Anyone else staggered by ticket prices?

[Jason2015]

I think value is relative. Unless you're a local, it isn't as simple as how much it costs per day at the park. Most day ticket purchasers are from out of town. There are other expenses that comes with that. A family of 4 from out of state is looking at a price tag upwards of $6,000 for 4 days in the parks after you factor in travel ($1200 airfare) lodging ($900) food ($600), memorabilia ($500) and park entry ($2200 with genie plus).

It is absolutely relative. But you're know talking about a vacation and not just Disney tickets. But again Disney is with in a similar price range as other entertainment on vacation. Every go to NYC for a Broadway weekend? Going to three shows over a couple days can set you back a grand or more for 9 hours of entertainment, and you still have all the other travel costs you described.

 

[Chili327]

I think value is relative. Unless you're a local, it isn't as simple as how much it costs per day at the park. Most day ticket purchasers are from out of town. There are other expenses that comes with that. A family of 4 from out of state is looking at a price tag upwards of $6,000 for 4 days in the parks after you factor in travel ($1200 airfare) lodging ($900) food ($600), memorabilia ($500) and park entry ($2200 with genie plus).

Run those numbers for traveling to a Football game or Concert.

The thing that always staggers me is hotel prices in comparison to Disney ticket prices. So for around $150 I can spend the entire day from 8am to midnight in the parks with constant entertainment, rides, music, shows, parades, characters, fireworks, etc, etc.

Then to go back for 8 hours of sleep in a tiny rectangle room with ancient beds it can cost easily $250+ a night!

Yes, it definitely would seem to be a lot less value in a hotel. Technically staying a couple miles away for a lot less isn't a terrible way to go, but then you may do other activities, which you would think would lower Disney prices so you'd stay close (like a casino in Vegas), but i guess not so much. lol

 

[GatorChris]

Some of why enough of those billions aren't being reinvested in the parks in the form of salary, maintenance, and expansion is there has been more interest in generating profits for Wall Street and bolstering lesser performing divisions of the Disney company as a whole. I don't have any great words of wisdom, but it seems to me, of course, that some of that money could be put back into salary etc. for those who actually make the park a success, and most of the profit from the parks division would still be there to show. But that's not how corporate America works.

Disney is publicly traded, publicly owned. If their stocks go down like they have over the last few years, the CEO has to go. The stocks I purchased need to be sending dividends my way for investing. That's how that all works. If you cut my dividends, raise pay, that leads to even higher prices at the parks...so I lose twice. Countless tens of thousands of people do as well. While magnanimous, I don't see this helping the situation of out of control prices. And it definitely won't help the out of control inflation that's part of why prices are going up.

I simply have no desire to visit Disneyland after hearing and reading stories about Disneyland ticket prices going up and raised but I used to go to Disneyland since my first visit in 1991 when I was six and my recent trip was back in 2004. And it seems "as I have mentioned many times before" every year we see and hear complaints from people about why Disneyland keeps raising ticket prices is a question that we'll never know the answer to.

On our last trip in Oct, I remember saying, "I'm not sure why I keep going back." Prices keep going up. The law of diminishing returns. And now Splash Mt is gone by the hand of people who just needed to make me miserable. G+ has taken the joy out of the parks. It'll cost my family an extra $125/day for what used to be free, but then it makes us (because we spent the money) only do those big G+ rides and we miss what used to make DL special. If not for great memories and it being a place my college daughter would love to come back and do, I can't see myself doing it again for a while. I guess my trips will have to be further apart, like StormyCA says below.

I'll keep going as long as I don't have to go into debt to do so AND my experience is enjoyable. But my DLR trips are looking to be further apart.

I think WDW is the better 'bargain' at this point. 4 Parks, 2 Waterparks, and a HUGE shopping district. A range of onsites from around $120/nite at a Budget to 'you've GOT to be kidding me!!!' at a Deluxe. And then there's Fort Wilderness, the BEST RV park I've ever stayed at and where we'll be for 11 days next Spring. At DLR the onsites start at almost $500/nite for PPH up to 'now you're really kidding me!!' at the Grand. A WDW vacation can be much 'cheaper' than DLR if you want to stay onsite (we do).

If not for the $2500 in flights to get there, we'd still be a WDW family over DL. Slam dunk. And really, we'd probably be a Universal Orlando family. That place is awesome. It's what WDW used to be - affordable, exciting, spontaneous, and a great CityWalk. If I had a little more income, I wouldn't be here complaining about DL prices. I'd be going to USO.

The thing that always staggers me is hotel prices in comparison to Disney ticket prices. So for around $150 I can spend the entire day from 8am to midnight in the parks with constant entertainment, rides, music, shows, parades, characters, fireworks, etc, etc.

Then to go back for 8 hours of sleep in a tiny rectangle room with ancient beds it can cost easily $250+ a night!

