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

[chaoskids]

this is what I mean..... whose wages have jumped this fast to keep up? Yes, if I wanted to plan a 5 day trip,I know the cost per day would drop. This huge jump in cost has just got me SMH... I think a lot of regulars got used to dated pricing (hello price hikes) and now this.... close to $250 for ONE.DAY. (taxes added y'all) in a THEME.PARK. In real life, does anyone else here appreciate what you can buy for $250? I'm not going to lie and say I *couldn't* buy this.....I'm saying I'm shocked,and I can't be the only person who thinks this way. I've gone to Uni,and always managed to find some decent discounts there in the past also, I will confess I haven't checked lately either for those.

My adult children are going to a concert in Pittsburgh next month and the tickets were 250+ each

 

[Dakota731]

And my co-worker regularly shows up to work with new $250 shoes and bags yet always asks how I can afford WDW every three years

 

[JennP78]

Lots of thread about this and I agree with all of them lol. The value isn't there.

I respectfully disagree with the concert comparison because people generally don't go to concerts four nights in a row. Disney is a big financial commitment unless you're local and can do a weekend or something. Like someone else said, by the time you stay long enough to get a lower price per day on the tickets, they are getting you on the hotel end.

We're holding off for other unrelated reasons and the paying more for less phenomenon just adds to the list. I don't think we'll be back for a while. I'm bummed, but I'll live.

 

[kathy884]

I respectfully disagree with the concert comparison because people generally don't go to concerts four nights in a row.

Maybe a music festival is a better comparison? Maybe not four days, but many are several days. I have extended family members who attend a lot of these for multiple days in a row. Here's an article about those.
:https://festfanatic.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-go-to-a-music-festival/
This article says weekend passes usually go from $300 to $500 and go up from there, mentions how popular these have become, how going to these usually involves travel, etc. Many look to ways to economize on other expenses as the base cost tickets are a big expense.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Funny because I bought my 2016 new in 2016 and with my $2000 down, my loan was almost less than your $15k down payment, LOL. I paid it off right before the pandemic hit about a year and a half early.

I guess that depends on the price of the car, right? To buy mine new was over $45k. I was willing to have one 3 years old and it was $28k.
I really don't think I'll ever buy a brand new car again.

 

[Chickinvic]

this is what I mean..... whose wages have jumped this fast to keep up? Yes, if I wanted to plan a 5 day trip,I know the cost per day would drop. This huge jump in cost has just got me SMH... I think a lot of regulars got used to dated pricing (hello price hikes) and now this.... close to $250 for ONE.DAY. (taxes added y'all) in a THEME.PARK. In real life, does anyone else here appreciate what you can buy for $250? I'm not going to lie and say I *couldn't* buy this.....I'm saying I'm shocked,and I can't be the only person who thinks this way. I've gone to Uni,and always managed to find some decent discounts there in the past also, I will confess I haven't checked lately either for those.

Hmm, I'm the opposite. I can never seem to find good deals on Universal admission (I'm usually only going for one day there, so I get the park hopper or whatever they call it there). I never bother with park hoppers at WDW. One park per day there is enough for me. Disneyland is different as they parks are right across from each other and I literally hop every day when I'm there.

 

[Chickinvic]

I understand what you’re saying and I feel it too . We’ve been going since 2008 and the increases have been astronomical. Our priorities have shifted too. I’ve got a daughter with a wedding in less than two years that we will help with, a son entering university next year, and we are focused on retiring earlier if we can. Dinner at the new Space 220 would be over $300 once I included tax and tip and exchange and that is ONE meal. There are so many areas of my life where that money is better spent

Sometimes I really wonder if the majority of people on the boards just make more money than we do. And it’s ok if that is the case .. I just can’t fathom $200-$300 a day for table service on top of those ticket costs on top of the astronomical hotel prices.

We are employing every trick in the book to keep our costs down , and while it helps it’s still so expensive I can barely justify it, and certainly won’t be going every year like we used to.

As a Canadian, I haven't been to WDW since 2019 (and won't likely return until I feel more comfortable with it). It sure does add up given the exchange, etc. I saved money by staying in a rented villa (very nice 4 bed/3 bath with private pool/hot tub - for $90US per night). It was about a 10 minute drive to the resort. No getting around it, the trip costs a lot even doing that and trying to save as much as possible on airfare. We very seldom had sit down meals at the parks, etc. I don't think I ever spent less than about $5K on our trips (there was only 2 of us). And, I don't do park hoppers at WDW. The last trip I think I just got us 2 day admissions to the parks, then we did the Christmas party one night (didn't go to a park that day), and an after hours party at Animal Kingdom another night (also no park that day). Then did Universal for 1 day I think. We usually would go for 10 days, so several days involved just hanging out at the lovely villa or doing other stuff, but no parks.

