21stamps
Well-Known Member
I also want to add to this that not all days are applicable for a Florida resident discount.
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Is Disney Expensive?
- Thread starter brifraz
- Start date
I also want to add to this that not all days are applicable for a Florida resident discount.
Gary7777777
Member
Gotta step in and say that there is no comparison of strolling down on Main Street as it is strolling down Times Square. I’ve seen the characters posing for pics at Times Square and when you get a pic with them you better open your wallet. And don’t walk off the curb when the light turns green either.
Have you tried "strolling down" the Highline in Chelsea. It is an amazing view of Manhattan and a one of a kind experience. No street lights or characters posing for pictures!! Just great views of a great city!!
Skibum1970
Well-Known Member
So, I'm late to the party but wanted to weigh in a little. For a trip to the Smokies and stopping at the Biltmore Estate, a week will cost us around $1,300. Five hour drive down, hotels, food, tickets, etc. However, our days are pretty much filled up with having fun hiking and looking at some beautiful scenery.
The cheapest that I can do Disney would be closer to $2,000. This includes a 13 hours drive down to Orlando, five nights at a value resort, and five-day tickets. Plus food.
Disney is a very expensive vacation. I honestly don't know how people afford it, especially with children which we don't have. I hear two week vacations staying at Disney deluxe with two kids. All I can think is, "Wow, that has to be a $6,000 vacation at least."
The cheapest that I can do Disney would be closer to $2,000. This includes a 13 hours drive down to Orlando, five nights at a value resort, and five-day tickets. Plus food.
Disney is a very expensive vacation. I honestly don't know how people afford it, especially with children which we don't have. I hear two week vacations staying at Disney deluxe with two kids. All I can think is, "Wow, that has to be a $6,000 vacation at least."
winstongator
Well-Known Member
Almost no matter the ticket price increases, the bigger danger I see to the WDW experience the next 3-4 years is the dramatic increase in crowd levels. Huge is not the word I would use for SWGE. Unmanageable is more my fear. There are already less low crowd days, and I expect to see more days where they hit capacity at all of the parks. AK will have Pandora, HS TSL & SWGE, Epcot will have 2 new rides, and the MK is magic.
I cringe thinking of the alternate universe where prices did not increase so much, but you had a significantly bigger jump in attendance.
I am very curious as to how Pandora impacted attendance at AK.
Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
Yea, I believe it was mid 70's anyway. So much cheaper and only one park... MK! He probably still could have afforded to pay more at that time.WDW was a lot less expensive in the 80's too
We have been going to Disney some 30-odd years now, and find that although Disney is NOT cheap, it is less expensive than a whole lot of other places. Of course one goes to Disney for much different reasons than going to N.Y. and such. Of course I have to agree that the crowds have gotten way out of hand as well.
winstongator
Well-Known Member
Ah...San Francisco area. How much would the worst condition house in the city of SF cost?
Seegeethatsme
New Member
No I’ve never tried “Chelsea”. I just can’t get over the time I went down to the city and did the whole tourist thing by starting with parking my car in Staten Island and taking the ferry over to NYC and after walking around in 55mph winds on a 60 degree day and freezing my butt off not knowing you need a polar jacket out only to come back to my parking spot to find only little bitty pieces of glass on the very same exact spot where my car was parked. Yup car got stolen by some punk kids and joy rode it and left it parked and hidden for weeks. The police said yea we can’t find it sorry. 30 day later they found the car. The car was not totaled but you know some $4,000 damages and $1,500 parking fees later , I just can’t see the pleasure of NYC anymore. The biggest difference between Disney and NYC for me is that I willing open my wallet when I’m at Disney World. Lesson learned. It’s not the Donkeys fault the second time it kicks you.
38053WDW
Well-Known Member
Yes! Disney needs another "LAND" ASAP! But as you see Universal has two if not three hotels under construction and Disney also adding two with a third being the $,$$$ a night Star Wars Hotel! Not pushing @bioreconstruct but he has some great "updates" pics to view.
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Randyland
Member
Expensive is defined differently through the eyes of different people and circumstances.
I have been in the Amusement Business for 40 years.
I operate on the Shore Resort Boardwalks in New Jersey and my "businesses" have provided an Entertainment Experience, which is the reason people come to the Resort.
