I'm selling my DVC points. I really enjoyed taking my family to Disney World once a year, it was never "cheap." But I always felt it was a good value for the money. However, starting around the mid '10s I noticed their attention to detail starting to slip. Some attractions were more worn looking, not as clean, etc. Also sometime in the '00s Disney started getting very good at making sure their parks were always full. We use to go in early February, the weather was very nice, and the crowds were nonexistent. You could quite literally ride their tier one rides (Tower of Terror, Rocking Rollercoaster, Space Mountain, etc.) as many times as you want, just by getting off the ride, walking back through the empty queues and getting on again. The last time we went was 2019, and it was just as crowded as the high season. Then Covid hit, and we didn't go in 2020. Now since Disney has clearly chosen a side in the culture war, I'm not likely to ever go back.
Stupid troll: “Good, they don’t want you back!” No, but seriously I heard you there. I know a lot of people with DVC points that they are selling, or giving up their VIP club memberships such as Club 33 in California or that other club with Silver/Gold/Platinum levels. Disney has gone downhill and has been riding its laurels for years.
My parents sold DVC and bought an RV with the money. We went to Disney twice a year for the longest time with DVC then my family could no longer afford it and wanted to go someplace else.
@@nancy9478 How different that still was, in the 1970-ies ! The decline started near the end of the 1980-ies (in line with general decline of everything, all over the USA)
Actually, IGOR has been riding on the di$ney name for at least a decade. IGORs true colors are coming out, he does not belong in that position and does not know how to perform in it. He is so finished.
@@princessmarlena1359 I wouldn't pay to get off these things! lol After standing in line all day, to get on the ride, I'd just continually ride that thing until the park closes up. That would justify both the cost, and the wait times of the ride. The problem is... that only takes care of ONE RIDE! But it's still better than paying money just to get off of it.
@@jacob4920 If you have to go to the bathroom, you just might. 🤣 Although if it’s just #1 and you’re on Splash Mountain, in the words of Dale Gribble: “…feel free to wet yourself, the splash at the bottom will hide your shame!”
Went to WDW in 2010, "2 weeks" inside the resort, mid range resort, with food package, hopper passes, transportation to and from airport...etc. We spent less than 3k for 3 people. No need to have a phone back then. I think that is the last time I will go, the cost, politics and down-graded entertainment. I don't need to be reminded of world problems when I am on vacation. I was seeing cracks in the "magic" in 2010. The cost to value is completely off the rails.
The 1956 Disneyland Compendium lists original ticket prices. A full day at Disney, adjusted for inflation, would be around $35 in today’s money. This is outrageous.
The inflation isn't the same scale across the spectrum of products and services. However taxes regulations and changing tech for some things can stack expentures. Also money is no panacea money is worthless when there is nothing left to buy
@@joeschmoe7324 brother, obviously not everything is 1:1 but without doing a complex fiscal analysis of two dozen economic sectors, the tax policies of local, state, and federal governments, a review of technologies and amenities in the parks (etc., etc., etc.), comparing sticker prices and adjusting for CPI inflation is the normal, standard, ballpark way this kind of comparison is done. A day at Disney today costs about $200 a person. It used to be less than a quarter of that. It is what it is.
@@animezilla4486 All three of those companies were around for 120 years and still went down the tubes. I'd add RCA as a fourth. The real argument are that Disney isn't posting losses. They may be morally and creatively bankrupt, but they still have plenty of money to throw around.
With a two night stay at Disneyland Hotel, two table service meals, and one day at the parks I paid over 2K for two people. They still treated us like we were so lucky to be there, what a privilege it was that they let us into the park. We’re not going back again. Next year we’ll get VIP tours at Universal.
Vacation?!? I'm trying to decide if I should replace the water softner or the hot water heater. The water softner is dead, the hot water heater still works but is 14 years old. Also need a new washer and dryer. But those will have to wait until next month. Vacation??? I just took one only three years ago. Maybe I'll take a long weekend...sometime around 2032. Maybe.
Since 1982 I have been to WDW 18 times, that’s one trip every 2.5 years and I don’t live anywhere near Florida. My first trip to Disneyland was in 1956. The point of all this is I have loved Disney my whole 71 years. as I am watching this video, I am planning my next trip to Dollywood.
we used to go to di$ney every year. We also would spend a couple weeks at Fort Wilderness for either halloween or Christmas. But they they changed, first it was the merch getting crappy and more expensive, then we saw images of Mickey and Minnie were disappearing, Donald, Goofy and the rest were already gone. What finished that story was when we went down there and half the lights on the outside of the Contemporary were burnt out, the entire camping loop had no lights on the path cause they were burnt out, paint was peeling and rust showing on Main Street USA, and the lights the line the roof areas were burningout. It looked worse than 6 Flags. Then they had multiple price increases, that's when I said thats enough.
$10,000 family of 5- no lightning lane, no table service meals, military discount on tickets, rented DVC points, free flights thanks to my points, and a huge $300 grocery order to save money. It is outrageous especially when all of my children are now considered adults.
Universal has a crazy deal right now for a family of 4. $2800 dollars for 5 nights, 5 day park to park tickets. Or if you want to skip all the lines with express, you can spend $4200 to stay at Portofino Bay
I went with my mom to universal Orlando for 4 nights in Feb. we bundled and got our park to park tickets for 4 days and hotel on property combined only cost 750$ a person. We flew spirit so our airfare wasn’t very much more expensive. I’m not counting food or souvenirs obviously, but even still that surely is far less than doing Disney by a long shot. Also staying on site at universal is WAY more efficient. Transportation is quick you don’t need a rental car at all so you save loads on parking. Pool hopping is allowed at prime value and there is plenty to do for free. My mom loved the water taxis and how fast we got around the resort complex. Unless Disney changes something families will switch to universal.
We went to Disneyland yesterday with 2 of our adult children for the first time in years - we were all feeling sentimental so we sucked it up and spent the money. Although we were happy to be together, It was a difficult day - the wait times were awful even though we paid extra for Genie+ (new to us Californians) which was way harder to manage than our old fast pass system. Plus those big rides were constantly breaking down so Genie+ didn’t help much at all. We ended up having to pay on top of that to ride Rise of the Resistance due to the insane wait time. And then when we were in it we saw many empty cars around us. I’m thinking they purposely do that in order to inflate the wait times so that people are desperate enough to pay for the extra lightning pass, for this ride - which was not included with genie +. I don’t think we will go back any time soon. So sad as we have such wonderful memories of our family times together there in the past.
Maybe but I go to Disney 10+ times a year and sometimes tack universal on. I like universal but I can get good coasters anywhere and I can’t do Disney stuff anywhere. My main hobby is traveling to theme and amusement parks lol
The two parks give off different vibes for different ages. I’m not saying one is better than the other. Just different. Super rich aren’t going to Disney because it doesn’t fit their agenda. They are traveling the world and rubbing shoulders with other rich people.
@@CharBar07 lol I am not super rich but I travel to other countries too. Idk I don’t really find it too expensive and I like universal too but it’s not the same as Disney. Aside from Mario there’s nothing there for me😭
Last time I went to Disney was 2014. I have great memories, thankfully not marred by recent BS they're doing. I will keep my fond memories and move on happily to take my kids to other destinations. We are not missing out on anything.
I agree. Losing Fast Pass was a deal breaker for me as well and I live only 45 minutes from the Disney World parks. I am not paying for something that for years and years was free. Screw Disney and their corporate greed.
agreed. we did like the magic bands but we would be fine without them. I'm not OK with paying to wait in longer lines just because the parks are mismanaged now. fast pass was a good idea because it made people OK with waiting to ride...in one queue. they destroyed everything by dividing the queue in 2 and only letting people on if they pay extra
lol I’m a passholder to Disney and might become a passholder or universal why not both? 😭 not like you have to sacrifice more on flights and that’s only one park lol
It is a value thing for me. I could go to Disney or I can go to a luxury resort with better food, fewer grumpy guests, etc. Why would I spend my money on Disney when the magic is gone? I'm not paying premium for a less than premium experience.
