Ticket Prices...

[Brian Noble]

Comparing sporting event tickets to Disney is apples to wheat. Yeah, they're both food (entertainment), but they're completely different. Although, if you want to go there, I'll throw in NASCAR. $99 for a family of 4 to go to the Charlotte night race. That's 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, and 4 sodas. Plus you can bring in a cooler so you have your own beer/drinks/food. Oh, and free parking.

I don't think it is incomparable at all. When I go to a theme park, I go to have a nice day with my family. When we go to a sporting event, that too is to have a nice time with my family. And, there are certainly less expensive sports options. For example, I'll be spending Friday night at the Wisconsin @ Michigan hockey game for $25 each. My son and I had season tickets to Michigan men's soccer for $6 per person per game (a $2 pp/pg discount!). The whole family went to the Indiana @ Michigan women's water polo match earlier this month for the grand total of $0 for the four of us. (Water polo has free admission.)

I'm a little lucky in that I live in a college town with a lot going on---not just sports, but music, theater, and dance, as well---much of it priced very reasonably. And, just as there are less expensive sporting events, there are also less expensive amusement parks. That doesn't change the fact that a full day's entertainment for $100 really isn't out of line for a top-tier experience.

 

[Nancyg56]

Having been to several different Six Flags, I don't think of six flags as being nearly on the same level as disney. To each his own, but I don't mind paying more for WDW tickets bc to me, there is more there. The rides are themed and I don't get jerked around the entire time and feel like a tossed rag doll. Now, obviously I would love it pay less for tickets, but I don't think comparing it to six flags is quite apples to apples.

I don't think the poster was comparing the two except in the context that I had brought up. My point was that as consumers, we all know what we find to have value and worth. I don't find Six Flags a good investment for my family, but for people who really like the attractions there, they love it. My DGD won't go on trill rides, so there is very little of interest to her. In regards to thrill rides, Six Flags is awesome, and those folks who are looking for that, the money is well spent.
I think that our two posts demonstrate that it is not fair to tell people that Disney is worth the money, or conversely, not worth the money. How we all perceive the value of any given vacation destination is personal.

 

[AliceandAriel]

I pay $144/year for an annual pass to all the Busch parks. That's 11 parks: Sea World Orlando, Sea World San Diego, Sea World San Antonio, Busch Gardens Tampa, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Adventure Island, Water Country USA, Aquatica Orlando, Aquatica San Diego, Aquatica San Antonio, even Sesame Place. Free parking (premium parking at SW and both BG), discounts on food/merch, $1.00 soda refills all season/year long, passholder benefits (this month it was half price tickets for friends/family, they usually do free snack type stuff each month, popcorn/ice cream, heck, they even did free beer one month). My mom is part of the "Sterling Values" group, which is for people over 55, they get even more free stuff.

It's $95 for a one day ticket to MK if purchased at the park. Even the monthly payment annual pass plan is $32/month, and that's after a $102 "down payment". I'm getting an annual pass to Disney this year because I'll be in Orlando for at least 10 days this year, between a school trip and at least 2 runDisney events, so it makes sense to do so. But this is the first time in 10+ years that I've purchased one, even though I've kept the Busch pass for 15 years and haven't even used it every year.

So yes, Disney is expensive. Unless you live there and go all the time, it's crazy how much it costs to visit the parks. Don't forget, in your little ticket cost comparison, you have to include parking (which regular daily tickets don't cover). That's what, $15/day?

Comparing sporting event tickets to Disney is apples to wheat. Yeah, they're both food (entertainment), but they're completely different. Although, if you want to go there, I'll throw in NASCAR. $99 for a family of 4 to go to the Charlotte night race. That's 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, and 4 sodas. Plus you can bring in a cooler so you have your own beer/drinks/food. Oh, and free parking.

Bolding mine.

As someone else already stated, entertainment is expensive. Huge fact.

A family looking to go to Disney for one day and one day only, probably can't afford to buy a 10-day non-expiring pass. For many families, it's hard enough to scrimp and save what they can to go once, period, if at all. Those of us who can afford to go more than once in a lifetime should feel (and probably are, I know I am) grateful that we can.