One of my main focuses has been the operation of a Fascination Game, which operates as an on-going games show complete with Master of Ceremonies, and the Fascination Game has remained the SAME PRICE since 1974 when I played it as a kid.
In 1974, it cost .20 cents, and in 2017 it STILL cost .20 cents!
No other business in the world stays the same price for 45 years....!
Entertainment Experiences like this have mostly disappeared from the New Jersey Boardwalks because without raising the costs for Guests to pay, the operation expenses simply made it impossible to remain in business.
The KEY WORD here is "Business".
What does continue to make money is Parking, Hotels, Food, Rides, and Retail....
These are things Guests are FORCED to pay for, and are consistently increasing their pricing.
However, the REASONS folks come is more based upon the ENTERTAINMENT, and as the entertainment experience decreases, there becomes less reason for Guests to come to the area, resulting in the need to increase fees of all the services.
In addition, as the Entertainment Experience is decreased, Guests begin to question whether the Vacation was "worth the money" paid.
It has NEVER been a "business" to me, which is why I am still doing what I do....
It was always a labor of love....
In this point I relate things with Walt Disney World.....
WDW was never really a "business"... it was a Magical placed based upon a man's dreams, and his life's work.
This made it fundamentally different from ANY other "Amusement" Park...
Guests felt the love which oozed from every corner and shined through the eyes of all Cast Members.
Pricing was reasonable so the average family could come and enjoy the experience....
The mid 1980's brought a new focus to Disney, and the thinking was to understand that Disney is a "Company", and there to make money.
This was displayed when the name was changed from Walt Disney Productions, to the Walt Disney Company. From that point on, prices began to jump higher and higher.
Guest Parking which was .50 cents for a decade, has reached $22.00 four decades after that.
There can be no argument that Pricing has vastly increased across the board, and that services which were once included are now considered as extras, or cut out completely.
After all, the Disney Company does answer to stock holders who want to see increases for their investments.
The balance between how much is too much has become a matter of debate among so many Disney Vacationers over the last decades...
And the answer to that all depends on each person's point of view, and income status.
I believe that as prices increase, the general experience for Guests is decreased because they simply cannot afford to do things which were once part of their stay at WDW...
This loss of experience turns into debate of ever increasing prices.
The saddest part of all, is that 30 years ago, it was unthinkable that there would be debates about Walt Disney World "not" being anything other then "wonderful", and "the happiest place on earth".
This was Walt Disney World's stock and trade!....
The changes over the decades have actually harmed the "Brand"....
Still, there are enough people who will go to Walt Disney World as long as it is possible for them to do so...
and as long as folks do just that, then it is justification for the "company" to keep increasing prices, and trim services in effort to maximize profits.
At some point however, things will have changed so much that reversing those changes will become impossible.
Walt Disney World was never just another Amusement Park....
It was always MUCH more.
It really hurts me when I hear so many people compare the experience at Walt Disney World to Universal Studios, or Six Flags, or even New York City....
Have these other experiences caught up to the Disney experience...
Or has the Disney experience dropped to a level which is now so comparable???
For me, Walt Disney World can never be anything less then a Magic Place all about one man's dreams...
My life in the Amusement Business has paralleled this Magic.
And yes, I was once a Cast Member, now thirty years ago, and I am very PROUD to have served Walt Disney World during the MOST Magical time period possible.
I have been in the Amusement Business for 40 years.
I operate on the Shore Resort Boardwalks in New Jersey and my "businesses" have provided an Entertainment Experience, which is the reason people come to the Resort.
One of my main focuses has been the operation of a Fascination Game, which operates as an on-going games show complete with Master of Ceremonies, and the Fascination Game has remained the SAME PRICE since 1974 when I played it as a kid.
In 1974, it cost .20 cents, and in 2017 it STILL cost .20 cents!
No other business in the world stays the same price for 45 years....!
Entertainment Experiences like this have mostly disappeared from the New Jersey Boardwalks because without raising the costs for Guests to pay, the operation expenses simply made it impossible to remain in business.
The KEY WORD here is "Business".
What does continue to make money is Parking, Hotels, Food, Rides, and Retail....
These are things Guests are FORCED to pay for, and are consistently increasing their pricing.
However, the REASONS folks come is more based upon the ENTERTAINMENT, and as the entertainment experience decreases, there becomes less reason for Guests to come to the area, resulting in the need to increase fees of all the services.
