Is Disney Too expensive?

[DarthVader]

First, I'm not trying to troll anyone or intentionally trigger folks, but hear me out. I have a vacation scheduled for February vacation, so I'm not taking this lightly.

Just using broad strokes, my February vacation at POR for 9 days is budgeted to be about 14k (everything, food, universal, misc exp). Back in 2017 the same resort, same park tickets and length, etc - I paid around 6,500. Now that 14k was going to be 16k but I was able to use skymiles for the flight down.

Sticker shock really doesn't describe what I'm feeling and in all honesty there's a level of sadness because I really do feel like Disney is pricing this out of reach. I also have the very real sense of them nickel and diming us at every step. Free services have been replaced with ones that cost us money.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Your post is just one of many similar ones with this same topic appearing on this site. Its being hashed out repeatedly. Theres a lot of animosity surrounding Disneys policy changes, their price increases and their add on costs. If you find Disney is now unable to give you value for what you pay and you feel its gotten to be too expensive, then choose another vacation spot.
Youre going to get lots of the same people whove answered all the other posts with their anger at Disneys pricing commenting bad feelings and youll get lots of Walt wouldnt do it this way and Chapek has ruined Disney.

 

[DarthVader]

Its being hashed out repeatedly. Theres a lot of animosity surrounding Disneys policy changes, their price increases and their add on costs.

Oh really, I had not realized. Maybe i'm wrong, but given that this sight has many people coming and going as their vacation draws close, you get a transitory type of viewership. I myself seem to trail off on activity in direct proportion to planned vacation.

If you find Disney is now unable to give you value for what you pay and you feel its gotten to be too expensive, then choose another vacation spot.

The wife and I are seriously talking about that as we speak. Part of the issue I'm having is the feeling of disney trying to squeeze every red cent out of their customers - its leaving a bad taste in our mouth. I'm not anti-disney, and I really don't want to cancel it, but 14,000 dollars (at a moderate resort) seems, well too expensive.

Youre going to get lots of the same people whove answered all the other posts with their anger at Disneys pricing commenting bad feelings and youll get lots of Walt wouldnt do it this way and Chapek has ruined Disney.

Perhaps, but talking about it will help everyone and provide some insight and perspectives that I might not be aware of.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Not saying you shouldnt post. Just saying your post is probably not going to get any different responses than have already been posted before. Use the search function and youll find many of the same.

 

[Disneybob1957]

We’re been to Disney 20 times we were looking at going in March for 7 days but after looking at what we get now compared to 2019 when we were there last and we would have to pay 2000euros more I think however time at Disney is over

 

[FloridaJT]

I agree with your sentiment, and obviously your expense comparisons demonstrate it clearly. We just got our annual passes back after canceling due to the pandemic last July. We are Florida residents (2 adults and a 5 year old child) who live about 3 hours from the park. Our passes are now more expensive with less benefits, but we still bought them. We also made our first trip back to the parks last week. One of things we really enjoy is dining in the parks. We hit Tiffins, Liberty Tree, Tony’s, Brown Derby and Mama Melrose. Prices seemed slightly higher than pre-pandemic, but we still dined at all of them. Also had to pay for Genie+ but we did, each day. We even bought the individual lightning lane for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. So I guess they haven’t priced us out yet. I guess the market will bare out if they’re too expensive overall, but I doubt it, right now anyway.

 

[Dave B]

CANCEL< That is a ridiculous price, if you go you are telling Disney it is ok to pay that price, DO NOT GO

 

[MissViv]

I can't even imagine paying $14,000 for a vacation!!

I have been to Disney many times but usually just 4 or 5 nights. I guess I have never seen the value in spending $$$$ for over a week.

 

[GimpYancIent]

I do not view a vacation anywhere in terms of just $$$$$$. How badly do I want to go and have the experience (that specific vacation) and is the quality / value worth the money? I have spent way more than 14 big for a vacation the key being I enjoyed it and feel I received my money's worth. As it stands right now my last trip to WDW several months ago did not give me that I enjoyed myself and I got my money's worth feeling. So, any possibility of any trips to any Disney properties are now off the table. There are many vacation locations out there that are quality, fun and do not leave the guest feeling assaulted by pick pockets.

 

[crawale]

First, I'm not trying to troll anyone or intentionally trigger folks, but hear me out. I have a vacation scheduled for February vacation, so I'm not taking this lightly.

Just using broad strokes, my February vacation at POR for 9 days is budgeted to be about 14k (everything, food, universal, misc exp). Back in 2017 the same resort, same park tickets and length, etc - I paid around 6,500. Now that 14k was going to be 16k but I was able to use skymiles for the flight down.

