Is Disney Expensive?

[draybook]

I priced our upcoming trip in September. Since we're a family of 6, we have to get a room that Disney says accommodates us. Therefore, the cheapest room I could find was at All Star Music. For 9/2 - 9/16, it's $4281.24 just for the hotel. I didn't add tickets because we have APs. That's an average of $285 a night at a VALUE resort. You can make all of the comparisons you want, that is expensive. If you drop the 2 off of that price, I can get a 4/2 pool house with full amenities and just minutes off-site.

The question becomes, is it worth it? Well, we wouldn't have bought APs if we didn't think that the overall experience wasn't worth it. Is it worth overpaying to stay on-site so we can get a few extra magic hours per week? Depends on the family, but to us it's not. Add to that that the "free dining" has been grossly overpriced recently, so that's no longer worth it to us either. I mean that overall it's highly discounted, but not worth balancing it out by paying more for the room and such. To each their own, though.

 

[21stamps]

Sure it's expensive and value has decreased substantially in recent years, but I still think Disney still compares favorably against other forms of entertainment.

An One Day Peak MK ticket is $129; they are open 16 hours tomorrow, yielding a per hour cost just over $8.

An One Day One Park peak Universal Orlando ticket is $124; they are open 13 hours tommorow, yielding $9.50 hour (more than Disney!)

Average movie tickets are about $9; with the average movie clocking in at 2 hours, that's $4.50/hr.

Average NFL ticket was $172 last season, average game length of 3 hours yields $57.

Average weekend golf green fee is $36; at 4 hours, that comes out to $9/hr.

The average runner in the Boston Marathon is shelling out around $45/hr for the "fun."

San Diego Zoo comes out to $5.40/hr based on their hours tomorrow.

Your average Broadway show is over $100 now and being generous at 2 he's in length with intermission yields $50/hr.

Obviously a number of things can influence these comparisons, it doesn't factor travel or food costs, nor does it consider opportunity costs of waiting in line, but you get the picture.

The seats I always get at my stadium are $300.. 300 to watch my NFL team lose, while freezing in the process..but I do have my $15 pre mixed margaritas to drink..

Here’s my $15 premixed moonshine cocktail at a recent hockey game. Not an NHL team, so tickets are relatively cheap..but add in obnoxious food prices, drinks, and parking- you’re suddenly close to the cost of a Disney day (if holding a multi-day ticket).


Point being- Entertainment is Expensive, not just Disney.

 

[allgiggles]

....
In terms of my headliner wait time comment, let's take a look at Epcot. Currently the three big attractions have the following wait times:

• Frozen Ever After - 60 minute wait
• Test Track - 125 minute wait
• Soarin - 80 minute wait

Due to the tiered nature of fast pass, you would have to wait at one or two of these if you wanted to do them all. In this case you would be waiting over two hours, which is higher than my original stated 60 wait time, but it was an example.

Finally let's address queues. Let's take a ride with a ton of interactive queues (Haunted Mansion). Currently the wait is 50 minutes. Can you breakdown for me how the queue provides say 20 minutes worth of entertainment for you (excluding the pre-show where you get into the stretching room)?

You wouldn't *have* to wait 2 hours. Get a FP for Frozen, do Soarin' at rope drop, do TT at the end of the evening (after 8:30 since everyone is migrating to WS for Illuminations) and your total wait time for all three combined is less than an hour -- possibly even less than 1/2 an hour. And we've even managed to get in line for TT at 8:20 and be off in time to walk up to WS and watch Illuminations.

 

[allgiggles]

The seats I always get at my stadium are $300.. 300 to watch my NFL team lose, while freezing in the process..but I do have my $15 pre mixed margaritas to drink..

Here’s my $15 premixed moonshine cocktail at a recent hockey game. Not an NHL team, so tickets are relatively cheap..but add in obnoxious food prices, drinks, and parking- you’re suddenly close to the cost of a Disney day (if holding a multi-day ticket).
View attachment 276210

Point being- Entertainment is Expensive, not just Disney.

Yes! We go to a few minor league hockey games each year. We're fortunate that the company my husband works for has club level box seats so we get those tickets and parking for free (if we were buying tickets our options would be $15-60/person plus $20-40 for parking). However, we still spend a a lot of money on food and drinks just to have a small meal! Because we have the club level seats, we can get a "discount" meal ticket....$21.50 for a combo meal (think Disney QS) and a bottled drink. If we ordered from the club level servers and had everything brought right to our seats, we'd be paying even more. I'm willing to get up and walk 30 feet to one of the food service locations. A bottle of soda or water is $5. It's a fun night out and we always have a good time, but we know it's going to cost us at least $150 for our family to go to a "free" hockey game. Granted, we wouldn't *have* to eat there, but that's part of the fun. Entertainment is expensive!