When it comes to the pricing of entertainment, value is subjective to each and ever individual member. A person can balk at, say, a 1-day ticket to Disney for $100, but they'll buy 10 pizzas at $10 each and host a party in their living room with their friends for the super bowl.

The park close to me, Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom, has a daily price of $42.99 for both parks. It can easily be done in a single day without the issue of huge lines, so it's the kind of park you visit once every three to five years when they build something new. Add in the $15 parking tag, suddenly you're looking at $58 for a park ticket to a place you can breeze through in a little over half a day. To me? It's not worth it. I'd rather skip Dorney for a decade and pinch those pennies together for a few days in Disney.

A friend asked me about how much it cost me, personally, to do Disney. The cost is about the same as a plane ticket to Hawaii in peak season. Friend asked why I didn't just do Hawaii. I told him, no offense, but I'm not interested in a tiny island right now. If I wanted that kind of relaxation away from it all, I'd go to NC on the beach like my family did every year for a few years, when we were lucky to shell out close to $5,000 for beachfront property for 7 for a whole week. But to me, even that isn't worth it. $5,000 to say I can walk on the sand right from the back of the house? I'd rather spend a week in the Polynesian finally, go to the parks, and have dinner at V&A's.

Value is always going to be subjective. People will gripe about pricing no matter if they're prepared for it or not. It's just what we do.

 

[Doug in Alaska]

My wife and I are taking our two oldest grandkids to WDW in May. We are staying onsite for nine days and have hopper passes, this trip is plenty expensive. We will spend one day offsite and will visit Universal Studios. Tickets for one day at US, for the four of us are $500. Add dinner at Medieval Times, another $315 and car rental at $75 I'm beginning to believe vacationing in Orlando is a $1000 per day excursion. I'm not complaining, it is for the grandkids but I think all the parks are very high priced.

 

[sethschroeder]

Which brings up another point. Front-loading the ticket costs onto the first few days of the visit hurts those who can least afford Disney much more than it does those who can stay longer.

Yes, I understand why, and no life isn't fair. But, it is a shame.

But you can plan for something like night of joy which is like $55 per person for 2 nights, or mickeys not so scary Halloween. Both of which give you admission to the park.

In the end, we don't have parties, we don't go out, I sell my packers tickets pretty much all season , and we normally don't even have tv. People spend their money differently but I would never in a million years go to MK and pay 100 per ticket. I would save an extra 2-4 years or cut out something else like christmas presents to put that money together for the non-expiring ticket.

As Americans were not good at waiting. We just want today even if it costs us 2x as much in the long run.

 

[mom2rtk]

But you can plan for something like night of joy which is like $55 per person for 2 nights, or mickeys not so scary Halloween. Both of which give you admission to the park.

In the end, we don't have parties, we don't go out, I sell my packers tickets pretty much all season , and we normally don't even have tv. People spend their money differently but I would never in a million years go to MK and pay 100 per ticket. I would save an extra 2-4 years or cut out something else like christmas presents to put that money together for the non-expiring ticket.

As Americans were not good at waiting. We just want today even if it costs us 2x as much in the long run.

A lot of families with young children are the ones scraping it together for 1 day tickets. They probably don't have packers tickets laying around to sell.

 

[johde]

Having been to several different Six Flags, I don't think of six flags as being nearly on the same level as disney. To each his own, but I don't mind paying more for WDW tickets bc to me, there is more there. The rides are themed and I don't get jerked around the entire time and feel like a tossed rag doll. Now, obviously I would love it pay less for tickets, but I don't think comparing it to six flags is quite apples to apples.

You may not compare WDW to your local Six Flags park but the general public is going to compare WDW to the value they get from their local Six Flags park because that's their frame of reference. Disney may hold to top theme park spots but the top regional parks get nearly the same average attendance as some of the smaller parks.

