The middle class priced out of Disney theme parks

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jun 17, 2015 22:15:17 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Well, apparently everything is getting really expensive!  This thread got me thinking how I want to do more with my kids so when daycare texted me that they were going to be closed tomorrow I went online to get tickets to ValleyFair instead of just sitting home with them catching up on my laundry pile from hell.

So far we're at almost $200.

$150 for 4 tickets with unlimited drinks
$11 parking
$30 for food for the cooler

I'll be reimbursed about $40 for one of the tickets (taking one of DS's cousins so he has someone to go on all the thrill rides with. ).  

Credit card rewards will cover all the tickets and parking, so I try to think of it being almost free. Just food and gas (it's 120 miles away)

Say hi to my sister.  She lives about 5 miles from there!

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Jun 13, 2015 20:56:07 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

Interesting article about the price of a Disney vacation.

www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/how-theme-parks-like-disney-world-left-the-middle-class-behind/ar-BBl3Gn4

When Walt Disney World opened in an Orlando swamp in 1971, with its penny arcade and marching-band parade down Main Street U.S.A., admission for an adult cost $3.50, about as much then as three gallons of milk.

Disney has raised the gate price for the Magic Kingdom 41 times since, nearly doubling it over the past decade. This year, a ticket inside the “most magical place on Earth” rocketed past $100 for the first time in history.

Ballooning costs have not slowed the mouse-eared masses flooding into the world’s busiest theme park. Disney’s main attraction hosted a record 19 million visitors last year, a number nearly as large as the population of New York state.

But rising prices have changed the character of Big Mouse’s family-friendly empire in unavoidably glitzy ways. A visitor to Disney’s central Florida fantasy-land can now dine on a $115 steak, enjoy a $53-per-plate dessert party and sleep in a bungalow overlooking the Seven Seas Lagoon starting at $2,100 a night.

For America’s middle-income vacationers, the Mickey Mouse club, long promoted as “made for you and me,” seems increasingly made for someone else. But far from easing back, the theme-park giant’s prices are expected to climb even more through a surge-pricing system that could value a summer’s day of rides and lines at $125.

“If Walt [Disney] were alive today, he would probably be uncomfortable with the prices they’re charging right now,” said Scott Smith, an assistant professor of hospitality at the University of South Carolina whose first job was as a cast member in Disney’s Haunted Mansion. “They’ve priced middle-class families out.”

Granted, we are Florida residents, so we get deals- but we just stayed at the Port Orleans (Dixie Landings) Riverside resort for three nights for $119 per night- about the cost of the average Best Western in Orlando, and we are seasonal pass holders (a Florida perk- you have to buy annual passes out of state) for roughly $1,200 for the year.  Our resort was considered a "Moderate" resort- Disney has "Value", "Moderate", "Deluxe", and "Villas".  Value resorts would be even cheaper- I've seen them for $79 a night.  You don't have to drive at Disney, or pay for parking if you're staying "on-property"-- there are buses at every resort that take you were you want to go.  The food can be expensive, but WDW does NOT restrict what you can bring into the park- so with a little planning (and willingness to carry shit) you can do quite well- we get subs from Publix and bring them in.  If you bring a water bottle in, you can refill it at ice cold drinking fountain stations throughout all the parks.

I said all that to say this- if this was the only trip we took-- 4 days and 3 nights-- $1,557 plus another $600 (we did a few expensive dining options- Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast) in spending is not a bad deal when you factor in everything that goes along with a Disney vacation- that's not bad for two adults and two kids.  

Granted, if you don't live here, you have to get here.

However, the gate price goes DOWN precipitously for each additional day you stay- it is deceptive to say that the $100 plus per day price is per day for 7 days- it's not.  If you have a 7 day resort package, it's much cheaper on a per day basis.

Anyway- I don't have a whole bunch of time for this because I'm getting paid an insane amount of money to look at lawns right now for a product liability claim situation.  But I could write a book on this- we're Disney aficionados- and that's probably understating it.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Jun 14, 2015 12:13:47 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

You want a palace for under $500?

People seem to like them. Besides, do you spend all your time at the hotel when you travel?

Most folks go exploring, hit the beaches, go horseback riding, dancing with the natives, etc. The hotel is just a place to sleep.

More so at Disney than many places.  Especially if you have kids- they're going to keep you runnin'...

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

In the grand scheme of things, I look at it like this:  it is like a lot of things- it's either a priority for you and your family, or it isn't. If it is a priority, then historically what people did for big family vacations was to plan and save.  It's not an entitlement, vacations are earned.  And I know this will come as a shock to a great many Americans, but there are trade-offs, and choices to be made. You cannot, in fact, have it all.  If you buy 12 $50 video games for your kids, and eat out every weekend- that's conservatively about $2,000 a year.  I just talked to someone that realized he spent $30 a month, on average, on freaking app purchases for Candy Crush and Clash of Clans-- NOT counting what the kids and his wife spend.  I talked to someone else that has seen 3 blockbusters in the last several weeks- Mad Max, Tomorrowland (what a piece of crap that was-- Disney deserves to lose $150 million on that which they are doing), and Jurassic World- with the family.  That's a couple hundred right there.  Plan, prioritize, allocate money for it-- and with WDW, DO NOT "wing it". PLAN.  And you'll enjoy it.

[Deleted]

Jun 19, 2015 9:01:59 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

You cannot, in fact, have it all.  If you buy 12 $50 video games for your kids, and eat out every weekend- that's conservatively about $2,000 a year.  I just talked to someone that realized he spent $30 a month, on average, on freaking app purchases for Candy Crush and Clash of Clans-- NOT counting what the kids and his wife spend.  <snip>Plan, prioritize, allocate money for it-- and with WDW, DO NOT "wing it". PLAN.  And you'll enjoy it.

