Are Disney parks no longer for the Middle class?

[PlainJane]

I haven’t read the whole thread, but.....

Income really doesn’t paint the whole picture. A family making $50K might take home the same as a family making $60K because the $60K family’s employer provided health insurance is some kind of terrible. Does the $50K family bring that in on a single income where one parent stays at home and there are no childcare costs while the $60K family is dual income and has two in daycare?

Then there is the cost of living expenses, student loan repayments, etc.

 

[KatMac]

Every County Fair I’ve ever been to in my life, the midway is a travelling show. It is what it is - no way to compare it to a theme park.

I can see I confused a few people. I wasn’t comparing the two as vacations. A lot of people, here and on other message boards I read, frequently assert that Disney Parks charge too much for admission. The point I’m trying, but apparently failing to make is that Disney admission prices are not that unreasonable when you compare them to other forms of entertainment. Fairs and other amusement parks charge at least half what Disney parks charge, but are far less quality. But yes, I do realize there are other costs with a Disney vacation. I’m new here, but in the frequent habit of defending Disney prices on other forums. It’s a hot topic that comes up under the comment section of every Disney news story.

I fear LuvJack might never look at tomatoes and squash the same way! I do apologize for not clarifying my point.

 

[luvsJack]

I can see I confused a few people. I wasn’t comparing the two as vacations. A lot of people, here and on other message boards I read, frequently assert that Disney Parks charge too much for admission. The point I’m trying, but apparently failing to make is that Disney admission prices are not that unreasonable when you compare them to other forms of entertainment. Fairs and other amusement parks charge at least half what Disney parks charge, but are far less quality. But yes, I do realize there are other costs with a Disney vacation. I’m new here, but in the frequent habit of defending Disney prices on other forums. It’s a hot topic that comes up under the comment section of every Disney news story.

I fear LuvJack might never look at tomatoes and squash the same way! I do apologize for not clarifying my point.

it’s ok. I love tomatoes and squash!

I do get your point.

 

[RamblingMad]

I can see I confused a few people. I wasn’t comparing the two as vacations. A lot of people, here and on other message boards I read, frequently assert that Disney Parks charge too much for admission. The point I’m trying, but apparently failing to make is that Disney admission prices are not that unreasonable when you compare them to other forms of entertainment. Fairs and other amusement parks charge at least half what Disney parks charge, but are far less quality. But yes, I do realize there are other costs with a Disney vacation. I’m new here, but in the frequent habit of defending Disney prices on other forums. It’s a hot topic that comes up under the comment section of every Disney news story.

I fear LuvJack might never look at tomatoes and squash the same way! I do apologize for not clarifying my point.

They’re definitely expensive. I go hiking for free multiple times during the week. Locally it costs me about $7 to see a movie. Now I can come up with expensive stuff to do, but that doesn’t make Disney cheap or affordable.

 

[DisLiss]

Not to quote my entire last post, but honestly, please someone tell me how Disney is anymore expensive than anywhere else out there short of your own back yard? We just came back from our yearly trip. Stayed at CBR for 13 nights with free dining, 9 day park hoppers and the waterpark option, all for right around $5500.

It all depends on what time of year you go and how much it costs you to get to WDW in the first place. Our next trip has us at POP for 7 nights, with 7 days of park hopper plus tickets, with NO free dining as of yet, and with transportation costs making our entire trip more than what your trip cost you. Even if free dining kicks in and we get it, our trip will still be more expensive than yours, and for a significantly shorter time.

There are just too many variables in Disney vacations to be able to compare them well.

 

[unigirlmouse]

Being from Canada and the dollar being what it is really sucks, the 20% discount helps but right now our last trip we only did 4 days and planned it within 60 days because that’s when I had my exam schedule come out and went during a busier than usual time - and spent wayyyyyy more than I wanted to but we do it for the kids and probably mostly me hehe. I just love Disney so much and every time I go back I can’t wait to go again. Travelling anywhere with 5 of us is expensive, we try to offset our Disney trips by after the parks renting a place in Florida and enjoying the ocean.

