Budget..... I'm in shock right now... (rant of an old person here)

[StacyStrong]

I understand what you're saying - that the value isn't there for what you get. I just personally disagree *when it comes to value resorts only*. It's a personal preference, really and I can see that people don't want to stay in a Value because it's not what they are accustomed to. Then, they look at moderates/deluxe's and those prices are crazy.

It's really all a personal preference, but just for the sake of explaining why I don't personally think it's expensive (and it's not to argue that your opinion isn't valid) for me, I wanted to give a little more info on my thought process. Personally, I'm used to staying placed like Holiday Inn's or La Quinta, or the basic Marriott's. The cost of those rooms and a Disney Value resort are very similar. You may find some cheaper prices at those places or a slightly bigger room, but in my view these types of locations are more comparable to Disney Values than a motel 6 is. At Disney values you have the pools, kids activities, transportation, food court etc. You (generally) don't have all that at these other hotels. You'd have to rent a car or take an Uber or take time to eat off site. All of those points are a value add for Disney.

I am in the process of booking a large family trip. My brother was trying to really cut down the costs as much as possible and so he wanted to look offsite. The offsite costs of a room (at a hotel) he was comfortable staying at didn't lower the cost enough (compared to a Value) to justify having to rent a car or Uber. It was the tickets that really costs us.

Now, of course, I'm not saying that a Disney trip isn't expensive and absolutely tickets are way overpriced. You can also stay at a condo or airbnb for cheaper. 100% I'm not even saying staying at a Value is affordable in any way. But when strictly comparing the Value resort costs to an average hotel room? I don't think that is overpriced when compared to hotels with similar amenities. Are hotels in general overpriced? Probably.

*edit. I know some people drive there and that’s a different calculation regarding value

 

[RamblingMad]

Yeah I get that it’s expensive compared to a motel 6. But I don’t get the comparison. I don’t live in FL, but do motel 6’s out there have multiple outdoor pools and activities for kids? They might because it’s Florida. I certainly don’t think they have food courts or transportation to any local attractions.

moderates and deluxes I agree are very expensive, but I will never get the motel comparisons to the values.

Think about it this way. When you walk into a value room, do you think of a Hyatt or Hilton at the same price range off site? The problem is the pricing. You're paying Hyatt and Hilton prices for rooms that don't look that different from a Motel 6 room. You're not getting a Hyatt or Hilton room. This is what you get closer to at the moderates, but then you're basically paying Fairmont pricing for a Hyatt room. The prices doesn't make sense for what you get.

 

[StacyStrong]

Think about it this way. When you walk into a value room, do you think of a Hyatt or Hilton at the same price range off site? The problem is the pricing. You're paying Hyatt and Hilton prices for rooms that don't look that different from a Motel 6 room. You're not getting a Hyatt or Hilton room. This is what you get closer to at the moderates, but then you're basically paying Fairmont pricing for a Hyatt room. The prices doesn't make sense for what you get.

I actually do think that a Hyatt or Hilton priced at 150 a night looks similar to the current, renovated Disney rooms.

 

[StacyStrong]

BUT I’ll caveat that to say that I don’t know what $150 a night Hyatts and Hilton’s look like in the Orlando area.

i just see the value, but I get it’s not the same for everyone.

 

[afan]

Think about it this way. When you walk into a value room, do you think of a Hyatt or Hilton at the same price range off site? The problem is the pricing. You're paying Hyatt and Hilton prices for rooms that don't look that different from a Motel 6 room. You're not getting a Hyatt or Hilton room. This is what you get closer to at the moderates, but then you're basically paying Fairmont pricing for a Hyatt room. The prices doesn't make sense for what you get.

I get a clean room on property with easy access to Disney transportation which means I don't need to spend more on a room.

This argument will never change people's mind. It happens all over these boards, no better than a motel 6. You can get a better room offsite for less.
Sure if you are just comparing the room to the room the argument is there, offsite is better. But Disney prices it because of everything else, Disney transportation, food court, pools and splash pads.

I haven't stayed off site at wdw since 1990 but I stayed at a hyatt at dlr in July. Walking distance but the room didn't feel bigger than pop last month. Didn't use the pull out couch or Murphy bed. Bathroom was bigger but all in one room, no biggie when I'm alone but a pain when traveling with a friend so pop wins there. There's a mod pizza and Starbucks in the same building and a walgreens next door but only the walgreens was open when I got back from the parks and wanted a snack. Food court at pop would have still been open.

It's all in how you travel. I'm not in the room enough to get annoyed at a space I don't find small.

 

[disneyophile]

For fun I looked through my email and found what we paid in 2013.
2 adults, one Disney adult (15) , one child (8) for 7 nights in February . Preferred room at Port Orleans Riverside , 2 day base tickets - $2491.18
Exact same trip with same inputs in 2022 - $3945.10 .
A difference of $1453.92. The 2013 trip included free dining and free Magical Express.

