Cost of Disney

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Is it too high? Yes it is. Disneyland in 1955 cost $1. Magic Kingdom in 1971 cost $6. Even when you factor in inflation it is insane to see the difference. Look, I realize you need to pay for the things that are worth it. Disney is worth it, I never have a bad day there. However, adding some more dark rides to spread the crowds out would help. I guess the good news is that if you want to spend 4 days in the park the tickets get cheaper on a per day basis the more you go.

My problem is not with the pricing...
It's that they raised them so much through a period of recession that also came at the end of an unprecedented lack of reinvestment in the parks.

The value is off...they're "making up" for doing almost nothing from 2000-2010, raised the price the whole time, and now are getting lemmings to say they need to charge more to pay for stuff now.

That stuff has BEEN paid for...I have the receipts.

And it's a dangerous plan for strategic business...what happens when the house of cards economy crashes again?

...and make no mistake...that is guaranteed.

 

[jimbojones]

No no...I'm saying August is GOOD now..."summer" ain't really "summer"
Anymore...

It's just so damn hot

woohoo!

 

[WisconsinMom]

Hi All,

I’m very interested in hearing what everyone thinks of today’s prices at Walt Disney World. Do you think they are reasonable? Are they to high? Would you go no matter how high the cost gets?
Thanks,
Kathy

My husband and daughter and I have done WDW very cheaply, and enjoyed ourselves immensely. By doing the Dining plan, staying at a value resort, and resisting the temptation to buy stuff, we did WDW under $5,000. This included the Park hopper but not air fare. Hope this helps.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

My husband and daughter and I have done WDW very cheaply, and enjoyed ourselves immensely. By doing the Dining plan, staying at a value resort, and resisting the temptation to buy stuff, we did WDW under $5,000. This included the Park hopper but not air fare. Hope this helps.

Personal choice/preference changes costs a good bit...

However the dining plan is no longer a cost saver. It's just a prepaid convenience item but it locks you into purchasing a quantity of food that you may not actually purchase out of pocket otherwise...so it could actually cost you money.

 

[Andrew M]

Yes, its expensive, but I really think you get your money's worth. We just spent a week in November. Most of the restaurants we went to were fantastic, and I don't think they were overpriced at all with the exception of maybe Brown Derby. I live and work in NYC, so the prices are about on par or slightly less than what they are around here. The actual park admission is definitely higher than the 'Six Flags' level of amusement parks around the country, but the theming and exclusive rides/characters I feel make up for that difference, especially when you have little kids who are all in on the Disney 'magic'.

The only place I think they are grossly overpriced are the rack rates of the resorts. $250/night for a room at Caribbean Beach is definitely about $100/night more than you should be paying for that size room. And of course some of the deluxe resorts at over $500/night. Now don't get me wrong, I love the Polynesian, but some of the rack rates that pop up on the website are absurd. Of course I don't mind paying for the extra room, ambiance and proximity to MK that you get there, but I'd have a hard time justifying over $350/night for any hotel, especially on a week long stay when your goal is to spend as much time in the parks as possible.

 

[kathy stomber]

Hi All,

I’m very interested in hearing what everyone thinks of today’s prices at Walt Disney World. Do you think they are reasonable? Are they to high? Would you go no matter how high the cost gets?
Thanks,
Kathy

Thank you all for your thoughts. Now that I’m an empty nester with no grandchildren, Disney is not for me. Yes I still like Epcot and Animal Kingdom and will continue to visit those parks when I’m in the area, but I will not stay at Disney. I feel that for what I pay, ( I have stayed at the premium,value & moderate ) it’s just not worth it to me. I prefer to stay at Universal or a outside hotel. Disneyland beats Disney World with hotel accommodations, but that’s all. I feel I got my value for my room at Disneyland, but not the park.
Tickets are crazy high, and I don’t think your getting the value any longer. They have taken away so much of what I loved about Disney. It’s a shame. I have been visiting the Disney parks since I was a teen. Even the staff isn’t the friendly welcome to Disney people any longer.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Yes, its expensive, but I really think you get your money's worth. We just spent a week in November. Most of the restaurants we went to were fantastic, and I don't think they were overpriced at all with the exception of maybe Brown Derby. I live and work in NYC, so the prices are about on par or slightly less than what they are around here. The actual park admission is definitely higher than the 'Six Flags' level of amusement parks around the country, but the theming and exclusive rides/characters I feel make up for that difference, especially when you have little kids who are all in on the Disney 'magic'.

