2014 Sticker Shock

[spoonful of sugar]

That's why I always wait to see if any deals become available and always get an awesome deal whether it's using AAA or the discounts that WDW put out. That time of year is now out with discounts right on the WDW official website.

[princessgirls]

As with anything if you want to get the best bang for your buck...BE A SAVVY CONSUMER!!! No matter what your income bracket is, do you really WANT to pay more??? Even if you stay Deluxe, they run deals...30% off rates, Free Dining. Take Advantage!!!!!

Disney does NOT have to cost you a fortune. IT CAN but it doesn't have too!

Our last trip was November 15-22, 2012. Cost was 2,900 for 7 nights Pop Century, Park hopper, Disney Dining. Family of 4, girls ages 12&11

Trip booked for November 20-26, 2014. Cost 3,100 for 6 nights Pop Century, park hopper for 7 days, Disney Dining. Family of 4, girls age 14&13.
One less night... but not a crazy increase.

Both trips we were able to take advantage of a Free Dining promo, getting a free quick service and upgrading it to the Regular Disney Dining. That has proven to be the BEST value for my family. I am also willing to stay at the Pop Century if it means going to Disney. I honestly do not spend any other time than sleeping and getting ready in the room. It's clean and the busing is excellent. I also use the Disney Visa, and cash in our reward dollars for trips, and use as spending money in the parks.

I always look at the best way to do things. We are very much a busy middle-class family. Our kids enjoy theme parks, water parks, trips to the beach and lake. I'm not ever embarrassed to put out something on my facebook...anyone have a discount code for Six Flags or whatever it is we are doing. I always pass along when I get discounts too.
Just my two cents....
Julie

[1DisneyNut]

Disney does NOT have to cost you a fortune. IT CAN but it doesn't have too!

Our last trip was November 15-22, 2012. Cost was 2,900 for 7 nights Pop Century, Park hopper, Disney Dining. Family of 4, girls ages 12&11

Trip booked for November 20-26, 2014. Cost 3,100 for 6 nights Pop Century, park hopper for 7 days, Disney Dining. Family of 4, girls age 14&13.
One less night... but not a crazy increase.

That is a 20% increase in cost per night over only a 2 year period. Pretty crazy increase if you ask me but I run my own business and do cost analysis all the time and look at the actual percentages. Keep in mind there has been very little inflation over that two year period (3.6%) so that relates to Disney doing a 16.4% cash grab and it shows in their profit numbers.

[yankeesfan123]

I think we all got spoiled.

Ever since 9/11, Disney has run HUGE discount programs throughout the entire year (30% off, free dining, buy 4 get 3 free, etc).

Now, if they ever stop those discount programs, there will be a giant uproar.

So, what do they do instead? Increase the rack rate prices.

[BIGDOG]

Well ... there are other choices .. a lot to be said about changes in Universal Studio's Mickey should be very careful.

[Tigerinvestigator]

Well ... there are other choices .. a lot to be said about changes in Universal Studio's Mickey should be very careful.

Sorry, not buying that! Just back from a Disney/Universal trip and there is still no comparison IMHO. Universal has a couple of groundbreaking rides that Disney should pay attention to and try to match, but that is where it ends. Customer service is not even in the realm of Disney at Universal! Want to talk about clean parks? No comparison there either. How about crowd control? Universal is lacking there as well. I agree with alot that has been posted on this topic, but IMHO and it is just that my opinion, Universal is still not close to the overall package that Disney is....at least for my family. But if people do buy this argument, maybe it will relieve some of the crowds at WDW!

[BadBoyBill]

Try searching for a Orbitz promo code. We saved an additional 15% on top of the Discounted rate.

[baldburke]

Sorry, not buying that! Just back from a Disney/Universal trip and there is still no comparison IMHO. Universal has a couple of groundbreaking rides that Disney should pay attention to and try to match, but that is where it ends. Customer service is not even in the realm of Disney at Universal! Want to talk about clean parks? No comparison there either. How about crowd control? Universal is lacking there as well. I agree with alot that has been posted on this topic, but IMHO and it is just that my opinion, Universal is still not close to the overall package that Disney is....at least for my family. But if people do buy this argument, maybe it will relieve some of the crowds at WDW!

Great to hear!!

[azcavalier]

That is a 20% increase in cost per night over only a 2 year period. Pretty crazy increase if you ask me but I run my own business and do cost analysis all the time and look at the actual percentages. Keep in mind there has been very little inflation over that two year period (3.6%) so that relates to Disney doing a 16.4% cash grab and it shows in their profit numbers.

I ran the math, hoping you were wrong, but you're not. That is a 20% increase.

That said, there are always discounts and ways to bring costs down, even staying onsite.

We will wind up going to WDW three times in 12 months this year, so we bought APs. Years ago, we bought a couple of really small DVC contracts second-hand, so one of our trips we are using all of our points for a room at Saratoga Springs. On the "big" trip we'll do 8 nights at POR with the DDP, but we're going at a slow time, and we're counting on an AP discount. We'll also drive. Our quoted price for 8 nights at POR w/ DDP is $3260 for five of us (two teenagers and one 9 yr old). Of course, this doesn't include tickets. That's just hotel and food. But divide that by 8, and it's just over $400 /day for a hotel room and three meals for the family. If we get an AP discount, i'm expecting that to drop to around $2600. Or, $325 per day. Per person that works out to be $65 for lodging and food. That's not bad for eating on property with at least one table service, which for us is a must.

I should also mention that those two 25 point DVC contracts have already paid for themselves in discounts on the AP. Last year my DW and I planned a trip and paid for it, then found out we got a discount on APs through DVC, and THEN found out we could apply what we had already purchased towards the price. The upgrade to a Premium AP? another $40 per person after discount. The next time we went back to WDW at the end of the year, since we didn't have to buy tickets, we splurged and stayed at the Beach Club. It was *amazing*.

[Gator]

Wow, surprised to see this thread pop up 8 months later.I'll say that the price increases shocked me quite a bit. Add that to the fact that I didn't want to try out FP+, AND they didn't offer free ding for POR (we're a family of 5), I'm going to Disneyland again this year. In fact, we bought APs. I figure going there multiple times a year is the only way it can be as good as WDW is to me.

I just couldn't justify going there with the prices going up so much. It costs $2k just to get there, whereas it costs $100 in gas to get to DL. Is it WDW? No. But I'm not made out of money, so I'll stay close to home. I still wish I was going to WDW and still pop on these boards to keep up, because one day...ONE DAY....I will return to the vacation kingdom of the world.