Disney Debt!

[Anthony1971]

To me it has become to expensive from what I saw a few weeks ago. Expensive in $ sense excluding if a person finds value. - I will note we can afford the trips.
The parks were noticeably less crowded however to me this can be a sign of many things from Covid Credits combined with inflation for everyday items so no/less vacation etc.
The bigger picture was I saw in a number of lines people eating homemade sandwiches also saw this at tables. The restaurants were far less crowded reservations 1 hour before plenty available. CS Satuli canteen at AK at 12:30 was rather empty spend close to an hour there with eating and talking and there were less people with empty tables all around us. There were people sitting outside eating you guessed it sandwiches. Very few sodas at all CS a sea of water cups. This was a fairly common theme the entire week. People are definitely cutting back.... While this always was in Disney it was nowhere near the level we saw this year. Disney will need to adjust its pricing or it will lose customers to other vacations where one does not need to eat sandwiches in line or not order a soft drink with a meal. I will add yes the parks are definitely not as clean as they were in every sense but still clean just not in any way what the past was.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Looking at the crowds and sold out resorts it must not be that expensive.

I think people are ok putting some of the costs on a credit card for a YOLO trip. They figure they’ll pay it off with tax return money or a bonus.

I wonder if my parents generation ever regret not taking us on trips because of cost and look back and think taking on a little debt would’ve been worth the memories.

 

[gsdweller]

If you think Disney is expensive, try taking a family of 5 on a ski vacation.

 

[firefly_ris]

There are people like you who can easily afford it, but feel it's too expensive now. Others that can't easily afford, but can if they prioritize and save, but no longer feel it's worth saving up for{that's me}. There are probably a lot of people that have been priced out with everything else going up in price.

It was a lot easier to pay for trip a few years ago. When everything is going up in price your discretionary income shrinks. I can't say that's Disney's fault.

I'm in there with you... the last time we did a "full", as in, on-site, week long trip to WDW as a family of 5 was 2019, and I got CBR for $180/night which was about the max I was willing to pay for that room. Then we had 6 day non-hopper passes from Undercover Tourist. Got a grocery delivery to eat breakfasts in the room and carried snacks and drinks into the park and ate quick service meals. I was still working part-time at that time since my kids were younger. It took us a bit to save up for that but not too astronomically long. I thought that was a pretty great trip. There was still free FP+, easy rider swap, etc.

Fast forward 5 years later -- I'm working full time now, and so make almost double what I was making and looking at prices now... it doesn't seem worth it to save up for. My husband has a work retreat in Orlando in January so we are going down to take advantage of the free condo and 1 free airfare for him, but now I'm just planning to make it like a last hurrah sort of thing -- going to splurge on a set of 5 After Hours MK tickets for all of us, then another single park day for 4 of us while my husband is doing the work retreat -- undecided between AK and EP at this point -- and then that's it; the rest of the week we will find other activities and then who knows when/if we return. If we do, I foresee it being more like this upcoming time where it is part of a trip and not THE trip. There's a lot of other parts of Florida we enjoy as well so I could see doing another single day or 2 days at Dis and then moving on to another part of the state, or alternatively my kids have been eyeing up Epic Universe (Mario, Toothless, HP), although Universal is fairly pricey as well but it would be something entirely new for all of us.

 

[Twilghtsprkle]

I wonder if my parents generation ever regret not taking us on trips because of cost and look back and think taking on a little debt would’ve been worth the memories.

I think my mom probably regrets not taking some trips when my sister and I were younger. Not to putting it on a credit card, but instead using some of the insane levels of cash she was socking away for retirement. Now she’s retired, my dad has passed away, and with her SS, 401K and pension she has plenty of money. But no one to travel with.

She keeps offering to take me & my family somewhere if we’d go with her. But for my mental state (and the fact that we can easily afford whatever we want), I just have no interest.

 

[kathy884]

WDW has always been expensive, even back in 1971 when the park opened. I've been going since 1971 about every other year (We do two vacations a year, so always did something besides Disney too), but I did what I think will be my last big trip in 2021 (so I went there from age 10 to 60 - for a period of about 50 years), but for the most part I think my Disney vacations days there are over.