American Heartland, the new theme park opening in fall of 2026 in Oklahoma is being constructed in less than 3 years. How can those people (many of which are former Disney imagineers/cast) build an ENTIRE theme park in less than 3 years from groundbreaking and it takes Disney 6 years to build a single lame attraction?!!! What the heck is going on Disney? Huh? Guess where I am going in fall of 2026? That's even practically in my backyard. Day trip and no hotel or air transportation needed, and it's going to be affordable too! I'm giving my money to Dollywood, American Heartland, Silver Dollar City, and other more local parks from now on. I went to Disney twice a year and took family and friends too, and it was my happy place for decades. Money doesn't buy happiness though, and Disney can keep their happy place for the super wealthy, this middle class gal is moving on.
I grew up around the corner from Disneyland in the 1960's and 1970's. I'm sooo glad I got to experience the real Disney when it was great. My mother got to meet Walt and he was the nicest person you could ever meet. I feel terrible for people that have never gone there and don't really understand what Disney was. I believe this is on purpose like Bud Light, Target, etc..
The "Happiest Place on Earth," is quickly devolving into "The Most Unworthy Place on Earth." It's no longer worth the high cost of money to drag your family there.
“This is ‘The Happiest Place On Earth’! You’re supposed to _SMILE,_ God damn it!” (I actually heard a parent say that to their kid at Disneyland, once).
This problem goes far beyond Disney. The middle class has been almost eliminated in the west, by design, and Disney chose to focus on the remaining upper class to make up their customer base. What was the middle class is now struggling to pay rent, groceries, utilities, car payments, credit cards, etc.
You made all those bills you took out the credit cards it's your fault you can't afford disney or anything else . It's the choices you made that got you where you are. I make only 45,000 1 parent income single mom of three. No house payment no car payment absolutely no credit cards and I go to disney 1x a year. I made the choice. Noone to blame but you
@@BreanneGraeberF'ing good for you. I'm so glad the price of literally everything didn't go through the roof where you live. For the rest of us, prices on everything went up, though, so shut up.
I think we’re forgetting that traveling for vacations and such like a trip to Disneyland or Disney World are always gonna be pricey but speaking as someone who went to those places numerous times in my childhood, it was because my parents saved up all year for them, the problem is a lot of people want to go right away and are willing to put themselves in debt just to do it.
@@thatonelampent5958 But the same still applies. Prices did go up in Germany as well, yet I don't struggle to pay my monthly costs, even though I don't earn that much.
Wait, a certain individual in a recent "interview" (campaign commercial?) told us that we are just whining about inflation, we ALLEGEDLY have a ton more money lying around than we did in 20 20 to spend on things like this.
They are allowing the parks to fall apart, reimagined attractions that nobody is asking for, getting rid of the talented cast members and show talent, rides broken, overpriced food and the portions are just great for that price mind you and your paying what amount??? You need to remove Bob Iger and the board of yes men and bring back the true imagineers and true talented cast members and world renowned shows and start bringing back the true disney magic as it once was!
During Eisner’s tenure, he commented that Disneyland was underpriced. He believed that Disney Parks should be priced equivalent to a day of golf or ski lift ticket; locally that is between $85 and $175
Currently at Disney and I’ve never seen wait times like this. I’m a pass holder and DVC. These wait times are worse than Christmas. Whoever said this was the best time to go is completely insane. There been wait times from 95 to 150 minutes. People are definitely buying the lighting lane and I honestly have no idea how people can afford this. The cost of the food has gone way up in restaurants here. I swear Disney is saying they are slow and profits aren’t where they should be and people storm to the parks.
All of the people I know talking about going to theme parks are going to Universal, or Dollywood, or Busch Gardens. NOBODY is going to Disney. That would have been unheard of even two years ago! But Disney now just sounds like an expensive hassle with weirdos and ride breakdowns. We went from Disney fanatics to Universal fans ( thank you JK Rowling for Harry Potter world) and the hotels and experiences are fun and not so pricey! Gatortown, Kennedy Space Center, and other Orlando attractions just are fun too! We might not have tried those things if we were still stuck on Disney. It’s sad.. but Disney feels like they hate us. They don’t want us. Walt would be devastated. But we no longer go there for our vacations. Guess those 20 sets of glitter ears and four Disney Loungefly backpacks will stay home until things change. My HP wand and Gryffindor gear is getting a lot more use. Can’t wait for Epic Universe!
the last couple of times my family of 6 went (2019, 2021), we stayed off property. We got a condo through VRBO and it was 5 minutes from the parks. We had a full kitchen so we saved a lot on lodging and food. You still can't get around the expense of the tickets, but it was still about half the cost of prior vacations when we stayed in a Disney hotel. People feel that they must stay on property and I get it, but there are great savings by not doing so.
I remember going to Disneyworld with my husband and brother, as kind of a "we're young adults, we have our own money, we're gonna do an adventure" sort of thing. A week-long stay with admissions and food was about $2k. And that was at the Polynesian. The cabins would have dropped the price there to about $1.2k. How the times have changed. The cabins have been replaced with those weird Ikea things, which are now DVC only. I don't even want to know what the price of the Polynesian is these days.
My family had APs since the early 2000s. We all know how stupid $$$ it's become plus all the block out dates. Plus parking. It's simply unaffordable for us now, plus I hate how shitty the employees look and act now.
I worked at a bank for 15 years. When we did advertised like this, we got fined by the FDIC, EHL and FFEIC. Repeated violations? They would literally take you over and close your door. Bob Iger? Nothing.
It’s weird for Disney to cater their vacations for a small percent of rich people, yet also make all their corporate decisions and recent content based around a small percent of people who likely aren’t rich 🤷♂️
We stopped going to wdw and instead went to Germany’s Europa Park for the same $$. It was more fun, better food, better hotels for less, and quite an adventure! We’ll go back there!
Sounds like the real winners are going to be the Six Flags / Cedar Point parks. Six Flags / Cedar Point tickets are still a baseline of under $50. I went in for Six Flags over Texas and priced out 4 base tickets, standard flash passes, speedy parking, and 4 refillable souvenir mugs (no limit all day) and it's under $400.00. If you are going to skip out on character dining, the fancy sit-down meals, all the other extras Disney charges you for is it really worth the IPs anymore? I guess the customers will let us know.
Yea. My sister wanted to to a family trip to DW so all our kids would be together. My wife and I took one look at the prices and said, No. We can go somewhere else for twice as long, somewhere else for half the price, or somewhere actually interesting.
First time we ever went to WDW, we paid $1500 for family of 3 with the Disney Dining Plan, staying at All Star Sports. Second time, we paid $1800 for family of 3 at Pop Century with the Dining Plan. We went last year (family of 4 now) at Art of Animation without any dining plan, $3500.
As I see it, Disney has become too expensive for the middle class and too much of a hassle for people of wealth. Disney no longer has a culture of excellence, and Disney theme parks are not focused on guests. Today, management does not understand the consequences of their decision. Theme parks need a slow season to refurbish facilities, offering discounted annual passports creates summer-like congestion because of reduced capacity. If this was their goal, they succeeded at making memories of frustration and defeat.
At the parks they want fewer people spending more money. They are trying to achieve this by raising the prices and making the experience for the people unwilling to pay extra to be bad. People being escorted to the front of the line are having a good time, people waiting two hours in line are not.
It is a good manner to make people who pay more, happy, with "hard proof on exceptional quality product". That proof is not around, they merely get what everybody got in the 1970-ies (with the famous ticket books). From the other viewpoint: it is a disastrous fatal manner to treat all other people as TRASH, while they also already paid a huge amount of money. "Spitting on customers" is a practice of the lowest quality standards.
