Disney raises ticket price

[Big_Katuna]

$99 for the big park.

[Crowe]

Denmark and Iceland sound fantastic! What a trip of a lifetime.
I agree that there are just some places that it's too far to drive and flying is the best bet. We're very fortunate to have 3 kids. The unfortunate part of that is that we'd have to buy 5 plane tickets. The sad truth is we have never flown anywhere as a family and might not ever. We might be able to swing it to purchase 2 tickets, but we can't afford 5. Again, it's priorities.

Denmark & Iceland were fantastic but that type of travel isn't for everyone. If we had 3 kids I doubt we'd have flown as much as we have, but that's an upside of only one child. The hardest thing we are finding now that my son is an adult is we have to book either a suite or two rooms which ups the cost. We've taken to renting condos which has worked out great. When he graduates from college, though, he's going to be chipping in if he wants to come! :B Depending on how good you are at playing the games the airlines & hotels play (I'm a pro at this point, between work and personal travel) you can snag some good bargains, but it takes time and patience. I agree that most people here are more or less on a level playing field when it comes to payments, etc., but so many don't count that in the cost of their vacations.

What the big rat wants the big rat usually gets. I wonder, though, what's going to happen when and if the rat hits the price point that people just say no. I wouldn't give up any of the trips to Disney we've taken for anything but you are absolutely correct on priorities. Knock on wood, financially we've been very lucky despite both hubby and I being laid off twice each over the past 25 years or so. I can also see us going back to a pop-up if that were to be the only way we could travel. Been RVless now for almost 2 years. Wanderlust is fading. We'll see how long it lasts.

[dodge_guy]

We were there in Nov" 2011. I wasn't very impressed, yes the parks are nice, but nothing that made me go ooh! But keep in mind they have to pay for all that propert they own and the upkeep. We stayed at The Fort and i walked through the store......$5+ for a gallon of milk or $15 for a 6 pack of beer (i had enough of everything) i don't think those kinds of prices are necessary!

[noe-place]

I'm glad we don't have any youngsters any longer. We took our daughter when she was a young school girl and again in high school. We took our grandson when he was pre school and a few more times since. We were there last in 2010 and he didn't seem to excited so we've probably made our last Disney trip. Puts more pressure on me for spring break destinations now. In April I'm taking them on a cruise so someone else will do all the work.

[LarryJM]

Well you can classify us as DISNEY NUTS and have been going on a more or less consistent basis as a vacation destination since WDW opened back in the 70's. We have always either had the packages or gotten the annual passports. In our last 10 or so visits what we do is go each time for about 45 days total staying at Fort Wilderness. We go over the Xmas time frame one year (getting the annual passport ... now around $700 for an adult) and then go back the next year over the Halloween/Thanksgiving time frame for another 45days. Thus we get 90 days over a two year period for a total Park cost of $700 per adult. We then take a year or two off and repeat the cycle. This year will be our 19th trip to WDW and have now stayed there for approaching 500 days TOTAL with 10 visits between 21 and 30 days and 7 for 30 days or longer. It's not cheap, but again we don't try and go cheap and have done about every special "extra" tour type thing and generally eat out about every 3 days or so and visit the gift shops liberally. We used to do Victoria and Albert's about every other trip (that's close to a $500 evening right there), but haven't recently because of the lack of a dress code enforcement has negated most of it's "SPECIAL ATMOSPHERE" and now limit our BIGGIE to the BISTRO in Italy at EPCOT(still n excess $200 evening with wine, etc.) We are 1,000 miles away and door to door costs for one of our extended Disney trips (last was in 2010) approached $6 to $8K.

As several have mentioned the memories are priceless so we are one of those that will pay the going rate and just plan smarter and budget when necessary).

Larry

[down_home]

One of the biggest problems, I encountered,is there is no where to sit down for a minute unless it is in a restaurant or show. In between is a long way and I have a very bad back. I enjoyed things but not being able to take the load off my feet for a few minutes between half mile walks really really hurt.

[michigansandzil]

Crowe wrote:
Maybe this is why I've never been motivated to go to Disney. I would have to sacrifice all of those vacations for 1 week long trip to Disney. This is basically the statement I make to people that go to Disney once every year but can't figure out how I manage to afford to go camping so much. Crazy! It's nice we all get to make our own choices though.

Have you factored in what your unit costs including payments, maintenance and insurance? Do you add gas costs as well or do you just include the nightly cost of the campground site? You are probably spending more than you think you are but you don't recognize some of the expenses as they are indirect. Not having our Endura allowed us to go to Denmark and Iceland last year plus St. John, USVI this year. Can't get the RV to any of those places. Unfortunately we don't have the luxury of time to take more than 2 vacation weeks a year right now. Even when we did have the different RVs we've had we'd still take a week a year to fly somewhere when we could. It just takes too long to drive to a lot of places from this part of the country.

