NY Times Today: Is a Disney Theme Park Vacation Still Worth the Price?

[NYCgrrl]

I think the closest might be the Grand Cal at Disneyland. They do turn down services (was just there 2 weeks ago).

Glad to hear that; never been to DL .

You're taking the kids to Disney because you know they would have a more magical time there than somewhere in the middle of Europe. It's entirely your choice.

No, I’m taking DGD and her younger sister (aged 6) to facilitate their bonding.
DGD is 18 and thinks DWD is a good domestic locale to enjoy time with her sister. Currently, DGD attends school in Europe so it could well have been easier for us all to vacation there.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

The Four Seasons is the only hotel most experienced travelers would consider luxury on property. I’ve only ever been able to stay in one luxury hotel in my life, and it’s a whole different ballgame. If I McD’s six days a week, sitting down at Tony’s is a luxury, but it isn’t luxury dining and nobody would pretend it is.

I think the use of experienced travelers kind of makes my point. You really mean people who can travel with the means of paying higher rates

 

[NYCgrrl]

Well, as I am from 'somewhere in the middle of Europe' I can assure you that you can have quite a magical time in the snowy Alps around Christmas time. I can also tell you that you can easily spend more than 15K. Skiing is not a cheap activity by any means and there are some really nice and expensive hotels in the area.

Of course you can spend more or even less money. I cross country but don’t alpine ski which doesn’t change the beauty of the surroundings. My European winter vacations are mostly spent visiting museums, galleries and flea markets during the day, and enjoying the company of friends and family at night since most of them are still working.

 

[walt34]

I think the use of experienced travelers kind of makes my point. You really mean people who can travel with the means of paying higher rates

The Four Seasons is the only hotel most experienced travelers would consider luxury on property. I’ve only ever been able to stay in one luxury hotel in my life, and it’s a whole different ballgame. If I McD’s six days a week, sitting down at Tony’s is a luxury, but it isn’t luxury dining and nobody would pretend it is.

I'm not sure who qualifies as an experienced traveller. I spend about 200 nights per year in 4 and 5 star hotels in Europe. Does this count? There are significant differences in hotel classifications between countries and sometimes the criteria are quite surprising (e.g. for some countries, the rating depends to a high degree on employees per guest).

Usually there is still a broad range even within the highest category. But location does make a difference. A 5 star hotel in the middle of Rome or Paris and a 5 star hotel far away from a major city or attraction will offer the same base level of services but the hotel that has to attract guests by itself will have to go much further in room quality and amenities to be successful.

So you cannot quite separate 'luxury' from location in my opinion. The Grand Floridian would not be able to compete with the best standalone luxury hotels I've been to and it's also not a Four Seasons or Mandarin Oriental but it can easily hold its own compared to other 5 star hotels in many cities or near major attractions.

 

[gmi3804]

The Four Seasons is the only hotel most experienced travelers would consider luxury on property. I’ve only ever been able to stay in one luxury hotel in my life, and it’s a whole different ballgame. If I McD’s six days a week, sitting down at Tony’s is a luxury, but it isn’t luxury dining and nobody would pretend it is.

Precisely. There are standards. It's not about what YOU consider luxury.

There is no Disney-owned luxury hotel (no matter what they charge and people are willing to pay) as long as the towels in the bathrooms all come from a "laundry center." It's all standardized there. You're paying for whimsical wallpaper and space.

 

[lowlight]

Right, but that's not really Disney's concern as far as how they price their rooms. If demand does make a hard drop, then they will have to adjust.

I’d be shocked if Disney didn’t have analysts eying the markets to be ready for signs of impending economic turmoil, it would almost be criminal with their fiduciary duties to stockholders. I understand what you’re saying, Disney doesn’t care if you charged it and can’t pay for it or if you are a Disboarder McWealthy that used some pocket change to pay for it, but they definitely are aware that people are over extending themselves to go on a Disney vacation because there are implications to their stock value down the line.

And there are also many people who don't have credit card debts. I use my credit cards in place of cash. My checking account automatically pays those CC balances on a set date every month. I have never in my entire life incurred a credit card debt.

It's unfortunate for those who go into debt due to vacationing, but not everyone makes poor choices like that.

