WDW - the cheap vacation

[Mouse_Trap]

We booked a 4 day, 3 night stay, play, and dine package at the Animal Kingdom Lodge in late January for two adults for a ditch-the-kids-with-grandma getaway. Total cost for vacation, minus alcohol? $1800 plus $400 in airfare. So, $2200 for a guaranteed great vacation with great accommodations, great food, great entertainment. We have $900 in Disney Dollars from our visa card, so thats a huge cut right off the top, but I won't factor that in right now.

We figured there has to be a closer, better value, adults only vacation for the same time, right?

All inclusive sandals? $3k.
A drivable ski resort vacation? $2500-$3k AND that doesn't include all of the food and entertainment! Most of those packages include breakfast or lunch or maybe a spa credit or lift tickets.
Vegas? cheaper hotels, but once you factor in flights and entertainment its in the same ball park. So, here we are going back to WDW because its cheaper than alternatives for a guaranteed good vacation.

When you compare WDW to other comparable vacations, its an amazing value. Where's the basis for the ticket price increase hatred? It seems to me that it may even be under priced when you consider the cost of comparable entertainment and resorts in other parts of the country.

Sorry, couldn't disagree more. $600 a night for 2 people is not cheap at all. If it's good value is completely subjective, but I'd say very poor value.
Which room is it at AKL. Maybe if you've booked a Savannah view or something then that partly explains it....but not if its a Car Park view room.

If that the prices your getting quoted for a 3 night stay at a ski resort, that's crazy. Try a different resort or a better travel agent.

By comparison, my folks have just gone on an week long 5* all-inclusive. 4hr flight, all food drinks (inc alcohol), & entertainment (granted not Disney standard) included for $425 each. Oh and you can swim in the sea. That's 7 nights not 3 nights, so more than twice as long. The hotel I think it looks a bit generous calling it 5*, but it certainly is of GF or AKL standard.

Oh and the ticket price increase hatred of late is for APs. We haven't seen a regular ticket increase for a few months, but no doubt theres one coming.

 

[DrummerAlly]

Sorry, couldn't disagree more. $600 a night for 2 people is not cheap at all. If it's good value is completely subjective, but I'd say very poor value.
Which room is it at AKL. Maybe if you've booked a Savannah view or something then that partly explains it....but not if its a Car Park view room.

If that the prices your getting quoted for a 3 night stay at a ski resort, that's crazy. Try a different resort or a better travel agent.

By comparison, my folks have just gone on an week long 5* all-inclusive. 4hr flight, all food drinks (inc alcohol), & entertainment (granted not Disney standard) included for $425 each. Oh and you can swim in the sea. That's 7 nights not 3 nights, so more than twice as long. The hotel I think it looks a bit generous calling it 5*, but it certainly is of GF or AKL standard.

Oh and the ticket price increase hatred of late is for APs. We haven't seen a regular ticket increase for a few months, but no doubt theres one coming.

Our trip is for a standard view room. We've been upgraded to Savannah view before so we figured we'd chance it again since theres so many great spots in the resort.

So I guess there's a few things at play here, but mainly a location question. Were your parents out of the country for that vacation? A longer vacation usually will be cheaper per day, so that also takes into account some of it.

I used the word "cheap" but what I should have said was "cheaper for the quality". The resorts that I were looking at were Smuggler's Notch in VT and the Mt. Washington Omni resort in NH, as well as smaller high end winter resort New England vacation type places. I did quite a bit of research at multiple resorts and those are the prices - seriously. Resorts in New England are very expensive. The rooms are out date and unless you enjoy skiing or freezing your bottom off (which we don't), entertainment options are very limited and fairly low quality.

 

[Ralphlaw]

The word "guaranteed" is important. I could book lots of vacations more cheaply that look probably okay, but WDW is about as guaranteed as it gets for a great vacation without a lot of hassle. I can, for example, spend a few days in any American city or destination with a cheaper hotel, but what is the "guarantee" of a good time. For example, San Francisco is a great city, but will I be able to easily see everything? Will I be paying through the nose for a cab every time I want to go somewhere, like from Golden gate bridge, to presidio, to Fisherman's Wharf, to Chinatown, to a show? How much time will be wasted in traffic? What will it cost to get to/from the airport? What will it really cost to eat, and will I be able to get in? And will my hotel really be as good as it sounds? With Disney, no such worries, and I won't waste time stuck behind a garbage truck or at a hop on-hop off bus stop.

Also, add the little free extras at Disney like the electric water parade, the CMs drawing mop portraits on sidewalks, and watching people who aren't scary. One of the free extras is seeing kids(and a few troubled adults) dressed up like princesses and pirates. And along that line, remember that New Years day is Who Years day at Epcot. Dress up in your favorite Dr. Who garb and receive a free smile from the likes of me.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

On the low end, a Disney vacation is a pretty good value. It is when it moves towards the upper end that Disney's prices vs quality starts to unravel. For the money of the monorail resorts, I can go just about anywhere and get a nicer room for a better price.

 

[DfromATX]

I agree! I've been researching/comparing vacations for next summer. Here's what I found to be about the same price (not including 2 travel days):

5 glorious days at Disney World, 4 days at Atlantis, 3 days at Disneyland, and a 7-day cruise (we can drive same day of departure). I'm not saying they were economical by any means, but Disney gets a bad rap for being too expensive. (I guess the cruise was the best value, but we did that last summer so no one voted for it. It's a toss up between WDW and Atlantis.)

There are 2 destinations that truly are WAY more expensive than any of those - Hawaii and Europe! Some day...

 

[cjack300zx]

We use our tax returns to pay for our Disney vacation, we also plan it the year before that way we can set back money each week. We stay at the Disney value hotels because all we do there is the four Ss

 

[DrummerAlly]

The word "guaranteed" is important. I could book lots of vacations more cheaply that look probably okay, but WDW is about as guaranteed as it gets for a great vacation without a lot of hassle. I can, for example, spend a few days in any American city or destination with a cheaper hotel, but what is the "guarantee" of a good time. For example, San Francisco is a great city, but will I be able to easily see everything? Will I be paying through the nose for a cab every time I want to go somewhere, like from Golden gate bridge, to presidio, to Fisherman's Wharf, to Chinatown, to a show? How much time will be wasted in traffic? What will it cost to get to/from the airport? What will it really cost to eat, and will I be able to get in? And will my hotel really be as good as it sounds? With Disney, no such worries, and I won't waste time stuck behind a garbage truck or at a hop on-hop off bus stop.

Also, add the little free extras at Disney like the electric water parade, the CMs drawing mop portraits on sidewalks, and watching people who aren't scary. One of the free extras is seeing kids(and a few troubled adults) dressed up like princesses and pirates. And along that line, remember that New Years day is Who Years day at Epcot. Dress up in your favorite Dr. Who garb and receive a free smile from the likes of me.

This hits what I've been feeling pretty much on the head. Guaranteed is absolutely the operative word. I know exactly what I'm getting at WDW and it can still be unique and different each time. I often see groupons for all inclusive resorts all over the world for way less than a WDW vacation. What bothers me is the question marks - what am I going to get when I get there? Am I going to have a shady cab ride through the ghetto to get to the resort? bugs? thieves?

Even those nice resorts in our area of the country - what the heck are we going to do when we get there? Am I going to drive all over creation just hoping to find a cracker barrel for breakfast? This is why I end up at WDW all the time.