How are gas and airline prices affecting your WDW travel plans?

[durangojim]

My wife and I have been fortunate to be able to travel to WDW 2-4 times per year for the past 3 years with our son. In the past, we would travel mostly during value season and would fly from Detroit to Orlando with usually pretty decent airfares. We will be leaving in about 2 weeks to go back down and then again in September. Usually from Detroit you could get a non-stop ticket on Northwest in Sept. for around $100. Today when I made our airline reservations, the tickets cost over $350 per ticket and now Northwest (along with most if not all other airlines) are charging $50 per bag in excess of the one free one each passenger can take. So just to travel there it will cost us probably around $1300. At this price we will no longer be able to afford going multiple times a year. I am not writing this to complain and moan and I realize that we have been very fortunate to be able to go to WDW many more times than the average person, but to see how many people, whether they go once or multiple times a year will have to change their future travel plans. I can't imagine that attendance at the parks and especially the resorts will remain high because it would seem that less people could afford to travel to WDW. Add that to higher hotel, ticket, and event (MNSSHP, MVMCP) prices and it seems to me at least that attendence will decline starting next year for the next few years. Does anyone else agree or am I totally off?:veryconfu

 

[Elonwy]

I'm in the process of trying to save up money so i can book a trip to WDW in September. I've been watching the airline and travel booking sites everyday and between April 25th and today my best ticket price has jumped from $587 per person to $819 per person!!!

There is an additional fee of $50 per ticket added on May 1st for fuel surcharge, there is a higher fee for airport improvement and there is a new charge for carbon emissions!

I'm still shopping around for a better deal but it's definately discouraging :brick:

 

[Cole'sMom]

I feel your pain, durangojim. We are from the same neck of the woods and we got flights out of Metro with Airtran for about $360-round trip just the two of us. When we return in September, Cole will have to have his own ticket. I cannot, for the sanity of all 3 of us, drive down...I would go crazy! We are fortunate to be able to visit twice this year, but we may have to scale it to once next year. With Michigan's lovely economy, everything is scary. I can imagine that it will affect guests who have to travel great distances. Driving down will be more expensive than flying by the time you factor in food, gas lodging down and back, plus your expenses at WDW! I hope they release some great deals for next year, or they offer us a bounceback for sometime next year! I am greatful that we can visit twice this year, but you have to pay the bills first! Have great trips down!

 

[Tim G]

It doesn't effect me at all...

If I wanted to I would walk to WDW...

But I don't like to walk...

 

[cinderellafan6]

WOW!! I live in Florida about 3 1/2 hours from DISNEY and I complain about the gas it costs me to get there and back is $80, but I feel your pain because my best friend moved to Philly and is getting married there in Aug. But becuse of airfare prices being so high that I cant afford to go to it and it makes me really sad. Sorry I know its not totally on topic but I feel ur pain with the prices of flying:zipit:

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

DH and I just sat down yesterday to do the calculation of flying vs. driving. We already have our non-refundable tickets but even with the price of gas, we'd save around $1,000. Next time may be the first time we drive instead of flying but I guess it will depend on the price of gas and where it goes. :shrug:

 

[tigsmom]

Its not causing me to cancel any trips, college tuition is. :lol:

 

[durangojim]

I feel your pain, durangojim. We are from the same neck of the woods and we got flights out of Metro with Airtran for about $360-round trip just the two of us. When we return in September, Cole will have to have his own ticket. I cannot, for the sanity of all 3 of us, drive down...I would go crazy! We are fortunate to be able to visit twice this year, but we may have to scale it to once next year. With Michigan's lovely economy, everything is scary. I can imagine that it will affect guests who have to travel great distances. Driving down will be more expensive than flying by the time you factor in food, gas lodging down and back, plus your expenses at WDW! I hope they release some great deals for next year, or they offer us a bounceback for sometime next year! I am greatful that we can visit twice this year, but you have to pay the bills first! Have great trips down!

Thanks for the well wishes! Yep, Michigan is pretty bad right now. My son turned two last August, usually when we fly in Sept, airfare is dirt cheap, but not anymore. We had a bounceback for Sept, but most of that savings has now been taken up by the airfare. We have another little one (a little girl born in March) so when there's four of us, it's going to cost quite a bit. We love going in May, Sept, and Dec., but in the future, I think we're going to have to cut some of those trips. The extra cost of luggage stinks too, especially for those fo us with children.

 

[JustPlainBill]

I'm driving down to WDW (from northern Illinois) so the airline issues don't affect our plans for this summer. We don't frequent WDW as often as we'd like to, but we're determined to make this trip no matter the cost of a few tank fulls of gas. Luckily the poor economy hasn't really affected the manufacturing niche my company is a part of...(knocking on wood,) so I feel confident that unless something drastic happens to my "situation" our vacation plans are solid for this year anyway. I'm going to do my part and spend money to get the US economy turned around!

 

[mouselvrmom]

With 6 of us flying, we seriously considered driving. If we could drive straight through, it would be cheaper to drive. But then airline prices went down a bit again, so we quick bought before they jumped up again. Next year I believe we will drive, though.

 

[miles1]

We were lucky enough to get airline fares cheaper this year than last year, but at a different airport that's slightly farther away. Overall, the gas price hikes coupled with increased utility costs (our electric rates have gone up about 50% in the last year) have put a pretty good dent in our household budget, so this year's trip will be a lot less lavish than past years. With DS entering a private high school in the fall, there will probably be no trip at all next year. As someone else said, you have to prioritize. Once the kids are gone, Grand Floridian here we come!