 

[thomas998]

LA to Orlando on View attachment 276137American, $293 r/t (mid-range prices, there are some cheaper, and some more expensive)
LA to Tokyo on View attachment 276138American, $773 r/t (mid-range prices)

The ~$500 difference is one night at the Poly in cheap season, four nights for a family of four, so I'm not sure Tokyo is "VERY expensive" for Americans to access...

You've used prices that are a bit skewed... Most people on this board aren't living in LA or they would likely be on a DL site... If I use a more realistic starting point in the US like Chicago the Chicago/Tokyo is about 1200 while a Chicago/Orlando is 250..... If I use New York then Tokyo is 1000 and Orlando is under 200... You using LA is almost as bad as if you had decided to use Hawaii where Tokyo is under 700 and Orlando is over 800.... Reality is for most people in America the cost of going to Tokyo vs Orlando is more than 400 dollars probably would average out closer to 800... though even using your unrealistic 400 dollar difference you then have to multiply that by 4 which is probably the average size of a family. So now you're wasting wasting 1600 on travel.... Using more realist numbers your family will be out 3200 in travel costs... Sorry but either of those numbers is considerable and is worth a lot more than a one night Poly stay. If the only difference in travel cost for my family to Tokyo was $400, then we would have already been there and back several times.

 

[thomas998]

You wouldn't *have* to wait 2 hours. Get a FP for Frozen, do Soarin' at rope drop, do TT at the end of the evening (after 8:30 since everyone is migrating to WS for Illuminations) and your total wait time for all three combined is less than an hour -- possibly even less than 1/2 an hour. And we've even managed to get in line for TT at 8:20 and be off in time to walk up to WS and watch Illuminations.

Might be a plan if you were fortunate enough to get a FP for Frozen and were willing to spend an entire day at EPCOT... but out last trip we couldn't get a FP to Frozen and can never justify wasting an entire day at EPCOT. Just not enough there unless its your first time to spend an entire day. As I think about it I am even getting a bit burned out on some of the pavilions at EPCOT as some don't seem to have changed even the merchandise they sell in over a decade.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Just to put it into prospective we really have to add in what it would cost to get to Tokyo to pay that lower price. Comparisons have to be about specifics related to the likeliness to actually go there. If you live in Japan it is a good price, if not it isn't. When you take an hourly rate and extend all of them out to equal time, it's not expensive per hour, just the up front "ticket" price that can kick you into a coma. It ends up being if we think it is worth the money, it is a good price and if we don't then we have to ask ourselves why we pay it and not think it is worth it? Doesn't that go against all common sense?

It would cost you a lot to fly to where I live, rent a car, and stay in a hotel to visit my local Six Flags.

That doesn't make Six Flags expensive.

Recall that the title of this thread is, "Is Disney expensive?" It's not, "Is traveling to Disney expensive?"

 

[Goofyernmost]

It would cost you a lot to fly to where I live, rent a car, and stay in a hotel to visit my local Six Flags.

That doesn't make Six Flags expensive.

Sure, but, I would have absolutely no desire to go to YOUR six flags, or any other as far as that goes. So, can't use it as a comparison. The only reason I would go to Japan (been there years ago, Uncle Sam paid my way) would be to see Tokyo Disneyland so that has to be included in the cost of the overall trip. Just like so many stay in a Disney resort when they have other options. It still is a vacation cost. So my trip to your six flags would be unbelievable expensive unless I could stay at your place and borrow your car. Then it might be doable.

 

[ELG13]

I think vacations in general are expensive. Period. Wherever you go. For us, Disney is close enough that it make sit worth it versus what we could do 15 minutes down the road. When I was a kid we did a trip every spring break to Orlando or Tampa for the parks. Every spring break. And every summer we did a week at the beach house with some other relatives. My parents were not rich. But things cost significantly less back then. Family vacation is important to me bc I have SO MANY MEMORIES. So I guess you can say that yes, Disney is expensive. But so are beach vacations and sporting events and groceries, and gas, and power bills. Everything is expensive comparatively speaking.

 

[21stamps]

It would cost you a lot to fly to where I live, rent a car, and stay in a hotel to visit my local Six Flags.

That doesn't make Six Flags expensive.

Recall that the title of this thread is, "Is Disney expensive?" It's not, "Is traveling to Disney expensive?"

I always see people say how cheap Six Flags is.. I just looked up the one nearest to me (Illinois) out of curiosity.
Holy cow it IS cheap!! It’s literally half the price of Cedar Fair parks.. and their ‘All Season Dining’ is a steal!..and includes snacks!!!

I wish Cedar Fair would do the same. Is there really a big difference between the 2 companies?

 

[ELG13]

I always see people say how cheap Six Flags is.. I just looked up the one nearest to me (Illinois) out of curiosity.
Holy cow it IS cheap!! It’s literally half the price of Cedar Fair parks.. and their ‘All Season Dining’ is a steal!..and includes snacks!!!

I wish Cedar Fair would do the same. Is there really a big difference between the 2 companies?

The six flags close to me in Atlanta is cheap. But still not worth the money lol. They put free kids tickets on coke cans. We went once a few weeks after Disney and holy cow...it was so different. Obviously we knew it would be, but it was frustrating trying to get on a ride but then a group of 30 people who bought fast passes jumps to the front. I will never go to the Six flages here again.

 

[21stamps]

Yes! We go to a few minor league hockey games each year. We're fortunate that the company my husband works for has club level box seats so we get those tickets and parking for free (if we were buying tickets our options would be $15-60/person plus $20-40 for parking). However, we still spend a a lot of money on food and drinks just to have a small meal! Because we have the club level seats, we can get a "discount" meal ticket....$21.50 for a combo meal (think Disney QS) and a bottled drink. If we ordered from the club level servers and had everything brought right to our seats, we'd be paying even more. I'm willing to get up and walk 30 feet to one of the food service locations. A bottle of soda or water is $5. It's a fun night out and we always have a good time, but we know it's going to cost us at least $150 for our family to go to a "free" hockey game. Granted, we wouldn't *have* to eat there, but that's part of the fun. Entertainment is expensive!

Exactly!

The company I work for has diamond seats for the Reds, so I ask for them quite often.. sometimes I get the tickets, sometimes I don’t.. but besides parking, that’s the ONLY time that I can attend a game without spending a minimum of $100.. and if I actually paid for those tickets myself well.. wait, I wouldn’t, so it doesn’t matter.

Me and kiddo are attending a soccer game tonight.. I don’t expect for it to be an inexpensive evening..even though the tickets were reasonable. Again, similar to an entire day at Disney.
I think if people were honest with themselves and what they spend on entertainment, they’d see that Disney does hold a ton of value comparatively.

 

[21stamps]

The six flags close to me in Atlanta is cheap. But still not worth the money lol. They put free kids tickets on coke cans. We went once a few weeks after Disney and holy cow...it was so different. Obviously we knew it would be, but it was frustrating trying to get on a ride but then a group of 30 people who bought fast passes jumps to the front. I will never go to the Six flages here again.

We have Fast Lane at Cedar Fair parks too.. people are always complaining. Drives me nuts when I’m stuck in line in front or behind one of those people.lol

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

You Betcha.

In all honesty this question is purely subjective. The only thing that can be defined is the actual cost to get into a Disney Park. If you have a 1 day pass it is a little over $100 per day - if you have a 3 day PH its about $63 per person per day. For me, that doesn't seem expensive.

Everything else is up to you. You can stay at a Hampton on Palm Pwky for $100, in a motel on 192 for $50, or on-property for anywhere from $150 -$600 and up (and there are a whole lot of options in-between). You can eat QS or splurge for TS, or eat off property at places that will feed a family of 4 for about $50 for dinner.

Some people drive, some people fly - but gas, tolls, airline tickets aren't set by Disney.

Disney is only "expensive" based on what your definition of that word means. And, if you are spending more than you can afford to spend. But again, you control a lot of that.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

If you have a 1 day pass it is a little over $100 per day - if you have a 3 day PH its about $63 per person per day. For me, that doesn't seem expensive.

A 3-day hopper is $370 + tax, where are you getting one for $63 a day?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

When Disney is compared to comparable activities for the average lengths of stay - yes, it is quite expensive.

When it an apples to oranges comparison - like broadway or an nfl playoff game - you can get an argument to where you want it to be.

Regional amusement parks are expensive for what they are - but 1-2 days at most. The average WDW on property stay is just under 7 nights.

It’s all about framing/perspective...people have to decide what’s best for them.

 

[ELG13]

We have Fast Lane at Cedar Fair parks too.. people are always complaining. Drives me nuts when I’m stuck in line in front or behind one of those people.lol

Lol!!! I don't mind the purchased fast passes everywhere. Six flags just drive me crazy bc the park isn't that great to begin with and then waiting in lines with zero theming for a ride that lasts 10 seconds....it doesn't bother rme at universal....I just can't stand six flags so...that's really my thing lol!!!

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

A 3-day hopper is $370 + tax, where are you getting one for $63 a day?

I wondered that too...that pics was from like 2006.

Florida rate, perhaps?

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

A 3-day hopper is $370 + tax, where are you getting one for $63 a day?

You are correct. When I logged it looked like it defaulted me to FL resident pricing (which isn't a PH). But even at $123.....I don't consider that expensive when weighing similar alternatives.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

You are correct. When I logged it looked like it defaulted me to FL resident pricing (which isn't a PH). But even at $123.....I don't consider that expensive when weighing similar alternatives.

Well you should...because $123 per day for amusement parks (cutting the crap) on a multi day is the gold standard in pricing. It used to be a great deal on multi day but they “did away” with length discounts a few years ago when they realigned the tickets.

I’m also curious as to what you consider “similar” alternatives