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Seriously?

Laketravis

Laketravis

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So I thought, it's been a while since I've booked my favorite two week combination of resort, park tickets, and dining. I figured I'm not getting any younger so let's do it again, right?

Except...........you've got to be kidding me. $23K for something I used to be able to do for a fraction of that (for 3 of us, not just 2).

I think this illustrates the current problem.

1785633245518.png
 
D

drizgirl

Well-Known Member
Laketravis said:
So I thought, it's been a while since I've booked my favorite two week combination of resort, park tickets, and dining. I figured I'm not getting any younger so let's do it again, right?

Except...........you've got to be kidding me. $23K for something I used to be able to do for a fraction of that (for 3 of us, not just 2).

I think this illustrates the current problem.

View attachment 933204
Click to expand...
But... you can save $25 by booking your photo package now!
 
RememberWhen

RememberWhen

Well-Known Member
nickys said:
That has to be for a club level suite, doesn’t it?
Click to expand...
Doesn’t appear to be. I went online to see and the room is just $1200/night. For two weeks that adds up pretty quick. Then add on the dining plan and 10 day park hoppers and there you are.
I agree that that’s a lot of money. I would love to spend two weeks in a theme park view room, but there are a lot of other things we can do with 23k. If you have the expendable income to make that work, fabulous. If not, a Savanah view room at AKL will run you about $19500. Club level at Coronado springs is $17800. And there’s always All Star Sports coming in at $8800.
I’d do that last one, personally and spend the extra elsewhere.
 
jgrant.med

jgrant.med

Member
It's always felt like UK guests get a good deal, but the prices have still jumped considerably. Trying to plan a visit with my Parents & argue value for money has proved challenging. They haven't visited since 2001, so whilst they accept living costs have doubled since then due to inflation, they're struggling to understand how WDW prices have ballooned so much.
For example, POFQ in 2013 for 2 weeks cost us £2'100 from the UK (park hopper tickets, quick service dining plan, magical express & a $200 dollar gift card). Next year would be £5'300, but you've lost the Magical Express / gift card & now have to pay for Lightning Lane.
I can understand how many are being forced to stay off site or at other resorts.
 
Blinkyrob

Blinkyrob

Active Member
While I agree that prices have gone through the roof you’ve definitely chosen a crown jewel of lodgings. It’s not an ideal situation but maybe compromised split stay where you start at AKL or somewhere slightly more on budget and then finish the vacation on a high with 2-4 days resort view contemporary?

It’s just a thought…

Honestly, the room for us has never been more than a glorified base of operations to sleep, shower and then get back into the trenches. When considering lodgings I try to take a step back and think about how much ROI I’m going to get for the actual amount of time we will spend there.
 
JIMINYCR

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
Same old story. Name me one thing that hasn't had an increase in price in your daily life. Tell me you haven't expected a raise in your pay over the years while the employer who employs you didn't raise their costs to afford you to stay employed. Yes Disney has increased their rates as have all the others. Why should Disney not turn a profit or expect income to assist in the expansion of their parks and add attractions. Construction costs have gone through the roof. Their other costs to operate have not remained the same either.
Bottom line is to go to a different resort, cut out PH, cut out dining plan if it's too costly for you. We all choose how expensive a trip we book might be and if its unaffordable then adjust your plans.
 
jgrant.med

jgrant.med

Member
JIMINYCR said:
Same old story. Name me one thing that hasn't had an increase in price in your daily life. Tell me you haven't expected a raise in your pay over the years while the employer who employs you didn't raise their costs to afford you to stay employed. Yes Disney has increased their rates as have all the others. Why should Disney not turn a profit or expect income to assist in the expansion of their parks and add attractions. Construction costs have gone through the roof. Their other costs to operate have not remained the same either.
Bottom line is to go to a different resort, cut out PH, cut out dining plan if it's too costly for you. We all choose how expensive a trip we book might be and if its unaffordable then adjust your plans.
Click to expand...

I certainly am not blind to inflation and the fact that things cost at least half as much more than they did 10 years ago. That said, Disneys product costs have increased way above these rates.

Based on overall US inflation over that time period, the 2013 trip cost I quoted should be ~£3500 today, not £5600. £3700, if I factor in the considerably worse GBP:USD rate today compared to back then. Products elsewhere seem to have increased a fair(er) amount.

It either makes the 2013 cost incredibly good value or today's... less generous. I'm still going to visit WDW because I love it, but I do it feel slightly shortchanged these days.

I appreciate those are conflicting positions, but thats life.
 
C

CAV

Well-Known Member
Yes, its crazy. I can remember when I made less than $75K a year. I would save to afford to stay in deluxe resorts. It was expensive to me, it was stretching my budget, but there was value. Now that I make 5 times that amount, I don't even consider deluxe resorts. There is just no way I can justify spending that much money on a room.
 
T

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
I’ve never been able to justify full price at monorail resorts, however garden room rooms, and “discounted” rooms (when discounts are available all year round that’s not a discount, that’s the baseline rate, Disney just chooses to not release them first come, first serve) are ok.
 
Laketravis

Laketravis

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
drizgirl said:
Disney should put some of you folks on staff.
Click to expand...

Right? I'm aware of many ways to make that two week stay "cheaper" (which would only further illustrate how we've been robbed of value over the years) but my point was that's the exact combination of room/tickets/dining I used to book for three people at a fraction of the current cost for two.

In fact, I was even banned from another popular forum for showing how you could save thousands on a WDW vacation. But only a few on this forum remember that :)
 
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experiment624

experiment624

Well-Known Member
I don't know if this plays a role in this discussion, or if it is common knowledge..... but just wanted to add: 10 years ago Florida minimum wage was about $8/hr, today it is $14/hr and by the end of September (2026) it will be $15/hr. (Nearly doubled in 10 years.) Several years ago, state of Florida voted to increase minimum wage to $15/hr so it has been increased each year on Sept 30 by $1 till it reaches the new $15 minimum. This has created a domino effect. Businesses charge more to pay their employees the higher wage, people (in FL) have more money to spend, "non essentials/luxury" items, like theme parks and dining, prices increase (thanks to supply and demand), and higher pricing trickles to everyone visiting Florida. That is on top of the inflation seen everywhere.

I'm obviously not an expert on Florida economics or any economic for that matter, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say to expect more price hikes as minimum wage increases again on Sept 30.

This is just my theory on how WDW inflation has outpaced inflation anywhere else.
 
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T

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
While not disagreeing that it’s expensive, it still breaks down to 22783.5/13 days/3 people=$585 a day for lodging, food and entertainment. Given that you’re staying at one of the most expensive rooms on property when you think about it that way, it still sounds reasonable. It’s just you’re doing it for 13 days, most Americans can’t get a vacation that long and wouldn’t consider staying at WDW for that long. I did a 10 day trip once, and it was almost too long, my typical trip is only 6 nights (though I occasionally extend it by 1 or 2 days.) I get that you’re hopping the Atlantic, and agree 2 weeks is the right size trip for that long of a flight, but there is so much more to see and do in this country, WDW is a short drive away from some amazing beaches, the most storied Spaceport in human history, and additional theme parks.

Direct flights are available to New York, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Charlotte, Washington DC and Dallas and in addition to those cities having tourist things to do, they are also major airline hubs who will certainly have direct flights back to London. US domestic flights are considerably cheaper than international flights.
 

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