Are Disney parks no longer for the Middle class?

[Heather07438]

Disney created the overcrowding by reducing park hours & adding on countless extra paid events. Disney can claim that they raised prices to reduce crowds all they want but if they really wanted guests to have a better experience they would have cut at least half of the paid extra’s when they raised all the prices so dramatically and kept the parks open longer to spread out the crowds.

yes. We would all still be complaining on how expensive it has gotten but at least we would have a better experience while we were there.

I totally agree.
I think WDW realized the more they cut park hours & staff (rides at half capacity in the AM), the more people think it's worthwhile to pay for upcharge events. Is WDW intentionally creating some of that stress with the reduced hours/staff?

If days go smoother then less people are prompted to buy those tickets. Most of us balked & laughed when EMM rolled out at $100+ for 3 rides or whatever it was then. Now it's nothing to hear of families paying 3 or 4 upcharges on the same trip for EMM, DAH, Firework Parties, etc. What prompts them? Less stress dealing with crowds.

 

[ZTator]

I think LuvsJack said it nicely. This is what was in my brain to say but I fingers couldn't type it . Haha

 

[LSUmiss]

For me, and I am sure for many others, if I have to take my food in the parks and not have a clean room in the already expensive per night hotel; I would rather not go. That isn't a vacation, for me. When I am on vacation, I want to take a break from even making a sandwich for the week.

I can take some really nice vacations and still run through the drive thru when I need to or grab a Starbucks now and then. Or have my hair done or a pedicure. Most people really do not want to stop living their life to pay for one week a year. A week at Disney isn't worth giving up all the niceties of life, FOR ME. And if a person is having to nickel and dime their life to death to save for Disney, is it really affordable??

I can go to movies every week and still have not spent "hundreds". But its pay to get in, watch the movie and go home. No dining or hotel room required. Same with sporting events and concerts. So not really apples to apples there when comparing those tickets to the price of getting in WDW.

Exactly. And I’ll say again, it’s more about that constant increasing prices. In a previous post I mentioned that we used stay deluxe & this trip we are at Pop. It’s not that I can’t afford it or need tips on how to save. It’s that it’s gotten absolutely ridiculous. And for those ppl who do have to save change in a jar, they now need a bigger jar & it’ll take them a lot longer to save enough.

 

[LSUmiss]

This is how I feel. We save for all vacations not just Disney. We don't like debt. Some people have different priorities and that's whatever.

not everyone not willing to give up daily treats is going into debt. I don’t carry any debt other than house & car & we vacation 2-3 times a year & don’t give up things we like to do to “save” for it.

 

[LSUmiss]

True story.
We thought the prices increases would've sunk attendance at least Nope, the parks are still mobbed.

Many ppl have been saying they’re going less often or not at all. I think it’ll take a while but do think it’ll effect attendance eventually.

 

[5kidsmommy]

not everyone not willing to give up daily treats is going into debt. I don’t carry any debt other than house & car & we vacation 2-3 times a year & don’t give up things we like to do to “save” for it.

i don’t feel like I really give anything up though. Eating out isn’t really a priority. I’d rather make food at home. We aren’t really fans of going to the movies. We pay for various streaming services. We just don’t spend a lot on entertainment except when we vacation. I definitely don’t do coffee out. I’d rather make my own coffee at home. LikeI said everyone has their priorities and what they consider giving up to save. The things I listed aren’t things I have ever regularly enjoyed doing. So Disney’s cost increases haven’t really impacted me. Everyone is different and obviously with how crowded the parks are there are still people enjoying the parks and they certainly aren’t all wealthy families.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Speaking of eating, I went in the beginning of June in 2010. Our trip for 5 nights/6 days with last day as useless since that is travel day was under $2100. Same trip today, the dining plan alone would be almost $1900.

I wonder how much prices were depressed due to the recession. I wasn't traveling to Disney during that time period but I've heard it mentioned on the show that Disney rolled out a bunch of discounts to get people in the hotels.

I think there is an awful lot of hyperbole in this thread. You can be a saver, still enjoy daily life AND have a good vacation. Life is all about balance.

You are either showering once a week or you're full yolo not saving a dime. No in between.

"You can afford anything, but not everything" -Paula Pant

 

[LSUmiss]

i don’t feel like I really give anything up though. Eating out isn’t really a priority. I’d rather make food at home. We aren’t really fans of going to the movies. We pay for various streaming services. We just don’t spend a lot on entertainment except when we vacation. I definitely don’t do coffee out. I’d rather make my own coffee at home. LikeI said everyone has their priorities and what they consider giving up to save. The things I listed aren’t things I have ever regularly enjoyed doing. So Disney’s cost increases haven’t really impacted me. Everyone is different and obviously with how crowded the parks are there are still people enjoying the parks and they certainly aren’t all wealthy families.

