A neat article about disney's increases

[jenvance]

http://land.allears.net/blogs/mikescopa/2008/08/wdw_ticket_price_hike_changing.html

Just thought I'd post this article that I thought was pretty neat. I agree with pretty much everything he says. And it has changed the way we are probably going to vacation this year. We have already discussed downgrading from a moderate to a value.

[Pooh's Pal]

Great article, thanks for sharing it.
It's Soooooooooo true, we'll all be rethinking our vacations, or at least our options while there.

[pbhall13]

Very interesting..............I pretty much agree with what Mike is saying......I love to travel to WDW but if prices keep jumping I will have to go less often...which makes me sad, but is a reality

pamela

[linanglab]

Also agreed. We will definitely be spending little money on souvies. We were thinking of the dining plan, but not now. We will be eating more breakfasts in room, and will not do as many TS meals. Maybe 1. Any "nice" places we eat, will probably be off site, where it is a little cheaper.

[faithhope]

We have gone every year for a quick 3 day stay (on property) with few extras... My SR credits for the past 2 years has made it possible to add in more extras and really enhance the trip... This year my SR credits will make the trip possible, and will go to paying for the basics (tickets and room)... but at least we will still get to go this year...

Great Article...thanks for posting.

[schaery]

Thanks for posting. I've definitely changed my Dec. 08 trip financially from the Dec. 07 trip. Pretty much decided that the DDP won't save us money this time. I've never used DDE but may look into it to see if it will save us money or not.

[iluvamystery89]

we cancelled our trip to wdw this year for just that reason...money. what we would have spent just for room and tickets at wdw got us 4 days in gatlinburg with everything included, even gas (total was about $1,200.00). disney is quickly pricing itself out of my budget. IF we get to go next year, there will be few souvenirs and maybe 2 sit-down meals (DH HAS to eat a biergarten and crystal palace). i say if, because with DD in middle school now, we can't go during the school year and our spring break next year starts the monday after easter, so that's out too.

[schaery]

I LOVE Disney but a Great Smoky Mountains vacation is also wonderful. In fact, DH and I wil be there in Oct - hopefully to catch the leaves turning. It is definitely cheaper. We have 6 nights in a 3 BR cabin with Hot tub on a balcony facing a beautiful valley for the same as my room at the Pop for 6 nights in Dec. (DH won't be going with me to WDW - not his thing). If you've never been to Roaring Fork Motor Trail in Gatlinburg be sure to check that out. It's not advertised much. I think it's at traffic light #8. (Whichever the road is that you turn down to get to the Log Cabin Pancake House). And the Arts and Crafts community is interesting. Well, lots of interesting things to do there that don't cost much.

[iluvamystery89]

not to hijack the thread, but we got kinda lucky with our gatlinburg cabin even though the water was shut off the day before we left, lol (rental company got it back on for us, evidently owner forgot to pay the bill). it had a GORGEOUS view, plenty of room and the hot tub was awesome. the rental company also gave us complimentary horseback riding tickets, which i think was DD's favorite part of the trip. mine was the ice skating, even though i fell 4 times, lol, i had the rink to myself for the first 45 minutes to an hour. we went to the gem mine at the 3 bears gift shop in pigeon forge & bought a $15 bucket of dirt that yielded a 1 carat sapphire and a 2 carat emerald!

now, back to your regularly scheduled disney chatter! :)

[schaery]

Oops, guess that was a small hijack, huh? Disney's a great place!!! :mickey:

[sammielynn]

Good article. I also agree with everything that was said. We will still go but we will spend less on extras. Good thing is my sons are older and really don't want that much Disney stuff, they just like the rides.
We were there in May and I thought the crowds were smaller than that same time last year. I hope to go again next year in May but will just have to see what this year brings.
One big thing I know is that we have used our SR dollars to make the last three trips special, more food, snacks and such but next trip the SR dollars may just furnish the basics.

[jenvance]

When the kids are older I am sure vacations will be much easier to plan and we can do other things but for right now I love seeing the look on DDs face when she steps off of Splash mountain, or her admiration of a princess. I loved seeing DS stand up on a stage and fight Darth Vadar with a light Saber, the pure joy and magic of it just brings tears to my eyes. Next on my list is Discovery Cove.

[askomsky]

That is a good article and he made a lot of good points. DH thought it was overpriced to begin with which is why we stayed off property. When/If we go again (hoping Nov 09) it'll be off property and hopefully most of it will have been paid for with SR funds. I'll want to splurge on some things since this would only be our second trip which is why to save now is important.

[LuvMyBoys]

With the increase in gas prices, the costly changes to the dining plan (the tip thing really hurts!), the price increases in tickets......I'm not sure how much longer we will find it necessary or reasonable to do WDW once a year :(

There are so many other options of great vacation destinations that are closer to home and as much as I LOVE seeing the kids at Disney and the whole atmosphere at WDW.....something does have to give.

And I hate to say this but.......I'm kind of angry at the Disney company for the big price hikes in light of the current economy.:mad: It would be nice to feel like they were making an effort to keep WDW reasonable for families instead of hiking all the prices while removing benefits.

I know they are running a business and have shareholders to answer too but still :blush:

I hope that the response to their recent changes will make them rethink their strategy.

[schaery]

I certainly agree. It seems as though with the economy the way it is, and gas prices also, that Disney would have shown a little more guest concern. Although it is only a small amount, even leaving the ticket prices as they were would have shown some thoughtfulness. And we won't be doing the dining plan this year. My DD and I have looked at the menus of all our ADR's, and will save minimum of $150 by not doing the dining plan. (That includes tax and tip). We don't normally eat desserts anyway but I even included a few of those in my total.