Price increases at WDW

[migel]

My wife and I have the lowest tier annual pass (Pixie Pass), which, even though that price has risen almost 50% in 5 years, is still a good deal for our needs. I just bought a 2-day ticket for our daughter for next week's trip, almost $400 CND with the current exchange rate. That, and the soaring cost of Disney Resort stays, is making the dream out of reach for many. Sad.

 

[Jrb1979]

My wife and I have the lowest tier annual pass (Pixie Pass), which, even though that price has risen almost 50% in 5 years, is still a good deal for our needs. I just bought a 2-day ticket for our daughter for next week's trip, almost $400 CND with the current exchange rate. That, and the soaring cost of Disney Resort stays, is making the dream out of reach for many. Sad.

Yes it is sad. I get that many love Disney. The thing is there is so much out there to visit and see.

 

[DVCanadian]

Just got back from a 5 night (4 days at the park) thanksgiving visit. 1st visit since 2018.
Tickets for 4 adults (3 park tickets and a MK Mickey's halloween party) was $3,545.
Genie+ and Individual Lightening lanes added another $355 (genie+ at HS & Epcot and ILL for FoP & Star Wars: RotR).
Most of that was paid before the exchange got "really" bad.
Return flights for 4 was $3,000.
So just under $7K CDN to get there and go into the parks.
Food at the parks and hotel restaurants was very painful.
The exchange rate on my credit card was $1.433.
Bought $200USD for "just" $288 CDN.

All prices above unless otherwise indicated are CDN $.

 

[mort1331]

I know the price is expensive and never coming down. But we try to look at it another way. Everyone has different expensise and what they want to spend on. Try priceing out a Leafs hockey ticket or a stratford festival ticket. Hockey yoour lucky if you can get one and if so its well over $140 per ticket for upper bowl. Theater tickets are starting at $75-100 each as well. Disney we look at as a week to 10 days of Leafs,,,with a much better outcome. And dont forget the price of food at the game,,comparable. So instead of going to 7 games a year,,,we go to the parks for 7 days. Yes the transportation is just a little more than parking downtown, but we work with it.

 

[Jrb1979]

I know the price is expensive and never coming down. But we try to look at it another way. Everyone has different expensise and what they want to spend on. Try priceing out a Leafs hockey ticket or a stratford festival ticket. Hockey yoour lucky if you can get one and if so its well over $140 per ticket for upper bowl. Theater tickets are starting at $75-100 each as well. Disney we look at as a week to 10 days of Leafs,,,with a much better outcome. And dont forget the price of food at the game,,comparable. So instead of going to 7 games a year,,,we go to the parks for 7 days. Yes the transportation is just a little more than parking downtown, but we work with it.

For my family we compare it to other parks. We did a week long trip at Cedar Point for less then half the cost of a Disney vacation.

With these price increases now the value isn't there anymore for us.

 

[saskdw]

I know the price is expensive and never coming down. But we try to look at it another way. Everyone has different expensise and what they want to spend on. Try priceing out a Leafs hockey ticket or a stratford festival ticket. Hockey yoour lucky if you can get one and if so its well over $140 per ticket for upper bowl. Theater tickets are starting at $75-100 each as well. Disney we look at as a week to 10 days of Leafs,,,with a much better outcome. And dont forget the price of food at the game,,comparable. So instead of going to 7 games a year,,,we go to the parks for 7 days. Yes the transportation is just a little more than parking downtown, but we work with it.

I agree with your line of thinking, however with Disney's current park reservation rules, Genie Plus, Lightning Lane, and modified park hopping there is no guarantee we get to do what we want.

We always go in December for 2 weeks. So fairly busy time.
I have to be up at midnight to buy Genie plus or it might be sold out the next day. Than up again at 7am to book the popular Lightning Lanes and make 1st Genie Plus reservation. That in itself is a huge inconvenience and not the way I want to vacation. The big kicker though is even if I do this we might still not get the Lightning lanes we want. RotR, FoP, etc apparently sell out of Lightning lanes in 10 mins on some busy days.

So imagine spending $15k and not getting to ride those rides?? Under those parameters I can't even decide if the value is there or not. We liked having the 3 FP's. It worked fine for us.

