Are Disney Vacations More Expensive?

In recent days, two different organizations, LendingTree and FinanceBuzz, have posted articles suggesting people believe Disney vacations are pricey.

The argument is that Disney prices have beaten the price of inflation.

Some say that Disney’s price increases are excessive, and they’re using these articles to support the claim. Is it true?

Are Disney vacations more expensive than they were a few years ago? Let’s evaluate the findings.

The Lending Tree Argument

Are you familiar with LendingTree? I used it obsessively in 2020-2022 when I was trying to buy a house.

My local real estate market spun out of control during the pandemic, forcing us to do the unthinkable.

We literally, not figuratively, had to win a lottery to bid on our house. That’s a real thing that happened.

Along the way, we relied on LendingTree, a service that “finds optimal terms for loans, credit cards, deposit accounts, insurance, etc.”

Therein lies the important point to remember during this discussion. LendingTree discourages credit card use.

Still, I think I speak for most people when I say I trust LendingTree.

That’s why I took notice of this article, which is making the rounds.

The headline is, “45% of Disney-Going Parents With Young Children Have Gone Into Debt for Trip.”

People are jumping onto that as a reason to say that many can no longer afford a trip to Disney. Now, that’s objectively silly.

After all, we can tell from attendance data that the parks remain full every day. Disney doesn’t even have an offseason anymore.

So, the argument itself falls into the category of “Nobody goes there because it’s too crowded.”

Is the Argument True?

Still, we will explore the point a bit. First, the understated part of that headline is, “Most parents with small children don’t.”

Then, there’s the part of the article that didn’t make the headline. Only 24 percent of those surveyed said they had.

Importantly, that statement applied to any Disney trip ever. So, we aren’t talking about something that happens every trip.

Instead, the discussion is about a survey of 2,000 people who said they’d done it once.

Sparing you the math, we’re talking about 480 people who said yes. Of those, 45 percent are parents.

Also, the stated dollar amount of the debt is $1,983. Ergo, we’re talking about a manageable total.

LendingTree offered specifics, and we infer quite a bit from the data.

“Among the 77% of theme park-going parents with children younger than 18 who’ve been to Disney, 45% have gone into debt for a Disney trip, with 83% acquiring it most recently in the past five years.

“Among Disney-goers, 24% have gone into debt for a trip — a 33% increase from 18% in our 2022 survey.”

So, that’s really the big part of the story. LendingTree has tracked that more parents are going into debt.

However, with a sample size this small, it’s probably just luck of the draw.

Then, we have this additional context:

“Among parents of young children who’ve gone into debt for a Disney trip, 59% say they have no regrets.

“Additionally, 90% of parents who’ve taken their children to Disney say it was a treat.”

So, most people don’t regret it, and parents view it as a special thing to do with their children.

The Disney Inflation Discussion

In reviewing my notes, I’m overdue to write a Disney inflation evaluation. MickeyBlog’s most recent one occurred in 2022.

At the time, we speculated that food inflation was responsible for recent price increases.

Now, Finance Buzz has performed research on this topic. Here’s their methodology:

“To understand how costs have changed at Disney World over the last decade, FinanceBuzz tracked prices for park tickets, as well as 10 iconic food items between 2014 and 2024.”

Now, I quite like FinanceBuzz, but picking just ten food items is kinda sketchy.

Walt Disney World alone hosts 100+ restaurants and countless snacks. As such, we’re not talking about an exhaustive list.

Still, the data paints a picture. Here are the primary takeaways:

“The prices for food favorites at Walt Disney World have inflated 61 percent on average over the last 10 years.”

“The cost of food at Disney World has inflated more than the cost of a single park ticket, which has risen by 56 percent.”

“Walt Disney World food prices have significantly outpaced the rate of actual inflation (32 percent).”

Based on their findings, inflation increased 32 percent, while those ten Disney snacks went up by nearly double at 61 percent.

Disney’s admission ticket prices also increased, but FinanceBuzz adds the following:

“The price of another core Disney cost, a park ticket, has also stayed relatively reasonable.

The cost of the cheapest possible theme park ticket at Walt Disney World has risen by just 21% in the last decade, and it hasn’t changed at all since 2019.”

More About This Analysis

So, I want to point out two things. The first is that the choice of snacks strikes me as odd and perhaps cherry-picked.

I say this because the options include Sanaa Bread Service and Corn Dog Nuggets at Casey’s Corner.

We do have classics like Churros, Dole Whip, and Mickey Ice Cream Bars.

However, the average ten-year inflation on those is substantially lower (like, by half) than the Sanaa Bread Service and Corn Dog Nuggets.

Those two items average cost inflation of 119 percent. So, their inclusion feels intentional to juice the findings.

To wit, Mickey Waffles fall under the rate of inflation, while Turkey Legs are barely above it.

In total, those seven items average inflation of 48 percent, which wouldn’t cause anyone to blink an eye against the actual rate of 32 percent.

By adding the bread and Corn Dog Nuggets, that total surges to 63.3 percent.

The graph on their website only shows nine “snacks.” So, you must read the findings to discover that the tenth item is a Hot Dog.

The price of said Hot Dog at Casey’s Corner has only gone up 39 percent, which indicates that the other snacks averaged an increase of 46.8 percent.

Summarizing the Results

Frankly, that’s a solid result for Disney. Overall, its snack price inflation is only 48 percent higher than actual inflation.

That data would suggest that complaints about price increases are a bit overblown, save for Sanaa Bread Service and Corn Dog Nuggets.

To a larger point, Corn Dog Nuggets had only been $4.99 a decade ago.

You can’t eat anywhere decent for $5 today. So, price inflation there was inevitable.

In short, I tried to give this evaluation the benefit of the doubt, but it feels a bit manufactured.

The data supports that Disney ticket prices have remained steady, while food cost concerns are overblown.

The least expensive admission ticket falls well under the rate of inflation.

Meanwhile, the cost of 80 percent of these snacks hasn’t significantly outpaced inflation, either.

This data is presented as alarming, but it’s nowhere near as negative as I would have expected.

Had they limited the data set to five years or the Bob Chapek era, I suspect the situation might have appeared much different, though.

Final Thoughts

Both these subjects reinforce a point that I often make, though.

When you travel to Disney, you should use a MickeyTravels agent to book your trip.

We do have research and data suggesting that trips cost more than ever.

Yes, the amount is manageable, but why would you spend money needlessly?

With MickeyTravels, an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner will help you set your budget and find the best vacation deal.

Even better, these dedicated professionals will monitor your prices.

Should something better become available, they’ll ensure that you pay less.

So, you can sidestep the entire conversation about Disney price increases with this one simple trick.

I’m not trying to sound clickbait-y here. It just so happens to be true.

All you need to do to avoid this aggravation is allow MickeyTravels to book your trip! It’s that simple!

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