Sticker shock really doesn't describe what I'm feeling and in all honesty there's a level of sadness because I really do feel like Disney is pricing this out of reach. I also have the very real sense of them nickel and diming us at every step. Free services have been replaced with ones that cost us money.

You are correct. It is not so much the cost but the fact that Disney has used Covid to stop 'perks' and replace them with charges for items. We have been going since 1986 and even though it was not cheap we felt like it was worth the money. Now I feel like the sole aim is to squeeze as much out of guests as they can. Whether or not one can afford it is immaterial, for those who are OK with getting way less and paying way more - good luck to you. I just like to feel that the enjoyment was worth it.

 

[John park hopper]

My son his wife and 2 boys age 4 and 3 just got back (yesterday) they stayed I believe at the Hilton (Disney Springs) he is a Dimond club member and has Hilton points (from his job) so it cost him nothing. He said buses from the hotel ran every 30 minutes. He said the MK and HS were jam backed and if you don't have a smartphone you are out of luck. They did Genie and stand by wait times he said were insane 2 hours for Jungle Cruise and costs were insane 6 bucks for a Mickey bar and 12 bucks for a bucket of popcorn. My son said without the free lodging they could not afford it (they are middle class) they will be going back one more time when the boys are older to do AK and EPCOT but that will be it for them. Might add he remembers us taking him when FP were used he said he preferred FP He said with Genie if you didn't get on the phone at 7am you were out of luck. Yes Disney is too expensive

 

[Lilofan]

I can't even imagine paying $14,000 for a vacation!!

I have been to Disney many times but usually just 4 or 5 nights. I guess I have never seen the value in spending $$$$ for over a week.

When the Bungalows on the water at the Poly opened up a few years ago, room rates were approx $2K per night so that is already $14K for a 7 night stay and that's only for lodging.

 

[DarthVader]

So the Wife and I have been talking and I brought the kids into the conversation as they're 16 and not really kids. I wanted their input, suggestions and thoughts because they've been very excited for Disney.

I offered two alternatives, such as removing Universal from our itinerary, some dinners/shows and what not and we certainly can make the trip more affordable. That was option A.

Option B is that we book a trip to Hawaii in the summer. I did some very preliminary numbers, i.e., just googling packages, airline flights and and what not and the cost of a 10 day vacation to hawaii is cheaper then the 9 day Disney trip.

Now some clarifications, the Hawaii trip will most likely turn out to be just as expensive if not more, depending on if you island hop, you pick a lot of shows, etc etc. So I'm not looking at this strictly as selecting Hawaii because its cheaper but rather a new experience and something fresh for the girlies.

So far they've voted overwhelmingly for Hawaii since we've been to Disney several times. Prior to this discussion, I had cautioned them that the Disney parks will be exceedingly busy - in February - if you look at any resort for 02/18 -> 02/26 there's not a single Disney resort available. I've never seen that in my life (I know there may still be some resorts closed due to the pandemic). Speaking of the pandemic, my kids are a bit more cautious about being shoulder to shoulder with so many people and in many situations in a crowded building. That was a major concern for them (and the wife and I as well).

Finally, people that we know have recently returned and have reported a less then magical time, some even reported that the CMs being short and/or on the rude side which is REALLY surprising. I'm thinking (and hoping) that's just an odd situation that is not a trend.

Overall, we all love Disney, and we've gone there almost every other year or every 3rd year since my kids were little but given how Disney priced themselves out of the middle class, it was time for something new. I'm not cancelling this vacation as a form of protest nor am I under any delusion that my cancellation will be felt by Disney, but rather as others stated above - finding a vacation/trip that we as a family feel it will be value for our money and time. Especially since I've been saving up for this since 2018.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Is Disney too expensive?

The answer to this is different for everyone.

There are different factors that will determine the answer for a given family.

1. The amount of disposable income you have. If cost is not a factor, those folks will go whatever the cost or experience is. Obviously not too expensive for these folks.

2. The frequent returning guest; still has the money to do it, over time saw prices for everything go up and the guest experience go down and at some point, since they saw it all many times before, decide to use their money elsewhere. Technically not too expensive for these folks, they just elect to go some else.

3. There are folks that simply do not have enough t disposable income or maybe can scrape it up; WDW today, with its limited offering, I would say these folks would fall into the “Too Expensive“ categorory.

4. The first timers , perhaps have the money or could scrape it up, never been to WDW and have nothing to compare to, well they will find out for themselves after they get back home if it was worth it and the answer will be different for each. These are the folks Disney wants and there are plenty of them.

 

[DarthVader]

The answer to this is different for everyone.

Of course it is, but I think we can make one assumption (at least I have). And that is is Disney too expensive for the average middle class family and using that as the measuring rod, I would say yes.
Disney World is getting so expensive that it's pricing out the middle class
The dream Disney World vacation is too expensive for the average American family
Has Disney World Become Too Expensive?

