. One example that might hurt them is Brazil. If they do not get their act together they are heading for a major crash. And then a lot of South American tour groups will stop coming for awhile.

 

[Disneytam]

I agree. While we had a great time at Universal, we had 3 day tickets because they were buy 2 get 1 free. We definitely didn’t need that third day. We spent half of it hanging by our resort pool then did the Harry Potter magic wand stuff in the evening. It’s definitely not in the same vein as Disney.

I'm a Disney girl at heart but we have been spending more and more time at Universal and really enjoy it. The deluxe resorts at Universal are above and beyond the deluxe Disney resorts and we enjoy spending at least a day at the resort and if the weather is good more than a day. We enjoy the parks at Universal but enjoy doing other things such as City Walk, mini golf or an afternoon movie.

My son loves Disney but only when mom is around to negotiate him around all the ADR and FP nonsense (his words)! He would much rather go to Universal were he can sleep in and still just walk on any ride that he wants and he doesn't need to know were he is going to be eating 6 months before he actually arrives in Florida.

 

[codfishy]

Another factor is that much of the world is catching up and surpassing the US in terms of standard of living. Most Europeans have weeks more vacation time than Americans do. I was very surprised on my last trip to Disney in October to hear very little American English being spoken on the monorail, busses and boats. Mostly German, British English, French, Greek, Portuguese and Spanish. It would be interesting to know the how much the percentage of international visitors to the world has increased over the years.

 

[hereforthechurros]

It seems like Disney has no issue with and may even be trying to make WDW a Veblen good. While you can certainly book a budget trip on site, or stay offsite and save a lot of money on lodging, they are learning that you can raise the cost to book through Disney and popularity will increase. Per the economic theory, if a WDW trip was easily affordable to most, people would see it as easily attainable and possibly put off going because it's always an option. Not extraordinarily special. It's just expensive enough to show status and make it an attainable luxury. Of course this isn't a perfect explanation. APs are very popular and WDW markets hard to locals which keeps attendance high. Economy has been strong for a few years now so people have more to spend.

We've only been once and stayed at a mod. We are going back in 6 weeks and doing a split stay at a deluxe. There's quite a jump in price point but looking forward to seeing what, if anything, makes up the price for the deluxe! Very interesting reading all the responses here.

 

[hiroMYhero]

It seems like Disney has no issue with and may even be trying to make WDW a Veblen good. While you can certainly book a budget trip on site, or stay offsite and save a lot of money on lodging, they are learning that you can raise the cost to book through Disney and popularity will increase. Per the economic theory, if a WDW trip was easily affordable to most, people would see it as easily attainable and possibly put off going because it's always an option. Not extraordinarily special. It's just expensive enough to show status and make it an attainable luxury. Of course this isn't a perfect explanation. APs are very popular and WDW markets hard to locals which keeps attendance high. Economy has been strong for a few years now so people have more to spend.

We've only been once and stayed at a mod. We are going back in 6 weeks and doing a split stay at a deluxe. There's quite a jump in price point but looking forward to seeing what, if anything, makes up the price for the deluxe! Very interesting reading all the responses here.

to DISboards! Your Username is great! - although it is difficult to find churros in WDW as compared to DL.

Enjoy planning and your trip!