Insanity Pricing Officially Reached

[DisneyOutsider]

For us it still comes down to transportation and convenience. I’ve looked into off site condos and they are so tempting. But once you factor in rental car, parking, and paying for parking at the parks, etc- the cost is no longer as dramatic of a difference. We can’t Uber yet as our kids are little. My husband also drives a lot for work so the buses at Disney are an added bonus. He likes not having to worry about traffic, driving, parking etc for an entire week. And like I said above, our January 2020 dates were roughly $122/night. That’s still doable for us.
I do think as our kids get older we will look more into off site. Maybe combine it with Universal and/or a beach vacation.

You may be surprised at how convenient it feels to pile into your own personal vehicle at your own leisure at the end of the night rather than waiting for a crowded bus at Disney's mercy. There are exceptions both ways, of course, but the first time I rented a car I loved it. Never found there to be bad traffic jams around property even during peak seasons.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

same. I love the no driving at Disney. I also love being in a hotel, beds made, room cleaned. I don't like the condo/house offsite thing, personally. Now, I would absolutely pick some non-disney, onsite hotels these days- we're hitting Dolphin this summer, and we've done Hilton Bonnet creek. (but ours are old enough for Lyft).

Agreed! I would never opt out of mousekeeping for the $10/night they are offering. I love not having to clean for a week! I think when my kids are older we will look into off site hotels with Disney shuttles. I know they run less frequently and often drop off further away so for now, Disney is still best for us.

 

[MomofPrincessGrace]

FWIW, we went to the Smokey Mountains over spring break for a few days... and there was not a single hotel in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg that was <$100. And many of those hotels were far lower quality than Dinsey value resorts. Although Dinsey definitely leads the way, hotels have gotten pretty expensive across the board.

Me and my boyfriend went to Gatlinburg in January (during off season). We paid about $400 a night at the Margaritaville Hotel. Yes, it was nice, but we couldn't use the outdoor pool and it was too cold to enjoy the outdoor spaces. It was expensive as heck at all places. especially in Gatlinburg city center. I agree that hotels everywhere are getting ridiculous!

 

[draybook]

For us it still comes down to transportation and convenience. I’ve looked into off site condos and they are so tempting. But once you factor in rental car, parking, and paying for parking at the parks, etc- the cost is no longer as dramatic of a difference. We can’t Uber yet as our kids are little. My husband also drives a lot for work so the buses at Disney are an added bonus. He likes not having to worry about traffic, driving, parking etc for an entire week. And like I said above, our January 2020 dates were roughly $122/night. That’s still doable for us.
I do think as our kids get older we will look more into off site. Maybe combine it with Universal and/or a beach vacation.

In all fairness, we have APs so I alwasy forget to factor that in since some folks don't have them. Good point!

 

[awoogala]

We've done both buses and driving (we drive down from GA). The experiences at park close were not too different... wait for a tram (or a second tram) to get to our car, then the log jam getting out of the parking lot. Add to that driving in the dark to our resort trusting GPS to alert us to turns in time. Traffic outside of the parking lots was not bad, but still finding our way in the dark was not great.

At least with buses it's just the wait for a bus (which I agree can be a pain). Once you are on it, who cares about traffic or how to get back to the resort.

So... we prefer the buses.

we will take the buses, unless we're super tired, then we'll just Lyft.

 

[bryanfze55]

I don't think anyone can defend that pricing for a value room. For half of that price, you can literally rent an entire 4 bedroom pool house just minutes off-site. Extra magic hours are NOT worth that extra cost. Different strokes for different folks.

Hotels are going up everywhere. This isn’t necessarily unique to Disney. Travel is just in demand right now. Hotels in and around national parks are very high. We stayed in Moab, Utah last October to go to Arches and Canyonlands - and the nice hotels were all $250+. Nothing under $100, even the Motel 6 was nearly the price of an All-Star Resort.

I don’t think $150/night for a value is any more offensive than $600+/Night for a deluxe... considering you could get the Waldorf for nearly half that.

 

[danheaton]

I agree that $150 for a value seems really high. I wouldn't do it for a long-term stay and one with my whole family of four. For a quick stop where it's really all about seeing Galaxy's Edge, getting the three-hour benefit at DHS, and the 60-day window, it's totally justified. With that said, I will be taking a close look at Hotwire and Priceline. The higher ticket prices (and for basically everything else) makes it a necessity to find any savings.

 

[draybook]

Hotels are going up everywhere. This isn’t necessarily unique to Disney. Travel is just in demand right now. Hotels in and around national parks are very high. We stayed in Moab, Utah last October to go to Arches and Canyonlands - and the nice hotels were all $250+. Nothing under $100, even the Motel 6 was nearly the price of an All-Star Resort.

I don’t think $150/night for a value is any more offensive than $600+/Night for a deluxe... considering you could get the Waldorf for nearly half that.

Imo, it is. One-hundred and fifty bucks for a small, 260-277 sq ft room is ludicrous. You can get a 1400+ sq ft pool house with a garage, laundry, full kitchen and more than one bathroom for half of that.

For our September trip, it would cost a normal family of 4 $1365 for a standard room. That was without any discounts. It would be more for us because we're a party of six. Our cheapest option at a value would be at Sports where it would run us $3,089. Using either total, it would be much cheaper off-site, even with parking included. The house we're renting is running us right at $950 for the trip. It's a 3/2 with private pool and 5-10 minutes from property.