 

[mort1331]

For my family we compare it to other parks. We did a week long trip at Cedar Point for less then half the cost of a Disney vacation.

With these price increases now the value isn't there anymore for us.

But can you compare the parks? We have Canada's Wonderland up here and there is no comparison. It would be like trying to compare a steak at a fine dining and one that you can get at ihop. Yes they are both steaks,,,but huge difference in taste. At least at our Wonderland I can say that is a fair comparison. If strictly on rides then CW has bigger faster coasters,,,but on all else and customer service,,,not even close.

I agree with your line of thinking, however with Disney's current park reservation rules, Genie Plus, Lightning Lane, and modified park hopping there is no guarantee we get to do what we want.

We always go in December for 2 weeks. So fairly busy time.
I have to be up at midnight to buy Genie plus or it might be sold out the next day. Than up again at 7am to book the popular Lightning Lanes and make 1st Genie Plus reservation. That in itself is a huge inconvenience and not the way I want to vacation. The big kicker though is even if I do this we might still not get the Lightning lanes we want. RotR, FoP, etc apparently sell out of Lightning lanes in 10 mins on some busy days.

So imagine spending $15k and not getting to ride those rides?? Under those parameters I can't even decide if the value is there or not. We liked having the 3 FP's. It worked fine for us.

So for any time we have been have never had a FP for RotR or FoP,,,we just lucked out. For a few rides that would be great and miss them,,,does not make for a full vaction for us. I fully understand and can see the view that for some it is why they come,,,we know we will be back and get it another time. I look at it like movies on opening weekend,,for big blockbusters,,,you might not get in,,,but in a couple of weeks I can go and see them. Very small comparison I know.
We were just in Hawaii,,,did not get to do all I wanted,,,having teens that dont like to hike or ride in a car puts a damper on things,,,but I would rather enjoy the time instead of thinking of all I missed out on. Will we be back to Hawaii,,,probably not,,,thats expensive for us,,,but made the most of it.
Enjoy the vacation time you make of it.

 

[Jrb1979]

But can you compare the parks? We have Canada's Wonderland up here and there is no comparison. It would be like trying to compare a steak at a fine dining and one that you can get at ihop. Yes they are both steaks,,,but huge difference in taste. At least at our Wonderland I can say that is a fair comparison. If strictly on rides then CW has bigger faster coasters,,,but on all else and customer service,,,not even close.

While CW lacks in dark rides and rides that the family can ride together the customer service has gotten better while Disney's has been slipping lately. IMO CWs Halloween event and Christmas event are just as good as Disney's. They aren't as far apart as many people think.

 

[badiggio]

For my wife and I,only Disney is Disney.The rest are only parks ,imo.Either we go to Disney,or we don't.We don't go somewhere else because it's cheaper;that would be a waste of money "for us."P.S...we did go to Universal,ONCE.Learned our lesson.

 

[Jrb1979]

For my wife and I,only Disney is Disney.The rest are only parks ,imo.Either we go to Disney,or we don't.We don't go somewhere else because it's cheaper;that would be a waste of money "for us."P.S...we did go to Universal,ONCE.Learned our lesson.

How long ago was that Universal trip? Cause it's gotten much better lately. The Harry Potter areas are 2 of the best themed lands in Orlando. Money is not why we pick a different park over another. For us the draw to any park is how good the rides are not the IP or nostalgia.

 

[badiggio]

How long ago was that Universal trip? Cause it's gotten much better lately. The Harry Potter areas are 2 of the best themed lands in Orlando. Money is not why we pick a different park over another. For us the draw to any park is how good the rides are not the IP or nostalgia.

We did the Harry potter.The "land"and detail was ok but was not impressed with the ride.

 

[isabellea]

I have to say that I’m more excited at going to Universal this trip (first time with the kids) than WDW and I’m not even a thrill ride fan!.The Disney portion feels like a chore, a very expensive chore. The EP being included with our UOhotel room booked with Airmiles give me the feeling it will be more easy-going than stressing over G+.

After this December trip we might go back to a Disney park but it won’t be in FL and will only be a minor part of our vacation. No more fake Eiffel or Pisa towers. We’ll visit them for real!

