Is Disney Pricing themselves out of the Middle Class???

[Britt]

We used to hit WDW once or twice a year and buy Annual Passes every couple of years to get three vacations out of it - late summer, fall, early summer. We'd stay at a deluxe once then value for the other two trips. Then we downgraded sticking to the annual passes but always staying at a value resort. And occasionally we'd throw a 3 or 4 night Disney Cruise on a good year.

2013 will be the first year in probably 20 years where we're just doing a short cruise instead of staying at WDW. Park admission is out of control. A huge bummer but know that we're just going to have to vacation differently to get back to WDW.

Are you doing a Disney cruise?
I've always wanted to do a cruise...any cruise. LOL Little afraid of sea sickness though!

 

[Lil Fort]

I have yet to book our trip for this year, but I just priced it on the Disney website. We are RVers and we always stay at Fort Wilderness. We don't do DDP and free dining is never offered for the campground because you can have up to 10 people on a campground reservation, so we generally eat some meals in the RV and pay the rest out of pocket and with the Disney Dollars we earn over the year from using our Disney Visa
Our trip breaks down like this:
$911.00 for a premium campsite for 10 nights (keep in mind that is what we pay for just a concrete slab and water, electric and sewer hookups)
$758.84 for 8 day park hoppers for the hubbs and I.
$500.00 for food (this is an estimate, I'm have never kept track of exactly how much we spend on food)
$250 for golf cart rental (campground transportation)
$2419.84 for ten magical days. Not too bad... BUT...

We also have to consider the travel expenses... The RV doesn't get the best gas mileage - only about 8-10 mpg. We are about 3000 miles round trip, so gas is about $1000-$1200. It also takes us three days to get there in each direction, so we have to figure in the expenses of staying overnight for 6 nights along the way. That runs about $300 (at least most normal campgrounds don't charge $91/night like Disney does)

Soooo... the grand total is between $3750 and $3950 for our trip. And that is for what most folks would consider 'roughing it'! Like I said... I have yet to book our trip for this year.

 

[Magenta Panther]

What stumps me is how Disney LOVES to increase prices on everything and yet they're paying most of their employees barely above minimum wage. I love working for Disney, don't get me wrong, but there's a problem when I spend a day's worth of money on gas that will last me a week, commuting back and forth from work. I'm a college student, so I'm not complaining, since I'm just treating this as a hobby, but I wish they would just pay a bit more!!!

I hear you. There can be no doubt that Cast Members enhance a visitor's stay at WDW quite a bit. And the more dedicated and experienced a Cast Member, the better the service he/she delivers. I think it's shameful that Disney pays so low. Every time a good Cast Member quits, Disney loses the skills and experience of that Cast Member, and that affects the overall service quality at the parks. I hope that someday Disney will realize how shortsighted their pay scheme is, and remember what Walt himself once said about (and to) Cast Members:

"It is you who will make Disneyland truly a magic kingdom and a happy place for the millions of guests who will visit us now and in future years. In creating happiness for our guests, I hope that you will find happiness in your work and in being an important part of Disneyland."

 

[Jimmy Thick]

What stumps me is how Disney LOVES to increase prices on everything and yet they're paying most of their employees barely above minimum wage. I love working for Disney, don't get me wrong, but there's a problem when I spend a day's worth of money on gas that will last me a week, commuting back and forth from work. I'm a college student, so I'm not complaining, since I'm just treating this as a hobby, but I wish they would just pay a bit more!!!

If you feel underpaid, why not find a different job?


Jimmy Thick- Yes, its that simple.

 

[Jimmy Thick]

Disney is charging what the public is willing to spend. If the parks and hotels were empty, which they are not, Disney would change their pricing.

Disney has every right to make a profit on what they offer. If what they offer is not worth the price, or if you feel you are being priced out of a vacation, or you feel you don't get as good a value from a Disney vacation, your only solution is to take your money elsewhere. If you really want to make a statement, make it with your hard earned dollar. Please take it elsewhere.

I on the other hand, will continue to enjoy the parks with a huge smile on my face, arm around my wife feeling the Disney spirit.


