Opinion: Disney price hikes about more than profit

It's still a good number though. Want interesting and useful discussion? Compare that number to the number for other tourist spots. You'll get an idea of how it compares in terms of the affluence of who they attract.

^That's a good point Gonch. We've been going to Myrtle Beach for the past several years in mid July for 7 nights staying at the Sands Ocean Club Resort.

It's right around 1k for the week. That includes a free breakfast buffet every day. Also for lunch you get a hamburger or hot dog, bag of chips, and a drink all included in the price of the hotel. Dinner is the only meal you have to worry about

You also get free admission to 2 waterparks and a free ride band at the OD Pavilion. Sure they aren't Disney type attractions, but they are free none the less. We typically go to several shows, go to Family Kingdom to ride, and eat dinner out every night.

With hotel, attractions, food and gas we spend right around $1500 - $1800 total for the week. Our park hopper for the 7 days in Disney alone cost more than our whole 8 day stay in Myrtle Beach.

Well, there's always the chance a bunch of extra millionaires visit any given place and throw the numbers off, but realistically, if you can find the same number for other tourist areas, you could make a decent comparison.

More information to stew over:

Traveling households earn more than non-traveling households. In 2012, the median household income for domestic leisure travelers was $62,500. This compares to $52,800 for the general U.S. population.

https://www.ustravel.org/news/press-kit/travel-facts-and-statistics

I interpret this to mean that your average traveling family earns $62,500 a year, where as the average traveling family to Orlando is at $93,000

Average annual travel expenditures by quintiles of income before taxes

http://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2010/travel/data.htm#chart_3

This blog conjectures the following costs for a Disney Vacation:

Frugal: $1,530.70

Value: $2,099.80

Moderate: $2,698.30

Deluxe: $4,060.43

http://www.disneytouristblog.com/cost-disney-world-vacation/

So 4/5ths of american households spend under $1,500 a year on vacations, while this source claims that the most frugal spenders are going to spend more than that on a trip to Disney.

Wow. Good stuff.

Am I correct in believing that those Disney vacation costs do not include travel to Orlando?

And I think your take on the income numbers is correct too.

People who travel generally make more. People that travel to Orlando make way more...than even those that travel. I have no problem connecting the dots in a way that allows me to assume Disney is a big part of that.

Correct, cost of transportation to Disney is not included in that blogger's numbers.

Those are some good resources FUN. I frequent a lot of the Disney sites when planning a trip to Disney. A Disney trip requires more planning then a normal vacation just because of the cost. I have to feel like I'm am getting a value for the money i'm spending just like everyone else.

Also with Fastpasses and the way Disney pretty much forces you plan your vacation that is the other I spend more time planning. I know people that plan their whole itinerary day by day (bathroom breaks included,) and it drives me nuts. I hate having to plan like that, but it's a requirement of the magic. Planning how the time is spent in what parks are enough, but then you have to coordinate that with the dining plan. It can be so frustrating.

This summer will be our most major coaster vacation in about 5 years. We are going to go west to Kennywood, further west to Kings Island for 2 days, and a little farther west to Kentucky Kingdom. From there we'll drive south and spend the rest of the week in Pigeon Forge and Dollywood. Planning that vacation is a piece of cake compared to planning a Disney World vacation.

I wonder how many people get frustrated with the planning that's required for a Disney World vacation? Do people get to point where they dont book the trip because of the planning involved?

The Unofficial Guide guys make the point that while you can, indeed, visit WDW without planning a thing, with all the variables in play, planning and researching will enhance the vacation considerably. I'm sure there are folks who throw their hands in the air and walk away, though.

Basic research, sure, but I reject this insistence that you really have to plan everything out. That's only true if you're the type of person who feels they need to squeeze every ounce of something out of the trip. That's not a vacation to me, but to each his own.

Agreed: there's no need to plan everything out. My take is that with all that WDW has to offer, it pays off to know the lay of the land. I'm sure there are people who show up last minute and get an expensive room, buy a one park ticket each day, pick the longest lines to wait in because who knew Frozen was popular?, and so on.

Interestingly, I think the planning thing fits the topic perfectly.

An entire side industry exists to help people "plan" their Disney vacation. I think it exists solely because of the cost of a trip to Disney. When you're blowing upwards of three, four or five grand to spend less than a week in what amounts to an over-the-top amusement park, you're probably going to want to take some action to help your odds of getting the most for your money. What's another few bucks for a book of tips and tricks or a website with a community of "insiders" familiar with the park? It's insurance in a way - so you don't do exactly what slithernoggin is talking.

If you're spending that much, you can likely afford to stay at the bungalows at the Poly and can afford not to "optimize."

Even if I could afford those lovely bungalows, speaking for myself I'd still want to have a handle on my options, even if I chose to pass on some -- or all -- of them.

This year's ACE Coaster Con -- Six Flags Great Adventure, Storybook Land and Morey's Piers -- cost just north of $1,250 for a family of four to register. Add another couple hundred if they added the banquet and/or prepaid for their Con T-shirts. Add to that hotel rooms, rental car, gas, incidental meals and assorted sundries and that family can drop several thousands of dollars on Con.

But it's a pretty straightforward experience: You get the schedule, you know when ERT is, you know which park you're at on each day, you know when you're having a meal at one of the parks.

WDW, on the other hand....there are so many choices that branch out into further choices (Do we need the dining plan? Which dining plan? If we've never been to WDW are we sure we can use up all those credits?) that I do think having an understanding of those options, whether you schedule all your Fastpasses months out from the vacation or just pick a park in the morning and go there, will make a WDW vacation more enjoyable.

