the cost of disney

[chipndale09]

Hi,

Has the price of a Disney vacation gone out of whack??

We are avid Disney vacationers, we have been every year for the last 6 years and always stay on site, with dining plan, park hopper and more. However, due to logitical reasons, this time we will be off site but close to downtown. We have decided to eat and explore the World on the outside, i.e. boardwalk, downtown and resorts restaurants, no parks. While investigating ADR,S , i came across the individual resorts, The Contemporary is $1000/nite, many moderates are going close to $300/nite. is this crazy???

Has Disney become out of reach for average joe vacationer?? Being Canadian to boot, with the exchange, wow!!

Any thoughts has the pricing been deliberatly set at a higher level??

cheers

 

[ParentsOf4]

No, that's NOT what it's doing. I agree that a chart calculated as a percentage of hotel rooms would be very useful to this conversation.

As requested (), Disney's domestic hotel occupancy as a percentage:

 

[ParentsOf4]

Thanks! I think this just confirms that Disney does not have to lower prices, and that the increase in room rates has not negatively impacted occupancy rates. That's the point I was trying to make when replying to @chipndale09's statement, "it just seems prices are going up and up without any real reason.", and following discussions.

Should Disney lower hotel prices? Probably not. That's what "room only" discounts are for. They allow for real-time adjustments to real-time market data.

Should Disney slow down the rate of increase? Definitely yes. WDW hotel price increases were outpacing offsite options, resulting in more offsite stays.

In general, please be careful before jumping too far ahead based on one quarter of data.

My opinion is that the 1Q2015 occupancy rate was an outstanding number, the best in about 5 years. My opinion is that 2015 will be a strong year for tourism in Orlando. As a result, Disney should not change its pricing as long as it's willing to surrender a growing share of the market to non-Disney hotels.

Remember, theme park attendance was up an incredible 7% at a time when Disney converted Deluxe Resort hotel rooms into timeshares. Disney wouldn't be doing this if it actually thought it needed the hotel space. The jump to 89% is great for Disney but I'm not sure it was the result of a brilliant strategy on Disney's part or just a matter of what happened in the consumer marketplace largely independent of any action taken by Disney's management.

 

[DisneyDaver]

No that is not good business, that is greed for more money. We own a successful bouncy house, cotton candy face painting business. We are busy and we don't raise our prices just cause we have more rentals.

Disney is a publicly traded company. Management has an obligation to the shareholders to maximize profits which includes charging different rates for certain times of year. It's not greed ... It's the way public companies are obligated by law to be run. If Disney did not do everything to maximize it's profits, the management of Disney would be violating it's legal and ethically duties to it's shareholders. And if Disney can make the most money by pricing out the average Joe, then that's what Disney is obligated to do ... though I think the average Joe will always be able to afford a Disney vacation (just not certain resorts at certain times of year).

I suspect your company (like my company) is privately held so we sometimes sacrifice some profits for things we find more important.

 

[smk]

I agree it can be pricey. However, if we want to go, we save and we go. I do not need or want to spend a ton of money on a hotel room, values are fine. We do not go to every fine dining place on property, not our thing, not in our budget either. The prices have gone up, yup. I still cannot find another place for my entire family to vacation that is as cheap as WDW.

We don't go to a park every day, we relax, swim, relax, eat. I can stay at DTD for hours and not spend a dime, well, that will change in October because our grandson will be with us. However, I will set a budget that I am comfortable with and go over it I am sure. Sad that our yearly trips have taken a backseat to reality last year, but I firmly plan on an October trip. If I have to eat PB&J's the entire time there then so be it. I enjoy being there, the atmosphere, the whimsy.

We all vacation different, mine are escapes from reality, a nice road trip that I enjoy, and spending time with my family relaxing. Funny thing is we RARELY spend over 1500.00 for our entire trip. Guess we just make the most out of what we have.

 

[chipndale09]

thanks all for the interesting view points..as it turns out , i have been served my piece of humble pie. we have booked a Value resort to use as our homebase for my daughters golf tournis in the area. The all-star music was $40 cheaper per nite than the off-site hotel we choose, and we get to stay on site..again..Yay!!

however, we have several adr's (calif grill, artist point, Rag road etc..) but not using the dining plan, (not worth price, only eating dinners on site due to golf). Kinda curious if dining plan would have been worth it..??

