Ever feel like you can not afford WDW vacations anymore?

[powellrj]

I keep our trip ticker even though we didn't take our annual food and wine trip. Life has thrown us some curves the past couple of years and it will be several years before we go back. The kids are also all out of college now and moving across the country so those will be our trips for awhile.

I keep reading about all of the changes and I keep wondering when they will end. Prices going up, shorter hours...

 

[serenitynow]

We don't book a Disney vacation until we have the money in hand. I guess it depends on your perspective. Some here go several times a year. In our group of friends we have historically been considered Disney addicts because we go every 2 or 3 years. We went to Disneyland last week, and WDW for the first time ever last year, so we broke our pattern
And, also under the heading of "your perspective", I can't imagine being near retirement and still having a mortgage. We bought a very modest house 35 years ago, and took out a 15 year mortgage for that reason. And again to perspective, we were the first generation in our families to have a mortgage .....and not pay cash for a house. Now, in may parents case, their first house was really a shack, cost $1,500 in 1950, and over 10 years they added on until they had a nicer, but still modest house. My In-laws, my FIL was career Air Force so housing was always included and free until he retired. So he had 27 years to save money to buy his first house for cash.

Housing in the military is not and has never been free.

 

[MillauFr]

I keep reading about all of the changes and I keep wondering when they will end. Prices going up, shorter hours...

Price increases will end when attendance starts to drop. So far no sign of that. The more the raise the prices the bigger the crowds seem to be. Just think how crowded it would be if they didn't raise prices? They would have to start making reservations for park days mandatory.

 

[MillauFr]

But you can be a 5-10 minute walk to DLR and stay & eat at a cheap offsite hotel. Most DLR guests don't stay onsite because you can very conveniently stay offsite, unlike at WDW.

Agreed. We just stay at the Candy Cane Inn on Harbor. We can get to the front gate to DL faster than it takes to get to the front gate at MK from the Poly.

 

[Cubbiecakes]

This thread is about WDW, not DLR. DLR actually is a much better deal as it hasn't been manically cutting the way WDW has been lately, and as a PP mentioned, there are more convenient affordable food & lodging options available at DLR's doorstep than you can easily get while vacationing at "the World".

Interesting. I would counter by saying that DL might be a better "deal" but due to the AA issues it has much less value than WDW. That statement is something I thought I would never say (and I grew up with DL).

 

[Shanti]

Interesting. I would counter by saying that DL might be a better "deal" but due to the AA issues it has much less value than WDW. That statement is something I thought I would never say (and I grew up with DL).

AA?

 

[fhtpdw20]

I agree MillauFr that the prices will keep going as long as demand is up. My last 4 trips I have not even concentrated on the rides. I have focused on the interaction, tours and experiences. Disney is like the movies now. They do not depend on a good story anymore but focus on the technology and special effects. Then they latch on to one idea or theme and drive it into the ground until it is done to death. Case in point Frozen or Star Wars. How long can that last? There has to be substance behind the changes, not just smoke and mirrors or special effects.

 

[tvguy]

Housing in the military is not and has never been free.

Free.
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-the-recruiter-never-told-you-3332705

 

[tvguy]

Different life experiences, different perspectives. For some people it is possible to buy & pay off a home well before retirement. For others, it is not.

Yup, difference experiences and perspectives. A lot of people who reach retirement age with a mortgage do so by choice.
Lady across the street just lost her husband. She is 67. They bought their house in 1979 for $65,000. She says she owes $125,000 today because her husband kept taking equity out. I can't imagine being that position.

 

[Klayfish]

I'll go against the anti-Disney overtone, as I usually do. We actually find WDW the best value out there, which is why we keep coming back. We do Disney different than many, and spend a fraction of what most do. So when we price other vacations we're interested in, we simply can't beat WDW. When we buy our AP, we spend a total of 50 days at the parks over the course of the 12 months. When we do the math of how much we pay per day, it's a bargain.