Jimmy Thick- Shoo, shoo...Begone!!!

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

And a casual assault on other guests.
James Moron stings like a butterfly floafs like a turd

 

[real mad hatter]

Are you doing a Disney cruise?
I've always wanted to do a cruise...any cruise. LOL Little afraid of sea sickness though!

No way will you get me on a cruise.I had friends who went on a med cruise which was ok till they sailed out of the med into the Atlantic heading for Tennerife, they were sick for three days.I once sailed from Turkey to Rhodes and the waves were bigger than the boat.Worse is I can't swim.

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

No way will you get me on a cruise.I had friends who went on a med cruise which was ok till they sailed out of the med into the Atlantic heading for Tennerife, they were sick for three days.I once sailed from Turkey to Rhodes and the waves were bigger than the boat.Worse is I can't swim.

Too many cooties in a close knit area for me to go on a cruise!

 

[MITCH 112198]

I have yet to book our trip for this year, but I just priced it on the Disney website. We are RVers and we always stay at Fort Wilderness. We don't do DDP and free dining is never offered for the campground because you can have up to 10 people on a campground reservation, so we generally eat some meals in the RV and pay the rest out of pocket and with the Disney Dollars we earn over the year from using our Disney Visa
Our trip breaks down like this:
$911.00 for a premium campsite for 10 nights (keep in mind that is what we pay for just a concrete slab and water, electric and sewer hookups)
$758.84 for 8 day park hoppers for the hubbs and I.
$500.00 for food (this is an estimate, I'm have never kept track of exactly how much we spend on food)
$250 for golf cart rental (campground transportation)
$2419.84 for ten magical days. Not too bad... BUT...

We also have to consider the travel expenses... The RV doesn't get the best gas mileage - only about 8-10 mpg. We are about 3000 miles round trip, so gas is about $1000-$1200. It also takes us three days to get there in each direction, so we have to figure in the expenses of staying overnight for 6 nights along the way. That runs about $300 (at least most normal campgrounds don't charge $91/night like Disney does)

Soooo... the grand total is between $3750 and $3950 for our trip. And that is for what most folks would consider 'roughing it'! Like I said... I have yet to book our trip for this year.

We do the same thing you do when we go with the in-laws every other year. but as for staying at the other resorts which we do with my parents, if it;s not free dining, I won't book, thats why in 3 weeks I'm taking the kids on a Carnival cruise for 7 days for 1500.00 cheaper than disney. We were such big Disney people.

 

[Alison1975]

Feels like most people in this thread are 'upper-middle class or "firmly" upper-middle class'. I don't have a comment, I just find that to be pretty incredible.

My family of 5 last went at Christmas in 2011. We rented DVC points, stayed at Kidani in a studio, paid OOP for food and shared quite a few meals, did not get hoppers, drove down from Indiana, and we stayed 5 nights. We spent about $2,800 which seems to be one of the smaller amounts I've seen so far on here. We went every year from 2006-2011 but we've been priced out at this point. A lot of that is putting money into the kids college funds and providing them new clothes and food. I'd say we could go back every 3 or 4 years but, honestly, the attractions are what drives the kids to want to go and there aren't enough new ones of any substance to capture their vacation attention any longer. When they build a couple more E-ticket rides then I could see it being relevant to them again but, best case scenario, that will be 5 or 6 years from now, 2018 or 2019. 6 years may not be that long to Disney managers that get an annual salary and have all the incentive in the world to prolong projects to delay the judgements on the completed works ('how can you evaluate my work when i'm not finished yet???'') but to a now 6 year old the difference between being relevant in 2013 and 2019 is another lifetime.

We are NOT upper middle.. we are def lower middle class.. we just live life very within our means..

 

[draybook]

I agree. I need a telescope to see the people in upper class. Hell, I'd still need binoculars to see the middle class folks. I put in about 55 hours a week at work, on average, and I haven't broken six figures yet. I'm not complaining, just putting it out there. We just live within our means and save for our trips. That's why I'm going back to school to get my Computer Science degree.