 

[Master Yoda]

thanks all for the interesting view points..as it turns out , i have been served my piece of humble pie. we have booked a Value resort to use as our homebase for my daughters golf tournis in the area. The all-star music was $40 cheaper per nite than the off-site hotel we choose, and we get to stay on site..again..Yay!!

however, we have several adr's (calif grill, artist point, Rag road etc..) but not using the dining plan, (not worth price, only eating dinners on site due to golf). Kinda curious if dining plan would have been worth it..??

The only way to know for sure is to do the math.

You can always find a combination for entree, drink and desert that will exceed the cost of the plan. To get a more honest comparison you need to look at the menus of the restaurants you will be dining at, add up what you would normally order and see how it compares to what the DDP will cost you.

 

[chipndale09]

The only way to know for sure is to do the math.

You can always find a combination for entree, drink and desert that will exceed the cost of the plan. To get a more honest comparison you need to look at the menus of the restaurants you will be dining at, add up what you would normally order and see how it compares to what the DDP will cost you.

can you procure DDP without park tickets??

 

[Master Yoda]

can you procure DDP without park tickets??

Not really. You can get it with an AP, but you must have a room booked at an AP rate or the "AP annual rate" (full price) to get it without tickets.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Not really. You can get it with an AP, but you must have a room booked at an AP rate or the "AP annual rate" (full price) to get it without tickets.

Something I've always wondered: If a promotion (let's say dining plan discount) is announced beginning on a certain date and I check in the day before, am I eligible for the discount for those days covered by the promotion, or am I excluded because my check-in date falls outside of the window?

 

[Master Yoda]

Something I've always wondered: If a promotion (let's say dining plan discount) is announced beginning on a certain date and I check in the day before, am I eligible for the discount for those days covered by the promotion, or am I excluded because my check-in date falls outside of the window?

You have to do a split stay to get the promotion where you technically check out and then back in on the day the promotion begins. The con to this is you will not have tickets or the dining plan on that first day unless you get a one day ticket.

 

[chipndale09]

Not really. You can get it with an AP, but you must have a room booked at an AP rate or the "AP annual rate" (full price) to get it without tickets.

no wories...we have done it in the past...one year we split our disney vacay. 5 days then left for a golf tourni, came back for 3 more. However, due to Dinsey Dining restrictions we were not able to do the DDP on the back half. It was a little more expensive, but you take a different approach to the menu. Some resto's the appetizers alone are a meal.

 

[TheDisneyDave]

Last year with my fiancee (not including flights), we spent around $1500 all-in for a hotel for 5 nights, 5 days at the parks, food, etc. Disney is affordable- you just have to be smart about it.

 

[grim-grinning_toast]

Has Disney become out of reach for average joe vacationer??

This a frightening reality, it seems. I've been boasting about our most recent purchase of a Disney vacation for four days, with flight included for both of us, running at just under 700 dollars. But then I realize that we also have annual passes, and those are SO expensive! Whenever I think about how often we go to Disney World, I always remember how it's the number one place many children with terminal diseases wish to visit. I think over the years it has become way less attainable for the average family, you're exactly right.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

This a frightening reality, it seems. I've been boasting about our most recent purchase of a Disney vacation for four days, with flight included for both of us, running at just under 700 dollars.

How did you pull that off? That's roughly what I have budgeted for food.

ETA: Not to you directly, but also important to this whole conversation is that the average family is absolutely horrendous at personal financial management. Piles of student loans, car debt, vacation debt, mortgages above their means, etc. I don't think Disney is out of reach for the average family's income, but I think it is certainly out of reach for the financial position in which most folks have put themselves.

 

[grim-grinning_toast]

I'm just as surprised as you are! Our room was 411 (All Star Music) and our flight was 280, roundtrip from PHL to MCO. Like I said, we don't have to buy tickets so that always helps, but this is by far the cheapest we've ever done it. March 16-19, I guess it helps to book weekdays, especially right before Spring Break!