Too expensive

[linedropper]

Just seems like Disney is getting way to expensive.

[DizneyRox]

Don't go... It's not a requirement...

[gerald72]

It's not a place for bargain shoppers

[Tinker Fan]

Well you can rather afford it or not, it's like anything else. If it's in your budget you will go and if it's not you will do what is in your budget. Threr are alot more expensive trip out their than WDW. We have researched this and found this to be in our budget. If we don't feel we can afford it we won't go.

[Missy_Mouses_Dad]

We have looked at various options and WDW always wins. As an example, the Wisconsin Dells is 100 miles away, but a room similar to a value resort is $200 a night (when a special runs). DW usually gets a value in the $79-$99 range. Extrapolated out over 10 days that is $1000..or our flight to WDW and back. Would we rather sit at a water park all day, or do WDW. The choice is always simple for us...

[vicster]

As an example, the Wisconsin Dells is 100 miles away, but a room similar to a value resort is $200 a night (when a special runs). DW usually gets a value in the $79-$99 range. Extrapolated out over 10 days that is $1000..or our flight to WDW and back. Would we rather sit at a water park all day, or do WDW. The choice is always simple for us...

Going to the Dells this weekend and it is definitely no comparison to WDW and can definitely get quite expensive. (Especially when I somehow end up at Ho Chunk...LOL) I'll take Disney any day.

[forever a child]

Based on our other vacation choices, WDW is really the most affordable. It will cost my DD and I around $2200 - 2500 for a trip to WDW.

We would love to go White water rafting in the Grand canyon (again) for a week but that will run us over $5000 for the group we go with.

We would love to visit our friends in China but that will run us over $3000. And that is not paying for hotel but staying with friends for the week or two that we are there.

I don't know what everyone else chooses for vacations but we either visit family, stay local or go big! Just depends on our budget!

[PopPhan]

Although costs ARE going up, compared to other vacation destinations - cruises, location trips (Las Vegas, Niagara Falls, etc.) - WDW is not out of line.

DW and I go to WDW in September (value season,) stay in a Value resort (Pop Century,) and fly out of Baltimore (Southwest.) We spend 10 nights and get MYW tickets with Park Hopper and Water Park options and STILL spend under $2000. I consider that a pretty reasonable vacation.

[grumpyguy]

don't go... It's not a requirement...

love it!!!

[IloveJack]

I agree with the others. If it's too expensive, just don't go. We had our trip planned when the opportunity to go on a couples retreat came up. We'd love to spend the weekend with our friends, but the retreat is in Gatlinburg (about 250 miles from us), and for the 2 day trip, it would cost over $500, just for the two of us, and it's just Gatlinburg. That's ridiculous that we can spend less than twice that much and go to WDW for 5 days! We'll stick with Disney.

[TheVBs]

I agree with the others. If it's too expensive, just don't go. We had our trip planned when the opportunity to go on a couples retreat came up. We'd love to spend the weekend with our friends, but the retreat is in Gatlinburg (about 250 miles from us), and for the 2 day trip, it would cost over $500, just for the two of us, and it's just Gatlinburg. That's ridiculous that we can spend less than twice that much and go to WDW for 5 days! We'll stick with Disney.

This is exactly the same scenario we've run into when trying to plan shorter or closer to home trips.

[MizMissy]

We are going to NYC in October for a long weekend (four nights) ... hotel prices thus far are in the $300-$500 range per night, with flights, food, plus all places have admission charges ... we are going to spend way more than our May Disney trip. And, although my kids are so excited about seeing NYC, I would be so much more excited if we were doing another Disney trip.

[BluewaterBrad]

I really feel spoiled, being a WDW freak and residing in Florida since 1973. We visit three to four times a year on average. WDW trips are very inexpensive for us. We have seasonal APs, and take advantage of room discounts. The only thing that can get pricey is when we overindulge on WDW!

[DVC2004]

It's not going to ever get cheaper either. But I agree you drop a lot of $$ where ever you vacation. To the poster about Wis Dells- we go there too for just a few days at a time and it always costs alot. It costs alot to vacation period.

[darthmacho]

I think WDW is a bargain, actually. It's the airfare that puts it over the top. I spent about the same for room, entertainment, and souveniers as I do every year on summer vacation. Free dining helped a LOT, but I was willing to pay for the dining plan if I had to.
Again, the difference, was the extra $1200 I spent on round trip plane tickets. Even that price is probably appropriate, but it's just not as gratifying as spending at WDW.

[dnickels]

I think we've kind of become spoiled in the last decade or so with more and more people being able to go to Disney every year, or even multiple times a year. My parents did pretty well for the small town that we lived in, probably upper-middle class by most bigger city standards and they never dreamed of affording Disney every year. We went probably four times from childhood through high school years (so roughly every four years or so), and like I said, we were probably one of the better off families in town.

And because there have been multiple mentions of the cost of vacationing, I would like to put in a little plug for the national parks / forests of this great country. Entrance fee to every national park in the country for the whole family for the whole year: 80 bucks. Campsites: 5-20 bucks a night. Hiking-free. 84 million acres to explore, tens of thousands of miles of trails. I could go on and on. Just because some vacations may be getting out of reach doesn't mean there aren't great options out there.

[tinksmom02]

We booked a weekend in Hershey, PA this summer--for $800 we had 2 nights at the Hershey Lodge, and 1 day passes to the park for 2 adults and 1 child. No food and we'd use our own car to get to the Park, which would cost $$ for parking. Sure, there are cheaper places in that area, but we tried that before and were not pleased.

When talk of Disney came up we cancelled the Hershey trip. Per night, we get more from WDW, for less money.

I've looked into other vacations (would love a nice relaxing vacation on a beach somewhere) but prices are WAY more than Disney, and airfare is worse, too.

We just seem to get more bang for our buck at Disney.

[baldburke]

I don't think it is getting too expensive, but I do think they may be getting too chintzy. The dining plan used to be a great deal, but they've hacked it up so much that we've completely lost interest. But dollar for dollar, a week at Disney is no more expensive than a week at the beach!

[princessjojo]

We've looked at the cost of other vacations, and do so often just to add in some diversity. The cost of our WDW vacation does cost us a bit of money, but we don't tend to go every year either and save slowly, but surely between visits. We also vacation every year in Myrtle Beach during the summer, but only because my mom has a home there. Even pulling out that cost, over a weeks time, we can still spend over $1000 and there are days we do nothing but chill in the house or on the beach. We've also looked at cruises and they would cost us significantly more for a week than disney. Just like everything else, it all depends on what you want, just how badly you want it and how hard you're willing to work and save for it. We're paying cash for our trip next spring, money's already there, but we've had to cut our time from 9-10 days to 7. But I still get my Disney vacation!!

[Missy_Mouses_Dad]

A couple of things we do to help are:

1) I have a jar for paper money. I clear my wallet of singles, fives, whatever and put it in the jar. by the time we go the following year, there is usually $300 or more in singles alone.

2) We always use our debit card and get the points. After a year's time we are able to get a sizable gift card for DD to use for her own spending money at WDW.

3) Take advantage of 0% interest if you charge the trip.

4) If you have to worry about every penny while on vacation, you probably shouldn't have gone in the first place.