Why Middle Class Can't Afford Disney

[LISAMWDW]

https://www.cheatsheet.com/money-ca...-disney-world-anymore.html/?ref=YF&yptr=yahoo


This article certainly makes one think. Wow! I was a single mom and was able to take my daughter to WDW many times in the 2000's. Today, I doubt I would be able to. Very sad!

 

[Princess_Lisa]

"True, the per-day cost shrinks if you buy a multi-day pass. A four-day adult ticket that gets you into one park per day is $350, or $87.50 per day."

For Florida Residents, if all of those days are weekdays and not during June, July, or a few weeks in December and March, it would be cheaper to just get a weekday select annual pass for $269 + tax. That also gives free parking. Stay off-site or at a Value Resort, eat breakfast at the hotel, and dinner at one of the many restaurants on 192 after you leave the park for the day. Stick to the cheaper options for Lunch. The Dining is where Disney kills budgets. Many of the table service places are way too expensive for a normal family.

 

[Lvsdisney]

I guess Disney is expensive, but so are other amusement park resort vacations. I priced out WDW and UO for the same 4 nights, each with 4 day PH tickets, same category hotel (I had to add on airport transfers to UO) and Disney came out $200 more.

I also priced out Hersheypark and they were approximately $400 less than Disney for the same 4 nights, "value hotel" and a 3 day base ticket.

I don't see how Disney is SO much more expensive, especially since with WDW I get to go to 3 different parks if I would like, vs the same one over 3 days.

I think in general the Middle class is getting priced out of everything, but it's not just one company doing it.

 

[wilkeliza]

A lot of the points of the article aren't really even in Disney's control. They use children are expensive and paying more for every day things as a reason why Disney is unattainable and that seems unfair.

They also went the most expensive route for a vacation. Dinning plan, "extras", and base price of tickets. I'm not saying Disney is cheap or that everyone can afford to go I just think it is unfair to point to Disney as the problem.

 

[Cassbrooks2010]

These kinds of articles always make me cringe . As a single mom, I disagree with the article. I am taking my two children on our second trip to Disney this year. The article stated that a family of 4 was over $6,000! We will be there for 5 nights in September, 4 park ticket with no hopper, stay at Pop, go to MNSSHP and spend half that including food rental car, dog boarding etc! Now granted we are one person less than the example but you get my drift.

It's all about what you want. I live beneath my means in life and that frees up money for fun stuff. But even if I lived at the max of my budget, with a little planning a family can easily afford it over time, putting a little away every month.

 

[Spencer Wright]

I think places are just getting more expensive in general. While Disney is probably a much more expensive option, you also can't compare the level of service, consistency, and possibilities compared to other options.

In my opinion, this article should have been titled, 'Why middle class workers can't afford vacations' and use Disney as an example. For instance, the article states:

"Parking is $20 if you’re not staying at a Disney hotel. Need to rent a stroller? That’s $15 a day. Locker rental is $7 to $9 a day, and towels at water parks, such as Typhoon Lagoon, cost $2 a day. A pair of iconic Mouse ears for your kid costs between $14.99 and $24.99, plus more for embroidery."

Parking at Atlantic City is now $20 when it was $5 a few years ago. Friends who are slightly older say it used to be free.

While I don't disagree with the article, they could easily copy and paste pretty much anywhere and not have trouble making a reasonable argument.

Unfortunately, I can say this Disney trip will be my last for at least a few years.

 

[bdiddy]

We travel a lot and Disney is probably on the lower end of our vacation costs over the years. Granted we like lengthy road trips that are 2 wks or more and when we go to Disney it's usually just a week but we usually spend quite a bit more on our other trips. But we've been out to the Grand Canyon and back and we've also done a big Canada/New England Trip. DH and I also like to go to music festivals and have taken the kids to those as well.

Our cheapest Disney trip was probably just under $2000 when we went the first time off season in 2008 and got free dining. Our most expensive Disney trip was just over $4000 and that was in busy season buying the dining plan.

If we go to the beach for a week we spend at least the cost of the cheaper Disney trip if not more. Our most expensive trip was just over $7000 which was a week and a half in Key West and 3 days at Universal.

We are definitely middle class. DH is the sole provider, I haven't worked full time since 2006. I am a part-time preschool teacher now though but I barely make anything. But I do babysit after school which gets me about $4000 for the school year. Put that with my preschool earnings and we have plenty for vacation.

Disney is definitely doable and doesn't have to be a super expensive trip. Yes it can be but with the right planning and saving most middle class families could afford it.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I think most middle class workers probably could afford a Disney Vacation they just don't prioritize it, and that's ok. A Disney vacation isn't necessary for a happy life.

If families could find a way to stick back $50-100/week, they could have enough for an annual trip. That might mean cheaper housing, shopping at Aldi and sav a lot, couponing, cheaper phone plans, no cable, fewer or cheaper clothes and shoes, less meals out, etc. For some that sacrifice might be worth it, others not so much.

 

[Westcoastwild]

Bogus article- they're really reaching with the whole kids cost money to raise argument. And in other news, water is wet.

My parents never would do extras. Period. Never would do dining plan, would bring their own stroller, make us carry everything because they were sure not going to spend money on a locker.

