Disney just too expensive?

[holidayrep]

I agree universal can be just as bad. I think the main thing is to choose one or the other depending on your family dynamic and then to maximise trips.

Get to parks 45 mins before opening and have a plan. We can get so much done in the first 2 hours compared to the rest of the day.

We do that for the first few days when it's easy to get up. Later in the holiday we do night time entertainment. I still love Disney I just need a break sometimes to appreciate it.

[Tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by holidayrep

I agree universal can be just as bad. I think the main thing is to choose one or the other depending on your family dynamic and then to maximise trips

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This...


I know everyone is different but, having paid out a small fortune on tickets for onsite stay at WDW or not even onsite stay, adding a whole other bunch of theme park tickets on top, for us, is ridiculously expensive. I think you have to pick your poison and go with it. I looked at doing a day at Universal and at seaworld but WOW no way adding on food, transport etc that’s a weekend away somewhere

[WhereIBelong]

Originally Posted by Tinkerbell

This...


I know everyone is different but, having paid out a small fortune on tickets for onsite stay at WDW or not even onsite stay, adding a whole other bunch of theme park tickets on top, for us, is ridiculously expensive. I think you have to pick your poison and go with it. I looked at doing a day at Universal and at seaworld but WOW no way adding on food, transport etc that’s a weekend away somewhere

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Trouble is if you are spending thousands simply on getting there and staying there, you want to "do it all" when you don't go often.

Choosing one would be fine if we went every year or two like some on the Dibb, but when it is much more infrequent it is nice to see the changes at both Universal and Disney.

[Tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by WhereIBelong

Trouble is if you are spending thousands simply on getting there and staying there, you want to "do it all" when you don't go often.

Choosing one would be fine if we went every year or two like some on the Dibb, but when it is much more infrequent it is nice to see the changes at both Universal and Disney.

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I agree, I haven’t been for ten years, I’d love to see US etc but the outlay has to stop somewhere, for me , when I priced up the other parks with the additional costs and the two weeks of absolute exhaustion then it’s not worth it, I have to say, I’m fortunate to have visited various Disney’s over 15 times, when I was younger and the girls were little, we too crammed it all in, now I get no pleasure from cramming it all in. This will almost certainly be my last trip to Orlando, so it would have been great to visit the other parks but not at any price.

[neilhd]

Originally Posted by matt987106

people talk about only doing Universal

IMHO Universal is just as bad as disney for milking the lest dime from you, food and drink at the similar price as wdw, the tickets are similar aswell

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You are quite right.

I hadn't really realised how expensive Universal tickets had got. I remember paying about £100 for a 14-day pass. Now they are about £270. Ok, that's still less than Disney at £350-odd, but Universal is 2 parks and 1 waterpark, compared to Disney at 4 parks and 2 waterparks (plus a few extras - mini-golf, fastpass booking, memory maker etc).

On that basis, Disney is now the cheaper option in some ways really.

[PoohBears#1fan]

For us, only doing Universal isn't because it's cheaper, it's about limiting the outlay on tickets.

We're lucky that we go fairly frequently and when we plan more than one trip a year the APs are great value, but when we out just annually 'just' doing Universal or WDW gave us a significant saving on ticket costs and was more than enough to enjoy.

I agree, if it's a once in a lifetime trip, then you wouldn't want to restrict yourself.

[Squidgyness]

Originally Posted by neilhd

You are quite right.

I hadn't really realised how expensive Universal tickets had got. I remember paying about £100 for a 14-day pass. Now they are about £270. Ok, that's still less than Disney at £350-odd, but Universal is 2 parks and 1 waterpark, compared to Disney at 4 parks and 2 waterparks (plus a few extras - mini-golf, fastpass booking, memory maker etc).

On that basis, Disney is now the cheaper option in some ways really.

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For my tickets for 2020, it's £295 for 14 day Universal park to park, vs £450 for 14 day Disney tickets right now. So a difference of £155 per person. When dealing with 3 or 4 adults, that's a lot of money.

Tbh the enjoyment I get from Universal is equal to (if not slightly more than) that I get from WDW - but that's a personal decision.

If I had to cut one ticket (we are doing both as it will be the last trip for my parents due to health reasons I suspect) it would be Disney. I could live without either if I had to, but given the £465 savings going with a Universal focused trip it makes sense to do that.

Of course 7-day tickets work out SLIGHTLY cheaper, so I'll get those if the price doesn't equalise like it usually does nearer the time.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Squidgyness

For my tickets for 2020, it's £295 for 14 day Universal park to park, vs £450 for 14 day Disney tickets right now. So a difference of £155 per person. When dealing with 3 or 4 adults, that's a lot of money.

Tbh the enjoyment I get from Universal is equal to (if not slightly more than) that I get from WDW - but that's a personal decision.

If I had to cut one ticket (we are doing both as it will be the last trip for my parents due to health reasons I suspect) it would be Disney. I could live without either if I had to, but given the £465 savings going with a Universal focused trip it makes sense to do that.

Of course 7-day tickets work out SLIGHTLY cheaper, so I'll get those if the price doesn't equalise like it usually does nearer the time.

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that is like comparing apples and pears though

Universal tickets equal 2 parks and 1 water park

WDW tickets equals 4 parks, 2 water parks and 2 crazy golf courses

double the parks and water parks for only a extra £155 PP

from a personal point of view, we are done in Universal / IOA after 3 days ( last trip is was 2 days ) , thats all the rides and shows done, then the 3rd day is to do our favs ( which we skipped lasts trip in favour for a trip to the beach )

[Squidgyness]

Originally Posted by matt987106

that is like comparing apples and pears though

Universal tickets equal 2 parks and 1 water park

WDW tickets equals 4 parks, 2 water parks and 2 crazy golf courses

double the parks and water parks for only a extra £155 PP

from a personal point of view, we are done in Universal / IOA after 3 days ( last trip is was 2 days ) , thats all the rides and shows done, then the 3rd day is to do our favs ( which we skipped lasts trip in favour for a trip to the beach )

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You are correct, it depends on your personal opinion in the end. We spend at least 5 or 6 days in Universal every trip, could be more easily - we don't even do Volcano bay. My minimum would be 2 nicely paced days per park, then 1 water-ride oriented day where we re-do favourites. We like to sit and watch the street shows (the two near Richters burgers are fantastic, well worth watching twice imo), my mother loves seeing the parade, and we also check out the shops on top of repeat rides and a leisurely lunch.

Obviously we don't put all these in a row, we would get bored fast - the same goes for WDW. I can't imagine 10 straight days of Disney theme parks. Our theme park days alternate WDW and US/IOA partly for this reason. We also break them up with a trip to Space Kennedy (excellent value imo - would love to see those merch and food prices come back to the parks that's for sure!), we explore city-walk on the evenings, visit Disney springs and have a pool day.

I'm probably the odd one out though, I realise my style of trips is well in the minority.

If you want to go from a purely money-per-park viewpoint, SeaWorld do a 4-park unlimited ticket for $189.99 which must mean that they are the best value park of all. For many I'm sure this is the case. Depends on your preferences after all.

[Bella1]

Originally Posted by ConnorD

We have not been to a Disney park since 2010 (we only visited Magic Kingdom on that visit), and just stick to the Universal and SeaWorld parks.

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We haven't been to Universal or Seaworld since 2010. Previously we would have tickets for everything and dip in and out of each place but since ticket prices have shot up I think everyone is more selective about where they choose to go. I quite fancy seeing the new HP areas but I am not a fan of Universal on the whole and the prices seem high when I only want one or two days in the same way as Disney is high if you only want a couple of days.

Our last trip week long trip we did no parks at all and still had a wonderful time.