 

[Frozen2014]

It's not just Disney. We have two (Royal Caribbean) cruises booked. When I compare current price with our booked price, one has gone up $4000 and the other by $3000. Pretty crazy. Cruise Planner purchases are way up too. Everyone is hurting from covid and trying to recover.

 

[Susan2771]

After this December trip we might go back to a Disney park but it won’t be in FL and will only be a minor part of our vacation. No more fake Eiffel or Pisa towers. We’ll visit them for real!

I love this way of thinking! Experiencing the real deal, not just a theme park version. Nothing can beat the authentic version

 

[Jrb1979]

It's not just Disney. We have two (Royal Caribbean) cruises booked. When I compare current price with our booked price, one has gone up $4000 and the other by $3000. Pretty crazy. Cruise Planner purchases are way up too. Everyone is hurting from covid and trying to recover.

Sure everything is more expensive. There is many cheaper vacation places out there. We did a week long vacation at Cedar Point along with Put in Bay for less then half that price.

 

[CanucksRock]

I tried that other park once …it just wasn’t the same (went to IOA last September…14 trips to WDW and I have done only a half day at Universal)

Nothing compares to WDW for me.

Prices are certainly up, but everything is up everywhere.

I’ve started planning a trip to Toyko Disney ..I don’t even want to think about what that final total is going to be. (Birthday trip for 50th in April)

 

[MoreTravels]

With a $10,000 - 20,000 per family of four, Disney has become an elite's destination. With that amount of money, you can go to all inclusive Cuba for the same amount of time, with money left over. I guess... it's more like Barbados. It will be mostly once in a lifetime type of trip for many.

For DVC owners, the 2023 maintenance fee is about Cad$12 per point. It's about Cad$4000-5000 or more just to pay for the maintenance fee of a Disney Resort. So even the DVC owners in Canada will likely start to give up soon too.

 

[DVCanadian]

With a $10,000 - 20,000 per family of four, Disney has become an elite's destination. With that amount of money, you can go to all inclusive Cuba for the same amount of time, with money left over. I guess... it's more like Barbados. It will be mostly once in a lifetime type of trip for many.

For DVC owners, the 2023 maintenance fee is about Cad$12 per point. It's about Cad$4000-5000 or more just to pay for the maintenance fee of a Disney Resort. So even the DVC owners in Canada will likely start to give up soon too.

If you have owned DVC for a while it is a great deal but it has never been cheap. Dues go up every year, that is just how it is but they go up less than the rack rates. Dues are based on how many points you choose to buy, more points more dues. I think the exchange rate is what is making it hard for Canadians to afford to go, yes prices are high but adding another 30-40% is killer but same for most vacation destinations priced in USD.

My dues cost for 5 nights in a 2 bedroom villa at grand Floridian over CDN thanksgiving was just under $4k CDN, rack rate (which I’d never pay) was quoted as $16,500 CDN.

Disney has never been affordable for everyone.

 

[mort1331]

With a $10,000 - 20,000 per family of four, Disney has become an elite's destination. With that amount of money, you can go to all inclusive Cuba for the same amount of time, with money left over. I guess... it's more like Barbados. It will be mostly once in a lifetime type of trip for many.

For DVC owners, the 2023 maintenance fee is about Cad$12 per point. It's about Cad$4000-5000 or more just to pay for the maintenance fee of a Disney Resort. So even the DVC owners in Canada will likely start to give up soon too.

Not giving up here...DVC is why we can afford to go...we would have the exchange rate wherever we go.
Show me where in Hawaii that i could get 1 bdrm for 350US per night...at that level if resort...and that was high season points.
Going back to WDW in March and my studio is only 120 US ...so thats ok for us.

 

[Minniemoo15]

Not giving up here...DVC is why we can afford to go...we would have the exchange rate wherever we go.
Show me where in Hawaii that i could get 1 bdrm for 350US per night...at that level if resort...and that was high season points.
Going back to WDW in March and my studio is only 120 US ...so thats ok for us.

Agreed … DVC is why we can and still go to Disney. Staying at the Poly in March for $160 a night. We enjoy the DVC resorts so much that all of the changes in the parks don’t bother us as much.