Originally Posted By disney2268 Hey just a warning...for all of you who were planning on buying your tickets today, they are not able to sell packages and such. The said they are "upgrading" their systems. We were just trying to add an additional day to the package we already have and they can't do it! I have also heard word that people are having difficulty getting tix online.
Originally Posted By TMICHAEL Well, I guess I'm glad we're staying on-site this Sept, first time in 15 years. With the continued increase in WDW prices, I just won't be going Disney any longer. They don't add worth while attractions with any regularity to warrant the trip. It is no longer worth it and I used to love the place. Last visit was 5 years ago and the only thing I'm looking forward to seeing is EVEREST. Everything else is the same old stuff at a higher price. We're actually cutting WDW short and heading to Busch Gardens this trip. Just can't justify this kind of spending on the inflated on-site room rates and park tickets.
Originally Posted By dshyates We're heading to Otown on Sat. and we are doing Universal and Sea World. We were considering a day at either mk or sea world. We were already leaning toward Sea World because Disney was $67 and Sea World online was $54. For a family of 6 that made a difference. Now at $71. Well, Sea World here we come. We got 7 day Universal park hoppers with City Walk for $99 thru expedia. What is Disney's 7 day going for now?Aside from possibly an afternoon at DtD we won't be setting foot on Disney property. It's not that we're anti-Disney or anything. We did WDW top to bottom for a week last Aug., and not even the kids (6&11) are all that interested. We asked them which they would rather do MK or SW and they both screamed Sea World. They have only been to WDW once, and they have never done SW or Uni. So this year is "Orlando the Sequal". But I was a little surprised that after a week at WDW last year they weren't begging to go back. We are also going to have to try the new Go-Kart track they built next to Old Town. It's supposed to have turns banked steeper than Daytona Int'l. Speedway. We really have little option but to explore other less expensive entertainment options. And I bet we still will have a fantastic trip.
Originally Posted By gusgoose Huh? They increased ticket prices 4 dollars. For a family of six, that means a trip to Disney World for a day will cost you an extra $24. $24 is going to make or break you?
Originally Posted By dshyates Sea World for a day for the six of is is going to be $324. (@ $54 ea.). One day at MK or MGM is $432 (@ $72 ea. That is a difference of $108. That will feed the kids for at least a day. We got our Universal tix for $99 ea. for a seven day totalling $594. WDWs 7 day is $219 ea. for a total of $1314. The diff there is $720. add the $108 for sea world and we saved a total of $828 by not going to Disney. I later found out that I could have gotten the same Uni. tix thru AAA for $89 saving another $60. And yes for me $828 makes or breaks the entire vacation. I make 20K a year.
Originally Posted By Elderp ^ I am with you on this one. The savings between Disney and other theme parks are enormous for people on fixed incomes and every year I see less of a difference. Like I said before if Universal does that Harry Potter land well, it could be a very interesting year for Disney.
Originally Posted By Elderp Too much tinkering and Disney is going to drop like a rock. I am sure they will reverse course with "specials" but why go to that length. It is sad that their investor strategy isn't segmented but that is life.
Originally Posted By dshyates I should mention that the Sea World tix are 2 day tix. With what we saved we are going to Emeril's and the luau at the Royal Pacific. With what I make, Disney was already cost prohibitive before the price increase. So we had planned an Orlando vacation based around more affordable options like Universal Studios. But my brother was like "Who goes to Orlando with kids and doesn't take them to WDW." So I checked it out. I do. So we will be slumming it up at Uni and SW. Disney has really priced themselves out of family entertainment market for a lot of us. Disney is not only no longer the only game nationally but they aren't even the only game in town anymore. We checked out several options other than WDW and Orlando. Check this place out. Their deluxe rooms are cheaper per night than a Disney package at the All Stars. <a href="http://www.cheeca.com/" target="_blank">http://www.cheeca.com/</a> I know the Disney All Star pkg includes Park tix, transportation, a really cool lanyard, and a family photo. Ooohhh! Be still my heart.
Originally Posted By dshyates It is easy to quarterback from a board room somewhere discussing the before and afters and the "its only". But we are arriving in Otown in 3 days and we are talking real cost differences concerning Wed. Aug 15th. What the WDW tix cost last week don't matter diddle squat.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << I make 20K a year. >> If this is truly the extent of your income, I'd have to suggest that you should be prioritizing your spending on something other than vacations. I hate to channel Suze Orman, but you can't afford it -- WDW, Universal, or any other theme park vacation.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP I totally sympathize with the cost thing. We certainly count our penny and dimes, and count ourselves lucky to be able to stay on property, at the all stars. However, keep in mind that two of the many repeated themes on these boards are: why does it cost so much and why is it so crowded! Really the one takes care of the other. Thats ecomonics, the rationing of scarce goods. Ss long as the parks are crowded they can keep raising the prices. Of course they do econimics 101 one further: Nosebleed high prices and no specials for peak seasons, and specials for off peak. Elderp and I are starting to plan next year's (non-Disney) vacation and it's not a slam dunk to beat this year's Disney Vacation. Granted, this year we are 2 and next year we will be 3. This year the two of us are able to do a complete WDW vacation (combining lots of special deals) for 7 days, including air fair, for under $2000. We are going to have to hunt far and wide and be just as careful when we plan next year's 7 day vacation to the pacific northwest.
