The massive increase in post pandemic WDW ticket prices has really changed my emotional connection to the experience. Are others feeling this? My last trip pre-pandemic was Spring Break 2019, when a single day ticket to MK was $105 before tax and, as we all remember, included free Fast Pass with deluxe resort prebooking. I was able to ride all the major rides, including Mine Train, for that price. Same experience now costs at least $244, almost 2.5x the cost 5 years ago. That’s $184 for the ticket and $60 for Multipass LL and Individual LL for Mine Train and Tron. It just feels wrong. The WDW experience is world class and unique, but I feel taken advantage of.
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I keep “joking” that we need a French Revolution.
Because it’s not just Disney. Corporate profits are booming, executive “compensation” (I hate that word) is booming and, yes, prices are booming.
My first order with Deliveroo, back in 2017 was a bacon cheeseburger, fries and a milkshake. It cost £17.80, including taxes and delivery. I ordered that same meal today. It cost £27.03 — and I get “free” delivery now. That’s an increase of 52% over seven years.
My income has not risen at that rate.
What about my rent? I moved here in 2019. My rent was £795. It is now £960. That’s 21% over five years.
My tax rates have gone up and up and up in the last decade. This week I discovered I’ll be paying an extra £600 a year. Not because my income has increased. It has not. It’s gone down.
Yet inexplicably people are just taking all this on the chin. No. It’s worse than that. Half of the people are cheering on billionaires. If you make the terrible mistake of reading social media posts, if someone criticises a corporation or a hyper-wealthy person, legions of people will leap to their defence. The very concept of a billionaire should be nauseating to any right-thinking person, not least the billionaires themselves. But, no. We love them.
To answer your question directly. I no longer naively believe that corporations like Disney love me or care about me at all. Disney wants every last penny out of me it can get. It is slashing at the golden goose, greedily shovelling up all the nuggets it finds inside. And the executives are loving every dollar-filled moment of it.
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Wow. Sounds like you guys need to throw some tea in the harbor
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Yes. I used to look at other people’s complaints and think, “that’s because the current prices/hours/experiences are different from when you fell in love with Disney. Let me love Disney for what it is now.”
And now I am those other people. I hate that I could never bring one of my family memebers, even if we stayed in my DVC and I bought the ticket, because even the food is outrageous these days.
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I don’t know why lodging is high tho I am hoping this reflects better wages for some employees. My electric rate went up 28% this year which could be a factor except for all the solar panels visible now.
As for food - it is higher but I’m generally eating much less so an appetizer or child portion more than suffices. Less than $20/meal most of the time.
Tickets are insane. I almost wish they’d bring back the A - E ticket books
My first on property stay I didn’t know enough to look for discounts so paid rack rate at the Poly. $188 per night 
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The thing is prices are up EVERYWHERE. This is not specific to the US or to Disney.
I don’t know, maybe because there was a worldwide pandemic? It’s not a US centric thing.
Prices had starting rising even before 2019. I still miss my $1000 Premier Pass from 2014.
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My WDW fandom has evolved, to similar to that of an NFL fan who last played football in high school. I keep up with the latest news, follow a couple of podcasts, and YouTube. But I know I’ll never be able “play” again. I had 30 years of WDW, a lot of good times in there, but it’s fading.
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This is so true. Especially food at restaurants, which is(along with ticket prices) what has me struggling.
But ticket prices to concerts, shows etc. are also up.
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fify
I’m turning into the previous generation 
The sticker shock every time I go to the grocery store amazes me. I don’t know why.
It’s not the same items. I’ll be fixated on this being high and not notice that or the other thing until the next trip.
And I keep hearing the economy is fine, inflation is nearly back to where it was.
Really? Cuz about the only things not high, irl, are gasoline and propane.
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Remember the $1 menu at McDonald’s and such? A thing of the past. In just a few years even those prices have more than doubled. Rising entry level worker wages are number one cause.
I hold quite the opposite view as @prof … I have had good jobs through the years because of corporations and the wealthy people who buy their products. So yeah…I don’t see corporate profits as evil…but something I am grateful for!
