WSJ: Even Disney Is Worried About The High Cost Of A Disney Vacation (gift link)

Vegas Disney Fan

Vegas Disney Fan

Well-Known Member
Tom P. said:
Perhaps I just use the term differently than some here. It wouldn't surprise me, since I think about many things differently than many people here. :)

For us, a Disney vacation is not something we can afford to do as a regular vacation spot every year. It takes lots of planning and saving for us to make it happen, which means it can be several years in between trips. While our family takes a vacation of some sort virtually every year, the Disney vacations are really special vacations for us, that nothing else we do really compares to in many ways.

So, yes, for us, Disney is a luxury vacation.
Click to expand...
Luxury is a very subjective term, especially since it is often used interchangeably with expensive, personally when I think of Luxury I think of prestige more than a dollar amount, I can buy a Mercedes or Porsche for less than many Ford pickups but I don’t consider Ford a luxury brand. Ford makes a great pickup but I don’t find anything about it luxurious other than the insanely high price tag.

Disney kind of falls into the same category for me, we can stay at a Four Seasons or Waldorf for less money than many Disney premium hotels but I think of the Four Seasons or Waldorf as far more luxurious brands than Disney, Disney has some great hotels but they’re worth more for convenience rather than opulence or over the top customer service.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
UNCgolf said:
It's all subjective. I would never call a cruise a luxury vacation (maybe a very small percentage of high end cruises fall into this category), but plenty of people do.
Click to expand...
Personalized Service? Check
Porters and other offloaded services? Check
Being addressed by name as individuals? Check
High End Dining available? Check
High end housekeeping? Check
Formal Wear? Check
Visiting exotic destinations? Check
Dedicated Staff? Check

Really the only thing lacking is exclusivity (low scale)
 
D

DisneyHead123

Well-Known Member
Jrb1979 said:
For me I can't get where many compare a Disney THEME PARK vacation to a cruise or a European vacation. They aren't even close. Price wise maybe but in terms of luxury, not a chance.

IMO Disney is a top tier THEME PARK that's more comparable to a Dollywood weekend but with better themed rides and a weeks worth of things to do instead of a weekend.
Click to expand...

My take isn’t that Disney is uber luxurious, it’s that “luxury” isn’t a meaningful metric for a place like Disney.

For one, luxury can sometimes be a niche thing that people either don’t care about or that makes some people feel downright uncomfortable. For example - being overly attended to kinda freaks me out. I have social anxiety and the middle class more of “don’t trouble other people for things you can do yourself” hammered into my head. I remember once as a teen eating at a super fancy restaurant where the waitstaff hovered to pull out your chair any time you got up, sweep up any crumbs as they hit the table, and so on, and the idea of that just freaks the crap out of me. I can barely deal with my actual dining companions watching me eat, much less strangers, I’ll take DoorDash over that any day. And as far as a “luxurious” style? I’m a jeans and tee shirt kind of girl, I don’t want or need to go on a “cocktail party on a yacht” kinda vacation. For those that do - fantastic! But that’s not my world. My point is that luxury doesn’t automatically equal “better”. Often it more represents a very particular style.

- It’s really all about what people like, in the end. I went to Europe when I was younger, when I hung out with single friends who were eager to have adventures together, when I couldn’t wait to put all the great photos on social media. Now, I have no idea what I would do in Europe. Listen to my kid whine about walking in new and exotic locations? Frantically try to find him something he’ll actually eat in a country with unfamiliar cuisine? Visit art museums while my child approaches every stranger within shouting distance and informs them that the people in the paintings are naked and you can see their booties? Honestly I would probably end up going to parks and playgrounds, which would be pretty similar to the ones here.

I feel like the salient metric is really what appeals to people. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy - often it won’t be. Nature is not fancy, neither are theme parks, concerts, festivals, water parks, and so on. But they’re fun, or beautiful, or interesting, and I think that’s what draws many people in.

(I will say - I think there is a difference between “luxury” and “quality”. You can have a great quality primitive campsite, for example, that is well maintained and ecologically friendly, but the furthest thing from luxury. I was worried about Disney park quality for awhile, but I feel like Disney is turning that around.)
 