Plus, Disney is expensive, but you know what, probably cheaper than a lot of other trips. $20/day is not expensive in terms of parking. Musicals, theater, ballet, concerts- tickets are not cheap. Hotels in most places we went as kids start at $200, Disney starts at $100 on property (even if it's fort wilderness) and $50-ish off. On property comes with airport transport and parking, so even $140 is pretty decent. Food is overpriced but quick service is probably cheaper than somewhere like the Olive Garden. So in line with middle class budget, assuming that they budget to travel. Most people I know do, even if it's a week at lake a few hours away.

Disney has gone up, but so has everything else. And middle class is paying for comparatively more services these days. cell phones and wifi, for example.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I thought the article was silly--Disney vacations can be pricey, a lot of people find ways to afford them, whether by avoiding pricey hotels and extras, or cutting back in their day-to-day lives to pay for them. This isn't exactly news.

I also think that people find ways to afford what's important to them. Most people might not be able to "afford" a sailboat. But if you really wanted one, you could find ways to cut back on other things--eating out, vacations, nicer cars--in order to afford a sailboat. Or a beach house. Or a dog sled and team to race in the Iditarod. Whatever.

 

[wilkeliza]

Disney has gone up, but so has everything else. And middle class is paying for comparatively more services these days. cell phones and wifi, for example.

This is a big thing people forget. Even when my parents were growing up they didn't pay for a cell phone, wifi package, satellite tv, amazon prime, hulu, netflix, etc. I just did a budget check on myself and realized how much I spend in a day on things I do not have to spend that much on including my morning coffee/breakfast, lunch during the work week, snacks, etc. I know I'm not an anomaly of the average middle class worker because if I was it wouldn't take 15 minutes at 8:30 to get my breakfast and coffee at Starbucks. So a lot of people are spending 5 or more a day on coffee. I have to think in 1960 my grandfather would have scoffed at the idea of paying someone else to brew his coffee when he was capable of doing it himself before he got in his truck to go to work every morning.

 

[danielocha30]

whoever wrote the article have never set a foot at Fun Spot in Kissimmee, to ride their 3 main rides is almost $100 just 3 rides!!!
I been many times at Disney and Universal with different budgets, it is doable, specially Disney, you can book your vacation up to 500 days before you go just paying $200 deposit for a package no other park/resort offer this most make you pay the whole trip at booking. If you do your research staying offsite/eating at counter/ bringing your own stroller/ bringing snacks, etcétera, saves you a lot.

 

[kydisneyfans]

Not very good examples at all in the article.....
Yes, Disney is expensive. Yes, everyplace is getting expensive.
We have a 3 evening country concert coming to town, tickets and parking are $250. That's just for a general admission ticket, and parking. No food, lodging, nothing. It's crazy, and then they wonder why attendance is down.

There are SOOO many ways to do Disney cheaper.
Flying too expensive? Drive.
Hotels onsite too expensive, Skyauction a condo for $350 offsite.
No $20 to park? Take the hotel shuttle.
Food too expensive? Don't do dining in Disney parks.
Tickets? Not much can help there other than UT, Parksavers, etc.
Souveneirs? Skip them or head to the Disney outlet.
Park hoppers aren't needed.

Disney is an easy target.
The fact of the matter is any amusement park isn't going to be cheap.
Staying on the beach for a week isn't cheap.
Concerts, sports, you name it, it's expensive.

Do what you can afford and have fun doing it.

 

[skippytx]

Another bogus clickbait article spread out over 8 slides so they can show you 8 times the advertising.

WDW can be expensive, but one thing I appreciate is I don't feel it's out of reach for almost anyone. An acquaintance of my wife recently took a trip using the free QS meal per day promotion. I don't remember the exact length (4 or 5 nights), but they got 1 QS meal per day, non park hopper tickets, and stayed at Pop, it was around 2,000 dollars. They did the rest of the trip as inexpensive as possible. They drove instead of flying, didn't spend much on dining out, but they made it work with their budget and by all reports had a fantastic time. This was a single mom who saved for a year or so and used some tax return money to make this happen for her kids.

We have to save to take our trips to WDW as well. We have a Disney account that we direct deposit X amount of dollars into every paycheck. We plan our trips well ahead of time and then save the amount we need over the months and years beforehand.

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

I'm pretty sure my husband and I don't even qualify as middle class, but we saved slowly for over a year, donating plasma, etc. and we're able to afford to go. And we're doing a moderate resort for 7 days with DDP. Of course we don't have children, but if we did, we would maybe take a shorter trip and stay value. I think most people can't "afford" Disney, but anyone can save for it.

 

[tvguy]

Must have been fake news, it has been pulled down.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Maybe site was busy...........just accessed it 30 seconds ago.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

I do agree that Disney prices have risen much faster than inflation and wage growth. I also have not been thrilled with the recent forced inclusion of Photopass in the AP and the price increases last year........ouch!

But I also admit it is hard to buy a genuine half gallon of ice cream and the size of the standard package of Oreos and Fig Newtons has gotten smaller, while the shelf price has been increased!........double ouch!

 

[MrInfinity]

Junk click bait. Post something with a sensational title, spread it out over 8 pages to maximize ad impressions, and bait people to click on those links to their backup data. Cha-ching. There is no real content, it's just designed to get clicks by people thinking it's so wrong that it gets linked to from boards like this. I suggest removing the link. The articles' position in search results is benefitted by it being linked here. Posting it here is making him money.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

What a whiny article.
Disney is a for profit corporation who has a fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders to maximize revenue.
No one - lower, middle or upper class is entitled to a trip to Disney.