With all the price increases is it worth even going?

[Figvention]

I booked a Greek isles cruise on Royal next year and were spending a week in Germany before hand. I think it might be cheaper than a week at WDW in a deluxe resort.

But you don’t get Mickey Waffles and POG juice

 

[Figvention]

Disney is NOT a birth rite. There is no obligation to keep it affordable to the masses.

Only Disney knows how the price increases are impacting attendance and PROFITS.

Disney is NOT a birth rite. There is no obligation to keep it affordable to the masses.

Only Disney knows how the price increases are impacting attendance and PROFITS.

But we all complain it is too crowded. If this thins out the crowds, I am ok with it. Sorry if it prices some people out, but for me, we are still full speed ahead until corporate wokeness gets too much to tolerate. Then we are out.

Lots going on there I agree with your logic that it’s not a “birth rite” but neither is food/electricity/housing.

You want to live a country where a large chuck of the people have the liquidity to make a travel purchase like Disney. You also want to live in a country were most people can afford food/electricity/housing. I’ve been to sub-Saharan Africa, be careful what you ask for, ZERO birth rites there except poverty and violence due to the economics conditions. Societal collapse due to do lack of affording something like “Disney” is a real thing. Don’t insult people who can’t afford it, the economics don’t end up in favor of protecting you investment.

 

[wisblue]

I never understood why DVC people convince themselves like this. Most of the cost of your DVC IS the dues, and those are expensive. Even with DVC, Disney rooms are expensive. You could cash out and stay pretty much anywhere for the cost of Disney rooms.

Here’s how I factor in DVC.

As an example, we have a 6 night stay planned at SSR (our home resort, which we purchased in 2006 as part of the initial offering) over the Marathon Weekend, at which family members will be participating in various events.

A Preferred Studio in the Springs will cost us 86 points. Our current annual dues are $7 per point, so this trip will cost us the equivalent of $602, or roughly $100 per night. For that we get a room very close to buses to the parks and to all Marathon events.

I‘m sure we could get a more spacious room somewhere else, but we put a lot of value on the convenience of the location.

Similarly, because of a backlog of points from the closings, we took our first trip to Aulani in May. That cost us 26 points (or $182) per night for a very nice ocean view studio. Without DVC that room would have cost at least a couple of times more than that.

I don’t feel like I’m convincing myself about anything. I’m just making a decision that, factoring in location and convenience, DVC makes the hotel stay much more reasonable than what we could get without it. It certainly is costing us a lot less than what we would pay at a hotel at any other popular tourist destination.

BTW, I understand that we also had to pay the original cost of the points which, spread out over the 49 year length of the contract was about $1.50 per point. Because of the great value we feel we have gotten out of DVC the last 16 years, and the fact that the contract still has significant resale value, I disregard this as a sunk cost which might be recovered later.

A lot of this “value” discussion is so personal and dependent on tastes that everyone is going to feel differently about it. I don’t see the value in paying $10 for a beer at a sporting event so I rarely do it. But I know that many people (including those who have seats right next to me) have no qualms about getting 4 or 5 or more every game.

To each their own.

 

[glocon]

I wasn’t excited to plan a trip with all the changes, haven’t been since 8/2019. But when my sister suggested a “Sister’s Trip” for F&W I jumped at the chance.

My sister doesn’t do hardly any rides- just WtP like rides, so we probably won’t get G+ or and ILLs. Takes that concern of the table.
And we are going for 8 nights in early September 2023 so hopefully the crowds won’t be too bad.

Staying at Swan so will get the deluxe extra hours.
Hurricanes and heat will be the main concerns.

I think we might plan a late breakfast at a resort near the park we are going to for the day then explore the resort (she hasn’t really seen any resorts and I’ve only seen a small number of them). Then head to the parks in the afternoon.
No hoppers for us so we will just go at our own pace and absorb it all.
Usually I go with my son and we commando the parks. This will be so different and I think not going on headliners or needing/wanting lots of rides, we can enjoy Disney in a whole new way.

So to us it is worth going.

We may have to change the way things have always been done, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be fun or worth it.

 

[RoseGold]

BTW, I understand that we also had to pay the original cost of the points which, spread out over the 49 year length of the contract was about $1.50 per point. Because of the great value we feel we have gotten out of DVC the last 16 years, and the fact that the contract still has significant resale value, I disregard this as a sunk cost which might be recovered later.

You could also sell your SSR right now. It's four or five figures in value right now, that could be in your bank in a couple months. You view that as a sunk cost, but it isn't. Maybe the contract is more valuable to you than the cash, it is to me, but DVC is still expensive.