3K was factoring in gas and camping stays. I didn't account for payments, maintenance and insurance b/c everyone here has similar expenses so I figured it's an even playing field. They can spend their 3K on Disney, and I will go to a variety of other places and spread my money more slowly. We all have camper payments (or they have bought it outright)insurance and maintenance for our rigs.

Denmark and Iceland sound fantastic! What a trip of a lifetime.
I agree that there are just some places that it's too far to drive and flying is the best bet. We're very fortunate to have 3 kids. The unfortunate part of that is that we'd have to buy 5 plane tickets. The sad truth is we have never flown anywhere as a family and might not ever. We might be able to swing it to purchase 2 tickets, but we can't afford 5. Again, it's priorities. If we sold the camper and had no payments, insurance, maintenance, camping fees etc; we might have 5K to spend on vacation as a family. My friend with 3 kids spent 5K on 1 week in Disney last year and they didn't even fly. They drove 24 hrs straight and rented a condo. Had a lovely time, but it cost them 5k.

[ReVoker]

Wagonqueen Truckster wrote:
.....Once I asked the littlest where he would rather go ( he was 5 at the time) he said Disney was over rated and he wanted to go on another cruise.....

A likely story.

[Gonzo42]

That last trip to see Mickey M. was basicly our present to ourselves upon retiring.

Now that we have spent out life's savings (and all our children's inheritance) on an RV, we expect to save enough on hotel expenses and might even break even within our lifetimes!

[Desert_Captain]

We knew a lady who worked for Disney for years and she shared their dirty little secret. Disneyland/World are not amusement parks.... they are shopping centers. From day one they have been all about selling you stuff, mostly garbage at inflated prices (Walt was a genius). They offer the rides and attractions to put butts in seats. The longer you are there the more you spend which is why the extended stay passes "seem" to be so much cheaper, they are not.

Their marketing is not unique, look at Vegas, Atlantic City or any of the hundreds of indian Casinos. It is all about keeping you there because as long as you are you're bleeding money big time. As long as folks are willing to pony up the ridiculous entry fees Disney will keep laughing at you all the way to the bank as they are just the icing on the cake. If they opened the gates tomorrow with every ride free they would still be making big bucks. :R

[CapeM1]

mileshuff wrote:
Disney has little interest in people wanting to go to the parks for only 1 day. They want to make it a destination resort where people stay 3-5+ days.

At Disney World for instance, a 1 day pass is $99 but a 9 day ticket is $344 or just $38 a day. We just came back from a full week long vacation there. Had a great time and a very good value. Transportation from airport to Disneyworld was free and no rental car was needed our entire trip since Disney has their own transportation system.

That said, I agree its too expensive to go for just 1 day and its also way too expensive and over crowded to bother going over holidays or school break periods.

Ditto!

[Crowe]

Maybe this is why I've never been motivated to go to Disney. I would have to sacrifice all of those vacations for 1 week long trip to Disney. This is basically the statement I make to people that go to Disney once every year but can't figure out how I manage to afford to go camping so much. Crazy! It's nice we all get to make our own choices though.

Have you factored in what your unit costs including payments, maintenance and insurance? Do you add gas costs as well or do you just include the nightly cost of the campground site? You are probably spending more than you think you are but you don't recognize some of the expenses as they are indirect. Not having our Endura allowed us to go to Denmark and Iceland last year plus St. John, USVI this year. Can't get the RV to any of those places. Unfortunately we don't have the luxury of time to take more than 2 vacation weeks a year right now. Even when we did have the different RVs we've had we'd still take a week a year to fly somewhere when we could. It just takes too long to drive to a lot of places from this part of the country.

[2edgesword]

I agree with the post that Disney is probably not that interest in the one day visitor versus being a vacation destination. For the kids and grandkids ever aspect of the hotels, parks and cruise (we've done a number of land/sea vacations) is a special experience.

[modern_family]

One of the busiest Disney weeks is spring break (March / April) so this is the best time to raise prices. Many visitors from overseas come those months as well, the best weather of the year and everyone knows that. I have lived in the tampa area for 22 years and have been to each park many times.. 3 parks last year alone. To me, I always figured $100, just rounded up! You get what you pay for, Disney parks really are something special and we always have a great time. Hard for me to imagine living far away and only able to go once and having to spend that $3-4k.

For those of you who have never been, it is worth it, but I am sure getting down here and trying to see everything is tiring and pricey.

Just like us trying to enjoy skiing in one week vacation in vail!

[Wagonqueen_Truc]

We have a condo 2 1/2 hours from Disney in FL. Been there quite a few times with our 6 kids. Didn't, want to rob them of the experience, even though I despise Disney world. Also took them on many cruises to different ports in the Caribbean. Once I asked the littlest where he would rather go ( he was 5 at the time) he said Disney was over rated and he wanted to go on another cruise. LOL