Just got back from my 11 day stay. We had a blast but feel extorted by Mickey Mouse.

[Sirwalterraleigh]

What’s wrong with Cosmic Ray’s?

It’s kinda “meh”...at best

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The price is taking its toll , me and my girlfriend go every year , 1st week of November. Been every year for the past 8yrs or so, 4 or 5 days , port orleans hotel, park hopper , deluxe dining plan . Spend about 2800$ roughly. Our next trip September 2020, 3800$ . BUT, we are staying at the Caribbean hotel. Getting $$$$$

Boy...she’s “patient”

 

[bryanfze55]

The price is taking its toll , me and my girlfriend go every year , 1st week of November. Been every year for the past 8yrs or so, 4 or 5 days , port orleans hotel, park hopper , deluxe dining plan . Spend about 2800$ roughly. Our next trip September 2020, 3800$ . BUT, we are staying at the Caribbean hotel. Getting $$$$$

Have you guys done the math to ensure the Deluxe Dining Plan is a good deal for you? That is a lot of food. Cutting that out might save you a lot of money.

 

[bryanfze55]

It’s kinda “meh”...at best

I agree, but I never found it much more offensive than other standard theme park food. Perhaps I should hold Disney to a higher standard than other “standard” theme parks.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I agree, but I never found it much more offensive than other standard theme park food. Perhaps I should hold Disney to a higher standard than other “standard” theme parks.

On quickserve...it’s always been tough

Disney doesn’t serve great quality quick...it was the sit downs that always shined.

But now the sit downs are overpriced generally across the board, and the quickserve has made some enhancements - but those prices are creeping to the 15-$20 range beyond the Aramark type stuff.

Dining used to be fun...not so much anymore

 

[Paper straw fan]

It’s kinda “meh”...at best

Isn’t that every quick serve?

I have my complaints too- it’s way too overcrowded now, the night functions used to be a way to bypass that (and the ungodly heat) some, but even those are now oversold and overcrowded, they seem to be going towards “shove some characters in little Bayleigh-Cayleigh’s face to make her parents ok with paying $50 a head for mediocre food” at restaurants (and I feel they’ll keep moving towards that over serving higher quality food). I mean I find some of the “they’re too PC!” Or “the lack of moving yeti ruins the roller coaster!” rather persnickety- but I guess everyone has their breaking point. We’re likely renewing passes and such thru 2020 but I’ve at least suggested we reevaluate renewing after that. There may just come a time where it’s not worth it anymore to me. And that’s all I can suggest- express your displeasure with your wallets. If enough people do, maybe they’ll be persuaded to change, and if not, well then at least you’re not continuing to throw good money after bad.

 

[Tom P.]

You have mentioned this a few times, but I cannot find anything even close to that when I look, and I look a lot, can you point the group in the right direction for these great deals on a rental house with pools

Dreams Villas, which is owned by some of the folks over at The DIS, offers 3- and 4-bedroom houses. Pricing varies based on the dates of stay, but there are many times when you can get a 3-bedroom villa for $89 per night.

 

[Darth Figment]

Have you guys done the math to ensure the Deluxe Dining Plan is a good deal for you? That is a lot of food. Cutting that out might save you a lot of money.

Yea , we thought about it . But we like to go to the higher end resturants . Any credits we have left we just stack up on snacks . Maybe kinda waste but there is not really much left over .

 

[Darth Figment]

Boy...she’s “patient”

Ha!! Loooooooong story

 

[BalooChicago]

It’s kinda “meh”...at best

Is there anywhere on property that has chicken nuggets that aren’t “meh”?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Is there anywhere on property that has chicken nuggets that aren’t “meh”?

No

...actually yes - Wolfgang pucks

 

[larryz]

As I am sure you realize POTC is a depiction of Pirate's attacking and sacking a town in the early 1700's. Having women with brooms chasing pirates and a chicken auction are historically inaccurate and a poster child for political correctness. We shouldn't be trying to rewrite history. Depicting things as they did or would have happened doesn't mean we don't agree they where horrible events and are glad things are different now.

The original ride had one of the less attractive women chasing a pirate as a joke.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Agreed. Every time we’ve vacationed somewhere other than Disney, it’s always been way more money. Not even in the same ballpark. So while Disney is expensive, I don’t exactly get why people think it’s way more money than another destination. From personal experience, it’s way way less.

Because lots of people think Walt would have kept ALL costs as low as possible, give it away because its Disney, and even the poorest of the poor could go to WDW. No one would have to save up or sacrifice for a trip, it would be affordable for at little to no cost. Profits should be nonexistent, wages would be as high as the sky, we would be giving everything away because its meant for the family enjoyment. Disney is greedy and the one business that shouldn't be run as a business, just think of the children who are missing out on a Disney vacation. The horrors.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Well I’m not sure where you stayed, but a Deluxe or Mod resort will certainly add up over 11 days! I’m going to go on a whim and say you stayed at least Mod for 11 days... I don’t think most people have the patience to stay at a Value that long.