Ride times are also high because of Genie+, at times Disney is letting about 20 lightening lane people in for every 1 in the regular lane. Just at toy story mania, we moved approximately 10 feet in 30 minutes while the lightening lane had a non stop flow of traffic, before we left the que. But crowd levels are diffently dow.
9k for a vacation without leaving the country? that's frickin insane! and the marriot hotel charges to park in addition to room costs!?! is it any wonder greed is called the root of all evil?
I'm from So Cal and if you want a good vacation do this. Disneyland can be done in a day, two at most. Do Disneyland for 2 days, head up to Universal Studios for a day, then go to Magic Mountain for a day then rent a surfboard or boogie board and hit the beach for a day. You'll have a blast
I'm a California resident. I realized quite some time ago that for the price of driving my family to Disneyland for a few days, I could fly them to Universal in Orlando for close to a week. As Disney costs have gone up, that has only become more true.
I used to spend maybe $100 dollars for tickets, plus food which would bring the total to about $100 as well, and as for souvenirs maybe $50 dollars at the most, and the hotels I would get from Priceline were around $150, bringing my total for our family of 5 to $700 dollars max. Compare that to now where just a 1-day ticket on average to any park Disney costs almost double if not more with everything included. I 100% agree with you Disney has gotten way too greedy. I'm saving up to go with my brother and sister to go to Epic Universe sometime next year here in Florida, it'll be my first time going to Universal or Islands of Adventure which we do plan to visit as well. I can't wait to see what happens once it's fully opened.
I have boycotted Disney for almost a decade they are simply too woke and offer poor quality entertainment. I will never take my kids to Disneyland no matter how much they whine and beg. Total scam
But do they beg??? My kids have zero interest in Disneyland/disneyworld. The like universal more. We used to have passes to Disneyland and went several times a month. But that was probably 7-8 years ago. They stopped enjoying it (lines too long) long before the whole woke thing started being exposed
animezilla4486, it's another term for political correctness. It can be anything on the progressive side of the political spectrum that is overly sensitive, irrational or controlling. Like calling Splash Mountain racist.
I go to Orlando every year (minus COVID). Universal Studios has been crushing Disney in terms of attraction quality for decades. If Disney isn't afraid of what Epic Universe has to offer then they've already lost the market.
My GF / wife had been going to Disney World since 1978. We'd go for either Halloween or Christmas and our last trip, 2017, was the worst. I can still afford to go but there is no going back.
Before I plan my trip I pull out mu handy spreadsheet and start plugging in numbers. For example this year I found an incredible deal through buying DVC points and saved some money there - and that is the only reason I am not at Universal the entire vacation. To stay at Universal with tickets to the 3 parks at Dockside which is a very nice hotel was still cheaper than the same time at All Star Sports and no tickets. In fact it is cheaper to buy the tickets separately on their current special and take a Lyft while staying at Universal. Add to this that I have definitely seen the Disney Magic that used to come with every trip slowly disappear - as well as other peoples agenda start to be pushed into everyone's face. I used to LOVE WDW and staying on property now it looks more like a money grab on their part.
I look at what it costs us to go to Disney, just my wife and I, and it keeps going up and up. We bought DVC a while ago and I am thankful we did because of how much the hotels keep going up. We'd be looking at $9k just for hotel and tickets for the week a year we go. Just 5 years into our contract and we've almost broken even with room costs plus being able to buy cheaper Annual Passes. We may soon decide to sell the contract and make back some money if things don't get better but for now, we still enjoy going.
In the mid 90s my parents took my bothers and I to the sunshine state for 3 weeks for 3k (edit: 5k) CAD. We hit Epcot, the Magic Kingdom, Universal, MGM, Kennedy plus a few others. By far, we had the most fun at Typhoon Lagoon and a few other water parks. Tickets to the parks were all bonus’ from hitting a few time share presentations a week. 9k for 1 week, just seems next level and I can’t see myself “passing the torch” this year, next year, or ever. Kinda sad.
Iger, D’maro, Vahle and Patrock need to go. They obviously have no clue what makes park guests happy and keep coming back. So many perks that were free that really made the Disney difference have gone away. And they are raising prices to support their Disney umbrella companies…. Which I thought was unethical.
The parks are full and the money is rolling in…..I hate to say it, but I don’t see Disney changing a thing unless this changes. I, for one, won’t be going this year due to DAS changes, increased costs, and overall value for your money. I may not go next year either unless something changes at WDW. I live much closer to Dollywood and can get my magic fix there for considerably less.
When "GUESTS" visit my house, I don't charge them $6 for a Coke. If they can't be bothered to say "Ladies and Gentlemen" because 0.001% MIGHT be offended by the term, it might be time to stop using the term GUEST because I sure as hell don't feel like I am treated as a GUEST anymore.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Disney makes a radical course correction and abandons DEI once Bob Iger leaves/gets fired for the sake of sheer business survival.
I doubt it. The current crop of new Disney Corp Officers and Imagineers and Cast Members look to be as insane as Iger, if not even more so. I miss wishing I could write for Disney...
I don't know how families can continually afford these trips?? But look at some of the Facebook groups and people are continually going over and over again. 🤷♂️
We save and save until we get enough. Also income tax helps. Also wasn't stupid enough to get student loan, no car payment, no house payment and absolutely no credit cards. I am smart with money
Curious can raising prices at DW/DL be in part to keep rifraf away?.. I’ve noticed no family fights or people fighting random folks, as it happened in the past
As long as it is still possible to enjoy Universal Orlando without opening my cellphone, then they will win. The number one advantage of selling our Disney Vacation Club outright for our family of 6 adults + 2 grandchildren was finding peace, and relaxation on vacation again. Universal please do not follow the Genie+ model. I just refuse to go back to my phone again while on any vacation.
The teens Love Universal because of better rides. I like Disney because it’s laid back. But that can be a death sentence when you have a park like Universal that is looking toward the future and being the best in the business. The higher ups have blinders on or want Disney to fail. Not sure what’s going on there but building up DVC and not focusing on adding to the parks is a failure on their part.
We were im socal for softball, and it was out last trip for softball because girls were going off to college. We had all our sons with us too and wives and girlfriends. In all, about 12 people. We bought one day tickets and tried to get reservations for Star Wars big ride in morning, and Spider-Man for afternoon since you can’t make the reservations until you make the hop for the park hopper at that time. Thousands later for one day, and we did not get to ride on either friggin ride after spending all day there because both rides were reservation only and despite getting the reservations for that day, we didn’t get to ride. What an absolutely horrible experience and we count this as the last time we will ever visit Disney and it couldn’t have happened at a better time considering the downturn in the movies quality. The drop in upkeep of the parks themselves. The absolutely crappy attention to keeping rides up to date and adding new and exciting adventures to the parks with prices continually going up. As a shareholder I’m disgusted in current management. Iger and current board needs to be booted. Universal will lap them quickly and it will be brutal.
The cost of going to Walt Disney World wouldn't be so bad if the parks were exceptional, the attractions were all working, and they provided that unique experience that Walt Disney once had. Unfortunately, today it costs a lot of money to operate and to maintain the attractions. You can't provide a level of entertainment that is subpar and charge a premium price. The entertainment has to be exceptional at all levels. This will be a spiral effect for Disney. People will see no value in going to Disney. Disney will cut back. People will take notice of the cutbacks and decide not to go. Disney will have to cut back more. Attendance will become so low that Disney will not be able to afford the park operations. Disney will break apart and sell off the parks. Test track going down for a year........ Come on....... They should start working on it now. They could start dismantling the ugly canopy structure in the front. Do not have to close the attraction to do that....
I wouldn't go to Disney if the tickets were free. I likewise wouldn't consider their cruise line. I did recently take a vacation to Orlando, zero dollars to Disney.
My dad took my older sister and I to Disneyland back in 1964. Admission prices were $1.60 per adult and $1.20 for kids. A book of 10 tickets were $3.95 for adults and $3.45 for kids. Parking was .25 cents. My dad spent $15.05 not counting food. We would eat at a restaurant outside of the park.