 

[Chickinvic]

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.

An incredible increase for sure. Nearly 60% in just 9 years, and so many things have been taken away. If you add in the cost of parking now, or other transport to/from the resort, dining, etc. - it is even way more than that.

 

[Darcy03231]

I stopped going yearly back in 2015. Last trip for us was in 2017 when we tacked a couple of days on to the end of a cruise because DH wanted to see Pandora and I wasn't taking a special trip just for that. I was able to snag a great discount on hotel/tickets so we went for 2 days.

I did have a trip planned in 2020 with my neighbor and her two girls (2 & 7) that was canceled due to COVID. We haven't rescheduled yet, but it's looking like it will be totally different. We planned onsite, dining, etc. Looking like it will now be off-site since the perks of staying onsite have been taken away.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I was genuinely shocked by the price myself but shouldn't have been surprised. When I was pondering the idea of a spontaneous trip and inviting my mom I told her to expect about $350-$400 for park tickets I was off by over $100 for a 4 day ticket. It's still ending up to be a really inexpensive trip for my daughter and I though.

I had this crazy idea to do a girls trip with her for her 4th birthday. She asks to go ALL.THE.TIME. We just moved to Colorado from OC, CA. We were fortunate to live so close to DLR but we stopped buying passes there YEARS ago. I could never justify going to WDW alone with my daughter without my two boys (12, 10) but then I thought, girls trip and boys trip! The two of us are flying round-trip, staying for 4 nights and just doing 3 parks (we're skipping Epcot this time around because again, can't justify an extra $200 for her to go on the Frozen ride and MAYBE the Ratatouille ride...a couple others as well but none she'd be too excited about) and getting a rental car for under $1,300. The park tickets being a HUGE chunk (more than half the cost).

The boys are going to Dallas for 2 nights to see a Broncos/Cowboys game and celebrate my to be 13 year old's birthday (and they're going to Six Flags for free on Saturday). Their trip is costing us $1,400 and that's using points for the hotel. Granted there's 3 of them but it's half the days. I think my point is, that's just the going rate of high demand entertainment these days If it's cheaper to go and do X,Y or Z it's probably because it isn't in as high demand.

 

[bethbuchall]

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 just looked up our 2013 trip. We splurged by going to Beach Club for a few nights after staying at my parents’ time share. It was $246.00/night for a standard view room. It’s now about 2.5x that plus we’d need to pay more for parking. Even though that was a splurge at those prices, it would be practically impossible for us at today’s prices.

edit: I remembered that my daughter and I stayed at the Yacht Club in 2017. I’m sure that we had a good discount, but the rates for that trip were $284.20 and $295.40 depending on the night.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Now it’s just highway robbery. All I can do is speak with my wallet.
In late March we paid $462/nt at BCV for a studio, booked through Disney. I hadn’t had a vacation in over 1.5 years and I was desperate. We thoroughly enjoyed it.
We wanted a short stay over July 4 weekend, just to burn up some non-expiring water park visits We paid $223 plus tax for All Star Movies. BCV/YC was something like $6-700/nt. IIRC around $900 for GF. Forget it.
I’m never that desperate. I’m done. There are plenty of vacation options in the world.

 

[Chickinvic]

Now it’s just highway robbery. All I can do is speak with my wallet.
In late March we paid $462/nt at BCV for a studio, booked through Disney. I hadn’t had a vacation in over 1.5 years and I was desperate. We thoroughly enjoyed it.
We wanted a short stay over July 4 weekend, just to burn up some non-expiring water park visits We paid $223 plus tax for All Star Movies. BCV/YC was something like $6-700/nt. IIRC around $900 for GF. Forget it.
I’m never that desperate. I’m done. There are plenty of vacation options in the world.

