Disney parks price out the middle class

[Algernon Moncrieff]

70. This article is about 20% true and about 80% misleading

For example:

When Walt Disney World opened in an Orlando swamp in 1971, with its penny arcade and marching-band parade down Main Street U.S.A., admission for an adult cost $3.50, about as much then as three gallons of milk.

What that DOES NOT tell you is that all the $3.50 did was to get you in; actually riding rides required the purchase of books with "A, B, C, D, and E" tickets that got you one onto various rides.

A visitor to Disney's central Florida fantasyland can now dine on a $115 steak, enjoy a $53-per-plate dessert party and sleep in a bungalow overlooking the Seven Seas Lagoon starting at $2,100 a night.

Yes, but you can also dine on $8 burgers or share $7 turkey legs. You can stay at a variety of on-site lodging for Under $200 a night, and stay "off property" often for under $75. One can do Disney on a variety of budgets.

Disney has raised the gate price for the Magic Kingdom 41 times since, nearly doubling it over the past decade. This year, a ticket inside the “most magical place on Earth” rocketed past $100 for the first time in history.

This is the 20% that is true. One day/one park in-summer prices are skyrocketing. What they don't say is that most people don't buy tickets that way any more. They either get length of stay passes as part of a travel package, or buy annual or "Florida Resident" passes that are good for multiple visits throughout the year. It's supply and demand (and demand was way down a lot in the past 15 years -- both right after 9-11 and between 2009-2011) and Disney profit-taking and paying for new attractions.

It's like going on cruises or hunting trips or National Park vacations: if a family has two breadwinners, and decides to make it a prority, it's affordable. Most families I know can do a 5-day vacation with tickets and staying at a Disney hotel for about $2,500 - $3,000 + whatever it costs to drive or fly to/from Orlando. YMMV.