Totally agreed. I've been tracking our expenses since we retired, more out of curiosity and to be aware of where we can cut back if need be in a down market. We rarely go out to eat unless we're traveling, but during the month of May when the house was on the market and was shown 40 times, we occasionally had lunch, dinner or drinks someplace while people were looking at the house.  Not always; sometimes we went to the library or Starbucks. Anyway, we spent almost $400 in restaurants last month.  That didn't count meals when we were traveling for 5 days and when I was in Ohio for a couple of days (those meals went into the Travel category).   

I can see where mindless spending could devour a whole lot of disposable income.

[nutty]

I love Disney, my kids too. Probably been there too many times to count. Went the first year Epcot was open.

[Deleted]

Jun 18, 2015 0:03:35 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Say hi to my sister.  She lives about 5 miles from there!

Well, we had plenty of time to yell "HI MICH'S SISTER!" out the window because traffic was backed up on I35 and we sat for about 40 minutes a few miles from the park entrance. 


She didn't answer...

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Sorry....looks like she finally got a job these days.  16 years, 6 day maternity leave and she has been looking for the last 5 years hard.

[weltschmerz]

Jun 19, 2015 10:29:58 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Sorry....looks like she finally got a job these days.  16 years, 6 day maternity leave and she has been looking for the last 5 years hard.

Six days? DAYS?

[steph08]

Jun 19, 2015 11:01:42 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Jun 19, 2015 10:29:58 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Sorry....looks like she finally got a job these days.  16 years, 6 day maternity leave and she has been looking for the last 5 years hard.

Six days? DAYS?

I think mich is implying that her sister's kid is 16 years and 6 days old - so the "maternity leave" was 16 years and 6 days.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Jun 19, 2015 8:44:34 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

Jun 13, 2015 20:56:07 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

Interesting article about the price of a Disney vacation.

www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/how-theme-parks-like-disney-world-left-the-middle-class-behind/ar-BBl3Gn4

I said all that to say this- if this was the only trip we took-- 4 days and 3 nights-- $1,557 plus another $600 (we did a few expensive dining options- Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast) in spending is not a bad deal when you factor in everything that goes along with a Disney vacation- that's not bad for two adults and two kids.  

DH and I dumped the kids into the Simba Clubhouse thing (roughly $100 for 2 hours of care for 2 kids and dinner for them) and had dinner at Boma's.  It was wonderful food.  We didn't like our cocktails but we were trying new things and sometimes a new thing is not a good thing. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Jun 19, 2015 9:01:59 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

In the grand scheme of things, I look at it like this:  it is like a lot of things- it's either a priority for you and your family, or it isn't. If it is a priority, then historically what people did for big family vacations was to plan and save.  It's not an entitlement, vacations are earned.  And I know this will come as a shock to a great many Americans, but there are trade-offs, and choices to be made. You cannot, in fact, have it all.  If you buy 12 $50 video games for your kids, and eat out every weekend- that's conservatively about $2,000 a year.  I just talked to someone that realized he spent $30 a month, on average, on freaking app purchases for Candy Crush and Clash of Clans-- NOT counting what the kids and his wife spend.  I talked to someone else that has seen 3 blockbusters in the last several weeks- Mad Max, Tomorrowland (what a piece of crap that was-- Disney deserves to lose $150 million on that which they are doing), and Jurassic World- with the family.  That's a couple hundred right there.  Plan, prioritize, allocate money for it-- and with WDW, DO NOT "wing it". PLAN.  And you'll enjoy it.

I started a vacation fund account for Disney shortly after my maternity leave ended with DD, back in Fall of 2008.  Had $50 a pay period (x26) going into it.  When our son was born (Fall of 2009), I upped it to $75 per payperiod.  We dipped into it for a couple of times for a camper, park fees and DH's medical last year but for us, it's usually a forgotten (or maybe ignored) account. 

I set this account up solely for vacations.  DH and I had a history of wanting to do certain vacations and then not doing them because we didn't have the money saved/didn't want to charge them..  I did NOT want that to happen once we started thinking about vacations for the kids.  So here we are. 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jun 19, 2015 11:01:42 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Jun 19, 2015 10:29:58 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Sorry....looks like she finally got a job these days.  16 years, 6 day maternity leave and she has been looking for the last 5 years hard.

Six days? DAYS?

Did you miss the 16 YEARS that went along with the 6 days?

[zibazinski]

I'll bet it was hard after that long.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jun 20, 2015 9:19:49 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

I'll bet it was hard after that long.

She started looking seriously when her youngest started in school.....so about 8 years ago.  5 years ago, she really started beating the pavement looking for a job.  In the meantime, she worked part time at Kohl's, Gymboree and for a landscape company.  Being in a highly technical field didn't help.

[Deleted]

I'm surprised she got back into a technical field at all after that much time off. 

[mojothehelpermonkey]

Jun 17, 2015 22:15:17 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Well, apparently everything is getting really expensive!  This thread got me thinking how I want to do more with my kids so when daycare texted me that they were going to be closed tomorrow I went online to get tickets to ValleyFair instead of just sitting home with them catching up on my laundry pile from hell.

So far we're at almost $200.

$150 for 4 tickets with unlimited drinks
$11 parking
$30 for food for the cooler

I'll be reimbursed about $40 for one of the tickets (taking one of DS's cousins so he has someone to go on all the thrill rides with. ).  

Credit card rewards will cover all the tickets and parking, so I try to think of it being almost free. Just food and gas (it's 120 miles away)

ValleyFair was always our summer trip! My cousin worked there, so I think we got discounted tickets. My dad would still joke that we were going to wear the numbers off his credit card during those trips. Good times!