Statistically speaking you are in the minority. I’m not gonna get into a pull yourself up by your bootstraps debate with you, nor am I defending reckless spending, but hopefully you count your blessings along with your bullion every night before you go to sleep. “I have never in my entire life incurred a credit card debt” means you are a very, very fortunate individual, not something to be proudly lauded over the lower castes.

 

[BrianL]

I’d be shocked if Disney didn’t have analysts eying the markets to be ready for signs of impending economic turmoil, it would almost be criminal with their fiduciary duties to stockholders. I understand what you’re saying, Disney doesn’t care if you charged it and can’t pay for it or if you are a Disboarder McWealthy that used some pocket change to pay for it, but they definitely are aware that people are over extending themselves to go on a Disney vacation because there are implications to their stock value down the line.

Oh, I'm sure Disney is watching it and has all kinds of projections and contingincy plans for various situations, but they are not going to start charging less now just in case the environment changes in the future.

 

[gmi3804]

Someone (on this thread?) referred to Six Flags as (I'm paraphrasing) White Trash Disney. Without addressing how elitist that sounds, and expanding on that line of thought, could the difference in patrons boil down something as simple as whether you have a credit card or not, generally speaking? It would certainly explain the popularity of "filet" among Disney guests.

 

[drenalin'junkie]

Navigating aps-No
Losing previous perks-No
Add on costs-No
TS Dining-Yes
QS dining-No
Character dining-Yes
Festivals-Yes
Hotels-No
Ticketed events-No
Merch-No
Roller coaters-No
Dark rides- Yes
Fireworks and light shows-Yes
We've dropped from APs who spent up to a month a year and mostly on property to occasionally meeting family or friends and playing tour guide or adding festival day at EPCOT to another vaca.
The money we would have spent now is split between SW APs, UO APs, other travel and fine dining.
Genie's various iterations were the real deal breaker, my time and attention are too valuable to keep my face in a phone.

 

[gmi3804]

Navigating aps-No
Losing previous perks-No
Add on costs-No
TS Dining-Yes
QS dining-No
Character dining-Yes
Festivals-Yes
Hotels-No
Ticketed events-No
Merch-No
Roller coaters-No
Dark rides- Yes
Fireworks and light shows-Yes
We've dropped from APs who spent up to a month a year and mostly on property to occasionally meeting family or friends and playing tour guide or adding festival day at EPCOT to another vaca.
The money we would have spent now is split between SW APs, UO APs, other travel and fine dining.
Genie's various iterations were the real deal breaker, my time and attention are too valuable to keep my face in a phone.

My deal-breaker was the fluorescent lighting in the 1BR at Boulder Ridge, which made the place look like a police precinct. Zero character in that room, and actually unpleasant to be in. The thing is, there are countless instances like that all over the World where standards have fallen to budget resort levels, pushing us to see how far we'll bend without breaking.

 

[Genie+]

Taking a WDW trip is a luxury. They dont call their hotels luxury. They call them Deluxe. We have found them to help elevate the entire experience. We’d only do it on very special occasions if it weren’t for DVC which basically cuts that cost in half. We’re staying at Poly and Grand Flo $300-$500/nt which isn’t bad.

A Season Pass to the Six Flags closest to me (where I even worked at once) costs $100. Compared to that, WDW is hella expensive. But also, have you been to SF? Its a trash tier park. Zero immersion, zero theming. But a corndog is $12 bucks and it tastes like they just took it out of the Walmart freezer.

And none of you have even mentioned this, but a season pass being that dirt cheap will attract…fishy clientele.
Suffice to say last summer the park here enacted a new rule that underage teens would require a 21+ chaperone in order to enter the parks.
Nobody wants to admit this, but make something dirt cheap and it will eventually turn to crap.

Luxury is good. Not everybody can afford it, and most of us will have to save up a while to be able to, but the reason we save in the first place is because it is a luxury

That’s not even mentioning entertainment costs everywhere else. A movie for two people and popcorn costs nearly $80 bucks here. $80 bucks for a 2 hour film which you may or may not even end up liking.
A bouncy house by the mall charges $30 bucks per kid, and they can only jump for 80 minutes.
Even a Taco Bell is $10 bucks now, but people are complaining about Pecos Bill?

And don’t even get me started about hotel costs, where I can pay $200 bucks for a Ramada Inn or pay the same price for All Star Sports.

