Just returned from Disney World WOW$$$$$
 

Just returned from Disney World. My family has been going every year for the past 10 years.
I cannot believe how expensive it has gotten. Soda in the machine at the hotel was $2.50. A balloon at the parks $6.00. A plastic raincoat $7.00.
Children's meals, which average about $6.00 include a soft drink of Coke, Diet Coke,or Sprite. Juice is extra. Since I don't know anyone who gives their children coke with their meal, add another 1.50 to the bill for the juice.
For hotel, park passes, food and drink
I don't know how a family of 4 can afford such a trip.
If you must go start saving now!!

We leave tomorrow for WDW and Cocoa Beach. Yes, the prices are sky high:( We have been to Europe for a lot less than what this trip will cost. But the launch is the reason for our trip, so we added WDW to it.

How was the trip though? I hope you all had a great time!

I can't imaging spending more to go to WDW for more than a trip to Europe. I wouldn't spend $2.50 for all of WDW mush less a can of soda out of a machine.

It is amazing the marketing power that Disney has! As a parent, you feel compelled to take your kids at least once. My daughter, who will be 3 in a few weeks, LOVES the Disney Princesses, yet she's never even seen any of the movies. It all stems from their ubiquitous advertising - commercials, toys, books. You cannot escape it!

I am sure I will break down and take her to WDW in a few years. By then, sodas should be up to $4 each!

They'll keep charging those prices as long as people will pay them.

I lived in Orlando for 18 years and watched Disney and the other parks suffer after 9-11 when no one visited the parks for several weeks. A boycott would bring their prices down to earth, but for some reason foreign to me, people are willing to pay those prices even if it takes them years to pay it off!

You can get some suggestions on
ecomizing on disboards.com and
mousesavers.com, but I agree. It is
very expensive!!

<i>We have been to Europe for a lot less than what this trip will cost</i>
I am not surprised by this at all, my daughter goes to Disney all the time..I asked her about this tonight, she said.. a Disney hotel can be sooo expensive, hotels in Europe can be gotten at bargain prices ( she just returned, stayed in Amsterdam for 180 E a night..) and she said food in Disney is ridiculously overpriced.
I imagine that Disney must need so much money to keep going, look at that place :O
We were lucky, when my children were small, it was not that expensive.

I jokingly refer to myself as the last living American who has never been to Disney. I don't really have much against the place, but with prices like that, I doubt I'll ever go. That is probably why my parents never took me.

I don't know what surprises me more: that someone would actually go to Disney 10 years in a row, or that this person would be shocked at how expensive it is. I mean, if I go somewhere that frequently I'd know what to expect.

I can affirm that our family's trip to Paris cost less than our trip to WDW.

But I also studied a lot for our trip to WDW and saved lots of money. I bought one annual pass, and got over $100 per night discount on our room rate. I got a few dollars off the tickets from a link I got from mousesavers.com. We bought our rain ponchos at home. We bought drinks and snacks at the grocery store. I charge everything I can on a Disney Visa (I pay it in full every month). We had $1005 in truly &quot;free&quot; money from Disney Visa, which fed our famly of 5 for over 7 days. We already have $1122 in Disney Visa dollars for the next trip.

As missypie points out, research will go a long way towards stretching your Disney dollars.

Also, going off season and stalking www.Mousesavers.com is one of the smartest things you can do.

I have always compared a Disney vacation to a ski vacation. I live in Orlando so going on a ski vacation is my indulgence since I can visit Disney rather cheaply.

- The price of park tickets is comparable to lift tickets.

- The price of hotel rooms is comparable to ski resort rooms.

- Staying at Disney hotels with easy access to parks is comparable to ski-in, ski-out lodging.

- Price for food, drinks, etc. at ski lodge/resort is ridiculously expensive just like Disney.

- During peak times the ski lift and slope crowds are unbearable just like disney lines and parks at peak times.

So why don't people complain about ski vacations like they do about disney vacations? Just my observation and would love to hear comments.

I too know how to do it without feeling a bit like I'm penny pinching. I won a week there once at the Mariott with an entire house/pool usage- plus the flights and entrance, and it still ran some bucks. It is expensive, but so is Europe now. And also Hawaii to me, is even more expensive than either.

But I feel that it is well worth one or two trips in a lifetime. And that the commercialization factors, while being there, are not what the entire experience is about at all. Nor did it enter into my family's experience with WDW. We never brought anyone there until they were at least 10 or 11.

Some of my fondest memories in my entire life are in WDW with my daughter in her late 20's, or with my youngest son when he was about 11. I never, ever put WDW down. It IS it's own world, and you need to study up for it. But you CAN get out of it, a lot more than the disney-poopers will allow.

You are FAR more marketed for prejudice towards designer labels and big houses far more than you are for vacations.

We don't buy pop in any amusement park and don't find ourselves paying for raincoats either.

I like the comparison to a ski resort...very true!

We leave today for FL. Yes, it is expensive, but like I said, the reason for our trip is the launch. WDW is an addon. Since the launch dates change, we didn't have flexability. We have done our research, and now we will just go and have fun. I don't buy soda at home, so won't be buying it there either. We lived in Orlando years ago, so it will be fun to go back and see how it has changed. Only a few more hours til we head out!

Have a great time mms, and I hear this is a spectacular time of the year to go.

And I think it needs to be pointed out, that WDW is a first class operation: clean, well-run, no expense spared kind of place. That costs $$$$.

Have a great trim, mms!

Oops, I mean &quot;trip&quot;!

I would allow my children/grands to have soda for lunch if that is part of the lunch.....what is the big deal? Last June we drove down to FL went to Oralndo wnet to Univerisal/Isle of Adventure/Discovery Cove/Sea World - stayed in hotel (Hard Rock of 5 nights) went to Ft. Lauderdale for 5 - took the Autotrain home and did not feel as tho I overpaid for a truly great vacation. If you are complaining about the price you must not be having a truly great time, In that case it is time to go elsewhere.

This week is one of the worst times to go to Disney. It's Pop Warner football and cheerleading Nationals. There are thousands of teams staying at the hotels...and they can be very loud. The football teams are worse. Do NOT go to MGM on Friday as they have a special there for the teams.

gmoney, I will answer your question. I have been to several ski areas over many years. When you go to a ski area/resort you are not stuck with their prices all day and night. You are only there from mid morning through mid afternoon. You don't have to pay their prices for food when you're not on the slopes. The ski areas also have independent hotels of all price ranges in the adjacent towns. Ski areas have real mountains not a fake mountain with white paint on top. Even if going to a ski resort cost more than WDW I will take the ski resort. I also view WDW as a fake to the max and the Rocky Mountain beauty as real.