Jeff said:

If you're spending that much, you can likely afford to stay at the bungalows at the Poly and can afford not to "optimize."

We've established that's what it costs to go to Disney including travel for most people. (unless you take the super-mega-uber-crappy options)

And the value of Disney doesn't really change based on your income. Doesn't matter if you make $250,000 or $50,000, youre still paying that much to visit an amusement park. Best get your money's worth.

And since this discussion touched on budget a few pages back, here's an interesting article that just hit today from Motley Fool.

I'm not even talking about the cost. I'm talking about whether or not people need to plan everything. I don't think it has anything to do with cost as much as personality. I had some friend here last week that can't afford to make it a yearly trip, and they planned very little beyond where they were staying. They still had a great time.

Our logic in planning our trip was just what parks we want to do, and how to integrate our fast passes with our dining plan so we were eating at what park we were at that day. Once we get to Tuesday our plans are still wide open.

I'm with Jeff. I don't want to plan my vacation out by the minute. Disney forces me to plan way more then I want to.

The last time we were down (2010,) we stayed st Pop Century for 10 days and went to all the other parks. Each time we go we learn more to know that we're not staying at Disney unless we're visiting Disney.

Once we get to Tuesday the rest of our vacation is pretty much a "Choose Your Own Adventure." I used to love those books when I was a kid. Same rules apply. I'll change my Fastpasses based on what we feel like doing. The dining plans I left open depending on what we decide to do. We always have the option of eating at our resort with no problem of making reservations.

I'm with slithernoggin in that the other coaster trips are easy to plan compared to a Disney World vacation.

Planning a trip to Disney is indeed pretty complicated, but WDW is nothing compared to Tokyo Disney...

A one day ticket is 54$ US... and no park hoppers unless you buy a 3 or 4 days "magic passport" and then you can only park hop on day 3 and 4. They still work with the old classic Fast Pass system and it seems everyone there knows how to use it!

My 2009 trip to Tokyo Disney Sea went like this: went on a non holiday friday in April. Showed up before opening and ran to Journey to the Center of the Earth... unfortunately, the fast pass distribution line was 20-30 minutes long, so we just hopped in the stand by line and were out within 10 minutes. We then walked quickly to Tower of Terror (90 minutes stand by line at that point) and grabbed a fast pass there. The day was litterally spent walking around the park and exploiting fast pass and single riders line. 240 minutes stand by wait for Indiana Jones Adventure? The cast member made us return 10 minutes later and we walked on the ride with Single Riders. Rinse and repeat 6 times in an hour.

I did my homework before my trip and as shown by my friends who just went, had a similar crowd, it paid off. They did not do much research and ended up riding 7-8 rides throughout the day. The same goes for WDW, except that booking the 3 correct fast pass at home remove "the mad opening hour rush" that still goes on in Tokyo, California, Paris and Hong Kong.

Speaking of Hong Kong, I returned two weeks ago from there and I had the chance to visit Hong Kong Disneyland. It seems they are abandoning Fast Pass there because both new E-Ticket attractions don't offer it. A line out the door for Mystic Manor (their version of the Haunted Mansion) was only 30 minutes and Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars (shortened to BGM) stayed at 20-25 minutes all day. Single Riders is offered for BGM and was a complete walk on. Pooh (clone of the WDW version, down to the old queue) and Space Mountain (best Vekoma coaster on the planet? A near clone of the DL version with an improved show) are the only rides still offering Fast Pass there. It was almost a trip back in time to when Disney did not have Fast Pass and you could count on the fastest moving lines in the world.

P.S.: Hong Kong Disneyland offered a night time Halloween version of Jungle Cruise and it was AWESOME.

Tokyo DisneySea is amazing. One of the most amazing theme parks on the planet. Beautifully detailed, and while occupying a smaller footprint compared to TDL, it doesn't feel constrained.

My partner at the time of my visits was a tap dancer at Tokyo DisneySea, so I didn't have to pay to get into the parks. But we never had to wait very long for anything. When we could take time away from him seeking out Tokyo thrift stores and flea markets. :)

Absimillard said:

...except that booking the 3 correct fast pass at home remove "the mad opening hour rush"...

I imagine a fairly large percentage of WDW visitors don't book fast passes at home at all, let alone the best three...

Jeff said:

They still had a great time.

Doesn't mean they couldn't have had a better time.

(winky)

Coasterfantom2 said:

I don't want to plan my vacation out by the minute. Disney forces me to plan way more then I want to.

I know it's not a popular opinion here, but it's only going to get worse.

Still, I think the conversation always beelines right to an "all or nothing" approach to planning and that's simply not how you do it well. I think the idea is more that of a game plan, maybe like an outline at worst - think bullet points. At the very least, knowledge is power. Just reading up before you go can pay off in the long run in terms of 'understanding' a trip to Disney World. Going in aimlessly is going to be inefficient. Going in with an itinerary figured to the minute isn't going to be fun. The reality is inbetween.

I think Disney is too big and offers too much at too high of a cost to just show up and 'do whatever' like you would at any other single destination. I liken it more to taking a trip to a city. You don't plan every minute, but you certainly have a plan for what you'd like to do while in town and likely read up ahead on the best way to do those things. A few plans with some exploring and improvising will always make a better vacation than wandering aimlessly.

Yes! Exactly. Some people will want to plan their WDW vacation out to the last minute, but most people will not. Knowledge is power. Wisdom is knowing when and how to use that power -- even on vacation.