That’s kinda what we do too, but it’s not specifically to save. My only point was that the pp made it sound like anyone who isn’t sacrificing day-to-day must be going into debt to go on vacation & that’s not always the case.

 

[5kidsmommy]

That’s kinda what we do too, but it’s not specifically to save. My only point was that the pp made it sound like anyone who isn’t sacrificing day-to-day must be going into debt to go on vacation & that’s not always the case.

Oh okay I totally agree with you. There certainly is a middle ground and every families circumstances is different. If I had to give up showers to save for Disney I’d be taking those showers and never think of a Disney again.

 

[RamblingMad]

Oh okay I totally agree with you. There certainly is a middle ground and every families circumstances is different. If I had to give up showers to save for Disney I’d be taking those showers and never think of a Disney again.

If everyone gave up showering and eating out, we would all be driving Italian sport cars and living in houses so big that we can't find our kids.

I guess this is really a thing:

https://www.prevention.com/beauty/g20446110/stop-washing-your-hair-every-day/

 

[mrodgers]

I wonder how much prices were depressed due to the recession. I wasn't traveling to Disney during that time period but I've heard it mentioned on the show that Disney rolled out a bunch of discounts to get people in the hotels.


You are either showering once a week or you're full yolo not saving a dime. No in between.

"You can afford anything, but not everything" -Paula Pant

Good point. Disney has always been know as an expensive destination and it actually was quite shocking when I looked up the cost back then. It was our first vacation and I was always a beach vacationer. Wife wanted to take the girls to Disney and I never gave it a thought that I could afford it. In 2010, I could afford it as it was about the same cost as going to the beach for a week, but never thought about it being an unusual price drop at that time. So some of the 3x as much cost today is attributed to bringing it back up to previous costs.

 

[tzolkin]

I wonder how much prices were depressed due to the recession. I wasn't traveling to Disney during that time period but I've heard it mentioned on the show that Disney rolled out a bunch of discounts to get people in the hotels.

I think this is actually part of the problem for us. Because we used to get such good discounts, the current prices just seem absolutely ridiculous. Our first trip was in 2008 and we went annually (usually 12 nights) for several years after that with various discounts both on rooms and tickets. Our first trip was only $1700 (Pop) and we did several trips at moderates for well under $3000.

Right now the tickets alone for my family are $3207 (That's more than we used to pay for an entire vacation!)

I just went back through my confirmations and saw that our trip in 2012 was 12 nights at POR. It was $1593 for the room and we paid $1017 for our PH+ tickets (through the YES program), so a total of $2610 for room and tickets (then add in whatever we spent on food).

I just looked up what the same trip at POR would be. For the room and tickets it's $7048. And that's before we even eat anything. Add the dining plan to that and the cost is nearly $12k (for a moderate!).

I understand that there's inflation and that the prices of things go up, but I can't think of anything else in my life that has increased in cost by that amount over the past 7 years.

And, that's not even taking into account the decreased in experience. We have done 4 other Disney trips since 2012, but none like what we used to do in the 2008-2012 time frame. The parks are way more crowded and the hours are drastically reduced. I would almost be willing to pay the increased amount if we were seeing some type of value for the money, but all we have seen is triple (or more) the price and it's less fun, less flexible, and less time.

I guess this is really a thing:

https://www.prevention.com/beauty/g20446110/stop-washing-your-hair-every-day/

Not shampooing your hair is a thing for lots of people, but they still do take showers.

 

[Hikergirl]

I just booked my summer vacation in the Rehoboth area- $2021 for 7 nights to rent a pet friendly cottage. That doesn't include meals or any recreation/entertainment at all.
Out of curiosity I priced up WDW, on-site and a weeks worth of tickets was a ton more, but I found off-site accommodations that included breakfast and shuttle service to the parks for $100 a night. A total of $2800 including 4 day park passes. I will still have to buy food but that is all that is needed.
By the time I buy food for a week and pay for any recreation/entertainment in Rehoboth it will be on par with a WDW vacation. The one thing that kills it for my family is airfare. It will be at least $2500 added to fly, but I can't put that on Disney.
If Disney is no longer for the middle class, then it is no different than many other vacation destinations. It isn't just Disney.

 

[RamblingMad]

I think this is actually part of the problem for us. Because we used to get such good discounts, the current prices just seem absolutely ridiculous. Our first trip was in 2008 and we went annually (usually 12 nights) for several years after that with various discounts both on rooms and tickets. Our first trip was only $1700 (Pop) and we did several trips at moderates for well under $3000.

Right now the tickets alone for my family are $3207 (That's more than we used to pay for an entire vacation!)

