ripoff

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
Well, I define a ripoff when you are promised something have a reasonable expectation of something at a given price, and then that something does not live up to your expectations.

Like when you pay $5 extra to see the sideshow at the carnival, and all it is, is a guy lifting up empty car battery shells with his nipple rings.

or

When you book a hotel on line and it looks like a great deal for the price, but then when you get there, your balcony opens onto the blank wall of the next building 3 feet away, which serves as a highway for palmetto bugs.

I have been to WDW enough to know what it costs and what I am going to get. SO in that sense it is not a ripoff. However, as of late, it is continuing to go up in price and down in value. Push it far enough, and I may decide to stop going.

-dave
Agree completely. On my last trip we went to ESPN and a dinner consisting of at best fair burgers (Pecos Bills would have been better) and dropped just shy of $100 including 18% tip. Service like the food was at best adequate. I felt ripped off.

The following morning I went to WCC had an incredible breakfast with unbelievable service and spent about $110 including 40% tip. I felt like I got over on them.
 

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
Well, I define a ripoff when you are promised something have a reasonable expectation of something at a given price, and then that something does not live up to your expectations.

Like when you pay $5 extra to see the sideshow at the carnival, and all it is, is a guy lifting up empty car battery shells with his nipple rings.

or

When you book a hotel on line and it looks like a great deal for the price, but then when you get there, your balcony opens onto the blank wall of the next building 3 feet away, which serves as a highway for palmetto bugs.

I have been to WDW enough to know what it costs and what I am going to get. SO in that sense it is not a ripoff. However, as of late, it is continuing to go up in price and down in value. Push it far enough, and I may decide to stop going.

-dave

Dave, you really hit the nail on the head with your response. I wasn't feeling the right term for what the hubby & I feel would be "rip off" but there is a very, very obvious gap growing between price and value. Even with the fab discount I scored at AKL for next week a stay at the Waldorf Astoria, a true luxury/deluxe resort in every sense, is over a thousand dollars less for the same time period. I understand at the Disney resorts you pay for the immersion, the transportation, yadda-yadda-yadda, but still it makes you really think. Are the discounts really the value we think they are? I'm not so sure. :D
 

DisneyJoe

Well-Known Member
Good call.......... I never felt like i was being ripped by Disney before.........Until this past Saturday when i took my daughter to see "Disney On Ice". Don't get me wrong it was a great show and the ticket prices were reasonable. You walk in and are bombarded by people wanting to take your pictures so you can buy a $30 package of 4x6 pictures. We are in our seats and the popcorn guy comes down the aisle.....I ask for one....he says $12!!! I'm going.....$12??? He says yes, it's a take home tub with Mickey Mouse on it.....LOL... $15 for a tiny program, $25 for a princess light up wand. You get the idea...

This isn't just Disney, just about every stadium or arena event will hit you big time for souvenirs and concessions.
 

EaglesfanNJ

Active Member
This isn't just Disney, just about every stadium or arena event will hit you big time for souvenirs and concessions.

You are absolutely correct, i hope i was not coming off like i was isolating Disney, i didn't mean to sound like that. I'm a season ticket holder for the Philadelphia Eagles as well, believe me, i know all about the stadium/arena prices. I spent a small fortune this season! I was pointing out too that $12 for a tub of popcorn because you can take it home and has a picture of the Big Cheese himself on it, was also ridiculous......but again you are right, that's any arena event!
 

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
You are absolutely correct, i hope i was not coming off like i was isolating Disney, i didn't mean to sound like that. I'm a season ticket holder for the Philadelphia Eagles as well, believe me, i know all about the stadium/arena prices. I spent a small fortune this season! I was pointing out too that $12 for a tub of popcorn because you can take it home and has a picture of the Big Cheese himself on it, was also ridiculous......but again you are right, that's any arena event!


Yeah, very true. The MIL treated my family to a Houston Rockets game last season. We went out to eat before and stuffed our bellies. I felt lucky to get out of the Toyota Center having only spent about $50 on snacks/drinks for the kids. LOL!
 

Tinkwings

Pfizered Fairy
Premium Member
In the Parks
No
I am super frugal with my day to day things...do not pay retail...do not buy impulse wise....live simply. Do I feel I am being ripped off at WDW? No...I cannot put a price tag on the experience as a whole....like the poster above who said not in emotional value...it is priceless to me....I do use reward dollars to pay for our food and look for values on hotel and airline and usually do well there....don't go overboard on buying merchandise ever....peeps either get it or they don't....those friends of mine who share my fascination with the whole concept mutually understand to NOT mention it much around others who don't and certainly don't discuss cost....:lookaroun....my BIL at Christmas when someone mentioned their sister went 37 times...rolled eyes and said we don't DO theme parks....but then again I don't think of WDW as how they envision a theme park....they have never been there....and compare to Cedar Pointe or Seaworld....places I have been but don't think about going back to ever...I seem to feel most of the people I know who think it is a huge ripoff have never actually BEEN, although some for ONE day....they cannot understand and I have accepted that. But then again they spend much more money on other things I would never want or need....expensive technology, cars, jewelry, clothing etc....
 

Mr Toad

Well-Known Member
The only rip off I see is the "entertainment" tax by Prince George County in MD for my Redskins season tickets :lol:.
 

MSaboCLBR

New Member
yes, I have.

I take a baseball team down to play at the Wide World of Sports every year. It is a great experience for the team and families. As part of the tournament the players and coaches must purchase a package through something called Disney Sports Travel. It includes 5 nights of hotel, 3 day park hoppers, and admission to the WWOS. I have no problem with that, the prices for the package are generally right in line with everything else.
The problem I have is that we upgrade these to 4 day hoppers to fill the time and then most families want to upgrade again to a 5 day hopper if they get in early or leave late. To upgrade from a 4 day to a 5 day hopper on the package with everything else being the exact same was $32/ticket. Any normal pass has a price difference of $6/ticket at the gate for this upgrade. As a team we spend over 20K just on the hotel packages and Disney wanted to hit us up for an extra $26/person.
 

DizneyPryncess

Well-Known Member
Well, you cant just hold that down to Disney....I feel like the insurance company is ripping me off...the gas company is ripping me off....the phone company, the guy who just snow plowed my road....the guy who cuts the grass, the cell phone company....the grocery store....the guy who sold me out xmas tree this year.....the girl who waxes my eyebrows...the girl who cuts my hair....the barber who cuts my sons hair....the movies! MY GOODNESS! ITS $9.50 for a movie now! THATS being ripped off!

I could go on and on here, so ya know, lets be fair. :lol:

Haha, I totally agree. :D So many things seem expensive today. Disney doesn't really bother me, as I know what things cost and I know what I'm getting myself into. The only thing that really really bothers me, is paying for tickets to not expire. I really miss the days when you could buy a hopper and use it on multiple trips without paying hundreds extra.
 

Rinx

Well-Known Member
You all bring up several good points. I think pin trading is one of the biggest rip offs in Disney. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE IT!!! I'm an avid collector and it's totally addicting, but the prices are outrageous. They upped them a few years ago too. I mean the pins cost from 6.95 to 14.95 and I doubt the cost of making one pin is higher than 2 or 3 dollars. But once you're in, you're in :lol: They know what they are doing.
 

Mouse Man

New Member
There is so much to do and see at Disney that if you did it all you would be completely wiped out and require a vacation from your vacation. Honestly the DWF and I get to our Resort we choose and get the DDP to go with our stay for 10 days. The laughs and exercise and meals and shows is over whelming but most of all when we go to bed at night we give each other a kiss good night snuggle in together and can't wait to do it all over again the next day. To me this is priceless.
 

Pumbas Nakasak

Heading for the great escape.
Disney is not a rip off, the reason it costs $5 more for a margarita than at Universal is that the glasses are hand polished, the ice icier and every drink poured with a flourish and filled to the brim with magic.
 

mousebymarriage

Active Member
Unfortunately I think that most forms of entertaiment have become a "rip-off" lately. Look at the cost of movies (we have 1 theater here that is $12 per adult because the theater is in the mall, the one that is not in the mall is still over $10). The cost of other amusement parks like Six Flags are also ridiculous. Oh and forget about taking the kids to a sporting event (pro-teams) you need to sell your soul to afford that. Last season we took DS8 to a Devils Hockey game , now we got the tickets for free but...

-$25 to park
-$10 for a program
-$5 for a small cup of ice cream no toppings
-$26 for (1 hot dog regular size, 1 order chicken fingers (there were 3 smallish ones in there), a small fry (and I mean small), and a bottle of water.

- The look on my sons face when we sat 9 rows behind the goal and could practically touch his favorite player Martin Brodeur (goalie) = PRICELESS!!!

The sad thing is that with the economy the way it is these venues keep raising the prices of everything making it almost impossible for families to attend.
 

puntagordabob

Well-Known Member
We always say to ourselves that the cost of our tickets (premium annual passes in our cases) do not cost enough for them to really keep WDW going strong and also to add new innovations, attractions, etc.... so we try to be more understanding with the cost of some of the items there...

IF you Love Disney, then support it....We do, so we do!
 

Jasper Dale

Member
WDW is one of the greatest values in the world! how anyone could consider it a ripoff boggles the mind. where else on the planet can you settle down in your hotel room, and have access to FOUR theme parks with transportation to and from your hotel?

we travel a lot and i find WDW to give me the most "bang for the buck" of any destination. if you have had enough of the Magic Kingdom, you can be in Epcot World Showcase immersed in another culture just like that.

yes, some things are overpriced. however, the parks themselves are a super value. you will spend over $150.00 a ticket for a lousy 90 minute show on the strip in Vegas. you try and go anywhere for 7 or 8 days and be entertained for under $500 bucks.

i am so grateful that there is a place we can go for a reasonable price and get away from the cares of the world!
 

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