Disney won't cut linear television because they own linear television. Having Disney ads on ABC, ESPN, and other Disney networks not only helps with the synergy but fills holes in the ad space artificially. Creating scarcity knowing that Disney's ads will fill X amount of time per show causes the price to go up. Especially on live sporting events that still get high ratings and have limited inventory.
I would love to go to Tahiti with my family, but it also costs a lot of money. I dont get the idea that people think places should be cheap enough for everyone to go and visit. What i hate about Disney parks is how expensive it is AND it's now a terrible experience with so many of the perks and experiences stripped away.
My parents kinda have a complex because they feel bad that they never could afford to take my sister and I to Disney. My sister and I never cared about going to Disney (we never said we wanted to go. And we knew how expensive it was). Most of our friends' parents couldn't afford it either. We were fine with going to the Zoo, movies, and the State Fair in the summer. One of my dad's childhood friends took his kids and it was over $10,000 for the whole trip. F that.
I'm surprised to be hearing this again. This was a story from long before COVID. The story I heard via a few people was that they were going to raise the ticket price to cut down the number of visitors and to... how can I put this... reduce individuals who might not be as desirable in the parks. And to be clear, those people don't have a race, just a certain way of behaving. That's what I was told in late 2018 to mid 2019.
One thing you guys seem to be missing is 64k of disposable income is not the national norm. It maybe in California but the rest of the US that 9k vacation just went through at least half of their disposable income
You can hardly go anywhere online and comment truthfully about Disney. Anything perceived as negative is quickly shouted down. Such a shell of what it used to be even like 15 years ago.
Even Disneyland Paris is stupidly expensive now which is why my fingers are crossed for universal studios great Britain but for now Europa Park will do for me
I agree. IGOR was surviving on the coat tails of the old magic and as he has been killing it, it has been dying. He has almost plucked the life out of di$ney now, it won't be long. Something is about to happen.
I watch a couple of live streamers that are in the parks everyday and I have noticed that there are more adult children than children walking around. Sad in more than one way.
My first trip to Disneyland was in 1966. A group of us had just graduated from Marine Corps boot camp in San Diego. We took a taxi from Oceanside. The ticket was $5.00. But to keep it in perspective my monthly pay as a lowly Private was 96.00 a month.
My wife and I took our kids to Disney when they were teenagers rather than little kids because even 10 years ago it was too expensive. Why take a bunch of toddlers to a place, spend thousands of dollars, and they won't even remember it in a few years? When they were little we took them to six flags, water parks, and the carnival, so they didn't miss out on anything.
Disney has always been a little pricey. However, there was value and it wasn’t so expensive that the cost brought in competition. At $9000 Disney has unwittingly brought in a lot of other options with better value. Just pure hubris.
We flew over from the U.K last September and while roadtripping around Florida, we went to Disney World, we had an amazing time, and we must have been lucky as we got on both Star Wars rides with a total wait time of about 45 mins. As I said amazing and once in a lifetime visit, but god it was bloody expensive at Disney World! We are certainly not rich, were working class and saved for years to go over to Florida. I hope they can sort out the cost so that ordinary americans can go there.
The first time my wife and I went to Disney was for our honeymoon in 2002. We payed $2,800 for our entire trip including food and plane tickets. The last time we went with a family of four spent $5,000 just for the stay including tickets and resort we stayed at. Plane tickets were $2500. Until disney gets their heads out of their posterior region we will not go there again.
I would spend 0 on Disney. 0 on Universal as well, an entire park built around HP has nothing to offer for our family. We went when the kids were little and HP had just opened and they had fun doing all the other attractions. They are college aged now and want to wait for Nintendo to open.
I just recently moved to Florida and I have an 11-year-old. Years ago I always wanted to take her to Disney, but those days are gone. The cost of the park was way too expensive. Disney hasn’t made anything my daughter even cared about since Frozen. I’ve got no interest in funding the activists at the Disney company. All together, taking her to universal was the better, cheaper and more morally sound choice. She absolutely loved it.
Our first trip to WDW as a family of 4 in 2010, we went all in, assuming it was a once in a lifetime trip. We spent $12k for a week!! It drove us to find more cost effective ways to visit, as well. Also, Universal is eating Disney's lunch on corporate return on investment when it comes to the parks.
I'm selling my DVC points. I really enjoyed taking my family to Disney World once a year, it was never "cheap." But I always felt it was a good value for the money. However, starting around the mid '10s I noticed their attention to detail starting to slip. Some attractions were more worn looking, not as clean, etc. Also sometime in the '00s Disney started getting very good at making sure their parks were always full. We use to go in early February, the weather was very nice, and the crowds were nonexistent. You could quite literally ride their tier one rides (Tower of Terror, Rocking Rollercoaster, Space Mountain, etc.) as many times as you want, just by getting off the ride, walking back through the empty queues and getting on again. The last time we went was 2019, and it was just as crowded as the high season. Then Covid hit, and we didn't go in 2020. Now since Disney has clearly chosen a side in the culture war, I'm not likely to ever go back.
Stupid troll: “Good, they don’t want you back!” No, but seriously I heard you there. I know a lot of people with DVC points that they are selling, or giving up their VIP club memberships such as Club 33 in California or that other club with Silver/Gold/Platinum levels. Disney has gone downhill and has been riding its laurels for years.
My parents sold DVC and bought an RV with the money. We went to Disney twice a year for the longest time with DVC then my family could no longer afford it and wanted to go someplace else.
@@princessmarlena1359 Troll? How about a parent who doesn't want their 1st grader to learn about gay acts?
Sold my DVC points 12 years ago
@@jimpipkin3002 I was referring to and making fun of people who ruthlessly defend Disney no matter that.
Be our guest, be our guest, if you're richer than the rest.
Don't be surprised if Disney doesn't charge an additional fee to be called a guest.
You win the comment section with that one.
(GestapoTube removed my reply? F this site!)
Clever.
@@princessmarlena1359 I know everything about 'GestapoTube' ;-)
We are too busy paying off mortgages, rent, utility bills, insurance and buying food to even think about going to Disney World.
Make more money. Do better!
Nah, they don’t get to make that excuse. People don’t want to pay to get their kids brainwashed.
@@BungieStudiosall hail Ayn Rand.
@@BungieStudiosBy the time we make more money, the cost to go will rise again.
Sad but likely true. I do wonder if more people would come would the price go down? I doubt it but a Muppet can dream eh.
Disney is now like Apple and Starbucks, trading on Brand Name and not quality product.
So true!
I HOPE (xxx) Disney Co , gets caught in a massive anti-trust court case, as everything started right there...
@@nancy9478 How different that still was, in the 1970-ies ! The decline started near the end of the 1980-ies (in line with general decline of everything, all over the USA)
Actually, IGOR has been riding on the di$ney name for at least a decade.
IGORs true colors are coming out, he does not belong in that position and does not know how to perform in it. He is so finished.
Apple still makes quality products, some of the best build quality of any company. Just because it's popular doesn't make it bad quality.
You don’t “sit”there staring at people when you don’t buy Genie+, you “stand” there staring at people. Worse.
Coming soon: Pay to get on, pay to get off! 😉
@@princessmarlena1359 I wouldn't pay to get off these things! lol
After standing in line all day, to get on the ride, I'd just continually ride that thing until the park closes up. That would justify both the cost, and the wait times of the ride. The problem is... that only takes care of ONE RIDE!
But it's still better than paying money just to get off of it.
@@jacob4920 If you have to go to the bathroom, you just might. 🤣 Although if it’s just #1 and you’re on Splash Mountain, in the words of Dale Gribble: “…feel free to wet yourself, the splash at the bottom will hide your shame!”
coming soon....
$10 fpr 10 minutes of air.
Went to WDW in 2010, "2 weeks" inside the resort, mid range resort, with food package, hopper passes, transportation to and from airport...etc. We spent less than 3k for 3 people. No need to have a phone back then. I think that is the last time I will go, the cost, politics and down-graded entertainment. I don't need to be reminded of world problems when I am on vacation. I was seeing cracks in the "magic" in 2010. The cost to value is completely off the rails.