Here’s how most families can afford it, including mine. We are basically a one-career family though my wife brings in side money:

1) Don’t stay 11 days. We stay for 7.
2) No park hoppers. They are a waste of money if you’re staying more than a few days. It’s too time consuming to jump between parks every day.
3) Don’t do the dining plan. Paying out of pocket is cheaper. Only do a couple table service meals per trip.
4) Don’t drink alcohol while at Disney. Ridiculously priced and in my opinion alcohol detracts from the magic. I certainly don’t expect people to share this view, of course.
5) Have a set souvenir budget and stick to it.
6) Drive, if possible. Not everyone can do this. We live 15 hours away and drive, though. This saves on flights but also in other ways. We can pack a large cooler. Thus, we take sandwiches into the parks and don’t have to buy much food at Disney. We can also comfortably bring our own stroller so we don’t have to rent one at Disney for our daughter.
7) If we stay on Disney property, we only do Value or campground. If I want a nice hotel, I’ll go offsite and pay half as much. We are all day park people. If I want a hotel vacation, I’m not taking one at Disney.
8) Memory Maker is nice, but we only did it on our first trip. It’s not necessary.

I’ve never paid more than $3,500 for a 7-day trip with 3 people (not including gas costs driving there and back). However, on our next trip we are looking to do DVC at Animal Kingdom Lodge, which for 7 nights will probably cost close to $2,000. A good deal but we’ll spend more than $3,500 that trip.

By the time you calc gas and wear and tear, I’m not sure driving is that great. If you just use the AAA cost per mile study, it costs $0.65/mile to operate a car.

If you have a 1,000 mile trip, you’re driving 2,000 miles. That’s $1300 to operate the car.

You also have to stop for food, snacks, maybe a hotel to break up the trip, and you have all the risks of driving. You also need to park when you get to Disney, which costs money.

I’d say conservatively you’re spending $1,500 to drive, if you drive your own car. Flying is so cheap now, you can routinely find routes to Orlando for $200/person. A family of 4 can easily make it there under $1,000.

 

[larryz]

By the time you calc gas and wear and tear, I’m not sure driving is that great. If you just use the AAA cost per mile study, it costs $0.65/mile to operate a car.

If you have a 1,000 mile trip, you’re driving 2,000 miles. That’s $1300 to operate the car.

You also have to stop for food, snacks, maybe a hotel to break up the trip, and you have all the risks of driving. You also need to park when you get to Disney, which costs money.

I’d say conservatively you’re spending $1,500 to drive, if you drive your own car. Flying is so cheap now, you can routinely find routes to Orlando for $200/person. A family of 4 can easily make it there under $1,000.

But that's not cash out of pocket... if you own your car free and clear, a lot of that $/mile is already paid for.

 

[bryanfze55]

By the time you calc gas and wear and tear, I’m not sure driving is that great. If you just use the AAA cost per mile study, it costs $0.65/mile to operate a car.

If you have a 1,000 mile trip, you’re driving 2,000 miles. That’s $1300 to operate the car.

You also have to stop for food, snacks, maybe a hotel to break up the trip, and you have all the risks of driving. You also need to park when you get to Disney, which costs money.

I’d say conservatively you’re spending $1,500 to drive, if you drive your own car. Flying is so cheap now, you can routinely find routes to Orlando for $200/person. A family of 4 can easily make it there under $1,000.

We typically spend about $300 in gas round trip since we take an SUV. I have a hard time believing I spend $1,000 on wear and tear. It’s a 2004, so I don’t think depreciation is much of a factor at this point. At worst, a 2000 mile round trip means I might have to replace this or that a couple months sooner than I otherwise would have. But i digress. At the end of the day, you’re probably right that driving doesn’t save a ton of money. For me, I prefer being able to drive on property so I would rent a car anyway upon arrival if I flew.

 

[Chef Mickey]

But that's not cash out of pocket... if you own your car free and clear, a lot of that $/mile is already paid for.

I don’t think owning the car or not factors into the calculation. According to AAA, the cost is calculated by factoring in things like fuel, depreciation, insurance, maintenance, repairs, tires, etc. If you’re paying $500/month on a car payment, that’s totally separate.

 

[Chef Mickey]

We typically spend about $300 in gas round trip since we take an SUV. I have a hard time believing I spend $1,000 on wear and tear. It’s a 2004, so I don’t think depreciation is much of a factor at this point. At worst, a 2000 mile round trip means I might have to replace this or that a couple months sooner than I otherwise would have. But i digress. At the end of the day, you’re probably right that driving doesn’t save a ton of money. For me, I prefer being able to drive on property so I would rent a car anyway upon arrival if I flew.

According to AAA, it costs $0.75/mile to operate a large SUV. I didn’t do the analysis, but people tend to ignore a lot of costs when they get into their own car and drive. Lot of costs are hidden...like buying new tires 2,000 miles sooner, getting another oil change, replacing a timing belt, battery, etc a little earlier. Miles cost money and depreciate the car faster too. You’ll be buying a car sooner the more miles you put on it.

 

[bubbles1812]

Do you have demographics on where those figures are concentrated and the relative income levels?

It’s not “1 out of 5” walking the street.

No I don’t, but I’m sure the information is out there. I live in Indiana, which generally has a higher level of smoking than the average. Think at last check, Indiana hovered around 21% as of stats from 2016. But even within the state, that’s obviously going to very. Point is though, a lot of people still unfortunately smoke

 

[larryz]

I don’t think owning the car or not factors into the calculation. According to AAA, the cost is calculated by factoring in things like fuel, depreciation, insurance, maintenance, repairs, tires, etc. If you’re paying $500/month on a car payment, that’s totally separate.

You don't figure depreciation unless ownership is involved.