Leisure constitutes a very important activity in the American lifestyle. After the busy week, the last two days of the week are spent with the family and friends to get buckled up for the new week. So, in this leisure time, the Disney World trip is one of the favorite holiday destinations for many American households.
Walt Disney World, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, is attracting tourists globally. However, is this dream trip to Disney World, the land of magic, a distant dream right now with no possible hope of its realization? Read to know more!
Many visitors to Disney World have since long been complaining about the soaring prices of accommodations, admissions, park tickets, and the costs that a visitor will usually spend inside a park. Thus, the fact that this is a land of magic where the fun doesn’t see the riches is now coming to a halt.
Expenses of the Disney World Trip
Many tourists who have been regular visitors to Disney World have experienced a considerable change from what they had seen during their previous visits. The budgets have gone out of hand, and they have also noticed changes within the parks.
New budget
Previously, Magical Express was a courtesy shuttle that carried the passengers from the airport. But, now the cost has risen, and a family of four might have to pay $200 for private transportation. Moreover, if you have four members in your family, you can very well keep around and above $2500 for just park hopper tickets. After this come the tickets and lanes for the rides and fooding costs.
The adults might require around $1000 for inside-restaurant meals, and you might allocate around $700. This is much higher than what it used to be. Moreover, if you want to avoid long queues, you will have to keep around $400 extra for buying Disney Genie plus tickets.
If you decide to stay in a resort, you might have to keep around $1,000 for each night.
So, in total, the budget has gone fairly up. Including airfare, around $10,000 is the minimum amount spent for a family of four with two kids and two adults.
Thus, Disney World is no longer magical like it used to be at least thirty to forty years back. Now, if you have money, you can have a share of your fun, or else you will have to spend the entirety of your life’s savings to have fun inside Disney World.
Thus, with the rise of capitalism, the childhood of many generations is now being marketized. Even if this is unfortunate, the situation is out of our hands.
This has been a private decision, says the editor-in-chief of Frommer’s, and Disney has decided to keep out guests who spend less. A way of accruing as much revenue as they can, this is also implanting seeds of anger among even the most ardent Disney devotees.
Due to rising inflation, some can say that the Disney ticket and other prices are also skyrocketing. However, the price rise and the inflation rate are not at all proportional. Disney World is increasing its prices at least every year, which is much higher than expected even if someone considers inflation.
For example, the cost of multi-day tickets available for four days has risen to $447.70, which was $434.83 previously. On busy weekends, it can also soar to $596.74.
Doing away with other perks
Disney has also done away with many of the other perks that it previously offered. As discussed, the airport courtesy shuttle system is no longer in use. Moreover, the parking trams are also not provided now. It only works in Magic Kingdom.
Even if you stay at resorts, you will not get free parking, and you have to pay something between $15-$25 for each night. Moreover, if you choose not to stay at Disney resorts, the parking fee is even higher. It can even cost you $50 if you park your vehicle at any premier spots.
However, even if they have increased their prices to a new level, their employees have not seen a brighter day. Disney World is becoming the greatest showman in the capitalist world and profiteering market.
Employee cut
Given the reason for the pandemic, this big franchise had cut 32,000 employees in those years. Even after the pandemic is nearing its end, many employees have not gotten their position back. On top of that, there have been further eliminations.
The basic business ethic of keeping your salary at the dock if you can’t pay your employees also seems to be at stake in the Disney World franchise.
The present crowd
However, all these changes, even if has infuriated many, but hasn’t even made a mark on the influx of tourists.
The magical world is still packed with visitors, and the traffic is so much so that no one can predict if the tourist influx will suffer any changes owing to these shifts in Disney policies.
As the pandemic and social distancing rules are loosening, the crowds at the theme parks are on an upward spiral. However, the number of complaints is also soaring.
So, if Disney doesn’t pay attention to the grievances of its fans and guests, they might face difficulties in the future.
The complaints
If you Google Walt Disney World resorts, you might get 4.5 out of 5 stars on TripAdvisor. No doubt, the facilities and the atmosphere in these resorts are amazing, but the rates have gone so high that there are many complaints on the website.
Previously, you could get the advantage of park reservations, but now you will have to make reservations, and a stay at the resort won’t help you with that.
Moreover, visitors complain about the absence of refillable cups free of cost and wait times have increased. Thus, the comments and the tweets represent the anger and the frustration of these visitors. The profiteering business has snatched the innocence and nostalgia one usually attached to Disney World.
Researches show the huge gulf in prices between the present and the past in Disney World. Nowadays, a family of six will have to pay nearly $3500 for a multi-day ticket which is comparatively huge. As was said before, $10,000 has become the base price of spending two-or-three days inside Disney World.
The price was much lower during the 1980s and 1990s. Those who had gone to Disney World at that time worries if they could ever bring their children to the land of wonder due to the sky-high price.
Disney theme parks meant something which began where money didn’t matter in front of pure happiness. However, it has now become something that is accessible only by the wealthy class. This shift has broken the hearts of many. Many families even put this on credit cards, thus indebting them for a vacation plan.
Final Thoughts
As the capitalist world is flourishing, nothing is without profit nowadays. Disney World trip is the perfect example of that. So, unless your pockets are full, Disney World, the land of magic and wonders, is now a distant dream.