MK 17,000,000/365 operating days = 46,500 people per day
AK and DHS 10,000,000/365 operating days = 27,400 people

Top 3 Seasonal Parks
Canada's Wonderland (Toronto) 3,600,000/131 operating days -27,480 people per day
Cedar Point (Sandusky Ohio) 3,200,000/140 days = 22,900 people per day

IOA - 8,000,000 /365 = 22,000
USF - 6,200,000 /365 = 17,000


People are comparing the prices, quality, and experiences of Disney and all the Orlando theme parks to their local offerings. Me personally, I enjoy them both for what they are. Cedar fair offered a special 2 day Kings Island/Cedar Point ticket for $60 2 parks of opposite sides of the state. Unfortunately I had to go on the weekend to Cedar Point because of work so the lines were longer than I would have liked but I had a great time at both parks. And as you can see from my signature I've been to Disney multiple times as well.

Unfortunately central Florida's current pricing strategy is not conducive to the way I like to travel. Disney, Universal, and Sea World/Busch all have priced their tickets to encourage you to spend your entire time with them. I'm in the early stages of planing a 10 day trip for next January and I'm planning 3 theme parks days at Disney w/ park hoppers, 1 Water Park Day, 2 Universal Days, 1 Sea World Day, and 2 Busch Gardens Days (half day arrival/ half next day). All but the Seas World/Busch Gardens Days are already purchased tickets. After this though the existing tickets are going except for a couple of oddball water park days. Doing this type of a trip in the future would cost a fortune. They want me to pick one or the other.

 

[Brian Noble]

They want me to pick one or the other.

And that's how we usually visit Orlando. We either do a "Disney trip," or we do a "not Disney trip." For example, a Flex Ticket covers two weeks of hopping between Sea World, the two Universal parks, Aquatica, and Wet-n-Wild for about the cost of a 6 or 7 day base Disney ticket. If you also include Busch Gardens it's about the price of a 6 or 7 day Disney hopper.

 

[Cinderaven]

Hello Wisconsin, I hope you are enjoying this wonderful weather we are having.

We usually stay between 7-10 days on property, with Park Hopper passes for the same stay. Now we leave 1 day just to enjoy going to the Downtown area, doing laundry, and visiting other resorts. .

I agree that the cost of food, hotels etc., can get costly, we always went during the "off" season in the spring & early summer, now it's the peak season and we are forced to go during the fall and early winter.

Ticket prices are cheaper that they were. For a 7 day it was over $450, but, that included water parks, Disney Quest, and Pleasure Island etc.. You could get an annual pass for that.

We stayed off property once, with the hassle of parking & cost, travel back and forth to your hotel, some times several trips each day, and repeating that for several days, I'd rather bite the bullet, and stay on property.

It is getting to be a 12-18 month trip now. We used to go as often as 3-4 time in a year and stay at least 5-10 days each time.

Oh well, what's a family to do????

Len

 

[shalom]

I would never pay their price for a one day pass.

That's what I've always said. But I'm pretty sure all of us but one will be buying a one day pass next time we're out. Never say never, I guess.

You may not compare WDW to your local Six Flags park but the general public is going to compare WDW to the value they get from their local Six Flags park because that's their frame of reference.

They will also, especially people who go to Orlando for the first time to do Disney, end up comparing WDW to the other Orlando attractions, which are a lot cheaper.

Disney, Universal, and Sea World/Busch all have priced their tickets to encourage you to spend your entire time with them.

Yes and no. Disney, definitely. But you can get Universal and SeaWorld tickets bundled with Wet and Wild as part of the "Orlando Flex Ticket"; get one through Undercover Tourist for about $300 that you can use for up to 14 days at SeaWorld, Aquatica, both Universal Parks, and Wet and Wild. The Go Orlando card can be a good deal for SeaWorld and a lot of other attractions. And we've found some pretty deep discount offers for SeaWorld and Universal through hubby's work, making them much cheaper than WDW.

Brian's got it right, IMHO. If you want to drop the per-day price, it's not "WDW or Universal or SeaWorld" but rather, "Disney or non-Disney."

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Having been to several different Six Flags, I don't think of six flags as being nearly on the same level as disney. To each his own, but I don't mind paying more for WDW tickets bc to me, there is more there. The rides are themed and I don't get jerked around the entire time and feel like a tossed rag doll. Now, obviously I would love it pay less for tickets, but I don't think comparing it to six flags is quite apples to apples.