Originally Posted By dshyates Yes, I do in fact make 20k a year. I am a photog for a CBS station in Southern WV. I was an editor in Denver for 11 years. And my ex before she was my ex demanded we move back home to WV. Now my kids live with her in the middle of the coal fields. One of the things that I am doing while in Otwon is passing out resume packages all over town. I graduated from Full Sail up in Winter Park and have contacts at FOX 35 in Lake Mary and at Universal. My choices are live on 20k and see my kids every other weekend or make 40K and see my kids twice a year or so. What would Suze do?
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I personally welcome the hikes if it is a return to quality of cleanliness, cast quality, good maintenance, excellent live entertainment and steller attraction additions. I would be willing to pay $100 a day, if those conditions were met. But still, I think $71 a day still offers good value compared to other events - Sports, Concerts, Broadway shows etc.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << What would Suze do? >> Suze would probably say you can't afford family vacations to WDW on $40K a year either. Take the kids kayaking on the New River instead.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I know the Disney All Star pkg includes Park tix, transportation, a really cool lanyard, and a family photo. Ooohhh! Be still my heart. >> Yeah ... aren't those 'extras' so magical? Kinda like the 'free' cookies when you pay an extra $50 for Christmas at WDW! And I agree with you ... having spent many spirited nights at Uni's Royal Pacific, I can't imagine any sane (i.e. not high on pixie dust) person who would rather stay at at the All Stars or POP motels instead. I have a friend who is taking the family to WDW for Christmas ... it's an extended family deal and they have to go that week. His sister is paying close to $600 a night for a regular room at the Poly ... he's paying $250 for a 'moderate' resort. Crazy!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 << I make 20K a year. >> <<If this is truly the extent of your income, I'd have to suggest that you should be prioritizing your spending on something other than vacations.>> You know what? I agree with your basic point. But I'd never have the nerve to presume to tell anyone what they should spend their money on. People who make small salaries deserve vacations too. They may deserve them more than people who make six and seven figures annually. I know our current Wall Street/Big Business/Administration etc ... wants to create an underclass ... and they're doing a damn fine job of it. But every worker deserves a vacation, and it's no one's place to tell a perfect stranger they shouldn't go. <<I hate to channel Suze Orman, but you can't afford it -- WDW, Universal, or any other theme park vacation.>> Then don't. She's an obnoxious talking head that's worth millions of dollars and could NEVER put herself in the place of a worker who makes $20,000 a year and needs to balance things. The fact she is famous and well-compensated for basically telling people 'if you don't have the money, don't spend' and other pearls is a perfect example of the WalMarting of our nation!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I personally welcome the hikes if it is a return to quality of cleanliness, cast quality, good maintenance, excellent live entertainment and steller attraction additions. I would be willing to pay $100 a day, if those conditions were met. But still, I think $71 a day still offers good value compared to other events - Sports, Concerts, Broadway shows etc.>> I'd say it offers fair value when compared. Good? I dunno ... certainly not very good, excellent or outstanding. And there is no correlation between cost of a ticket and quality for the money. If that were the case, the MK wouldn't look like it does now. WDW needs to start acting like a PREMIUM 'brand' if its going to keep pricing itself that way. Simple as that. Oh, and the parks are NOT full at all right now.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Oh and dshyates, I just want to add that I think it is pathetic that a television station affiliated with the No. 1 network would pay a highly-skilled/specialized photog $20,000 a year. What's next? Get someone from Mexico or India who'll do the job for $11,000? Sad state our country is in right now!
Originally Posted By dshyates Well, I could live without a vacation this year. We have had 1 in the past 3 years. My 2 girls (6 & 11) who have been through a lot in the past 3 years need a little break from the Hillbilly Hell my ex has inflicted on them. I already had to go pick them up at 1:00am at the hospital when the ex's new husband beat her up. With their situation I don't feel that I can move 750 miles away in search of money. Priorities indeed. Money or my kids. The closest top 20 market from me is DC and that is still 6 hrs away from them. But my 11 yr old is 3 years away from being able to chose and I need to get someplace where I can stabize so that when she can chose she actually has a a choice. So I do have to go, its just tough thinking about kissing my 6 year old and saying "I'll see you over Christmas if I can work out the time off." But if i'm living in Orland making 40K and can't afford WDW. Then start lecturing.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<Am I the only one who lives in an area that has pages of home foreclosures in the newspaper several times a week? Are people willing to lose their homes to go on vacations? >> And for luxury cars, expensive clothes, plasma TV's, etc. They just don't believe that it will happen to them.
