How Family Friendly is Disney Anymore?
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We live within about an hour of the Walt Disney theme parks and yet we only find our way over there about once a year. It is not because I don’t like the parks. I love them, especially Epcot. It is because it is just way too expensive to go more often.
For a family oriented travel destination, Disney is sure not wallet friendly. The park tickets are enough to choke an elephant. When you add in hotels, food and gas then the whole things becomes daunting.
If I lived a little closer, I would buy a Florida resident annual pass, but I don’t live quite close enough.
So, I find ways to make the trip worth it. We go each year for the night time Pirates & Princesses Party, but even those once-reasonable tickets have gone way up in price. This year we stayed an extra day at the parks, but that was only because my friend got us all in on an employee pass for one day and the parks were free for us on Saturday.
I’ve just been trying to work it out with my sister how she and I will allocate the funds to take our kids for my daughter’s next birthday. And in the face of all that – Disney has just announced they are raising prices starting today!
As of today (August 3, 2008), The Walt Disney Co. is raising one-day ticket prices. Tickets for anyone 10 and older to Walt Disney World in Orlando will rise from $71 to $75. Tickets for kids 3 to 9 will go from $60 to $63.
Tickets in California are a tad more reasonable. At Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, one-day prices will go from $66 to $69 for 10 and older and from $56 to $59 for children 3 to 9.
It’s not just the one-day passes that are increasing in price. Multi-day and Hopper passes are also going up.
I happen to live here in Florida, but for those who are driving or flying to the area, there is already the high travel costs involved. Hotels are not getting cheaper, and food is decidedly more expensive all around. It seems a slap in the face for Disney to decide they will contribute to the rising costs of American life. Recreation is one thing most Americans agree they can cut out of their budgets. And, it seems most Americans are indeed cutting recreational activities. There will come a time where the Disney parks will primarily serve non-American visitors. Seems a waste of American real estate.
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