In addition, as the Entertainment Experience is decreased, Guests begin to question whether the Vacation was "worth the money" paid.
It has NEVER been a "business" to me, which is why I am still doing what I do....
It was always a labor of love....
In this point I relate things with Walt Disney World.....
WDW was never really a "business"... it was a Magical placed based upon a man's dreams, and his life's work.
This made it fundamentally different from ANY other "Amusement" Park...
Guests felt the love which oozed from every corner and shined through the eyes of all Cast Members.
Pricing was reasonable so the average family could come and enjoy the experience....
The mid 1980's brought a new focus to Disney, and the thinking was to understand that Disney is a "Company", and there to make money.
This was displayed when the name was changed from Walt Disney Productions, to the Walt Disney Company. From that point on, prices began to jump higher and higher.
Guest Parking which was .50 cents for a decade, has reached $22.00 four decades after that.
There can be no argument that Pricing has vastly increased across the board, and that services which were once included are now considered as extras, or cut out completely.
After all, the Disney Company does answer to stock holders who want to see increases for their investments.
The balance between how much is too much has become a matter of debate among so many Disney Vacationers over the last decades...
And the answer to that all depends on each person's point of view, and income status.
I believe that as prices increase, the general experience for Guests is decreased because they simply cannot afford to do things which were once part of their stay at WDW...
This loss of experience turns into debate of ever increasing prices.
The saddest part of all, is that 30 years ago, it was unthinkable that there would be debates about Walt Disney World "not" being anything other then "wonderful", and "the happiest place on earth".
This was Walt Disney World's stock and trade!....
The changes over the decades have actually harmed the "Brand"....
Still, there are enough people who will go to Walt Disney World as long as it is possible for them to do so...
and as long as folks do just that, then it is justification for the "company" to keep increasing prices, and trim services in effort to maximize profits.
At some point however, things will have changed so much that reversing those changes will become impossible.
Walt Disney World was never just another Amusement Park....
It was always MUCH more.
It really hurts me when I hear so many people compare the experience at Walt Disney World to Universal Studios, or Six Flags, or even New York City....
Have these other experiences caught up to the Disney experience...
Or has the Disney experience dropped to a level which is now so comparable???
For me, Walt Disney World can never be anything less then a Magic Place all about one man's dreams...
My life in the Amusement Business has paralleled this Magic.
And yes, I was once a Cast Member, now thirty years ago, and I am very PROUD to have served Walt Disney World during the MOST Magical time period possible.
Chef Mickey
Well-Known Member
Correct. People have more disposable income. The world is a better place than what it was 30 years ago. People are living better overall, despite what the media tells you.
Things are GOOD overall. The news reports bad news because it gets ratings.
21stamps
Well-Known Member
You can base something upon dreams, and still be a “business”. I think people forget that. Both can and do go hand in hand.
Where were these “average families” staying at back then?
I’m asking this out of genuine curiosity, because I don’t think they were all staying at Disney resorts.. now people feel like they “must” stay at a Disney resort.. that has been one of the biggest difference that I’ve seen over the years.
Re: NJ. I bulk at the prices in Cape May and Wildwood right now.. growing up my family spent every summer in the Cape and visiting the Wildwood boardwalk, but I have a tough time justifying the prices for my own fam now. My parents sold their shore house several years ago, and now our old house, as well as most others, are replaced with new construction homes about 5x the cost of what ours was.
eliza61nyc
Well-Known Member
So a friend of mine grew up in Dewey beach Delaware, we went to his moms house a few years back just to relax. lol the place was an old 1950's style home, maybe 1000 sq feet if that. Mom passed away, a developer called him 1 day after the funeral and offered him 1 million bucks sight unseen because the place was beach front. He said he had to discuss it with his brother and the guy thought he was stalling so turned around and offered him 2 mil. insane.
I go to OCNJ all the time. last year the week of 7/25 cost us 3K to rent a 2 bedroom condo. beach block, not even beach front.
Randyland
Member
answers:
Back then, in the early days at Disney, people stayed at the Contemporary and Polynesian.... and it cost $38.00 to $45.00 for a Guest room. The Golf Resort was an option for a bit less. There were Hotels on International Drive and rt 192 in Kissimmee for a bit less.....
Prices in Wildwood have not increased that much... I operate in Wildwood, and we get lower income and working class Guests. They come and IF they stay at a hotel, then they have little money for much else.