 

[gypsy_at_heart]

Being from Canada and the dollar being what it is really sucks, the 20% discount helps but right now our last trip we only did 4 days and planned it within 60 days because that’s when I had my exam schedule come out and went during a busier than usual time - and spent wayyyyyy more than I wanted to but we do it for the kids and probably mostly me hehe. I just love Disney so much and every time I go back I can’t wait to go again. Travelling anywhere with 5 of us is expensive, we try to offset our Disney trips by after the parks renting a place in Florida and enjoying the ocean.

I think these sort of variables are what makes it hard to say Disney is expensive or not for any blanket group of people.

For Canadians we have to factor in exchange, which doesn’t work in our favour. If you’re coming from somewhere with a more favourable exchange rate, it might be a bargain.

it also depends on cost of living in your area. For example, I just saw someone say going to a movie costs $7.... for me it’s $15 just for the ticket. I also don’t find QS prices completely insane because a fast food meal in Vancouver can easily cost $12 to $15.

I’m never going to say Disney is cheap, I can vacation some amazing place for a lot cheaper, but I don’t know if I’d say it’s unaffordable.

 

[RamblingMad]

I think these sort of variables are what makes it hard to say Disney is expensive or not for any blanket group of people.

For Canadians we have to factor in exchange, which doesn’t work in our favour. If you’re coming from somewhere with a more favourable exchange rate, it might be a bargain.

it also depends on cost of living in your area. For example, I just saw someone say going to a movie costs $7.... for me it’s $15 just for the ticket. I also don’t find QS prices completely insane because a fast food meal in Vancouver can easily cost $12 to $15.

I’m never going to say Disney is cheap, I can vacation some amazing place for a lot cheaper, but I don’t know if I’d say it’s unaffordable.

At what percentage of gross income would you say it’s not affordable?

 

[kdonnel]

At what percentage of gross income would you say it’s not affordable?

I think a modified 28/36 rules applies.

You should spend no more then 28% of your gross income on Disney vacations, and no more then 36% of your gross income on all vacations combined.

 

[Colleen27]

At what percentage of gross income would you say it’s not affordable?

I think even that is hard to generalize because it'll depend on how often one hopes to go and "big picture" of one's financial circumstances. A lot of higher-income families live in such high cost of living areas that even though Disney costs a smaller share of their gross income, it is actually less affordable than for a moderate-income family with more reasonable day-to-day expenses.

 

[RamblingMad]

I think even that is hard to generalize because it'll depend on how often one hopes to go and "big picture" of one's financial circumstances. A lot of higher-income families live in such high cost of living areas that even though Disney costs a smaller share of their gross income, it is actually less affordable than for a moderate-income family with more reasonable day-to-day expenses.

Most people aren’t high income. What’s a reasonable percentage for the median? The median is $63 thousand.

 

[kdonnel]

Most people aren’t high income. What’s a reasonable percentage for the median? The median is $63 thousand.

5-10%.

$3,150-$6,300 for an annual vacation budget.

 

[Colleen27]

Most people aren’t high income. What’s a reasonable percentage for the median?

Again, it depends on the rest of the financial picture.

I suppose the 50/30/20 rule would be a decent place to start. Assuming the median household income ($63,179) and a typical income/payroll tax burden of 20%, that family would have $50,543 in post-tax income. Applying that rule would allow just over $15K for "wants"... plenty for a Disney vacation if the rest of their expenses are in line with the rule and Disney ranks high enough on the list of wants to allocate the majority of that "wants" category to the trip.

But how many families can really live on half of what they make to follow that rule? It gets a lot muddier when you start trying to factor in actual costs of living, including a median shelter cost of about $1700/mo and median health insurance price just shy of $5000/year. Those two things alone add up to the "50% on necessities" chunk of the 50/30/20 rule before adding in things like utilities, food and transportation. According to the BLS household expenditures survey, the median spending on entertainment (the closest category they have to travel, though I'd bet many respondents attribute some of their travel expenses to the transportation and food in restaurants categories as well) is just over $3200, which isn't going to cover a Disney vacation for most travelers.