 

[lifesavacation]

I’m in the minority here but I would prefer if Disney would increase their prices to the point where less people were in the parks. I don’t mind paying more to have a better experience. It’s amazing to me that they haven’t hit that tipping point yet. Disney is an expensive vacation. I don’t know how those huge families I see in the parks do it.

 

[zobow02]

Disney is an expensive vacation. I don’t know how those huge families I see in the parks do it.

I think the exact same thing, especially when the I see large families staying on property, not hating on these families at all but it must be pretty darn expensive to pay for a family suite for a week at AoA.

 

[Colleen27]

I’m in the minority here but I would prefer if Disney would increase their prices to the point where less people were in the parks. I don’t mind paying more to have a better experience. It’s amazing to me that they haven’t hit that tipping point yet. Disney is an expensive vacation. I don’t know how those huge families I see in the parks do it.

Yeah, but that assumes you'd see a benefit from fewer people. We usually go at the slowest remaining times of the year, and while the less crowded walkways are nice, wait times aren't significantly lower across-the-board because Disney scales capacity to crowd levels, with fewer ride vehicles running, fewer registers staffed, fewer cast members working. New and marquee rides run long waits because even on a slow day demand exceeds ride capacity, and second-tier rides have moderate rates because of reduced capacity. So lower attendance doesn't necessarily equate to a better experience.

 

[MillauFr]

What is AA? Alcoholics Anonymous?

 

[MillauFr]

I’m in the minority here but I would prefer if Disney would increase their prices to the point where less people were in the parks. I don’t mind paying more to have a better experience. It’s amazing to me that they haven’t hit that tipping point yet. Disney is an expensive vacation. I don’t know how those huge families I see in the parks do it.

Couldn't agree more. I can't imagine what the parks would be like if they weren't jacking the prices through the roof.

 

[Colleen27]

Agreed. We just stay at the Candy Cane Inn on Harbor. We can get to the front gate to DL faster than it takes to get to the front gate at MK from the Poly.

Yeah, that's why I see DLR as a better value. Because you aren't as limited to the Disney-owned choices. At WDW, you just trade one lack of value (Disney prices) for another (long travel times to save $$). At DLR you can book a nice-enough mid-priced hotel without ending up with a 30 minute drive and $22 parking fee to get to the parks, and you can go offsite to have a bite to eat without sacrificing hours of an already-short park day.

Disneyland also isn't plagued by hard-ticket events that take away the evening shows and close the park early 3-4 days a week for almost half of the year unless you're willing to pay for an additional ticket on top of your park admission.

 

[DawnM]

We last went to WDW in 2015. I am so surprised. We went every year, usually a couple of times, for 20 years (well, 12 to Disneyland and 8 to WDW). We did get to Disneyland in 2017. However, I am not sure I will get to WDW again any time soon. The fast pass changes and the crowd levels, and the cost have all contributed to the magic fading.

We have gone to Universal in 2015, 2016, and 2017 though and my kids are asking to go again. I am trying to get my son to apply for an internship at Universal in Orlando and hoping that means he can get us in for free. The internship isn't in the parks, but I think it still counts.

It isn't that we can't afford it really, we could save enough, but the value isn't there anymore.

 

[DawnM]

I’m in the minority here but I would prefer if Disney would increase their prices to the point where less people were in the parks. I don’t mind paying more to have a better experience. It’s amazing to me that they haven’t hit that tipping point yet. Disney is an expensive vacation. I don’t know how those huge families I see in the parks do it.

I sure do miss the days when there were actually slow times in the parks. Those days are long gone.

 

[DawnM]

Here are the statistics. Wow.

 

[LSUmiss]

Yup, difference experiences and perspectives. A lot of people who reach retirement age with a mortgage do so by choice.
Lady across the street just lost her husband. She is 67. They bought their house in 1979 for $65,000. She says she owes $125,000 today because her husband kept taking equity out. I can't imagine being that position.

Sometimes that “choice” is a last resort too. MIL had to do that when DH was a young child & her husband (his father) died suddenly. She was a SAHM with no real work experience. Had to take out equity to survive.