I’ll just leave that for people to look over. I feel that’s a huge jump in 9 years but others might not. I guess it’s all a matter of our personal tolerance level.

I had an interesting experience yesterday. I priced out a room the Art of Animation Resort in the afternoon on my phone for two nights in January: Total room only cost was $405. Later in the evening, I decided to book it from my PC: Total room only cost was $550. Same category, same dates. Luckily, I didn't close the webpage on my phone and was able to book at the lower cost.

 

[shawthorne44]

I am in the process of booking a large family trip. My brother was trying to really cut down the costs as much as possible and so he wanted to look offsite. The offsite costs of a room (at a hotel) he was comfortable staying at didn't lower the cost enough (compared to a Value) to justify having to rent a car or Uber. It was the tickets that really costs us.

Have you looked at the offsite houses? You mentioned large family trip. One thing I noticed is that the price/night goes up very slowly as the houses get bigger. So, a large house isn't that much more than a 3-bedroom condo. We have a reservation in Windsor Hills for a 3-bedroom condo very near the waterpark/pool. We have an energetic only child, so we are hoping she'll find some child to play with on our 'rest' days. But, our original plans were to travel with another family and we had a 5-bedroom house with a heated pool owned by a nice guy that lived locally. The 5-bedroom was +$20/night than the condo. Both were cheaper than POP for the same dates. There are 6&7 bedroom houses too.

ETA: We drive to FL so will have a car regardless. We also have Disney onsite reservations because I am still deciding if the perks are worth the price increase. Even if we stay onsite we plan on driving everywhere but MK because that is quicker/easier, so Disney transportation is a non-thing for us. At the moment I am leaning toward offsite and getting a ILL$$$ to replace early entry using the money saved.

 

[SL6827]

I had an interesting experience yesterday. I priced out a room the Art of Animation Resort in the afternoon on my phone for two nights in January: Total room only cost was $405. Later in the evening, I decided to book it from my PC: Total room only cost was $550. Same category, same dates. Luckily, I didn't close the webpage on my phone and was able to book at the lower cost.

That is extremely interesting.

 

[kathy884]

A week in Orlando (spring break time high season - going March of 2022) costs me about the same as a week in South Dakota (summer - high season - trip we did in 2019) or a week in Colorado (high season - mid June 2022 trip we are doing). But for Orlando, I stay offsite in a condo (can get good timeshare rental deals - Redweek.com and TUG2.net are rental sites I use or I do a timeshare trade for a timeshare that I inherited). And to keep expenses down in Orlando, for a six day trip, we typically just do three park days. The condo means we do some meals in too, saving some on food also. Also, FYI -- I was able to get my full sized rental car in Orlando for just under $50 a day for all taxes and fees. For my Southwestern, Colorado trip this coming June, my full size rental car was just under $100 a day (almost double the cost to rent the same kind of vehicle for the same amount of time in Orlando). Note, though that in Colorado we are doing a jeep tour and a few museum admissions, but those are way less expensive than three park days. Our offsite lovely timeshare condo in Orlando, though, is considerably less expensive than our two bedroom / two bath condo in Ouray. The Orlando condo has way more amenities too (good offsite lodging values in Orlando for sure).

It's ironic how overall my budget for both of the trips is about the same. Lowering the number of park days and staying offsite is how we make a week in Orlando work for our budget. We also do some eating in and when we eat at the parks we do counter service, not table service, and when we do meals out instead of at the condo, we go to moderately priced places. Do note that in the nice weather we enjoy resort/pool days in Orlando, and we have relatives in the area too, so three non park days and three park days work for us. The theme parks are great, but they are very pricey.

Some I'm sure would not consider a trip like we do to Orlando satisfying or worth doing, but we like to travel this way and are used to doing it to stay within our vacation budget. It means picking an choosing what Orlando parks to do and not doing everything, but we are fine with that and just pick the three parks we are most interested in for the trip we are doing.

 

[iwannabdduck]

I had an interesting experience yesterday. I priced out a room the Art of Animation Resort in the afternoon on my phone for two nights in January: Total room only cost was $405. Later in the evening, I decided to book it from my PC: Total room only cost was $550. Same category, same dates.

I've experienced the same thing. Ended up clearing my computer's history and cache to delete the Disney cookies to get a clean redo. It is especially apparent with ADR's. Nothing is available online, but numerous openings show up using the phone app. I've also seen where Disney controls available room inventory by length of stay ... can't find anything for a 3 or 4 night stay, but change the search to 5 nights and openings magically appear. I hate to say this, but in addition to cost, it's getting increasingly difficult to do simple things with Disney. It's one thing to feel guilty for spending a lot of money on yourself for a WDW vacation. Its entirely different feeling "managed."

 

[SL6827]

Sounds like Disney is pricing like the airlines do. Unreal. I will remember to clear my cookies out too from now on.