I bet that same vacation today would be 7-9k.
Somewhere in Disney is a sleezy lawyer like in Jurrasic Park saying, "Well, maybe we'll have a coupon day"
I think his name is Avanti or maybe Cohan.
@@ThatGuy-cb3yv
Donald Gennaro
Thank you for being honest, I’m so sick of the TH-camrs that don’t want to lose their media passes and freebies from Disney
This guy doesn’t have media passes. If you are new here you don’t understand that he makes only negative videos about Disney.
The 1956 Disneyland Compendium lists original ticket prices. A full day at Disney, adjusted for inflation, would be around $35 in today’s money. This is outrageous.
$100 in 1956 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $1,152.75 today. So entry at $35 today, it was $3.25 in 1956? I don’t believe that is true
@@JackHawkinswrites i can believe it, depending on where you live, at least in the past 20 years inflation skyrocketed to at least 200%
@@JackHawkinswrites admission was $1 and a full ride tickets book was $2.50. With inflation, that works out to $40.
The inflation isn't the same scale across the spectrum of products and services. However taxes regulations and changing tech for some things can stack expentures. Also money is no panacea money is worthless when there is nothing left to buy
@@joeschmoe7324 brother, obviously not everything is 1:1 but without doing a complex fiscal analysis of two dozen economic sectors, the tax policies of local, state, and federal governments, a review of technologies and amenities in the parks (etc., etc., etc.), comparing sticker prices and adjusting for CPI inflation is the normal, standard, ballpark way this kind of comparison is done. A day at Disney today costs about $200 a person. It used to be less than a quarter of that. It is what it is.
If Disney thinks they can't fail, they didn't learn the lesson from Kodak, Sears, and K-Mart .
Some really brainrot youtubers always defend disney and say they are too big to fail. Smh
And Bed, Bath and Beyond.
@@Munchies2019because the company has been around for decades do you really think they're going to go out of business just like that
@@animezilla4486 All three of those companies were around for 120 years and still went down the tubes. I'd add RCA as a fourth.
The real argument are that Disney isn't posting losses. They may be morally and creatively bankrupt, but they still have plenty of money to throw around.
Don't forget Disney Stores.
With a two night stay at Disneyland Hotel, two table service meals, and one day at the parks I paid over 2K for two people. They still treated us like we were so lucky to be there, what a privilege it was that they let us into the park. We’re not going back again. Next year we’ll get VIP tours at Universal.
We are skipping Disney on our Florida trips. Universal is our top choice. Disney has become stressful. That’s the main reason.
SUGGESTION ! >>> Try any of the OLD DAYS Florida attractions = from BEFORE Disney dropped down in FL
You will have a whale of a time !
Vacation?!? I'm trying to decide if I should replace the water softner or the hot water heater. The water softner is dead, the hot water heater still works but is 14 years old. Also need a new washer and dryer. But those will have to wait until next month. Vacation??? I just took one only three years ago. Maybe I'll take a long weekend...sometime around 2032. Maybe.
Since 1982 I have been to WDW 18 times, that’s one trip every 2.5 years and I don’t live anywhere near Florida. My first trip to Disneyland was in 1956. The point of all this is I have loved Disney my whole 71 years. as I am watching this video, I am planning my next trip to Dollywood.
Dollywood is a great park!
we used to go to di$ney every year. We also would spend a couple weeks at Fort Wilderness for either halloween or Christmas.
But they they changed, first it was the merch getting crappy and more expensive, then we saw images of Mickey and Minnie were disappearing, Donald, Goofy and the rest were already gone.
What finished that story was when we went down there and half the lights on the outside of the Contemporary were burnt out, the entire camping loop had no lights on the path cause they were burnt out, paint was peeling and rust showing on Main Street USA, and the lights the line the roof areas were burningout. It looked worse than 6 Flags.
Then they had multiple price increases, that's when I said thats enough.
$10,000 family of 5- no lightning lane, no table service meals, military discount on tickets, rented DVC points, free flights thanks to my points, and a huge $300 grocery order to save money. It is outrageous especially when all of my children are now considered adults.
Universal has a crazy deal right now for a family of 4. $2800 dollars for 5 nights, 5 day park to park tickets. Or if you want to skip all the lines with express, you can spend $4200 to stay at Portofino Bay
If disney could charge you for breathing in the disney magic they would. disney is an absolute ripoff.
I went with my mom to universal Orlando for 4 nights in Feb. we bundled and got our park to park tickets for 4 days and hotel on property combined only cost 750$ a person. We flew spirit so our airfare wasn’t very much more expensive. I’m not counting food or souvenirs obviously, but even still that surely is far less than doing Disney by a long shot. Also staying on site at universal is WAY more efficient. Transportation is quick you don’t need a rental car at all so you save loads on parking. Pool hopping is allowed at prime value and there is plenty to do for free. My mom loved the water taxis and how fast we got around the resort complex. Unless Disney changes something families will switch to universal.
We went to Disneyland yesterday with 2 of our adult children for the first time in years - we were all feeling sentimental so we sucked it up and spent the money. Although we were happy to be together, It was a difficult day - the wait times were awful even though we paid extra for Genie+ (new to us Californians) which was way harder to manage than our old fast pass system. Plus those big rides were constantly breaking down so Genie+ didn’t help much at all. We ended up having to pay on top of that to ride Rise of the Resistance due to the insane wait time. And then when we were in it we saw many empty cars around us. I’m thinking they purposely do that in order to inflate the wait times so that people are desperate enough to pay for the extra lightning pass, for this ride - which was not included with genie +.
I don’t think we will go back any time soon. So sad as we have such wonderful memories of our family times together there in the past.
"West African" scammers are LESS inspirational of how to rip off people, then Disney Co.
Once epic universe opens Disney will have a problem, the super rich will not go to Disney multiple times they don’t like it that much.
That depends on how the super rich feels about Disney
If I was mega rich Disney would be the last place I would go I'm poor and I don't want to go lol
Maybe but I go to Disney 10+ times a year and sometimes tack universal on. I like universal but I can get good coasters anywhere and I can’t do Disney stuff anywhere. My main hobby is traveling to theme and amusement parks lol
The two parks give off different vibes for different ages. I’m not saying one is better than the other. Just different.
Super rich aren’t going to Disney because it doesn’t fit their agenda. They are traveling the world and rubbing shoulders with other rich people.
@@CharBar07 lol I am not super rich but I travel to other countries too. Idk I don’t really find it too expensive and I like universal too but it’s not the same as Disney. Aside from Mario there’s nothing there for me😭
Last time I went to Disney was 2014. I have great memories, thankfully not marred by recent BS they're doing. I will keep my fond memories and move on happily to take my kids to other destinations. We are not missing out on anything.
Agree, I have so many wonderful memories also. Now it seems the magic is gone, so sad 😔
Still disgusted that Genie plus is a thing. Loosing FastPass was the deal breaker for us 😵
I agree. Losing Fast Pass was a deal breaker for me as well and I live only 45 minutes from the Disney World parks. I am not paying for something that for years and years was free. Screw Disney and their corporate greed.
agreed. we did like the magic bands but we would be fine without them. I'm not OK with paying to wait in longer lines just because the parks are mismanaged now.
fast pass was a good idea because it made people OK with waiting to ride...in one queue. they destroyed everything by dividing the queue in 2 and only letting people on if they pay extra
Saving my money to splurge on Epic Universe next year
So is my family
lol I’m a passholder to Disney and might become a passholder or universal why not both? 😭 not like you have to sacrifice more on flights and that’s only one park lol
It is a value thing for me. I could go to Disney or I can go to a luxury resort with better food, fewer grumpy guests, etc. Why would I spend my money on Disney when the magic is gone? I'm not paying premium for a less than premium experience.
American Heartland, the new theme park opening in fall of 2026 in Oklahoma is being constructed in less than 3 years. How can those people (many of which are former Disney imagineers/cast) build an ENTIRE theme park in less than 3 years from groundbreaking and it takes Disney 6 years to build a single lame attraction?!!! What the heck is going on Disney? Huh?
Guess where I am going in fall of 2026? That's even practically in my backyard. Day trip and no hotel or air transportation needed, and it's going to be affordable too! I'm giving my money to Dollywood, American Heartland, Silver Dollar City, and other more local parks from now on. I went to Disney twice a year and took family and friends too, and it was my happy place for decades. Money doesn't buy happiness though, and Disney can keep their happy place for the super wealthy, this middle class gal is moving on.
I grew up around the corner from Disneyland in the 1960's and 1970's. I'm sooo glad I got to experience the real Disney when it was great. My mother got to meet Walt and he was the nicest person you could ever meet. I feel terrible for people that have never gone there and don't really understand what Disney was. I believe this is on purpose like Bud Light, Target, etc..
Walt died in the 66, so it must've been real early 60s to actually meet him in the flesh lol
If you were at Disneyland on a weekend in the ‘50s and rode the train there was a non-zero chance that Walt himself was driving.
The "Happiest Place on Earth," is quickly devolving into "The Most Unworthy Place on Earth." It's no longer worth the high cost of money to drag your family there.
Things do change
“This is ‘The Happiest Place On Earth’! You’re supposed to _SMILE,_ God damn it!” (I actually heard a parent say that to their kid at Disneyland, once).
That is up to individual families and the parks are doing great.
This problem goes far beyond Disney. The middle class has been almost eliminated in the west, by design, and Disney chose to focus on the remaining upper class to make up their customer base.
What was the middle class is now struggling to pay rent, groceries, utilities, car payments, credit cards, etc.
You made all those bills you took out the credit cards it's your fault you can't afford disney or anything else . It's the choices you made that got you where you are. I make only 45,000 1 parent income single mom of three. No house payment no car payment absolutely no credit cards and I go to disney 1x a year. I made the choice. Noone to blame but you
@@BreanneGraeberF'ing good for you. I'm so glad the price of literally everything didn't go through the roof where you live. For the rest of us, prices on everything went up, though, so shut up.
I think we’re forgetting that traveling for vacations and such like a trip to Disneyland or Disney World are always gonna be pricey but speaking as someone who went to those places numerous times in my childhood, it was because my parents saved up all year for them, the problem is a lot of people want to go right away and are willing to put themselves in debt just to do it.
@@BreanneGraeber That child support money must hit real nice
@@thatonelampent5958
But the same still applies. Prices did go up in Germany as well, yet I don't struggle to pay my monthly costs, even though I don't earn that much.
Wait, a certain individual in a recent "interview" (campaign commercial?) told us that we are just whining about inflation, we ALLEGEDLY have a ton more money lying around than we did in 20 20 to spend on things like this.
They are allowing the parks to fall apart, reimagined attractions that nobody is asking for, getting rid of the talented cast members and show talent, rides broken, overpriced food and the portions are just great for that price mind you and your paying what amount??? You need to remove Bob Iger and the board of yes men and bring back the true imagineers and true talented cast members and world renowned shows and start bringing back the true disney magic as it once was!
The true imagineers and talented cast members now work for Universal.
During Eisner’s tenure, he commented that Disneyland was underpriced. He believed that Disney Parks should be priced equivalent to a day of golf or ski lift ticket; locally that is between $85 and $175
The thrashing death throes of a dying colossus. Rest in piss, Disney.
They won’t be missed.
😂😂 You bought the delusion.
@@mickeytollison Excuse you? What delusion would this be?
Currently at Disney and I’ve never seen wait times like this. I’m a pass holder and DVC. These wait times are worse than Christmas. Whoever said this was the best time to go is completely insane. There been wait times from 95 to 150 minutes. People are definitely buying the lighting lane and I honestly have no idea how people can afford this. The cost of the food has gone way up in restaurants here. I swear Disney is saying they are slow and profits aren’t where they should be and people storm to the parks.
All of the people I know talking about going to theme parks are going to Universal, or Dollywood, or Busch Gardens. NOBODY is going to Disney. That would have been unheard of even two years ago! But Disney now just sounds like an expensive hassle with weirdos and ride breakdowns. We went from Disney fanatics to Universal fans ( thank you JK Rowling for Harry Potter world) and the hotels and experiences are fun and not so pricey! Gatortown, Kennedy Space Center, and other Orlando attractions just are fun too! We might not have tried those things if we were still stuck on Disney. It’s sad.. but Disney feels like they hate us. They don’t want us. Walt would be devastated. But we no longer go there for our vacations. Guess those 20 sets of glitter ears and four Disney Loungefly backpacks will stay home until things change. My HP wand and Gryffindor gear is getting a lot more use. Can’t wait for Epic Universe!
Disney Parks have problems but who's there anything about hating people
the last couple of times my family of 6 went (2019, 2021), we stayed off property. We got a condo through VRBO and it was 5 minutes from the parks. We had a full kitchen so we saved a lot on lodging and food. You still can't get around the expense of the tickets, but it was still about half the cost of prior vacations when we stayed in a Disney hotel. People feel that they must stay on property and I get it, but there are great savings by not doing so.
People are just now beginning to lodge serious complaints about this? NOW it’s too much? Man it’s been too much for a long long time.
It's been too much for well over a decade.
Dude you’re thumbnail guy 😂. I would KILL to hear Mickey Mouse tell a kid he’s too poor! 😂
I remember going to Disneyworld with my husband and brother, as kind of a "we're young adults, we have our own money, we're gonna do an adventure" sort of thing. A week-long stay with admissions and food was about $2k. And that was at the Polynesian. The cabins would have dropped the price there to about $1.2k.
How the times have changed. The cabins have been replaced with those weird Ikea things, which are now DVC only. I don't even want to know what the price of the Polynesian is these days.
My family had APs since the early 2000s. We all know how stupid $$$ it's become plus all the block out dates. Plus parking. It's simply unaffordable for us now, plus I hate how shitty the employees look and act now.
I worked at a bank for 15 years. When we did advertised like this, we got fined by the FDIC, EHL and FFEIC. Repeated violations? They would literally take you over and close your door. Bob Iger? Nothing.
It’s weird for Disney to cater their vacations for a small percent of rich people, yet also make all their corporate decisions and recent content based around a small percent of people who likely aren’t rich 🤷♂️
We stopped going to wdw and instead went to Germany’s Europa Park for the same $$. It was more fun, better food, better hotels for less, and quite an adventure! We’ll go back there!
Sounds like the real winners are going to be the Six Flags / Cedar Point parks. Six Flags / Cedar Point tickets are still a baseline of under $50. I went in for Six Flags over Texas and priced out 4 base tickets, standard flash passes, speedy parking, and 4 refillable souvenir mugs (no limit all day) and it's under $400.00. If you are going to skip out on character dining, the fancy sit-down meals, all the other extras Disney charges you for is it really worth the IPs anymore? I guess the customers will let us know.
Yea.
My sister wanted to to a family trip to DW so all our kids would be together.
My wife and I took one look at the prices and said, No.
We can go somewhere else for twice as long, somewhere else for half the price, or somewhere actually interesting.
First time we ever went to WDW, we paid $1500 for family of 3 with the Disney Dining Plan, staying at All Star Sports. Second time, we paid $1800 for family of 3 at Pop Century with the Dining Plan. We went last year (family of 4 now) at Art of Animation without any dining plan, $3500.
As I see it, Disney has become too expensive for the middle class and too much of a hassle for people of wealth. Disney no longer has a culture of excellence, and Disney theme parks are not focused on guests. Today, management does not understand the consequences of their decision. Theme parks need a slow season to refurbish facilities, offering discounted annual passports creates summer-like congestion because of reduced capacity. If this was their goal, they succeeded at making memories of frustration and defeat.
Disney World is doing just fine. Go instead of depending on TH-cam and you will see for yourself.
At the parks they want fewer people spending more money. They are trying to achieve this by raising the prices and making the experience for the people unwilling to pay extra to be bad. People being escorted to the front of the line are having a good time, people waiting two hours in line are not.
It is a good manner to make people who pay more, happy, with "hard proof on exceptional quality product". That proof is not around, they merely get what everybody got in the 1970-ies (with the famous ticket books). From the other viewpoint: it is a disastrous fatal manner to treat all other people as TRASH, while they also already paid a huge amount of money.
"Spitting on customers" is a practice of the lowest quality standards.
Ride times are also high because of Genie+, at times Disney is letting about 20 lightening lane people in for every 1 in the regular lane. Just at toy story mania, we moved approximately 10 feet in 30 minutes while the lightening lane had a non stop flow of traffic, before we left the que.
But crowd levels are diffently dow.
You get what you pay for or don't pay for
Its the Griswald Disney Vacation.
Build cheap, repair often, build quality, pay less overall.
9k for a vacation without leaving the country? that's frickin insane! and the marriot hotel charges to park in addition to room costs!?! is it any wonder greed is called the root of all evil?
I'm from So Cal and if you want a good vacation do this. Disneyland can be done in a day, two at most. Do Disneyland for 2 days, head up to Universal Studios for a day, then go to Magic Mountain for a day then rent a surfboard or boogie board and hit the beach for a day. You'll have a blast
Also take a tour of the Queen Mary and a leisurely drive along PCH. Forget Magic Mountain and go to Knotts Berry Farm instead.
Shame you didn't mention the price of tickets at Busch Gardens and SeaWorld. Both have day tickets less than $70 weekday and $85 for the weekend
Glorified Six Flags.
I'm a California resident. I realized quite some time ago that for the price of driving my family to Disneyland for a few days, I could fly them to Universal in Orlando for close to a week. As Disney costs have gone up, that has only become more true.
I used to spend maybe $100 dollars for tickets, plus food which would bring the total to about $100 as well, and as for souvenirs maybe $50 dollars at the most, and the hotels I would get from Priceline were around $150, bringing my total for our family of 5 to $700 dollars max. Compare that to now where just a 1-day ticket on average to any park Disney costs almost double if not more with everything included. I 100% agree with you Disney has gotten way too greedy. I'm saving up to go with my brother and sister to go to Epic Universe sometime next year here in Florida, it'll be my first time going to Universal or Islands of Adventure which we do plan to visit as well. I can't wait to see what happens once it's fully opened.
I have boycotted Disney for almost a decade they are simply too woke and offer poor quality entertainment. I will never take my kids to Disneyland no matter how much they whine and beg. Total scam
But do they beg??? My kids have zero interest in Disneyland/disneyworld. The like universal more. We used to have passes to Disneyland and went several times a month. But that was probably 7-8 years ago. They stopped enjoying it (lines too long) long before the whole woke thing started being exposed
Define woke
@@michaeldc951in other words your kids thanks Disney world is boring
@@michaeldc951 i am taking them to Universal in July for 2 days it's much better.
animezilla4486, it's another term for political correctness. It can be anything on the progressive side of the political spectrum that is overly sensitive, irrational or controlling. Like calling Splash Mountain racist.
I go to Orlando every year (minus COVID). Universal Studios has been crushing Disney in terms of attraction quality for decades. If Disney isn't afraid of what Epic Universe has to offer then they've already lost the market.
My GF / wife had been going to Disney World since 1978. We'd go for either Halloween or Christmas and our last trip, 2017, was the worst. I can still afford to go but there is no going back.
Under its current leadership and ideologies, I wouldn’t spend $5 to go to any of their parks.
Before I plan my trip I pull out mu handy spreadsheet and start plugging in numbers. For example this year I found an incredible deal through buying DVC points and saved some money there - and that is the only reason I am not at Universal the entire vacation. To stay at Universal with tickets to the 3 parks at Dockside which is a very nice hotel was still cheaper than the same time at All Star Sports and no tickets. In fact it is cheaper to buy the tickets separately on their current special and take a Lyft while staying at Universal. Add to this that I have definitely seen the Disney Magic that used to come with every trip slowly disappear - as well as other peoples agenda start to be pushed into everyone's face. I used to LOVE WDW and staying on property now it looks more like a money grab on their part.
I look at what it costs us to go to Disney, just my wife and I, and it keeps going up and up. We bought DVC a while ago and I am thankful we did because of how much the hotels keep going up. We'd be looking at $9k just for hotel and tickets for the week a year we go. Just 5 years into our contract and we've almost broken even with room costs plus being able to buy cheaper Annual Passes. We may soon decide to sell the contract and make back some money if things don't get better but for now, we still enjoy going.
In the mid 90s my parents took my bothers and I to the sunshine state for 3 weeks for 3k (edit: 5k) CAD. We hit Epcot, the Magic Kingdom, Universal, MGM, Kennedy plus a few others. By far, we had the most fun at Typhoon Lagoon and a few other water parks. Tickets to the parks were all bonus’ from hitting a few time share presentations a week.
9k for 1 week, just seems next level and I can’t see myself “passing the torch” this year, next year, or ever. Kinda sad.
Iger, D’maro, Vahle and Patrock need to go. They obviously have no clue what makes park guests happy and keep coming back. So many perks that were free that really made the Disney difference have gone away. And they are raising prices to support their Disney umbrella companies…. Which I thought was unethical.
Too expensive more like not worth it. The past can not attract customers alone if the future isn’t inviting. Have Hope fans!
The parks are full and the money is rolling in…..I hate to say it, but I don’t see Disney changing a thing unless this changes. I, for one, won’t be going this year due to DAS changes, increased costs, and overall value for your money. I may not go next year either unless something changes at WDW. I live much closer to Dollywood and can get my magic fix there for considerably less.
When "GUESTS" visit my house, I don't charge them $6 for a Coke. If they can't be bothered to say "Ladies and Gentlemen" because 0.001% MIGHT be offended by the term, it might be time to stop using the term GUEST because I sure as hell don't feel like I am treated as a GUEST anymore.
Amen brother.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Disney makes a radical course correction and abandons DEI once Bob Iger leaves/gets fired for the sake of sheer business survival.
I doubt it. The current crop of new Disney Corp Officers and Imagineers and Cast Members look to be as insane as Iger, if not even more so. I miss wishing I could write for Disney...
I don't know how families can continually afford these trips?? But look at some of the Facebook groups and people are continually going over and over again. 🤷♂️
Mostly credit cards I'd imagine
Disney freaks
We save and save until we get enough. Also income tax helps. Also wasn't stupid enough to get student loan, no car payment, no house payment and absolutely no credit cards. I am smart with money
@@NeonKnight83nope never have I ever used a credit card
People are tired of waiting in line. They only like going to the shows. And Disney is removing the shows.
I wouldn't go even if Disney paid for the entire trip.
Ditto!
Same.
I've said it for years; couldn't pay me to go.
I wouldn’t go if they paid for my whole trip, gave me an unlimited skip to the front of every line pass, and made me an actual princess.
@@princessmarlena1359why not?
They aren’t paying and don’t care if you don’t go. The people that want to go to Disney will make sure Disney does well.
Curious can raising prices at DW/DL be in part to keep rifraf away?.. I’ve noticed no family fights or people fighting random folks, as it happened in the past
Epic Universe is going to eat Disney's lunch!
Maybe
Three out of four of my family prefer Universal over disney!!! Disney lost its magic and is way overpriced!!!!
If I ever can afford a seasonal pass it wiol be Universal not Disney
As long as it is still possible to enjoy Universal Orlando without opening my cellphone, then they will win. The number one advantage of selling our Disney Vacation Club outright for our family of 6 adults + 2 grandchildren was finding peace, and relaxation on vacation again. Universal please do not follow the Genie+ model. I just refuse to go back to my phone again while on any vacation.