As an example, I ran some "give a way" games which were designed to put prizes in the hands of the Guests. The cost to play the game was $5.-, and for that 1 price players got to play as many times as it took to win the race against others. Once they won the race, their game ended a nd they got to pick ANY PRICE from the display.
The prizes where beautiful plush animals which would cost $25.00 or more in a Disney store, or even $15.00 on the Boardwalk in Wildwood....
My cost wholesale for one of these prizes was almost the cost charged for players to play the game, and CERTAINLY get one of those prizes... so my profit line was just about zero!!
Many times a family would come up to the game, and I would explain how they get to play until each person gets the prize, and a common reaction was SHOCK that it cost $5.- to play!!!
Their face was one of terror when they heard it would cost a BIG $5.-.....
Several times I heard a reply repeating the words FIVE DOLLARS, and then adding the words "Oh God"...
I always found this hard to believe, because we made nothing running these games, and yet folks acted like it was a big deal to play...
and those who did play, somehow thought we were making a ton of money charging a BIG $5.-, without any understanding that we were going through all this effort to make NOTHING!!
This same type of game at Disney charges $5.- to play ONLY ONCE, and then there is only ONE winner and every one else gets NOTHING.
And the WINNER got a prize costing Disney LESS money them the prize which EVERYONE RECEIVED at my game!!
It was not only that the people who when to Wildwood had NO MONEY to spend, but they did not look upon their vacation to Wildwood the same way as they looked upon going to Disney World.
These same people if they were going to Disney would save money for that trip and be prepared to SPEND.
In addition WIldwood has very cheap prices on many things if you want to compare with other places...
The GOOD PIZZA in Wildwood costs about $2.25 a slice... Other parks it would be $5.00.
What would it cost at Disney??
Hotels have gone up in Wildwood, mostly because of Property Taxes...
And there business have gone up simply because they have to in effort to stay in business...
These things cannot be compared on the same level as with WDW....
Randyland
Member
Real estate development is the ultimate demise for all Amusement Parks... Parks are built on land which is cheap, and away from things... then the area develops around them, and folks like to buy a home near the place which holds so many fun memories for them... the result is the land values go up, and so do the taxes... in the end, the land becomes to valuable for the Amusement Park to remain, and the reason folks bought land in the area, now gets purchased by the developer and turned into condos. Add the Beach front aspect to the equation, and you have the end of the family resort.
Just came back from NYC. Stayed at Paramount Times Square, 2 double beds and large room by NYC standards for $180 a night through Expedia.
Love both places for different reasons. They are both expensive places to visit! Neither are for the average wage earner anymore. My young adult kids have often said they probably won't be able to ever afford to go when they get married or have families.
21stamps
Well-Known Member
Exactly.. I’ll continue below.
Our house in Cape May was 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths and the crazy outdoor shower room. It was on the water, and had a decent sized inground pool.
Those homes now are not at comparable to their pricing when I was child and my family owned one (they wouldn’t have owned one if the pricing was similar to today’s prices) even to rent one for a week is something that I haven’t been willing to do yet when I figure in all other entertainment expenses associated with the trip.
Point being- it’s a lot more expensive than when I was a child. It also comes out to a higher cost than Disney when comparing entertainment expenses vs entertainment expenses of Disney park tickets.
I also grew up staying at the Poly from 1978 on, and I disagree that most Disney visitors were staying at those resorts at that time. I think the bulk of park visitors were staying at nearby hotels. The Disney resorts were expensive for that time period as well. So were tickets, which is why my parents always bought extra every year to save for the future. My siblings still have some left, I have used all of mine as of November 2017.
I think people try to rewrite the past of Disney into something that it never was.
GoofyPalWalt
Member
I have lived 20 miles from NYC all my life and would do anything to NEVER go there. Comparing NYC to Disney is like comparing McDonalds to a 5 star dinner. There is no place like Disney, never was, never will be. Have done Universal several times in the past 5 years and still always say "It's not Disney!" when I'm there. Yes, it is more expensive than probably any other place dollar for dollar but what you get in the whole package for that dollar can't be compared. Yes, it is more crowded than it has been in the past, some things don't seem to be as magical as they used to be but this is the result, and a consequence, of success. They are working hard to upgrade and expand facilities to correct these shortcomings. There, I've had my say and I'm not even a CM!