 

[Mom24Princesses]

My DH wanted to see HEA one more time so I bought single day tickets to MK for the 2 of us I think it was $250 with taxes. Then $25 to park - so $275. We have not done that ever before. Way back in the 90's we got comp tickets twice for a single day visit. (Through a work connection) AND actually that same connection got us into US & IoA the next day for free. 4 weeks ago.

In 2003-2004 we bought 4 "adult" and 2 kids APs for a total of $2000. I still have the check I wrote! LOL

Also in the 80's as newlyweds I did not think we would EVER stay on property. Just 2 school teachers. Then they built the Values and opened that door.
We've done 12 family trips between '95 - '20 and 20+ weekend get-aways. My DH and I have been on property 47 times in the past 2 years. (just retired) - we live 7 hours away. A lot cheaper by ourselves.

We had to get 2 connecting rooms for most of the family trips.

In 2006 we did a 7 night Disney Cruise with INSIDE staterooms for over $7000! and repeated it in '08 for over $8000!

It has always been expensive.

 

[yeahdisney]

I feel your pain. It is time to buy tickets
What to buy, what to buy. DD wants to ride Remi. Epcot does not entertain me for a day.

We will be there 5 days. One day needing a hopper. One day off site.

I do have 4 single hopper ticket linked to no one. So we can use them. Or go to the dark side for a day.

4 day hopper were $568! X 4. Need 5 if we take DDs friend.

I went with 3 day hoopers $440 each. Used $400 Disney rewards to soften the blow. And had a single day ticket that had expired that I upgraded to one of the hoppers.

dang.$$$$

 

[lurkernj]

I feel your pain. DS and I went on a 6 night trip to pop with 6 day base tickets and free regular dining, back in 2009 and it cost $968. The same trip now would cost $2390 without dining (which would put this over $3000)

As for tickets, I have two AP vouchers from a few increases ago, I paid about $700 each for them. I am holding onto them for dear life. Along with a 5 day park hopper I got through Ebates when they were offering 20% back on activities in orbitz. I paid $265 for 4 of them, and I have 1 left. Once all my tickets are depleted, my visits will be very few and far between.

 

[tano]

I feel your pain. DS and I went on a 6 night trip to pop with 6 day base tickets and free regular dining, back in 2009 and it cost $968. The same trip now would cost $2390 without dining (which would put this over $3000)

As for tickets, I have two AP vouchers from a few increases ago, I paid about $700 each for them. I am holding onto them for dear life. Along with a 5 day park hopper I got through Ebates when they were offering 20% back on activities in orbitz. I paid $265 for 4 of them, and I have 1 left. Once all my tickets are depleted, my visits will be very few and far between.

Better use those tickets before in park food, on-site resorts, genie+ and parking becomes more expensive...

 

[vetrik]

It makes you wonder if we're going to be looking back in 10-20 years talking about how cheap it was to visit Disney in 2021

My first trip as an adult was with DH in 2005 - I found our initial price quote email for the trip: $1,185 for 6 nights at Pop, 7 day park hoppers (+ 5 visits to water parks, DisneyQuest, etc), dining plan (which at the time included an appetizer, entree, and dessert per person plus a snack and all taxes and tips). That same trip is $2755 now....without dining, without airport transportation, and without additional Genie costs.

That ended up being the first year of free dining, so we were able to add that to our package and so we paid even less. I think it was around $1200 total for the whole trip including airfare (back in the days of Ding specials from Southwest).

 

[canyoncam]

I have a one day hopper I got as a comp, a six day hopper I kept from a package about 6 years ago when a friend had to bale on the trip last minute and an AP voucher I bought in summer of 2019. I feel like I have treasure trove!!! I’m reluctant to start cashing in as once I do I know my trips to WDW will end as I recently chose to simplify life and make about a third of my previous income. Still make enough for needs and one good “normal” priced vacation a year so quite happy with that decision but will miss Disney. I remember taking my nephew in 2008 for 10 nights at POP with a 6 day Water Parks and more tickets for each of us and Free Dining for a total of $1200 (and some change)
Same package today for same time of year in “low” season, adding Disney Genie+ since in 2008 FP was included=$3200. Basically over triple since we’d still have to pay for food for 10 days.

 

[DisneyFamNYC]

We no longer park hop, just 1 park tickets now. Enjoying the parks 1 day at a time.

 

[wdw_dine_junkie]

If it makes you feel any better, 9 nights at Fort Wilderness for last part of Jan 2022 (no marathon, no holiday week) , is $1750. For a concrete pad and electric that you plug your own RV into, no housekeeping, no mickey soap, only turnover is hosing it down and blowing leaves off Not even the most expensive campsite category either. It's one of the best in the country, but even so it's getting ridiculous!

 

[pryncess527]

The same is true for many luxury goods & experiences— many, if not all, are rising far, far faster than inflation. A lift ticket at Vail increased by a larger % over the last 20 years than a ticket a Disneyland.

Globally, the rich have been getting richer and companies can afford to raise prices dramatically because demand continues, even at these prices, to far outstrip supply