The only place I think they are grossly overpriced are the rack rates of the resorts. $250/night for a room at Caribbean Beach is definitely about $100/night more than you should be paying for that size room. And of course some of the deluxe resorts at over $500/night. Now don't get me wrong, I love the Polynesian, but some of the rack rates that pop up on the website are absurd. Of course I don't mind paying for the extra room, ambiance and proximity to MK that you get there, but I'd have a hard time justifying over $350/night for any hotel, especially on a week long stay when your goal is to spend as much time in the parks as possible.

Can you really compare it to the city though? Where normal day to day things are hyperinflated to tourist levels or above?

If I lived in the village, the prices at wdw would be a breath of fresh air...but for the vast majority of travelers is vastly overpriced if not shockingly so. It's a matter of perspective.

Hotels are ridiculously overpriced...that's been a thing for over 15 years that they have actually suffered from a business standpoint on. The numbers behind the scenes are interesting if you can get them.

 

[Andrew M]

Personal choice/preference changes costs a good bit...

However the dining plan is no longer a cost saver. It's just a prepaid convenience item but it locks you into purchasing a quantity of food that you may not actually purchase out of pocket otherwise...so it could actually cost you money.

I'm on the fence about this. We just did the deluxe dining plan with 2 adults, 1-4yr old, a 2yr 11.5 month old, and a 15 month old who eats anything we put infront of her. By my calculations I saved about $350 vs paying out of pocket, especially taking full advantage eating at the character buffets where the two younger ones are free.

Of course it was alot of food, even for my wife and I who definitely view the restaurants at WDW as just as big of an attraction as the rides, it was too much. So I'm sure if we weren't on the dining plan we probably wouldn't have eaten that much in the first place, but I think we would have atleast broken even. Next time having to pay for 2 kids though and only 1 free at buffets, I'm going to think twice about it.

 

[Andrew M]

Can you really compare it to the city though? Where normal day to day things are hyperinflated to tourist levels or above?

If I lived in the village, the prices at wdw would be a breath of fresh air...but for the vast majority of travelers is vastly overpriced if not shockingly so. It's a matter of perspective.

Hotels are ridiculously overpriced...that's been a thing for over 15 years that they have actually suffered from a business standpoint on. The numbers behind the scenes are interesting if you can get them.

I mean I'm just comparing it to what I experience at home. Obviously someone from somewhere in the midwest with a much lower cost of living will have a completely different point of view.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I mean I'm just comparing it to what I experience at home. Obviously someone from somewhere in the midwest with a much lower cost of living will have a completely different point of view.

Right...and Boston/nyc/Washington would completely jive with that...and California...

But the other core disney US clientele? The rust belt, eastern lower seaboard and the Bible badlands of the Deep South?

...the prices are off the charts.

 

[Phantom Mickey]

Not sure if we will get slammed or not, but I would pay double for park tickets for half the crowds.....

***********************

I believe the current prices are high. My family used to camp over Winter at the campground. But pricing was lower and they had Walts pricing criteria. If you booked starting at a lower pricing season, it wouldn't raise, even if you slipped into a higher season. That yearly trip stopped when the prices almost doubled and the daily pricing will now raise with the season you are in.
That is just an example of how it has changed at the camp ground.
The opinions here will reflect to the age of who responds. If you remember the opening of WDW, the park was so much different and the prices reasonable. The cast members seemed better trained, or friendlier. The parks were not jambed packed with guests. I thought there was a code that had to be followed. In an emergency, an area with more than x amount of people must be able to evacuate in under a couple of minutes. ( I forget what that number was ) WDW does not have a facility that can meet that time limit with the shoulder to shoulder guests today.

Back to the guest, if you have only been going to WDW in the last 10 years, you have no idea of how much better the parks were preveiously, or more importantly, what the changes that have been made now have affected the parks from the past. So this is kind of a loaded question because some of the answers are being made without that privous knowledge.

Good question but you will get a multitude of answers.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I'm on the fence about this. We just did the deluxe dining plan with 2 adults, 1-4yr old, a 2yr 11.5 month old, and a 15 month old who eats anything we put infront of her. By my calculations I saved about $350 vs paying out of pocket, especially taking full advantage eating at the character buffets where the two younger ones are free.