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The indicators of the economy recovering and getting back to “fine” are there. The problem is that the stock market hitting record high levels and unemployment decreasing isn’t equating to retail prices dropping, so the average person isn’t feeling the positivity. I don’t know if supply chains still haven’t fully recovered or if it’s greed, likely not just one reason. I’ve been lucky to find the staples at prices near pre-pandemic points, but it’s crazy how some things just seem permanently inflated. I need to wean my family off of chips, for real.
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We never had one.
It’s not so much the corporation’s profiting. It’s the corporation’s profiteering. Yes, please pay your employees a livable wage. (And ditch the tipping culture, honestly)… But when a ceo is sitting on millions or even billions while people are struggling already to buy their products and they keep jacking up prices… No. That’s not a good thing.
I’d never be able to be rich honestly. There’s too many problems in the world to fix. I see no need to have cash lying around in my bank account doing nothing but making more cash and NOT helping society. I don’t count running a business that gave me all this money as a contribution to society.
I’m not saying don’t have money. By all means, get out of debt. Own your own home and cars. Invest. Have savings for retirement. Have savings for emergencies. Have enough to live comfortably. Nothing wrong with any of that. It’s the giving yourself astronomical income at the expense of others that I take issue with.
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In this case I meant at Disney as the struggle - I find the restaurant prices really tough to handle. And after having a reasonably priced AP (the Sorcer’s pass) that I bought in March of 2023, the current ticket prices are
But, I agree grocery prices still suprise me. Ryan (DH, not the forum one) does most of the grocery shopping so I go a long time between seeing prices, so it is extra shocking when I go. I think one issue is that inflation has gotten back to normal, but that doesn’t mean prices are ever going to reset to where they were. (Except for gas which seems to be on its own cycles). Now they are just increasing at a slower rate. But I guess deflation is also supposed to be bad?
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It is.
Purportedly there’s some agency investigating price gouging that was reported after covid.
Gas does seem to do its own thing. I used to subscribe to a weekly report that tried to explain the factors causing its own thing. It was fairly interesting
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I just don’t as often. I used to be a once or twice a year guy, but no more. It was 7 years between my last 2 trips and 2 years since the latter of those - and probably won’t go again for another 3 or 4.
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I would say this is NOT the norm.
But CEOs make millions or billions…and in turn provide jobs for countless. Elon Musk is the richest man in the world, yet is personally responsible for over 100,000 well-paid employees.
Rich folks also buy products and services that indirectly provide even more jobs.
I first got into Bluetooth handsfree systems because BMW wanted Bluetooth in their cars. Cars which very wealthy people buy. So forgive me if I don’t feel the same toward those who are rich. I have directly benefited from their wealth. (And if you ever use Bluetooth today in any product…you have the wealthy folks who financed it’s development!)
I will never be rich. But I am middle class, and see why we NEED wealthy people. What bothers me is the constant vilification of rich people, and using loaded language such as corporate greed. (I am not saying there aren’t bad apples…but they exist at all levels of the economic spectrum!)
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I have nothing against rich people. People having wealth is kind of the only way to reduce poverty, right?
Like I said, it’s giving yourself the astronomical income at the expense of others that I take issue with.
I agree that its not all of the people doing this, but it does happen. And I don’t like that it happens.
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I agree with you. I booked a trip for a pilgrimage that our assistant pastor is leading. $5,800. Trip is for 13 nights and includes airfare to Paris. They are putting us in four and five star hotels. Breakfast and dinner is included daily and includes wine with dinner and tips.
We will be in Paris for several days seeing Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Arc De Triomphe, Versailles. All admissions are included. We then travel to the south of France on a “luxury motorcoach”. For the end of the trip we fly to Rome to visit the Vatican.
I do have to pay for lunch daily. It seems like I get so much more for my money going to Europe.
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It is probably fortunate that this thread is not in La Cava. I will confine myself to Disney-related comments.
This is — as I understand it — no more true than saying Bob Iger is responsible for tens of thousands of jobs. The success of Walt Disney World is down to Walt’s original idea (though he has become cultishly mythologised), the stunning creativity and talent of the imagineers, and the incredible energy and devotion of cast members. Indeed, it could be argued that WDW succeeds despite Iger, not because of him. Those people earn their jobs and, I’ll wager, are not paid what they are worth. (Except the servers in the higher end restaurants, whose bloated earnings are thanks to the ludicrous tipping culture.)
Add on the DLP upgrade to your trip and you’ll suddenly discover that Europe is not quite so inexpensive as you think!
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