The teens Love Universal because of better rides. I like Disney because it’s laid back. But that can be a death sentence when you have a park like Universal that is looking toward the future and being the best in the business. The higher ups have blinders on or want Disney to fail. Not sure what’s going on there but building up DVC and not focusing on adding to the parks is a failure on their part.
I'm not even a casual fan of harry potter but the universal stuff is pretty cool and fun
Our entire family prefers Disney. 😂😂
We were im socal for softball, and it was out last trip for softball because girls were going off to college. We had all our sons with us too and wives and girlfriends. In all, about 12 people. We bought one day tickets and tried to get reservations for Star Wars big ride in morning, and Spider-Man for afternoon since you can’t make the reservations until you make the hop for the park hopper at that time. Thousands later for one day, and we did not get to ride on either friggin ride after spending all day there because both rides were reservation only and despite getting the reservations for that day, we didn’t get to ride. What an absolutely horrible experience and we count this as the last time we will ever visit Disney and it couldn’t have happened at a better time considering the downturn in the movies quality. The drop in upkeep of the parks themselves. The absolutely crappy attention to keeping rides up to date and adding new and exciting adventures to the parks with prices continually going up. As a shareholder I’m disgusted in current management. Iger and current board needs to be booted. Universal will lap them quickly and it will be brutal.
They're charging 3x the price for 1/3rd of the quality.
The cost of going to Walt Disney World wouldn't be so bad if the parks were exceptional, the attractions were all working, and they provided that unique experience that Walt Disney once had. Unfortunately, today it costs a lot of money to operate and to maintain the attractions. You can't provide a level of entertainment that is subpar and charge a premium price. The entertainment has to be exceptional at all levels. This will be a spiral effect for Disney. People will see no value in going to Disney. Disney will cut back. People will take notice of the cutbacks and decide not to go. Disney will have to cut back more. Attendance will become so low that Disney will not be able to afford the park operations. Disney will break apart and sell off the parks.
Test track going down for a year........ Come on....... They should start working on it now. They could start dismantling the ugly canopy structure in the front. Do not have to close the attraction to do that....
Glad you mentioned entertainment. Disney had great entertainment in the 80 and 90's
I wouldn't go to Disney if the tickets were free. I likewise wouldn't consider their cruise line. I did recently take a vacation to Orlando, zero dollars to Disney.
My dad took my older sister and I to Disneyland back in 1964. Admission prices were $1.60 per adult and $1.20 for kids. A book of 10 tickets were $3.95 for adults and $3.45 for kids. Parking was .25 cents. My dad spent $15.05 not counting food. We would eat at a restaurant outside of the park.
Disney won't cut linear television because they own linear television. Having Disney ads on ABC, ESPN, and other Disney networks not only helps with the synergy but fills holes in the ad space artificially. Creating scarcity knowing that Disney's ads will fill X amount of time per show causes the price to go up. Especially on live sporting events that still get high ratings and have limited inventory.
I would love to go to Tahiti with my family, but it also costs a lot of money. I dont get the idea that people think places should be cheap enough for everyone to go and visit. What i hate about Disney parks is how expensive it is AND it's now a terrible experience with so many of the perks and experiences stripped away.
My parents kinda have a complex because they feel bad that they never could afford to take my sister and I to Disney. My sister and I never cared about going to Disney (we never said we wanted to go. And we knew how expensive it was). Most of our friends' parents couldn't afford it either. We were fine with going to the Zoo, movies, and the State Fair in the summer. One of my dad's childhood friends took his kids and it was over $10,000 for the whole trip. F that.
We use to pay as locals $23 bucks
I'm surprised to be hearing this again. This was a story from long before COVID. The story I heard via a few people was that they were going to raise the ticket price to cut down the number of visitors and to... how can I put this... reduce individuals who might not be as desirable in the parks. And to be clear, those people don't have a race, just a certain way of behaving. That's what I was told in late 2018 to mid 2019.
They started selling booze everywhere. That's very unhelpful if you want to reduce unfavourable behavior
Epic Universe is about to steamroll over Disney! Disney has become the biggest rip-off on Earth!
You're right but how long do you think it'll be before the bulk of society realizes that?
@benstandard people are starting to wake up. Bad news travels faster than good news, and there is nothing but bad news coming from Disney these days.
YES EPIC UNIVERSE, It's gonna be SO GREAT!!!!
Disney World has been too expensive for easily 5+ years...
One thing you guys seem to be missing is 64k of disposable income is not the national norm. It maybe in California but the rest of the US that 9k vacation just went through at least half of their disposable income
You can hardly go anywhere online and comment truthfully about Disney. Anything perceived as negative is quickly shouted down. Such a shell of what it used to be even like 15 years ago.
Even Disneyland Paris is stupidly expensive now which is why my fingers are crossed for universal studios great Britain but for now Europa Park will do for me
I grew up in Southern California. Left when I joined the Navy. I'm taking my Grandkids to Dollywood. It's more like Disneyland used to be.
I don't see sustainability for much longer....
Please elaborate.
I agree. IGOR was surviving on the coat tails of the old magic and as he has been killing it, it has been dying. He has almost plucked the life out of di$ney now, it won't be long. Something is about to happen.
@@benstandard Sooner or later they're going to burn thru all that money
@@batterymakermarkii2654 yep. It'll probably be a lot sooner than most expect.
I watch a couple of live streamers that are in the parks everyday and I have noticed that there are more adult children than children walking around. Sad in more than one way.
I went to DW as a child in the 1990s. It was amazing. From what Ive seen Im looking forward to Epic Universal
My first trip to Disneyland was in 1966. A group of us had just graduated from Marine Corps boot camp in San Diego. We took a taxi from Oceanside. The ticket was $5.00. But to keep it in perspective my monthly pay as a lowly Private was 96.00 a month.
Epic universe gonna wipe the floor with Disney. Nobody I know cares for Disney but do for universal
My wife and I took our kids to Disney when they were teenagers rather than little kids because even 10 years ago it was too expensive. Why take a bunch of toddlers to a place, spend thousands of dollars, and they won't even remember it in a few years? When they were little we took them to six flags, water parks, and the carnival, so they didn't miss out on anything.
Disney has always been a little pricey. However, there was value and it wasn’t so expensive that the cost brought in competition. At $9000 Disney has unwittingly brought in a lot of other options with better value. Just pure hubris.
We flew over from the U.K last September and while roadtripping around Florida, we went to Disney World, we had an amazing time, and we must have been lucky as we got on both Star Wars rides with a total wait time of about 45 mins. As I said amazing and once in a lifetime visit, but god it was bloody expensive at Disney World! We are certainly not rich, were working class and saved for years to go over to Florida. I hope they can sort out the cost so that ordinary americans can go there.
The first time my wife and I went to Disney was for our honeymoon in 2002. We payed $2,800 for our entire trip including food and plane tickets. The last time we went with a family of four spent $5,000 just for the stay including tickets and resort we stayed at. Plane tickets were $2500. Until disney gets their heads out of their posterior region we will not go there again.
I would spend 0 on Disney. 0 on Universal as well, an entire park built around HP has nothing to offer for our family. We went when the kids were little and HP had just opened and they had fun doing all the other attractions. They are college aged now and want to wait for Nintendo to open.
I just recently moved to Florida and I have an 11-year-old. Years ago I always wanted to take her to Disney, but those days are gone.
The cost of the park was way too expensive.
Disney hasn’t made anything my daughter even cared about since Frozen.
I’ve got no interest in funding the activists at the Disney company.
All together, taking her to universal was the better, cheaper and more morally sound choice.
She absolutely loved it.
Our first trip to WDW as a family of 4 in 2010, we went all in, assuming it was a once in a lifetime trip. We spent $12k for a week!! It drove us to find more cost effective ways to visit, as well.
Also, Universal is eating Disney's lunch on corporate return on investment when it comes to the parks.