Enjoy Disney. Before i moved to America my father saved for years so he could bring me and my sisters to visit Orlando for a week. It was expensive, and probably unwise for him to take us, but we knew that. And we appreciated it even more for that reason.


But nobody appreciates anymore; they all just complain.

This is a great point. When you look at ticket pricing changes, one thing becomes clear. People can trim the budget way down on food and lodging but if you're entering the parks, you're gonna pay.

Our wallet may not like it. It protects the park experience though. Imagine what it would be like if typically people were paying $50/day on average rather than $100. The parks would be bonkers!

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

Taking a WDW trip is a luxury. They dont call their hotels luxury. They call them Deluxe. We have found them to help elevate the entire experience. We’d only do it on very special occasions if it weren’t for DVC which basically cuts that cost in half. We’re staying at Poly and Grand Flo $300-$500/nt which isn’t bad.



This is a great point. When you look at ticket pricing changes, one thing becomes clear. People can trim the budget way down on food and lodging but if you're entering the parks, you're gonna pay.

Our wallet may not like it. It protects the park experience though. Imagine what it would be like if typically people were paying $50/day on average rather than $100. The parks would be bonkers!

the parks would be at capacity every single day, i think one piece that is often overlooked is that Disney only has so much capacity, and they have to make it cost prohibitive to a point to ensure they aren't completely overrun. The hotels around Disney easily dwarf the parks capacities for a fraction of the cost so it isn't even a question of if people can afford in the bubble hotels.

Everyone wants it to cost less until Small World hits a 3 hour wait

 

[pzw90]

the parks would be at capacity every single day, i think one piece that is often overlooked is that Disney only has so much capacity, and they have to make it cost prohibitive to a point to ensure they aren't completely overrun. The hotels around Disney easily dwarf the parks capacities for a fraction of the cost so it isn't even a question of if people can afford in the bubble hotels.

Or limit # of ticket sales

 

[BrianL]

the parks would be at capacity every single day, i think one piece that is often overlooked is that Disney only has so much capacity, and they have to make it cost prohibitive to a point to ensure they aren't completely overrun. The hotels around Disney easily dwarf the parks capacities for a fraction of the cost so it isn't even a question of if people can afford in the bubble hotels.

Everyone wants it to cost less until Small World hits a 3 hour wait

As, I've always said, I don't mind the high price - as long as I get an experience commensurate with it. Now I still feel that I do, but it is frustrating to see areas where they have let it slip a little. Disney should definitely be a high-end experience!

 

[meanwoodwhite]

If I didn't have DVC I wouldn't be going to Disney Resorts way over priced now. Luckily I pay about $80 a night obviously doesn't include the initial outlay back in 2020 but already made that money back.

 

[Genie+]

Or limit # of ticket sales

Sounds good but could you imagine the blowback? The headlines would start complaining about having to book WDW so far out or you might not get in.

 

[meanwoodwhite]

Tickets are crazy that we just shorten our Disney portion of our trip or just have more resort days.

We buy 1 day or just a party ticket have a few resort days. Then move to a nice resort elsewhere and enjoy better value and quality restaurants off site.

 

[Genie+]

the parks would be at capacity every single day, i think one piece that is often overlooked is that Disney only has so much capacity, and they have to make it cost prohibitive to a point to ensure they aren't completely overrun. The hotels around Disney easily dwarf the parks capacities for a fraction of the cost so it isn't even a question of if people can afford in the bubble hotels.

Everyone wants it to cost less until Small World hits a 3 hour wait

Yep. Most people spend money in the bubble beside park tickets, but you really don’t have to. You can bring food/drinks and stay in other hotels, airbnb, or retired FL grandma’s for under $100/nt. Tickets have little choice though. To enter the park we must spend. There’s no way around that part anymore.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

Or limit # of ticket sales

so essentially create a false capacity. now pricing jumps through the roof because it is more exclusive. it's about balance

 

[wabbott]

so essentially create a false capacity. now pricing jumps through the roof because it is more exclusive. it's about balance

A cynic might suggest that might be the reason there seems to be no motivation to rectify downtime issues. Attractions are shut down by cutting maintenance manpower/parts budgets. Presto, Genie prices increase. Money is made on both ends.

I would never suggest DIS management would deliberately do such a thing.