 

[John park hopper]

Is Disney too expensive? only you can answer that. There are many things in life I would like to have but for me they are too expensive ----for some one else it may just be chump change. Life isn't fair never will be

 

[JIMINYCR]

Of course it is, but I think we can make one assumption (at least I have). And that is is Disney too expensive for the average middle class family and using that as the measuring rod, I would say yes.
Disney World is getting so expensive that it's pricing out the middle class
The dream Disney World vacation is too expensive for the average American family
Has Disney World Become Too Expensive?

Why am I not surprised that youve come up with this. After less than one day. Bringing in all the classic statements including trashing CM's, thats good. And you said you werent trolling or trying to trigger folks.

 

[DarthVader]

all the classic statements including trashing CM's, thats good. And you said you werent trolling or trying to trigger folks.

Sorry if that did trigger you, but given what you posted earlier I'm not surprised - you didn't seem too happy that I posted a negative thread.

I do regret brining up the CM issue, as that should be a separate discussion and is not really germane to this topic, I suppose what I was trying to convey is that those folks who my wife and I know have reported disappointed trips was all the more frustrating when they factor in the higher cost of the vacation. Again as as I said I have to believe that experience is in the minority and hopefully a rarity.

Why am I not surprised that youve come up with this.

There's nothing to come up with, the numbers speak for themselves, a quick google of disney too expensive, led me to those links. One of which is from a Disney fan site (allears.net) So don't shoot the messenger - There's no denying that Disney is more expensive. You can choose to defend disney's decision, but please don't defend them by just saying I'm trolling.

I'm only posting what is readily available by way of google, and what I mentioned as I stayed at the POR a few years ago and its like 50% more expensive for my 2022 trip. That's not trolling, that's facts.

My cancellation is but a drop in the bucket, they will not even notice. As a Disney fan, all I can do is lament at what appears to be Disney pricing themselves out of my vacation and other middle classes folks.

There's not much more I can say - other then, good luck on everyone's trips here - I hope you and other folks who have posted here enjoy their WDW vacations and stay safe and well during this pandemic.

 

[LeighM]

I just got back from our WDW trip. I still love Disney, the parks, and resorts but there was something missing this trip. Maybe it was because we didn't feel like we got full value from the costs we spent - full rack room rooms, increased food costs, tickets and Genie Individual Lightning Lanes, multiple ride breakdowns, etc. We only had a couple of CMs with attitudes, one of which was directed at me and I thought was completely unnecessary as I wasn't doing anything wrong. But I put it down to him having a bad and didn't let it affect the rest of my trip. Most of the cast members I interacted with were wonderful. I had no issues with any transportation this year to and from the parks or resorts. Honestly, my issues with Disney the last few trips have stemmed from follow vacationers with a bad attitude or sense of entitlement. I'll definitely go back to WDW again because I love it. But, this trip definitely has me eyeing other vacation spots, which is something that was hard for me to do previously bc I wanted to stay in the "bubble." I'm still trying to figure it all out.

 

[DarthVader]

but there was something missing this trip

That's what I'm sort of worried myself. I put it this way to my kids once they said they preferred a trip to Hawaii over WDW (I held back so they'd form their own opinions) - my concern was that we've had nearly perfect WDW vacations in the past and when you're at the pinnacle the only place to go is down. I was worried that this trip could be less then magical in that sense.

My concerns were
1. Budget, as its been discussed in this thread.
2. Crowds, I've never ever seen every single resort on property fully booked.
3. Excessively long lines, thanks to #2 AND the fact that there's no longer a free fast pass system. People's trip reports here and from friends bear this out, wait times measured in hours instead of minutes for many rides

vacationers with a bad attitude or sense of entitlement

That certainly can put a damper on your own vacation. While we've heard of Karens (what's the male version?) before It seems so people coming out of the quarantine of 2020 have been rude and selfish.

Perhaps when my kids graduate HS (just a couple of years from now), and conditions change to make it a bit more value we'll return.

The sad part is that Disney isn't alone in the gouging department. Airlines were also a major factor to my re-thinking. All of I heard was in 2020 and 2021, was how airlines were hurting and were desperate for travelers, That never really materialized for me. A one way trip to Florida was in the 2k range and even then I had to fly out of a different airport in a different state and the destination was Tampa not MCO given the exorbitant cost or a Bos to MCO flight For context, I'm used to flying round trip from Bos to MCO for 1,000 to 1,500 (for a family of four)

In an odd twist, flights to Honolulu (from Boston) can be had for as low as 1,500 dollars (one way) I find it really disheartening that a flight down the eastern seaboard is 2x that of a flight basically a quarter way around the globe.