Disney just too expensive?

[neilhd]

Originally Posted by Myakka17

For our trip this year it'll just be Universal , we're planning to see other things Florida has to offer.. I'd love to go to Epcit ( my favourite park) but at around £90 each for 1 day is horrendous. So maybe not. We'll decide nearer to departure date if we can justify it.

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Universal tickets are also a lot more now. Not too long back they were about £100pp for a 14-day adult ticket. Now they are over £200.

A good chunk of that is exchange-rate related though I expect.

[Moorlandman]

An annual pass for Alton Towers was £56 last year but can’t compare that park with Disney’s offering imo

[mick]

I don't think that Joan and I are anywhere near the archetypal DIBB visitors any more.


We've been lucky (or planned our finances enough ) to have been around 35 times - with a couple of cancelled years along the way. However apart from MVMCP in 2014 we haven't been to a WDW park since 2010 and US even longer. This is maybe now more to do with our mobility and crowd issues than costs. I don't even know how much a 14 day ticket costs now.

I've said on here a number of times that I'm sure the $50 fillet steak at a WDW restaurant is lovely but is it twice as good as a $25 Longhorn steak? If some people judge a good steak by its cost then how fantastic were the fillet steaks we had at Ruth's Chris in San Fran a few years back at $148? Not three times better than Longhorn I can assure you.

We've not turned our back on Disney completely though. We visit DS and Boardwalk at least twice and do a tour round some resorts. Although we can regularly be heard bemoaning the cost of a pastry at Boardwalk bakery now. We just paid less than that for our Bob Evans breakfast you might hear us say.

Please don't think we are anti-Disney now but, at our age, we know that we just won't be able to get back to see every refurbished ride. We saw and enjoyed everything that Walt had to offer in his 47 square miles in around twenty pre-2010 trips but one of the reasons that we always hire a car is that we like to see more of the 65,700 square miles that Florida offers. Between St Augustine and Key West and all points between.

Mick & Joan

[PoohBears#1fan]

We've certainly taken fewer WDW trips over the last few years, we'll still stay onsite with DVC points but 'just' have Universal tickets. Free DDP has slowly killed dining onsite for us, we find it crowded, rushed and overpriced, so we eat off site more and more, it's not unusual for us to stay onsite yet not visit a WDW park or restaurant at all.

It's also nice that when we do visit a WDW park now it's far more of a novelty.

Despite being pretty regular visitors (we were last out in October 2018), next month will be the first time we've visited Pandora and Toy Story Land.

So yes, I guess the increased pricing has led us to spending less with Disney over the years.

[lizzie145]

Whilst the annual pass for Alton Towers is only £55 you can be in a 2 hour queue so cant get everything done. It's only junk food too and more expensive than in a town.

Universal only have 2 parks, currently, and are therefore cheaper but will increase in the future.

If you go once a year or less often then you are likely to want to do everything, I did, and this makes it expensive so if you just do Disney then it can be good value if you get the perks of free dining or eat off site.

You cant really compare a WDW holiday with a beach holiday in Europe that is like comparing apples and oranges

[Firsttimers2018]

We had our first trip there last year for 22 days. Spent around £13k in total which included 2 onsite hotels and 12 park tickets x 3 plus KSC and gator tour. We did have free DDP so never rhought a put the price of snacks. I saved for 2 years and it was our holiday of a life time. We have never experienced it any cheaper so for us it was what it was. But we loved every minute of it. Going back this October for HHN but hopefully get a 2 days Disney pass.

[JudeB]

This will be our 8th holiday to Florida and the first with no Disney. Last time (2017) we were very fortunate to get the 14 day ticket when it was on that super sale at £279. We certainly made the most of it and enjoyed all the parks, water parks, mini golf and the memory maker. So that may have helped make it a bit easier to decide not to go this time. We have got the 14 day SW, Busch Gardens and Aquatica tickets with free parking for £104. Amazing deal and I'm sure we will have a great time. I would have like to have added a couple of days at IoA/U but as it's middle of July and we'd really need the express passes or hotel stay, the costs soon mounted up there too and were quite eye watering! Our kids (20, 18, 15) understand they are very fortunate to be in Florida and that we can't justify over £1k for 2 days entertainment! We are still really looking forward to it and hopefully doing some other stuff like visit some of the nature reserves and seeing a bit more of Florida.

[novocastrian]

for us as well as the increasing expense, its the crowds, the fannying about with fast passes and having to rope drop at daft o clock for certain things, makes florida less appealing each time we think about it... not planning to go back any time soon...

to me in florida disney & universal are victims of their own success, too may people all trying to to the same things at the same time

on the flip side going to hong kong in the summer and having a day at disney there, which looks old school you just turn up & Q for the rides you want. we are planning going o a monday which looks a decent bet for low crowds and much less hassle

[Gull]

Originally Posted by novocastrian

for us as well as the increasing expense, its the crowds, the fannying about with fast passes and having to rope drop at daft o clock for certain things, makes florida less appealing each time we think about it... not planning to go back any time soon...

to me in florida disney & universal are victims of their own success, too may people all trying to to the same things at the same time

on the flip side going to hong kong in the summer and having a day at disney there, which looks old school you just turn up & Q for the rides you want. we are planning going o a monday which looks a decent bet for low crowds and much less hassle

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Agree with what you’ve said re Disney. I can manage the cost of extra event tickets but don’t feel I should ‘have’ to. We are going to Hong Kong this year too - September - and are planning a day at Disney 😊

[catherinesian]

Originally Posted by Gull

Agree with what you’ve said re Disney. I can manage the cost of extra event tickets but don’t feel I should ‘have’ to. We are going to Hong Kong this year too - September - and are planning a day at Disney 😊

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My colleague has just come back from Hong Kong and did a day at Disney over there. Can't comment on the price as I don't know how much she paid but she said the park was eerily quiet - apparently they walked up to the parade 5 mins before start and got a front row spot!