If the economy continues its present course, I can see this having a major effect on park attendance. Maybe not this year; a lot of people are using that tax rebate to travel; but starting this fall there could be some dramatic changes to attendance at WDW. It makes me wonder what Iger and company are thinking when they do things like increase the stroller rental fee by an astronomical amount. Eventually all these little price increases will give the place a reputation of being completely unaffordable for the average family. Time will tell.

 

[fmingo36]

I'm sure the rising prices will keep some people from traveling all together, but what I would think might happen is people will change the day they fly i.e. instead of flying Saturday to Saturday, they may fly on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday when rates are a little less. I think Mid-week travel will see a surge!

We (me, my dh, and 2 dds) are flying down (from NJ) in June on Jet Blue and I got a "decent" rate but I was really at the mercy of the days and times of the airline because they changed dramatically day-to-day and even from morning to afternoon to evenings on some days.
So we are leaving a little later in the day than I wanted to but I'm saving over $50 a person because of it.

 

[Eyekimore]

We were worried about this issue with our last trip at Easter. For 3 adults- it was still cheaper to drive than fly. It was about $300 for gas/etc. down and back. (the etc. is snacks and coffee to keep us going....) We were pleasantly surprised that it was still more affordable than flying. We prefer this as we can bring whatever we want. (and that whatever we want usually includes the dog!)

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

In going off peak so air fair is cheaper and Ill take windeezzee for the gas thanks.

 

[marni1971]

With the exchange rate (great in our favour) and the price of our petrol (over $5 a gallon and still rising) it`s made us even happier to be coming over. Look out Orlando - it`ll be a big year for invading Brits.

 

[Boray]

The last 3 years, we've driven the 20 hours to Disney. Including hotel stays, it has cost $550 - $700 for our travel. For the four of us, it's still cheaper (even with $4 gas) for us to drive, than fly ("Flight" costs also include us having to rent a car, which is another $250+ for the week). The price increase is really only effecting our travel. We won't spend more on tickets this year (bought 10 day park hopper w/ no expire last year) and still have 6 days left, and I don't anticipate spending much more on food this year.

The overall slight increase in travel costs for us, aren't enough for us to reconsider this year's trip.

 

[Master Yoda]

Gas prices are just one of the factors contributing to us canceling several Disney trips. I am an engineer working primarily in the residential housing field and as you can imagine we have been hit pretty hard. We have not had raises for 2 years now and we recently hit with a company wide 10% pay cut. Pending the result of my companies analysis in September there is a real possibility that not only will I be changing employers but careers as well. Add that to no overtime, gas being nearly 3 times what it was a few years ago and skyrocketing food prices Disney simply had to get the axe from our budget. Our 3 day Memorial day weekend trip was cancelled and our annual October and December trips are now a no go.

Right now we are in a "circling the wagons" mode. Everything non-essential is being cut back or cut off, debt is being paid down and we are doing everything we can to be prepared if the worst should happen. As of right now we are looking at our next Disney trip being December of 2009 if I do not have to change careers. In the past we were able to go almost monthly.

The scary thing is that I am in better shape then most in my field.

 

[shari71]

We mostly drove down until 2005. Then we flew down for the last 3 trips. In general we can only afford doing 1 trip a year. This year we decided to drive down before I lost my job. Still planning on going and budgeting a trip each year but flying is now a thing of the past. The lowest I was ever able to get for tickets was $250 - highest was $300. $1200 is just too much to spend, but then again my husband has to use more vacation days so we can drive down and back, cutting into vacation time. Never have we been able to get as cheap a prices as $100. I would do that in a heartbeat because it would equal about what it would cost to drive down, meals and hotel.

Still even after losing my job (11 years with the company), we will still continue to go down, just not increasing our trips to 2 times a year like I would like to do.

 

[JustPlainBill]

Gas prices are just one of the factors contributing to us canceling several Disney trips. I am an engineer working primarily in the residential housing field and as you can imagine we have been hit pretty hard. We have not had raises for 2 years now and we recently hit with a company wide 10% pay cut. Pending the result of my companies analysis in September there is a real possibility that not only will I be changing employers but careers as well. Add that to no overtime, gas being nearly 3 times what it was a few years ago and skyrocketing food prices Disney simply had to get the axe from our budget. Our 3 day Memorial day weekend trip was cancelled and our annual October and December trips are now a no go.

Right now we are in a "circling the wagons" mode. Everything non-essential is being cut back or cut off, debt is being paid down and we are doing everything we can to be prepared if the worst should happen. As of right now we are looking at our next Disney trip being December of 2009 if I do not have to change careers. In the past we were able to go almost monthly.

The scary thing is that I am in better shape then most in my field.

Good luck my friend, having been there myself a few years ago. In my former life I was in automotive manufacturing which as everyone knows is eroding fast. It was quite scary for awhile, I was lucky to have had a good support base and our financial situation was better as well when the axe finally fell. I'm now in aerospace fasteners. Hopefully your situation will improve, wishing you the best.

 

[colleen2997]

Actually this year we got airfare cheaper than any other year for our September trip. On Southwest we are flying out of Philly for $64 down and $79 back.Couldn't believe it. Airtran and Southwest both have some great deals to Orlando right now, don't know how they do it in light of fuel prices, but they are.