Last edited:
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
flynnibus said:
Personalized Service? Check
Porters and other offloaded services? Check
Being addressed by name as individuals? Check
High End Dining available? Check
High end housekeeping? Check
Formal Wear? Check
Visiting exotic destinations? Check
Dedicated Staff? Check

Really the only thing lacking is exclusivity (low scale)
Click to expand...

This is why I say it's subjective.

Some of the things on that list are not necessary for me to consider something luxury, and there's a number of things I'd consider a requirement that cruise ships (again, other than a small number) don't offer.

I personally consider a standard cruise ship almost the opposite of luxury (not saying I would consider Disney World luxury either, because I certainly wouldn't). It's mass market.
 
Tom P.

Tom P.

Well-Known Member
flynnibus said:
Personalized Service? Check
Porters and other offloaded services? Check
Being addressed by name as individuals? Check
High End Dining available? Check
High end housekeeping? Check
Formal Wear? Check
Visiting exotic destinations? Check
Dedicated Staff? Check

Really the only thing lacking is exclusivity (low scale)
Click to expand...
Again, this is why this is all so subjective.

I would rather take my own luggage to my room, interact with the staff so little that my name is irrelevant, and have no housekeeping during my stay. Perhaps I'm just anti-social. But those things are not necessary for me to find "luxury."
 
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
flynnibus said:
Just listed a bunch of items - why not offer yours?
Click to expand...

Exclusivity is probably the biggest one, which you mentioned.

I'm being circumspect because I don't want to offend anyone, and I have no problem with people enjoying cruises. Different strokes for different folks, after all.
 
Last edited:
Animaniac93-98

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
"Luxury Vacation" is not merely a subjective concept, it's very much real a term in the travel industry that refers to a specific class of service and expectations. These days, "luxury" really means exclusivity, not just spending a lot of money.

Staying at All-Star Sports so you can watch BatB: Live on Stage with 30,000 other tourists is not that.

Only a few things on WDW property (like Victoria and Alberts) really fit the modern standard.

UNCgolf said:
It's all subjective. I would never call a cruise a luxury vacation (maybe a very small percentage of high end cruises fall into this category), but plenty of people do.
Click to expand...

There are luxury cruises. What makes them "luxury" is the quality and mix of amenities and guest to staff ratio.

Something like Royal Caribbean is not that. A yacht to the South Pacific with 50 people or less, yes.
 
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
Animaniac93-98 said:
There are luxury cruises. What makes them "luxury" is the quality and mix of amenities and guest to staff ratio.

Something like Royal Caribbean is not that. A yacht to the South Pacific with 50 people or less, yes.
Click to expand...

Right, that's what I was saying. There are a small number of cruises that would fall into the luxury category, but they are not any of the standard major cruise operators. Any cruise ship with thousands of guests is not a luxury cruise.
 
Animaniac93-98

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
UNCgolf said:
Right, that's what I was saying. There are a small number of cruises that would fall into the luxury category, but they are not any of the standard major cruise operators.
Click to expand...

Mass market and luxury don't really go hand in hand.

WDW, by definition, isn't that.

The average family spends $7,000 on a trip to WDW. Real luxury vacations are in the $10K-$20K per person bracket.

Disney trying to go after that market is a problem because it's something they can't deliver, and that demo knows it.

They're just pricing out the people who would actually like to go.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
Tom P. said:
Again, this is why this is all so subjective.

I would rather take my own luggage to my room, interact with the staff so little that my name is irrelevant, and have no housekeeping during my stay. Perhaps I'm just anti-social. But those things are not necessary for me to find "luxury."
Click to expand...
Your confusing preference with common practices/expectations.

Your preference over porters doesn't change the common practice of the industry. Which people do have checklists for when rating and evaluating properties.
 
Disstevefan1

Disstevefan1

Well-Known Member
TrainsOfDisney said:
You may prefer the Starbucks experience over a local high end coffee shop. That doesn’t make Starbucks more luxury or high end. That’s a preference.

You may prefer chipotle to Victoria and Alberts even! Haha
Click to expand...
To me, Starbucks is overpriced and tastes burnt to me.

I love WaWa
1741215480530.png
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom