Out of reach?

If it hasn’t yet, it’s certainly getting close. :/

I guess now we know that a lot of those $$$s from the parks are going to cover the losses at Disney+.

As far as pricing out, eh, it is expensive, and really always has been. IMHO I think it is not meant to be a go once or twice every year place anymore, unless you go DVC, still expensive, but more a special trip. I mean when people are sporting “I’m Celebrating My New Shoes” kind of buttons, eh.

I know we like to look back with rose colored glasses, but when you had to buy the ticket books, those added up fast. I remember my parents handing us our booklets and admonishing us to “use them wisely, because when they are gone they are gone.” Were they channeling the Templar Knight from Indiana Jones? As far as the resorts I think Disney, ala the Las Vegas playbook, used to take the attitude that a cheaper resort room keep people on site visiting parks and buying Disney food & swag, but now that is out the window and I am afraid that window is closed. I think it is a monkey see monkey doo, as in well that is what Vegas/other places are doing so should we. But don’t get me started on that little nugget. I think the best we could hope for is pricing staying steady and cost of living eventually catching up with it. But I won’t hold my breath!

Agreed Ferg, you can only go to the World Showcase Pavilions so many times. For our last visit we did Grand Fiesta Tour (a guilty pleasure of mine) in Mexico, Remy (now that we have done it don’t see a reason to back there, okay you got me, there are the crepes!) in France, The Art of Disney Store in America and saw Command Performance in England. That was it, walked past the rest. At this point my wife and I would also prefer to visit the actual countries.

It’s becoming increasing clear that the cost of a Disney vacation is creeping up on unaffordable to the middle class. My friend is traveling in December and he told me the park tickets alone are (granted they are getting 8-day park hoppers for 8 people) is upwards of $5,000. Figure with airfare and room the vacation will definitely be over $10,000.

I’m breathing a little life back into this thread…and it might be a little long…but I agree with Starbee, WDW is becoming unaffordable for the vast majority of guests.

Let me preface by saying that WDW has been a second home to me and my family since 1989. My son has been going since he was 1, he’s 16 now. I’ve been a single mom for 10yrs and living on a single income all that time, too. It’s been tight but I somehow made the trips work.

We had a family trip in November 2021. The money wasn’t that much of an issue but, after experiencing the larger crowds that basically exist all the time now, it discouraged me to even consider the possibility of going back. But now I can add the cost factor to that!

I’ve been itching to get away and, on a whim, I checked airfare to go for a quick trip Mother’s Day weekend. Price was right, so on to a hotel. My parents have DVC and short notice isn’t always the best to find a room (even though when they invested in it, they pushed for how easy last minute trips would be <eye-roll>). Well, we were lucky and there was something available at our home resort, SCORE!

Now, on to park tickets and availability…all parks available for all days we’re there, YES! Now, when I went to go check ticket prices, I LITERALLY fell off my chair and onto the floor! WTH!!! They’re almost as much as the annual passes we used to buy! That tax refund money, which hasn’t hit the bank yet, is already dwindling. I am SHOOK. And I’m not done planning yet!

At this point, I know that it’ll be hard to even consider taking any more trips as I think I’ve reached the closest point of not being able to afford it. Nonetheless, we’re taking the trip and I’ll treasure the time and making more Disney memories with my son.

Yea, I also have NO idea what is going on in general.

But this is going on all over, I read that hotels/campsites are full up, yet when we visit a state park lets say, it is nearly empty in the camping area. Don’t know and quite confusing.

Is it that pent-up demand from the pandemic has finally waned? I think so.

As far as the media/influencer reports go I put little faith in what most of them spew, I feel they all have an agenda, it’s their job and rosy reports don’t generate clicks. Seems all Florida tourism is down by some reports though. Hummm….. But we need to also remember that park attendance, what they are reporting on, is not linked to hotel availability. One thing I wonder is, how many annual passholders have they alienated with the halt in sales, price increases and changes.

Not a DVC member, but I follow Fort Wilderness boards and a lot of people are reporting that when they go to book the Fort they can’t get the reservations, but those that are at the Fort report boo-coos of open sites. Even back in October last year I could not get a site for the final Friday of our trip, the night we really wanted to go to MNSSHP. Mind you it was just for that Friday night only in mid October, the following Saturday and Sunday nights had openings. When we left the Fort was probably at 30% full. Talking to the guy that picked up the trailer we rented, he was surprised because they still had most of their trailers available and said that if it was that full they would usually not have that much inventory on hand.

As far as Disney goes, I would assume they have some kind of algorithm, or person, that limits the rooms they can sell based on their projected staffing. Or possibly they have not caught up on updating this?

Just my 2 cents worth and keep cool out there!