 

[gypsy_at_heart]

At what percentage of gross income would you say it’s not affordable?

That’s different for you than it would be for me or anyone else. You could have a high gross income but carry a huge mortgage or debts - in that case, it could be less affordable for you than for someone with a lower gross income but fewer payments to make. It also depends on how many people you support with that gross income.

What you need to look at is disposable income. What is your disposable income after bills and necessities. If Disney fits into that, you can afford it. If it doesn’t, you probably can’t.

But even if you can afford it, it might not be worth it to you. Some people spend all, or most, of their disposable income on a Disney trip every year, or couple years. To them, that is worth it, that is the value of that vacation to them. But even if you had the exact same disposable income, it might not be worth it to you.

You’ll find this same discussion for people when it come to what resort they stay at. I, for one, refuse to pay for a Disney deluxe hotel. Can I afford it? Probably. But I would have to have a much shorter vacation or cut out some of my other spending, saving or vacation. That hotel room is not worth that to me, but to other people it is.

I priced out a 6 night stay at a Disney springs area hotel including 5 day tickets and flights from Denver for 2 adults, 1 child and 1 child who is a Disney adult at $3885 all in. Not cheap, but for a family of four I’ve seen worse. I’m sure I could probably cut another $500 off if I actually poked around for deals.

I’m not defending Disney, I’m not even saying they’re cheap - they aren’t. And don’t even get me started on Adventures by Disney... but I do still think many people can afford the vacation - if they couldn’t, the parks would be far less crowded. However with the crowds and the increasing costs vs value, I’m sure some people will start to decide that a Disney trip just isn’t worth it anymore. To each their own. For me, it’s still worth it, but it’s ok if it’s not for others.

 

[RamblingMad]

5-10%.

$3,150-$6,300 for an annual vacation budget.

That seems reasonable to me. Disney expects folks to visit every 5 years, so if you saved that over a 5 year period, then it's not a big burden. If you're funding it with debt, then it becomes a questionable expenditure.

 

[LSUmiss]

I think a modified 28/36 rules applies.

You should spend no more then 28% of your gross income on Disney vacations, and no more then 36% of your gross income on all vacations combined.

Was this meant as a joke that I missed? That’s a crazy amount imo especially for higher incomes. And if you’re the median of $50k or so that’s $14K on Wdw.

 

[Searc]

I think a modified 28/36 rules applies.

You should spend no more then 28% of your gross income on Disney vacations, and no more then 36% of your gross income on all vacations combined.

Uh, we don't even spend 10% of our income on vacations, let alone 36%!! Nope.

 

[MillauFr]

I was middle class growing up and we couldn't afford to go to Disneyland. Only since I got out of college and moved to a place that has high paying jobs have I been able to afford going to Disneyland. I think it is an upper class vacation.

 

[Colleen27]

Was this meant as a joke that I missed? That’s a crazy amount imo especially for higher incomes. And if you’re the median of $50k or so that’s $14K on Wdw.

Pretty sure it was a joke - a take on the housing recommendations. But I'll admit, there are years I've spent almost that high a percentage on travel. But our housing is about 3% of our net income now so we have some room to move things around in the budget, and travel is my top discretionary spending priority.

 

[Disney Doll]

For my area (about an hour north of NYC) DH and I are very decidedly middle class. We own a modestly sized home. We tend to keep cars a long time. No need for the “latest and greatest” of everything. Very decidedly do not keep up with the Jones’s.

So we are able to travel because that’s what we enjoy and WDW is always on the list.

I’m always amused by the acquaintance who says to me “it must be nice to be able to travel so much” as they’re taking their $300 sunglasses out of their $500 designer bag getting into their high end car and driving to their million $ home.

We all make different choices as to how to spend our $$..