I'm definitely with you here. Only the prices are more than that. For the Park Place rooms we use (because we need room for 5) that used to cost about $220 (which was bad enough), now it's $320. HoJo, where we used to get Park View rooms for $175 is now double that. Hotel prices are a big part of the problem. We were lucky to get a great price at Portofino, but that comes with a very long walk at the end of the day, and no breakfast. And that's hotels everywhere, like Hawaii or even TN. Those stimulus checks we all got and then ALL used on vacations ended up ruining all future vacations.

 

[starlite_]

And now Splash Mt is gone by the hand of people who have nothing else to do but make other lives miserable.

Excuse me???? Pls elaborate.

 

[AquaDame]

Excuse me???? Pls elaborate.

Nothing good can come from them doing so....

 

[starlite_]

Nothing good can come from them doing so....

I am certainly hoping I am misinterpreting his meaning but...

 

[AstroBlasters]

If a business can't pay living wages then that business should not exist.

That’s bait…..

 

[starlite_]

That’s bait…..

Nah. It's just the truth. Otherwise it's called wage theft

 

[Lisa24jks]

Excuse me???? Pls elaborate.

That's the line that made me skip reading the rest of the post.

 

[Smugpugmug]

That’s bait…..

The other person mentioning Splash Mountain was bait too lol If you live in California you can even get to the last remaining Splash for under $1k

 

[starlite_]

That's the line that made me skip reading the rest of the post.

I literally had to re-read the sentence a few times because I thought no way someone actually said that. I was mistaken.

 

[Jason2015]

Excuse me???? Pls elaborate.

He probably feels that getting rid of the Song of the South theming and replacing it with a more inclusive Tiana theme is woke.

 

[SpaceMan5]

Agreed. There was no way my daughter who recently graduated from college could afford to stay in Seattle. She moved to Florida. We enjoy our trips to Disney. The lower costs for hotels and food in Anaheim and Orlando is a refreshing change from Seattle. I was shocked that we spent less dining out in NYC on our trip there in 2021.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

When Genie + was first announced, it was resolved on this board that "NO BODY" would pay for it....

Then we all did pay for it, so Disney Raised the prices..... Maybe we should stop paying for Genie plus?

 

[MillauFr]

I think value is relative. Unless you're a local, it isn't as simple as how much it costs per day at the park. Most day ticket purchasers are from out of town. There are other expenses that comes with that. A family of 4 from out of state is looking at a price tag upwards of $6,000 for 4 days in the parks after you factor in travel ($1200 airfare) lodging ($900) food ($600), memorabilia ($500) and park entry ($2200 with genie plus).

Which is about 50% less than it would cost our family to drive to Whistler and spend a few days skiing.

 

[MillauFr]

When Genie + was first announced, it was resolved on this board that "NO BODY" would pay for it....

Then we all did pay for it, so Disney Raised the prices..... Maybe we should stop paying for Genie plus?

I'll stop paying for gas, water, electricity, and food before I'll cut back on Genie+.

 

[AndrewC]

The thing that always staggers me is hotel prices in comparison to Disney ticket prices. So for around $150 I can spend the entire day from 8am to midnight in the parks with constant entertainment, rides, music, shows, parades, characters, fireworks, etc, etc.

Then to go back for 8 hours of sleep in a tiny rectangle room with ancient beds it can cost easily $250+ a night!

Try $650+ a night this year for a Disney hotel…

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

The stocks I purchased need to be sending dividends my way for investing.

I don't see the point in dividends. It's pretty much the same as selling a small portion of your position as the stock price is reduced by the same amount as the dividend that is paid. I'm fine with companies leaving it in their hands and I'll choose when to sell.

If not for the $2500 in flights to get there, we'd still be a WDW family over DL. Slam dunk. And really, we'd probably be a Universal Orlando family. That place is awesome. It's what WDW used to be - affordable, exciting, spontaneous, and a great CityWalk. If I had a little more income, I wouldn't be here complaining about DL prices. I'd be going to USO.

Not seeing how Universal is more affordable. Ticket prices (per day) are on par with Disney and their version of fastpass is much more expensive. Maybe with season passes? But that would be an odd choice living on the other side of the country.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

I'll stop paying for gas, water, electricity, and food before I'll cut back on Genie+.

Well, every time the price goes UP we know who to talk to

 

[limace]

Not seeing how Universal is more affordable. Ticket prices (per day) are on par with Disney and their version of fastpass is much more expensive. Maybe with season passes? But that would be an odd choice living on the other side of the country.

You can stay at one of their three nice hotels and get unlimited express pass-and the hotels can be very reasonable. And last time we bought 3 day tickets we were able to upgrade them to 15 month seasonal APs for $30 more. Can’t do that at Disney.