I also don't think it's an apples to Apples comparison. But, I do feel like the price differential is way out of proportion to the improvement on "stuff to do".

 

[Dreams0308]

Ok question....(and this might be a dumb question)

I haven't read every single reply on this thread, so the answer might be in a reply, but...

Once this thread popped up I thougtht I would go onto the WDW website to look at the tickets. I went to their main ticket page and tried to price out a 10 day pass. I went to select the No-Expiration option and it wasn't there. I still can't find it.....
Am I missing something? Is the No-Expiration option still available?

 

[mom2rtk]

Ok question....(and this might be a dumb question)

I haven't read every single reply on this thread, so the answer might be in a reply, but...

Once this thread popped up I thougtht I would go onto the WDW website to look at the tickets. I went to their main ticket page and tried to price out a 10 day pass. I went to select the No-Expiration option and it wasn't there. I still can't find it.....
Am I missing something? Is the No-Expiration option still available?

That option is no longer available online. Maybe try undercover tourist?

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

Ok question....(and this might be a dumb question)

I haven't read every single reply on this thread, so the answer might be in a reply, but...

Once this thread popped up I thougtht I would go onto the WDW website to look at the tickets. I went to their main ticket page and tried to price out a 10 day pass. I went to select the No-Expiration option and it wasn't there. I still can't find it.....
Am I missing something? Is the No-Expiration option still available?

I've heard they still have it as an add on at the parks. Undercover Tourist has them.

 

[flicx]

If the no expiration option goes away I will be done for sure. This is the only way I can get tickets reasonable enough for my families trips. We use the 10 day tickets for three separate trips.

 

[JanaDee]

Ok question....(and this might be a dumb question)

I haven't read every single reply on this thread, so the answer might be in a reply, but...

Once this thread popped up I thougtht I would go onto the WDW website to look at the tickets. I went to their main ticket page and tried to price out a 10 day pass. I went to select the No-Expiration option and it wasn't there. I still can't find it.....
Am I missing something? Is the No-Expiration option still available?

Disney doesn't sell them online anymore.

 

[johde]

And that's how we usually visit Orlando. We either do a "Disney trip," or we do a "not Disney trip." For example, a Flex Ticket covers two weeks of hopping between Sea World, the two Universal parks, Aquatica, and Wet-n-Wild for about the cost of a 6 or 7 day base Disney ticket. If you also include Busch Gardens it's about the price of a 6 or 7 day Disney hopper.

I was going to wait another vacation before considering going that route but based on the tickets I have now. It's probably better for me better for me to start doing a "90% Disney trip" or "90% not Disney trip" Right now I have

3 theme park and 4 plus days left on a 10 day park hopper plus with No Expiration Option

A 2 Day Complementary Universal 2 Park Hopper No Expiration.

and a

1 day Universal Park Hopper that can hopefully be upgraded.

The 5 days theme park at the top never expire. Instead of using them in 1 vacation. I should split them between 5 vacation using expiring tickets from the other groups for the bulk of the vacation. So This January Buy Sea World/Busch Garden Tickets (+a Aquatica depending on the weather). Upgrade the 1 day Universal Park Hopper and only do one Disney Day. The Next trip buy Disney Tickets and use 1 universal day.

 

[flicx]

I was going to wait another vacation before considering going that route but based on the tickets I have now. It's probably better for me better for me to start doing a "90% Disney trip" or "90% not Disney trip" Right now I have

3 theme park and 4 plus days left on a 10 day park hopper plus with No Expiration Option

A 2 Day Complementary Universal 2 Park Hopper No Expiration.

and a

1 day Universal Park Hopper that can hopefully be upgraded.

The 5 days theme park at the top never expire. Instead of using them in 1 vacation. I should split them between 5 vacation using expiring tickets from the other groups for the bulk of the vacation. So This January Buy Sea World/Busch Garden Tickets (+a Aquatica depending on the weather). Upgrade the 1 day Universal Park Hopper and only do one Disney Day. The Next trip buy Disney Tickets and use 1 universal day.

I have the exact combo of tickets left for my wife and I minus the 2 day complimentary. Trying to sort out what I am gonna do too.