I just stay off site. We rent a very nice 4 bdr/3bath villa with a private pool and hot tub in a gated community 10 minutes from the parks for $90US per night (plus $10/night to heat the pool). Admissions are expensive, but I save so much by being off site, and the place is so nice I like to just hang out there some days instead of going to parks. Having said that, now that I'm back living in my hometown of Victoria, BC on the West Coast - I will be making more of my visits to DL - and the cheap rental villas just don't exist there. Too bad! There are more "reasonable" hotels fairly close, but they aren't somewhere I would choose to just hang out all day instead of visiting the parks lol. The good news is that DL has always been my favourite.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I just stay off site. We rent a very nice 4 bdr/3bath villa with a private pool and hot tub in a gated community 10 minutes from the parks for $90US per night (plus $10/night to heat the pool). Admissions are expensive, but I save so much by being off site, and the place is so nice I like to just hang out there some days instead of going to parks. Having said that, now that I'm back living in my hometown of Victoria, BC on the West Coast - I will be making more of my visits to DL - and the cheap rental villas just don't exist there. Too bad! There are more "reasonable" hotels fairly close, but they aren't somewhere I would choose to just hang out all day instead of visiting the parks lol. The good news is that DL has always been my favourite.

Have you visited since covid? Rental car prices were ridiculous so having DME handle our transfers saved around $800. We have stayed offsite many times and I’m not against it at all. It seemed we would either be paying Alamo or Disney.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I told them both if you need 7 years to pay off a car, it means you can't afford it.

If you need 7 days to pay off a car, it means you can't afford it.

 

[Beer Me]

Now it’s just highway robbery. All I can do is speak with my wallet.
In late March we paid $462/nt at BCV for a studio, booked through Disney. I hadn’t had a vacation in over 1.5 years and I was desperate. We thoroughly enjoyed it.
We wanted a short stay over July 4 weekend, just to burn up some non-expiring water park visits We paid $223 plus tax for All Star Movies. BCV/YC was something like $6-700/nt. IIRC around $900 for GF. Forget it.
I’m never that desperate. I’m done. There are plenty of vacation options in the world.

I can stomach ticket prices because we take longer trips and the daily price is more palatable over 7days or so. But the resort rates are out of control. About 50% higher than pre-covid. It doesn’t matter what I can or can’t afford, I would feel like an idiot if I paid that much more than what I did 3 years ago for the exact same room.

 

[Chickinvic]

Have you visited since covid? Rental car prices were ridiculous so having DME handle our transfers saved around $800. We have stayed offsite many times and I’m not against it at all. It seemed we would either be paying Alamo or Disney.

I honestly just preferred staying off site. The villa is so superior to a hotel room. I won't be going anywhere near the US for quite some time due to the Covid numbers, so my last visit was November 2019. Parking is pretty pricy at the parks if bringing a rental car too. We used Uber some. Is that still reasonable, or is that through the roof now too?

ETA: I just checked online for a 10 day car rental in November (when we typically went to WDW and usually for 10 days), and for Hertz I'm getting $596CAD (about $475USD).

I just looked back at my old reservations, and November 9-19 2019 I got a car from Alamo for a 10 day trip and it was only $413CAD (which was about $312USD at that time) for the 10 days. So, yes, the prices are up significantly. Not enough to necessarily deter me, but significant.

I just checked back to my November 3-13 2018 rates. I got a cheapie car rental (offsite of airport) for something like $67USD lolol.

Our November 4 - 15 2017 trip was 11 days (instead of 10), and we paid $381USD for the car rental with Budget rent a car.

 

[kathy884]

Have you visited since covid? Rental car prices were ridiculous so having DME handle our transfers saved around $800. We have stayed offsite many times and I’m not against it at all. It seemed we would either be paying Alamo or Disney.

I was actually quite pleased to be able to get a full sized rental car from Alamo for a popular 2022 March spring break week for $346 (includes all taxes and fees). Originally I thought about a minivan (just four of us, but for extra luggage room and that way relatives in the area could ride with us vs. meeting us in their car at restaurants/parks as an added convenience but OMG -- a minivan was $1054 for the week, a budget buster, and no way would I pay that much more for those minor extra conveniences.) I'll just tell the two adult kids to pack light and if they have too much luggage to fit to take an uber to the condo. We have a washer and dryer at the condo, so that takes the risk out of packing to lightly too -- easy peasy to wash some clothes if needed.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I heard on the news tonight that MLB playoff tickets were going for $10K each.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I heard on the news tonight that MLB playoff tickets were going for $10K each.

That must be resale. I think they charge the same for playoff tickets s they do regular ones, if you have season tickets. My BIL has Red Sox season tickets--he's planning to invite DH to a playoff game as a birthday present. We already have a shadow box from Game 2 (I think) of the World Series that the Red Sox won a few years back. I call it "Two Idiots at Fenway", but it's my husband's pride and joy.