We almost always too did a more Disney on the cheap type of vacation for a week -- offsite -- just three park days in a week (usually two Disney and one SeaWorld and some resort time with extended family (swimming, tennis, movies, games, visiting, cooking out together at one of the nice offsite condo timeshare resorts). It's not prices or changes in policy that are keeping me away (even though I hate not being able to do rope drop as an offsite visitor), it's really stage of life as to why I don't see Disney that much in my future. My Disney loving dad is going to be 88 in November and no longer travels. My son and his spouse are 29 and 32 respectively and don't have kids. Yes, they still like Disney, but there are a lot of other things that are fun to do with this age group that appeal to me and DH more. We next year are picking vacation destinations that DH and I are interested in that are appealing to them too (but Disney just isn't on our wish list now). For 2025 we are doing Puerto Vallarta in February and Glacier National Park in July. And I have to say that the Puerto Vallarta trip will run about $500 pp or 2K in total more than what a Disney / Orlando trip would the way we do those (higher airfare and lodging costs and we are doing some cool day tours / food tours that while less than theme park admissions do add up), and the Glacier trip will run about $750 pp or 3K in total more than a Disney trip would be for us (higher airfare, higher lodging, and higher rental car costs that more than offset the fact that we aren't doing any theme parks or pay tours). With such a sort season Glacier is pricey for sure and unfortunately DH and I don't camp anymore, so are paying big bucks for basic in park Motor Inns.

But as I love Disney even though big trips are not going to happen, I might pop in for some mini thing now and then (It's just such a fun place, but it is pricey for sure). I did in 2022 do a weekend in Orlando and squeezed in the MK with that Keys to the Kingdom tour. And I did in 2023 when we were in Paris, we extended the trip by three days and did four nights and three days in Disneyland Paris. And in 2025 when I am in Orlando for two days after being in Tampa to visit a cousin in Assisted Living there, I have a resort day planned to visit the monorail resorts, have dinner at Ohana at the Polynesian, and watch MK fireworks from there. The one theme park I'll be doing though on that trip will be SeaWorld -- We like that place and I'm just more in the mood for that. Just looking at that, I guess I have to admit that I am still a Disney girl at heart and am still buying into the Mouse to some extent.

I agree that those theme park tickets get pricier and pricier, but it's still a vacation that is in the ballpark for a lot of families, and other competing vacation destinations have increased in price just as much as Disney. The way they are pricing things for a lot of families it may become more of a once in a lifetime thing. Some families who for example would only go to Europe once in a lifetime who are somewhat interested in Disney may only go to Disney just once in a lifetime. And the big fans who used to go every year will still probably go, but in some cases they are priced out and will just go every two or three years and look for some ways to economize too (offsite, value resort, shorter trip, etc.)

It's not just Disney, it's overall. DH and I are traveling less not more and that saying "No one goes there anymore, it's too crowded". from Yogi Berra kind of applies to us. I still like to travel a little, but overall it take more planning, is more crowded, and is less appealing to both of us than it used to be. I think I've done my last trip to Europe too, and that leisure travel for me more and more will just be the little extended side trip I do after visiting out of state relatives I like to visit regularly.

 

[MabelM]

While we can afford Disney, I find it hard to justify the cost on a regular basis. We are planning to go in 2025 because our kids would like to go, but it will likely be the last trip. We pay a ton of money to stay in a cramped room when we could pay less and get a larger suite or villa on the beach with a full kitchen, which is far more enjoyable to me.

 

[jeepwreck]

its getting expensive for us Canadians because of the dollar, its just the Disney part we have to worry about, because the flights are always in CND funds

 

[georgina]

Looking at the crowds and sold out resorts it must not be that expensive.

I think people are ok putting some of the costs on a credit card for a YOLO trip. They figure they’ll pay it off with tax return money or a bonus.

I wonder if my parents generation ever regret not taking us on trips because of cost and look back and think taking on a little debt would’ve been worth the memories.

I'm 100% sure my depression-era parents with 6 kids never regretted not taking us to Disney World. Our family vacations were camping in state parks within a 2 hour drive of Ohio. The idea of going into debt for a vacation would have been utterly ridiculous for them, as it is for me. No one needs to go there, it's a luxury trip. I am currently in better financial circumstances than they ever were, but still stay offsite on many of my Disney trips. I look forward to taking my grandson & his parents eventually, will probably do a DVC rental or have son-in-law find out more about Shades of Green.

 

[jkh36619]

Just for perspective

2012
https://www.disboards.com/threads/when-does-disney-become-too-expensive.3017273/

2009
https://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-too-expensive.2215771/

2008
https://www.disboards.com/threads/is-disney-becoming-too-expensive.1700392/

2005
https://www.disboards.com/threads/n...ensive-right-now-hows-january-pricing.840003/

 

[hhisc16]

Disney is expensive.

With our DVC points, we have visited DLR, WDW, HHI, and VB.

We take other vacations, but we prefer Disney.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Disney has always been expensive but I do think the overall value for the money you spend is slowly diminishing. Personally I am looking to do more non Disney focused vacations going forward. There's a big world outside the mouse!

 

[georgina]

Disney has always been expensive but I do think the overall value for the money you spend is slowly diminishing. Personally I am looking to do more non Disney focused vacations going forward. There's a big world outside the mouse!

