Disney parks price out the middle class

[Tommy_Carcetti]

122. I'm sorry, but $3,400 is not "very affordable".

Some families will stretch their budget because they want to please their kids or they buy into the whole Disney image. But that's a significant expense for most families, no matter what way you cut it.

That $3,400 doesn't even include travel expenses. It just covers lodging, park admission and food plans in the park. So that means if a family has to fly there, you have to figure in airplane tickets for that family of 5 (average fare is $385 round trip per person, so that's an extra $1,925).

Or if you go by car, it means gas--if you're more than 300 miles from Orlando or Anaheim that's at least one tank of gas, and average price of gas being $2.80 with a 15 gallon tank means $42 a tank. Plus you have to figure in things such as food and lodging on the way down (assuming you are more than 6-8 hours away from a park and don't have a friend or relative to stay with on the way.) And that's if you drive your own car and don't rent one.

I just planned out my vacation for my family (me, wife and two kids). Eight day trip. We're driving from Florida to Atlanta and staying several days in Atlanta, and also staying a few days in Florida and seeing some attractions there. We're renting a car so not to put additional miles on our own car. The hotels I booked were all Marriott brand lodging, so they're all decent places to stay. And we have the Atlanta city pass which gives us flat rate admission to the Atlanta aquarium, zoo, natural history museum, and several other area attractions. I added up the raw cost (car, gas, hotels, food and attractions) and estimated it to be a little over $1,700, or half what it costs for a week at Disney not counting travel expenses. (Mind you I do have credit card points and some gift cards that will decrease that raw cost significantly).

But basically that's a $1,700 premium to turn what I think should be a fun vacation into a Disney one for that same amount of time. That's just not worth it.