 

[bwang123]

Disney prices are still in line for entertainment value vs what we pay for vacations. We also pay upcharges for special access or skipping the line to places like the Vatican so what they are doing is nothing new to us. We welcome any changes and would just stop going if its no longer for us. It's the same if our favorite restaurant had a service or food quality drop off.

 

[wisblue]

You could also sell your SSR right now. It's four or five figures in value right now, that could be in your bank in a couple months. You view that as a sunk cost, but it isn't. Maybe the contract is more valuable to you than the cash, it is to me, but DVC is still expensive.

That’s why it’s a matter of taste and preference. The ability to stay at Disney deluxe resorts at a greatly reduced price is worth more to me than more money in my bank account.

 

[Jrb1979]

Disney prices are still in line for entertainment value vs what we pay for vacations. We also pay upcharges for special access or skipping the line to places like the Vatican so what they are doing is nothing new to us. We welcome any changes and would just stop going if its no longer for us. It's the same if our favorite restaurant had a service or food quality drop off.

Just curious, what kind of vacations do you usually take?

For my family all the added price increases its not worth the price anymore. Our summer vacations are Cedar Point for a week and Myrtle Beach in the fall. Both much cheaper and have more value to us. At one time Disney, while expensive was not that much more then those places we usually visit. When you add in reservations for parks, Genie+ and the loss of perks it's not worth it anymore.

When you compare Disney to a cruise or some European vacations it's comparable.

 

[DISness Casual]

The parks are at complete capacity at times when they historically never were like that. There is absolutely no incentive for Disney to lower any pricing. They are constantly pushing the envelope by increasing the pricing more knowing that no matter how much people complain about it, they will always come back for more and contribute to those parks being at capacity. It's a horrible cycle none of us can break apparently.

 

[kathy884]

Our summer vacations are Cedar Point for a week

I love Cedar Point. Growing up we met extended family there and went for two or more days every year followed by some time at Camp Dearborn. I have so many great memories.

 

[Figvention]

I love Cedar Point. Growing up we met extended family there and went for two or more days every year followed by some time at Camp Dearborn. I have so many great memories.

Camp Dearborn! My Dad was a UAW mechanic, Camp Dearborn was our happy place.

 

[samster]

Disney is doing what all corporations are doing. Increasing their prices because they can,not because they need to. There are no supply shortages plaguing Disney or other major corps. It's pure greed. That's why there's "inflation". Check the record profits they're making. Despicable

 

[drenalin'junkie]

Uh, Disney is worth less than 2/3 it's peak.
2018 year over year profit is essentially the same as the June2021-June2022 period.
Don't let yer political koolaid and lack of financial education make you look foolish on the internet. Disney is just starting to get back to normal. Prices are going to stabilize at a rate that is low enough to ensure desired capacity and high enough to maximize value back to millions of investors.
We are coming out of Covid and the largest government spending binge on record. People are flush with what money inflation hasn't eaten and spending record sums on entertainment.

 

[kathy884]

This post made me smile. We used to visit WDW on every other vacation, about once per year, sometimes more. We travelled to a variety of U.S. locations on the "in-between" trips... urban, historic, beaches, nature, a couple cruises. Sometimes we camped in a pop-up and most times, we stayed in timeshare condos for a week. While planning ahead, the kids only expressed excitement for the WDW trips, not knowing what to expect elsewhere. However, when asked in their late 20's which stood out as favorite childhood vacation memories, not one of the 3 mentioned WDW! Maybe we went there TOO often?!?? Their favorite vacation memories were, among others:

• feeding dolphins & watching animal shows at Sea World Orlando
• walking through giant Sequoias in Yosemite
• hiking at the Grand Canyon north rim
• feeding stingrays in Grand Cayman (cruise excursion)
• fishing from a park on Marco Island, FL (Really! They caught an angelfish, a puffer, something colorfully striped, and numerous silvery fish, made friends with a couple observant pelicans, and watched manatees/dolphins swim by!)
• crabbing & kayaking off of Hilton Head Island, SC on the river inlet
• getting spooked by a lantern-carrying storyteller on a nighttime walking tour of old St. Augustine, FL
• taking a jeep tour in the red rocks of Sedona, AZ.

Now that they're all in their 30s with young families of their own, these are still GREAT memories that make all of us smile - and they weren't at WDW. Honestly, we had plenty of fun Disney trips too. So to anyone thinking about going, do go and enjoy! But I'm just SO GLAD we included LOTS of other destinations in our early travels with our kids too, whether they showed interest at the time, or not.

I can relate to what you are saying. Once a year our extended family trip would get together, 10-16 of us from all different parts of the US.