Absolutely! As retirees we have done a couple of Viking cruises, and have an African safari booked for next summer. My Orlando trips are usually solo when DH is on his dive trips, and spring trips are usually combined with visiting my snowbird siblings. Works for us.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Absolutely! As retirees we have done a couple of Viking cruises, and have an African safari booked for next summer. My Orlando trips are usually solo when DH is on his dive trips, and spring trips are usually combined with visiting my snowbird siblings. Works for us.

Wow, that's amazing! One of my dream vacations is a safari somewhere in Africa.

In the immediate future, I'm off to Japan in November and then in 2025 I *may* be going to Greece and Turkey. I'm going with my friend but we haven't actually settled down to book anything yet. Other than that.....I have dream trips but no plans. I would really love to go to Alaska or even do a road trip through Arizona and New Mexico, as silly as that sounds.

 

[barkley]

I wonder if my parents generation ever regret not taking us on trips because of cost and look back and think taking on a little debt would’ve been worth the memories.

obviously i don't know your age or what generation your parents are but i can share that for those i know in my age group (60's) what i'm seeing is more of a regret that they/THEIR parents who are still living perhaps opted a bit too much on the side of costly vacations and not making less expensive but equally enjoyable memories. too many of my friends are having to delay retirement/eat through their own savings b/c elder care for their parents is so costly. they've taken a tough look at their own financial futures and realize that while they treasure the memories of all the high cost vacations they did with their kids/grands the lasting memories they may leave behind are their own adult children trying to figure out how to provide for their final needs.

memories are nice but in my experience it's the memories of WHO i was with not WHERE we were at that mean the most to me.

 

[Frank4202]

Old Disney Commercial that shows how much value we lost.

Extra magic hours, free magicbands, Magical Express, FREE Fastpass, etc.... The first three, are even before you step foot on Disney property.

Think of your last trip and figure out how much extra you had to pay for those benefits. The value is long gone and won't be coming back.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Yes and no. What is nice about Disney is you go and you have entertainment all day every day without spending anything above park tickets. You go to a tourist destination and just to play a round of mini golf it's $15/p and that takes an hour of time.

I think for people that travel often Disney is comparable to another decent trip. I think for folks that don't travel and have the desire to go to Disney it's sticker shock. They see you could vacation let's say in Orlando and not do Disney and the trip might look a ton cheaper, but now how much are you spending each day to entertain your family?

We used to go multiple times a year, then it dropped to once a year. Now we do WDW about once every 2 years. There are just so many other places in the world to see and only a limited amount of vacation time.

 

[jo-jo]

I just watched that CNBC video this afternoon, I do believe they are on to something when they say Disney is targeting the upper middle class, instead of maintaining a viable option for all income levels. The problem is they aren't offering enough to make it worthy of upper middle-class vacation time. The overall maintenance of the parks and hotels is faulty of as late, and the loss of the live entertainment and lack of investment back into the parks is beginning to show.

I've expressed this in other threads my hope is when new leadership arrives in the office there will be a swing back to more traditional Disney we grew to love in 90's and early 2000's even if the price continues to be high make it worth it.

I do enjoy my Disney trips, but I have to agree the "magic" isn't as easy to find as it once was. We are cruising on DCL more then park visits this year and 2025.

We do disney cheaper, not cheap of course. Maybe a TS, a few QS, no parties.

I can't imagine the cost of TS several times a week, QS most of the rest, VIP tours, plus a party or two, using minnie vans as main transporation, etc.

 

[msmayor]

I am blessed to have earned a substantial bonus at work that allowed me and my husband to cover all the costs of a trip for us earlier this year that included my daughter and her husband, our 2.5 year old granddaughter, and my still-single son. We spared no expense...three rooms for three nights at a premier resort at Universal (to get Express Pass), five more nights at BLT in a two-bedroom and studio with a theme-park view. We paid all transportation costs, tickets (including an after-hours night at DHS) meals and souvenirs. The kids built light sabers and droids...and we enjoyed three character meals.

Most people I know would have been shocked at the final cost, but we went into this well-aware that we'd venture well into the five-figure range.

One day last week, my granddaughter started watching Finding Nemo and she shouted "I found Nemo with Grammy and Grampy on the ride!". Core memory...worth every penny.

For me, the magic is there. I tear up when I step through those tunnels at the entrance and get my first glimpse of the castle. It's my happy place, and as long as I have the means to plan trips, I'm sure I will continue to go.

 

[Dakota731]

I’m sure my parents don’t regret going into debt to take us on expensive vacations when we were young. We have great memories of camping, going to the beach and doing local day trips to caves, fairs and small amusement parks. My dad was very frugal but we still always had fun. And I’m thankful because when he passed he left my mom in a good financial state so we wouldn’t have to pay for her care. An expensive, elaborate vacation doesn’t always make it more memorable.