I just went back through my confirmations and saw that our trip in 2012 was 12 nights at POR. It was $1593 for the room and we paid $1017 for our PH+ tickets (through the YES program), so a total of $2610 for room and tickets (then add in whatever we spent on food).

I just looked up what the same trip at POR would be. For the room and tickets it's $7048. And that's before we even eat anything. Add the dining plan to that and the cost is nearly $12k (for a moderate!).

I understand that there's inflation and that the prices of things go up, but I can't think of anything else in my life that has increased in cost by that amount over the past 7 years.

And, that's not even taking into account the decreased in experience. We have done 4 other Disney trips since 2012, but none like what we used to do in the 2008-2012 time frame. The parks are way more crowded and the hours are drastically reduced. I would almost be willing to pay the increased amount if we were seeing some type of value for the money, but all we have seen is triple (or more) the price and it's less fun, less flexible, and less time.

I agree. That’s what I’m saying. Prices have gone up fast. But people some how find the money to go.

I get sticker shock since I only start looking to go when new stuff opens up, so I go less frequently. I also prefer DL and staying off property.

My SO definitely doesn’t like the beds and sheets at WDW hotels. She finds the beds too hard even with their topper, and she thinks the bedding is something you’d buy on sale at a dollar store. The bedding at a moderate isn’t even equivalent to Hyatt bedding. This is why we have stayed off property when we have gone. Now, there is the option of the 4 Seasons, but that’s paying up a lot and you’re not even on the monorail.

Concerning the beds, we stayed at a hotel in London once and slept on $8000 mattresses. The cost of our hotel per night through Costco was $300. When I look at what I get for the equivalent at WDW, the value isn’t there. I’m really just paying up to get Fastpasses earlier. Again, this is why I opt for DL. But the per day park tickets are even more since I’m going for fewer days.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think this is actually part of the problem for us. Because we used to get such good discounts, the current prices just seem absolutely ridiculous. Our first trip was in 2008 and we went annually (usually 12 nights) for several years after that with various discounts both on rooms and tickets. Our first trip was only $1700 (Pop) and we did several trips at moderates for well under $3000.

Right now the tickets alone for my family are $3207 (That's more than we used to pay for an entire vacation!)

I just went back through my confirmations and saw that our trip in 2012 was 12 nights at POR. It was $1593 for the room and we paid $1017 for our PH+ tickets (through the YES program), so a total of $2610 for room and tickets (then add in whatever we spent on food).

I just looked up what the same trip at POR would be. For the room and tickets it's $7048. And that's before we even eat anything. Add the dining plan to that and the cost is nearly $12k (for a moderate!).

I understand that there's inflation and that the prices of things go up, but I can't think of anything else in my life that has increased in cost by that amount over the past 7 years.

And, that's not even taking into account the decreased in experience. We have done 4 other Disney trips since 2012, but none like what we used to do in the 2008-2012 time frame. The parks are way more crowded and the hours are drastically reduced. I would almost be willing to pay the increased amount if we were seeing some type of value for the money, but all we have seen is triple (or more) the price and it's less fun, less flexible, and less time.

I've mentioned it before really when you consider it the hotels on WDW property have gone up very rapidly in a short time-discounts or no discounts they've rapidly gone up for sure.

That said obviously park tickets have gone up quite high too but the difference is when you purchase discounted park tickets through a 3rd party authorized reseller you're not really giving up anything. But with perks (and understandably so) you lose some of them or they are reduced when you move off-site. The addition of the DS hotels into the mix of perks creates a controversy but it does give people more options.

But part of the problem to is economics. Back in your 2008-2012 time frame it was probably the effects of the Recession depending on when you went and the slowly crawling back. For the last several years the economy has been stronger and thus the steep discounts of days past aren't there. Much like I've heard from a lot of people post-9/11 pricing was. Right around the Recession the travel industry took a huge hit as people just couldn't afford to travel. I mean you barely could drive around lol. A lot of people around me were much more careful about how much unneccessary driving when gasoline was over $4/gallon in my area.

I can think of housing in my area that has gone up sky high (and that will stray too far into politics if we go too far as to the housing bubble issues of the Recession). I mean to build my house today just 6 years later from groundbreaking (which occurred in early 2014) would be at the very least and quite a conservative number $125K more (probably more realistically $150K). Now that it crazy but my area has been in a hot seller's market for nearly 5 years at this point and when we started building we were in a buyer's market.

 

[RamblingMad]

I've mentioned it before really when you consider it the hotels on WDW property have gone up very rapidly in a short time-discounts or no discounts they've rapidly gone up for sure.

That said obviously park tickets have gone up quite high too but the difference is when you purchase discounted park tickets through a 3rd party authorized reseller you're not really giving up anything. But with perks (and understandably so) you lose some of them or they are reduced when you move off-site. The addition of the DS hotels into the mix of perks creates a controversy but it does give people more options.