And I love when people say, "just find another job", as if we're talking about picking out a new shirt at a store. I've got military experience, along with about 10 years of customer service experience and 3 1/2 years leadership experience. I put in applications with just about every company that was hiring in the Memphis area, along with some that were "taking applications". The one place that called back was Taco Bell. Yes, I said Taco Bell. Now, I was just looking for a side job for some extra money, but "finding a different job" isn't as easy as you might think it is.

 

[Alison1975]

I agree. I need a telescope to see the people in upper class. Hell, I'd still need binoculars to see the middle class folks. I put in about 55 hours a week at work, on average, and I haven't broken six figures yet. I'm not complaining, just putting it out there. We just live within our means and save for our trips. That's why I'm going back to school to get my Computer Science degree.

And I love when people say, "just find another job", as if we're talking about picking out a new shirt at a store. I've got military experience, along with about 10 years of customer service experience and 3 1/2 years leadership experience. I put in applications with just about every company that was hiring in the Memphis area, along with some that were "taking applications". The one place that called back was Taco Bell. Yes, I said Taco Bell. Now, I was just looking for a side job for some extra money, but "finding a different job" isn't as easy as you might think it is.

Ditto...we are a single income family of 6.my husband works a blue collar job and puts in 55-60 hours a week. We just live debt free and very within our means. And i feel that a Disney vacation ( esp when you go for more than 7 days and get free dining) is super economical. roughly $65 a day per person to stay play and eat.. cant barely go to a local baseball game for under $100 so yep... this is economical for us!

 

[xdan0920]

I posted this comment over in the DVC section a few days ago


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With their nickle and diming, WDW has broke me of just about everything EXCEPT my F&W addiction. My wife and I are going in November for a weekend - we will buy some F&W merchandise and will do events and tastings, but thats it. We will have non-hopper length of stay passes, and will be in EPCOT only. I doubt we will hit DTD or anywhere else, nor will we be even looking at any non-F&W merch. I also think we will buy less - if items are $20, i really have no problem with buying 5 or 6 of them, but when they make them $50, after one overpriced purchase I walk away. We will also will not be going with the family this summer. We are skipping a year and banking points. The insane pricing, loss of quality, and general feeling of "how can we squeeze every nickel out of you" attitude has really soured me on WDW as of late. I used to go 3 -4 times a year, and somtimes just fly down for weekends to run in RunDIsney events. Nope, not any more. We will pop in for F&W every so often, and do a family vacation every 2 or 3 years now.
----------
It is not so much the cost - we can still afford WDW. It is the cost to value as compared to other vacations. I no longer feel like WDW is a "resort vacation". The first time I went as an adult with kids, I went with the idea of "OK, this is for the kids" and I ended up enjoying it way more than I thought. It was the level of service, the staff, the cleanlines of the resort (not just the parks, the whole place), the attention to detail, and the reasonable (sort of) pricing. After part admission, flights, and lodging were paid for, you could have a decent vacation without having to reach for your wallet at every turn.

Now it feels like every time I turn around WDW is increasing the price of something, food, TiW cards, park media, tours, etc. All in little, but frequent, amounts. While this has been happening, the resort has lost a lot of its "polish".

I still enjoy WDW, and we will continue to go back every so often, but they have - at this point - lost me as a major multi-trip customer. There are many other places I can go, where I can get the same or much better service, for less money.

-dave

Great post.

My wife and I are also DVC owners. We only have 170 points a year, bc there are only two of us, and that's all we need. However, we now are sitting on 328 points with a new use year nearly set to start. Neither one of use really has any desire to head to the parks right now, but we need to use up some of these points, so we are going in April.

We were looking at the cost of WDW tix and dining for April, and we are still going to wind up spending a fortune. And for what?! Essentially the same experiences we got 2 years ago? I do not see the value in that. So, new plan, we are staying at WDW but spending our days at Seaworld and Universal. Park tickets are cheaper, and at least we will be experiencing new things. After this we are renting out our points for the foreseeable future. WDW has a long way to go to recapture our vacation dollars.

 

[Todd H]

For a family of three we usually spend around $2000 for a five day-six night stay at Pop. Even then we usually wait until there is a decent discount. This is probably our last year going for a while. I'm working on my MBA (let the MBA jokes commence ) and money will be tight for the foreseeable future.

 

[xdan0920]

For a family of three we usually spend around $2000 for a five day-six night stay at Pop. Even then we usually wait until there is a decent discount. This is probably our last year going for a while. I'm working on my MBA (let the MBA jokes commence ) and money will be tight for the foreseeable future.

Better keep that under wraps. If Patty finds out about this she is going to come after you harder then she went after corn that one time.

 

[sgtmgd]

This is an interesting thread....Disney has always been and will continue to be expensive. Yearly trips would be senseless unless you (and the members of your family) truly love what Disney means, afterall there are far less expensive vaction options that are also enjoyable. I dont agree however that Disney has priced themselves out of the middle class. What other company offers you 18 months to pay off a vactation experience like Disney? There are multiple options Value/Moderate/Deluxe..take all the pros and cons...but if you simply want a room to sleep in...a value resort with DDP and park hoppers and 18 months to pay it off....well thats a monthly payment that should offer families flexibility with lower medium incomes. Bash the dining plan all you want but not having to wory about food while there IMO is a huge benefit...this leaves you whatever means of travel and the expenses to cover them. While at Disney you have to manage whatever spending money you have allocated and "the occasional drink or snack" that isnt covered under the dining plan. I always hear the argument of "just set aside the money..put it on cards...on and on..." In my experience that rarely works for most americans that live pay check to paycheck...life will eventually jump up give you some reason to dip into those funds....another reason why I like the 18 months to pay these things off and arrive in Disney knowing exactly wha tI have to spend..

Im fortunate enough at 43 after 23 years in the military as an enlisted soldier and now working as a GS11 not to "have" to rely on these things..but I still use them. I have a 2013 trip booked for xmas 2013 at the Boardwalk that was booked the day I hit the 18 month mark..by the time I depart in December the trip will be payed including the Deluxe dining plan for the 5 of us. Useing the full 18 months I have maxium flexibilty to pay this trip off and not dent me day to day living. WE are also considering heading down for a weekend in September for the Villians party..that trip would be less lavish by far...I would probably do a moderate or see what "deals" are around in the renting of points from DVC. Speaking of which I also like that I could cancel my reservations right up to late November with little penalty...so if by chance I saw a great deal on points to rent from DVC..I could use that option...sometimes with a huge savings attached..you can also get the dining plan through them as well.

managing money is never easy and a vaction like Disney can be pricey..but its about what level of priceyness you want.....whichever way you go....at least you could take 18 months to pay it off


Example..if you took a trip for a week and spent $5,000.00 which is genrerally more than what people list here..minus the RV'ers that equates to $277.00 a month for 18 months

a $3000.00 equates to 166.00 a month..

just my 2 cents..

 

[Alison1975]

We love the fact I can send money each week "south" this is what makes Disney available to us. with 4 kids and a grandson on the way if I had the money sitting here it would be gone..but it's "south" and my trip in Sept is already 1/2 paid for because of this option!

 

[bdearl41]

A trip to WDW should not be the same price as a trip to Europe. And I don't know how many people would consider a trip to Europe "affordable".

Right now you can go to places in Europe for cheaper,especially if you are in the northeast where flights to Europe are just as much as to Orlando.

 

[DfromATX]

Are you doing a Disney cruise?
I've always wanted to do a cruise...any cruise. LOL Little afraid of sea sickness though!

You should give cruising a try! We took our first one last summer and loved it. There's so much to do for everyone, including children. We worried about getting sea sick and feeling cramped up - no worries! Not one of the 6 of us got sick and as a precaution there's motion sickness medication available (Bonine). We live in TX, so we cruised on Carnival's new Magic ship out of Galveston. It was beautiful and huge! I don't know about other cruise lines, but Carnival works just like Disney as far as making payments up until your deadline. They also have a website with a forum just like this one, so you can ask all the questions you want.

 

[powlessfamily4]

I wasn't aware lawsuits were that common and rx

I assure you lawsuits are happening on a daily basis. Not just lawsuits from guests from workers also. It is very common in any large corporation. Health Insurance is another huge obstacle.