Like I said, though, different strokes for different folks.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

You are paying not so much for the rooms themselves (which are honestly pretty mediocre)... But the "perks." EMH, transportation, theming, food service, delivery of goods, etc.

The largest expense is the privilege of being a captive audience!

 

[bryanfze55]

Imo, it is. One-hundred and fifty bucks for a small, 260-277 sq ft room is ludicrous. You can get a 1400+ sq ft pool house with a garage, laundry, full kitchen and more than one bathroom for half of that.

For our September trip, it would cost a normal family of 4 $1365 for a standard room. That was without any discounts. It would be more for us because we're a party of six. Our cheapest option at a value would be at Sports where it wold run us $3,089. using either total, it would be much cheaper off-site, even with parking included. The house we're renting is running us right at $950 for the trip. It's a 3/2 with private pool and 5-10 minutes from property.

Like I said, though, different strokes for different folks.

Absolutely agreed. I have a five year old and infant, so something like Pop Century is fine for me. Is it worth $200 a night? I guess I’ll have to see how nice the gondola system is. If I had a larger family and/or older kids, I agree I would not pay for two value rooms. I would have to look offsite as well. Everyone’s situation is different; value works for me right now, and at least the rooms are generally nice and clean, and the service is good - which is more than I can say for the rundown motels outside national parks charging $125.

 

[Dave B]

I don't think anyone can defend that pricing for a value room. For half of that price, you can literally rent an entire 4 bedroom pool house just minutes off-site. Extra magic hours are NOT worth that extra cost. Different strokes for different folks.

Cant find what you are talking about, do you have any visuals, I searched 4 bedroom house with pool for rent for a week, prices were crazy, please let us know, I would love to have that as an option

 

[Dave B]

Agreed! I would never opt out of mousekeeping for the $10/night they are offering. I love not having to clean for a week! I think when my kids are older we will look into off site hotels with Disney shuttles. I know they run less frequently and often drop off further away so for now, Disney is still best for us.

How dirty could the room get, they are so small, cant be that much to clean

 

[crispy]

FWIW, we went to the Smokey Mountains over spring break for a few days... and there was not a single hotel in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg that was <$100. And many of those hotels were far lower quality than Dinsey value resorts. Although Dinsey definitely leads the way, hotels have gotten pretty expensive across the board.

We go fairly often and hotels are usually pretty cheap unless it is peak season but the cheapest stay in that area is a cabin rental. We went for Fall Break this year and rented a 2 bed, 2 bath cabin with Jacuzzi and a game room for around $120 a night total including a pet fee.

 

[draybook]

Cant find what you are talking about, do you have any visuals, I searched 4 bedroom house with pool for rent for a week, prices were crazy, please let us know, I would love to have that as an option

Found a handful on HomeAway and Airbnb.

 

[eliza61nyc]

It really is about what a person likes, we rented a vacation home once. Hated it, first maybe my sons are slobs but I ended up cleaning. Lol seriously. Aww hell to the naw . Next I love being in the bubble. I love sitting on the Boardwalk in the morning listening to the music and the horns from the boats. I enjoy hearing little kids laughing. I'm not saying a budget is unimportant but it is not the only factor.
Lastly, the house was just "boring". We missed the theming of the resorts.

 

[Dave B]

Found a handful on HomeAway and Airbnb.

What do you consider a good price when looking at these? I don't see much of a difference between what you quoted and the deluxe pricing at Disney, Moderates are much cheaper for sure

 

[draybook]

What do you consider a good price when looking at these? I don't see much of a difference between what you quoted and the deluxe pricing at Disney, Moderates are much cheaper for sure

I always look at sub 80 bucks. An entire house for less than 80 bucks compared to one room for 100+ is simply logical if nothing else. The ability to do laundry without having to walk to a laundry room halfway is great with two little ones. Then there's the private pool and full kitchen so we can load up on food and save money instead of buying overpriced snacks and QS items.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

It really is about what a person likes, we rented a vacation home once. Hated it, first maybe my sons are slobs but I ended up cleaning. Lol seriously. Aww hell to the naw . Next I love being in the bubble. I love sitting on the Boardwalk in the morning listening to the music and the horns from the boats. I enjoy hearing little kids laughing. I'm not saying a budget is unimportant but it is not the only factor.
Lastly, the house was just "boring". We missed the theming of the resorts.

Quite right. There's also the necessity of a car. Off property hotels are one thing, where you might have a shuttle available - but a house rental demands a car. Getting back and forth, groceries, rental return, yada yada.

 

[unmitigated disaster]

Looks it is complete fine to be outraged they're charging that much for what is, essentially, a Comfort Inn with some tacky themeing. And I get it. Its a WDW hotel, it is in a decent location on property, will soon have Skyliner access, But eventually we got to call a spade a spade. The value resorts should not be more than $100/night.

Sure they should. There's more than just the room to pay for. The pools. The landscaping. 24 hour housekeeping and (I am guessing) maintenance. The staffing for the movies they show outside. Etc., Etc. I'm guessing the food courts are their own budget and I'm not sure where the budget for the buses comes out of.

I was just at a Holiday Inn Express in small town Ohio. $105 a night.

As for high prices at peak times, just try to get a cheap room - or any room - here in Tucson during Gem Show.

 

[Dr. Ludwig von Drake]

Why is that price unusual? That's the middle of Spring Break.

Not for everyone... very few here are that week. I'd say that's the beginning of some spring break season with the heavy spring break falling around Passover and Easter.

It's a common spring break time here in Florida. Plenty of FL residents will be heading to the parks at this time. I've done it in past years.