But part of the problem to is economics. Back in your 2008-2012 time frame it was probably the effects of the Recession depending on when you went and the slowly crawling back. For the last several years the economy has been stronger and thus the steep discounts of days past aren't there. Much like I've heard from a lot of people post-9/11 pricing was. Right around the Recession the travel industry took a huge hit as people just couldn't afford to travel. I mean you barely could drive around lol. A lot of people around me were much more careful about how much unneccessary driving when gasoline was over $4/gallon in my area.

I can think of housing in my area that has gone up sky high (and that will stray too far into politics if we go too far as to the housing bubble issues of the Recession). I mean to build my house today just 6 years later from groundbreaking (which occurred in early 2014) would be at the very least and quite a conservative number $125K more (probably more realistically $150K). Now that it crazy but my area has been in a hot seller's market for nearly 5 years at this point and when we started building we were in a buyer's market.

The other side of this was that Disney was running their parks in the red. They were losing money. What this meant was that maintenance was an issue back then. There are plenty of blog posts showing stuff broken on attractions.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I also prefer DL and staying off property.

It costs more on average in airfare for us to go to CA plus there's 2 parks vs 4 parks at WDW plus we go to Universal Orlando so add on 2 parks there and we're not really that interested in Universal Hollywood.

It costs more as a whole for WDW but we also get more out of it.

Do agree on hotel costs but realistically that's because DLR is landlocked and the hotel market can bank on that aspect. WDW has large areas of land on their actual property and don't have to be as competitive. Now off-site can be quite competitive in Orlando but the more land area makes it less easy to compare with the right across the street (and actually being that) options you get at DLR.

3 days at DLR and my husband was bored and wished we had only gone 2 days. I enjoyed our time at DLR but it's not a tit for tat in expenses nor experiences for us in a comparison with WDW.

That said we're not nor do I think we'll ever be yearly or nearly yearly park goers. Every 6 years for WDW is fine for me. It was a fluke that we went twice to DLR in 2019 but that was because my husband was stationed working on a power plant in LA area so it made it easier to do so when I was able to visit him.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The other side of this was that Disney was running their parks in the red. They were losing money. What this meant was that maintenance was an issue back then. There are plenty of blog posts showing stuff broken on attractions.

I think they've still been deferring maintenance in all honesty or they'll do things like running only one side of something which obviously saves on CM cost but also wear and tear. They aren't really hurting for money in the parks division much but they still don't necessarily take preventative maintenance as a bigger priority or they go more cheaply like TSL had large and very noticable chipping paint really quickly after opening and I believe Jessie's Carousel at DLR is undergoing a quick refurb in March on a ride that's only been open since last April.

 

[RamblingMad]

It costs more on average in airfare for us to go to CA plus there's 2 parks vs 4 parks at WDW plus we go to Universal Orlando so add on 2 parks there and we're not really that interested in Universal Hollywood.

It costs more as a whole for WDW but we also get more out of it.

Do agree on hotel costs but realistically that's because DLR is landlocked and the hotel market can bank on that aspect. WDW has large areas of land on their actual property and don't have to be as competitive. Now off-site can be quite competitive in Orlando but the more land area makes it less easy to compare with the right across the street (and actually being that) options you get at DLR.

3 days at DLR and my husband was bored and wished we had only gone 2 days. I enjoyed our time at DLR but it's not a tit for tat in expenses nor experiences for us in a comparison with WDW.

That said we're not nor do I think we'll ever be yearly or nearly yearly park goers. Every 6 years for WDW is fine for me. It was a fluke that we went twice to DLR in 2019 but that was because my husband was stationed working on a power plant in LA area so it made it easier to do so when I was able to visit him.

What experiences do you think are different? I like to go over an extended weekend. For me it’s all about the attractions. And my SO prefers Cars to Test Track. And she likes the Haunted Mansion for Halloween.

I now only go to FL for Universal, which I can also do over an extended weekend. We really don’t like FL. I don’t care for the CA park either.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I'll be curious to see out final tally of expenses after our trip to Dallas in April. We were going to stay at a Courtyard Marriott, but decided we want something special and found a very cute and themed boutique hotel (hello Disney influence). Price came out to nearly the same after you consider Marriott wanted to charge daily parking and breakfast, when this place doesn't.

So for hotel it's $962 for 4 nights (tax, parking breakfast included).
Airfare was $485 because we had some SW travel funds.
Rental car through Costco is $306.

I'm going to add up food and museum and shopping costs just to see where we wind up. We do have a dinner at a friend's house one night, but every other meal will be in a restaurant.

This is our first non Disney trip in a few years. I'm wondering how often I will hear "i'm bored" from my kid. She already asked if she can watch Stacy on YouTube, so she can pretend she's in a Disney hotel.