Our most common place to do extended family trips thru the years has been Orlando (Mostly SeaWorld and Disney, with Universal in there sometimes, plus nature and resort time in Orlando). We'd go at least every other year, staying offsite in condos most of the time. All in our extended family have always really enjoyed that.

We've done extended family trips to various other destinations too: Caribbean Cruises, St. Thomas, Puerto Vallarta, Rocky Mountain National Park, Zion/Bryce, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons National Park/Jackson Hole, and Sedona (Sedona a bunch as my parents have a timeshare condo from there that they bought on the resale market and knew other owners to rent from making that pretty easy -- We'd go about every three years).

When asking all our grown kids now in their 20s and 30s their favorite childhood vacation memories, it was Sedona for every single one of them. They all adore Disney and still like to gather there, but I think with Disney it's just so busy that although you all have tons of fun, it's not as much family visiting and chill time. Also, busy National Parks and busy Caribbean destinations while very enjoyable are just that - really busy and pretty jam packed with activities. All the chill time at the pool, hot tub, cooking out, hanging out at the river in Sedona at the condos we gather at is just more geared for family time and a little slower paced, but not too slow paced. There are plenty of hiking opportunities, scenic drives, day trip opportunities, etc. to change things up there too.

 

[georgina]

Just curious, what kind of vacations do you usually take?

For my family all the added price increases its not worth the price anymore. Our summer vacations are Cedar Point for a week and Myrtle Beach in the fall. Both much cheaper and have more value to us. At one time Disney, while expensive was not that much more then those places we usually visit. When you add in reservations for parks, Genie+ and the loss of perks it's not worth it anymore.

When you compare Disney to a cruise or some European vacations it's comparable.

My kids all love trips to Door County, WI, like what we did when they were young and grandparents had a cottage there. We still do that every other year. Kids don't care much about Orlando anymore. Orlando is more for me & occasionally DH. New grandson will maybe take when he is 3?

DH is a scuba diver and he goes on trips several times a year. I often use those times to do Disney and Universal, have a Universal AP. Holiday trip (solo) in December to Uni and Disney for 2 days, can't wait! Booked for 2 nights at the Swan with Marriott free night certificates + points.

Have done family trips to Budapest (and train to Vienna) and trips to Ireland and the UK in recent years. Have a Viking river cruise booked for April for DH & I, a little concerned about the water levels on the Rhine!

 

[Kbrb]

From the uk no its not anymore

We got back 3 weeks ago. Seeing as we are sold 2 weeks onsite deals the dollar rate and the price increases have lead to eye watering costs.

We got 250 spending money and 550 dining credit. All of that was spent on quick service dinners and a few snacks for 3 people. We ended up ordering massive amounts of food from amazon eating breakfast in the hotel room and making a lunch to take with us.

Add in our cell use at £10 a day for overseas use, the lyft from MCO and back again. The genie cost.

It way out of our price range now.

 

[drenalin'junkie]

That's worst thing I hear, families who were previously able to swing an amazing family vaca that are no longer able to due to increased costs and inflation devalued currencies. I have nothing but empathy and compassion. We've been priced out of some of our pastimes and it's not easy to tell the family and friends ylu have to bail next time.

 

[JodyLynC]

Chapek doesn't seem to realize, he is shooting himself in the foot. If I have to take money out of my trip budget for my own transportation, that is money I am not spending in the park. Also, taking away the perk of having your purchases sent to your resort is a big mistake. DH and I ended up not buying at the park because we didn't want to lug bags the rest of the day. Instead, if we found something we were interested in, we looked it up online and purchased the item from a non-Disney website. He may be saving the company money in the short term. In the long term, he will end up losing money.

 

[cgattis]

Chapek doesn't seem to realize, he is shooting himself in the foot. If I have to take money out of my trip budget for my own transportation, that is money I am not spending in the park. Also, taking away the perk of having your purchases sent to your resort is a big mistake. DH and I ended up not buying at the park because we didn't want to lug bags the rest of the day. Instead, if we found something we were interested in, we looked it up online and purchased the item from a non-Disney website. He may be saving the company money in the short term. In the long term, he will end up losing money.

But he’ll be gone then………..he doesn’t care about making Disney money, he cares about making himself money. That’s why the exponential increases; he knows his time in charge is limited, so he has to hit it hard and fast. By the time the company starts to feel the backlash, he’ll be retired on some island somewhere and we’ll all be staying offsite at the Motel 6, picking our favorite kid because we can only afford to take ONE of them, and packing cans of corn to eat for lunch….

 

[samster]

Disney prices will stabilize? Really? A new spigot of cash has been opened and one day they're going to decide "let's give our customers the break they deserve and reverse our good financial fortune because it's the right thing to do". Naive