Of course it was alot of food, even for my wife and I who definitely view the restaurants at WDW as just as big of an attraction as the rides, it was too much. So I'm sure if we weren't on the dining plan we probably wouldn't have eaten that much in the first place, but I think we would have atleast broken even. Next time having to pay for 2 kids though and only 1 free at buffets, I'm going to think twice about it.

Yep...sounds like you figured out the shell game.

Here's where I look for truth:
Look at what was advertised as "savings" on their marketing material with ddp...think its like 15%

...now research what that number was in 2010...I bet it was like 40%...

Same thing has happened at the dvc stands over the years...it's dropped like a rock. Trust the pattern, not the mouse with his hand out.

 

[Phantom Mickey]

But behind the great oz's curtain...that's where the parks make money. Sometimes 85-90% profit.

That's why the parks "work"...the operational overhead would crush them without the giftshops...and no money would be made for the street.

*************

I thought I read that the "HOST" companies pay the expenses on the attractions. anyone actually know how that really works?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

*************

I thought I read that the "HOST" companies pay the expenses on the attractions. anyone actually know how that really works?

Problem there is there are few sponsors left...no moreso evident than Epcot, who once were represented by the titans of business and have now shrunk down to almost nothing. Hell...Kodak is entirely gone.

 

[mike spears]

I've been to Disney 5 times the last time was 3 years ago so I've base my comments on how much the same trip cost me now. Three years ago the wife and me went in early Nov, we stayed ASMUSIC for ten days at a cost of 1700.00 that same trip today is about 4700.00. So that's more than double in three years, so you be the judge! Having a healthy bottom line is not bad but how you overprice your product is! Disney better be careful on how much they consider they think their product is worth or they will be going the way of Sears!
We stayed at Pop, NO French Quarters, NO riverside and the ASMusic and once of site. but we find there's more value staying at the value resorts then at the moderates but I can't see paying 500.00 a night for a hotel room either, but I like value.

 

[werac]

oh oh ,you have me nervous now, I truly hate the big crowds! I use "Dads Guide" crowd calendars and he still has late august looking ok

I went this past August (the last full week) and it was not crowded at all! It was definitely hot and for someone like me who loves the heat I had no issues! i would go again during that time frame

 

[mousesmall]

The price is not high enough to limit the crowds. Disney has more visitors than practical. I have always been an annual pass holder but not this year after my visit to avitar. It was like Bourbon street during marti gras, people elbow to elbow. I am one who can book fast passes far in advance but feel it is not fair to others who can’t. The family that saves to go to Disney and doesn’t stay in a Disney hotel is at a disadvantage and the is sad. Do away with fast passes and everyone is equal.

 

[21stamps]

My problem is not with the pricing...
It's that they raised them so much through a period of recession that also came at the end of an unprecedented lack of reinvestment in the parks.

The value is off...they're "making up" for doing almost nothing from 2000-2010, raised the price the whole time, and now are getting lemmings to say they need to charge more to pay for stuff now.

That stuff has BEEN paid for...I have the receipts.

And it's a dangerous plan for strategic business...what happens when the house of cards economy crashes again?

...and make no mistake...that is guaranteed.

Value is a personal determination.
With as many people that are visiting WDW right now, I think those people have personally decided that the value is there.. some other people won’t. Either way is fine, but it’s compleyely subjective.

 

[21stamps]

I mean I'm just comparing it to what I experience at home. Obviously someone from somewhere in the midwest with a much lower cost of living will have a completely different point of view.

I think you’re not taking into account what people do for entertainment on a regular basis, or where else they travel. I think people who complain about the prices maybe only travel to Disney... there’s many options within a Disney stay, some resorts are harder to justify than others.

Disney is the same or sometimes less than a lot of other destinations.. and they provide “free” transportation to/from the airport and all around property. I don’t know many other places where you can find that.

Example- looking at a hotel near Miami airport recently., a DAYS INN was close to $200 per night., not including transport to get there.
A Days Inn, in basically Hialeah, Fl.. which is no Disney World, or any kind of desirable place by any imagination.lol

Here.. see why “Value” is such a difficult thing to monetize?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Value is a personal determination.
With as many people that are visiting WDW right now, I think those people have personally decided that the value is there.. some other people won’t. Either way is fine, but it’s compleyely subjective.

I agree...however since the original was "is it too much?"...wouldn't the point be to come up with our own valuation system and defend/debate their merits?

It's all opinion...but all opinions aren't equal.