Posted on 03/19/2018 9:18:08 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Opening the menu at the California Grill at Walt Disney World’s Contemporary Resort overlooking the Magic Kingdom, I expected to giggle at the affordability of everything. I’m a New Yorker. Nothing out here in the sticks costs as much as it does back home, right? Instead, I found $19 glasses of wine and a $75 rib-eye. If you’re a person of average means, a trip to Disney World could leave you bippity-boppity broke.
Disney World, that enchanted land of middle class dreams, isn’t so middle-class anymore. So why is it more popular than ever? Fort Mickey is exhibit A for why “the dwindling middle class” has shrunk — because so many have moved up to the upper-middle and upper classes. Disney World is booming because America is booming.
When Walt Disney World opened in 1971, ticket prices were roughly $20 in today’s dollars ($3.50 back then). In 2018, a single weekend day at the Magic Kingdom will cost you $129. Don’t worry, kiddies, for you it’s only $123. Parking is another $22. With plane fare, accommodation, meals, car rental, and so on, a family of four can expect to spend close to $5,000 for a week’s vacation, and that’s if you take it easy on the souvenirs.
All of those left-wing columnists who fret about one-percenters and inequality seem not to have noticed, but the way capitalism is showering wealth on this country is as spectacular as Disney’s nightly fireworks show. If you can afford to drop $700 to $1,000 a day on vacation, you’re doing well. And tens of millions of us are. This month at the Magic Kingdom, my family discovered routine two-hour wait times for both the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Peter Pan’s Flight.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
I can do both by camping at Knoebels Amusement Resort in Pennsylvania. Its like stepping back in time. Very affordable, clean, and not too much diversity in the form of burka wearers or MS13 types.
THANK YOU for that
I live in MA
I could and have visited Las Vegas for 5 night for what it would cost me for 2 night down the street in Cape Cod during the summer.
It’s all how you plan the big trip.
I did that in China, but when you can have the resort clean, fold, and press the entire load of laundry in an afternoon for under $10....
I love Thailand.
I recently spent 10 days in Montana for work.
I could have fit my normal stuff easily, but I also went skiing one day and needed some extra gear. I packed it in a Rubbermaid box and shipped it. Far cheaper and easier than checking bags.
Normally I go a week or so on a carry on.
I went to the one here in California but the LAST time I went, I was a teenager .... I’m now 69.
I would love to see the one in Florida. It looks sonic.
I like your attitude.
Last week some people were going to “boycott” Netflix because of Obama despite the fact that there are conservative options.
Life is too short.
Give yourself a full week, it's huge.
No, just one of many suggestions that have nothing to do with the cultic world of silly, ignorant myths peddled by Disney to your kids (at high cost, per this thread). Families can do both. You can do whatever you like, wherever you like.
But you did pick the least thrilling item to tweak me over. While there, though, The Smoky Mountains also have an anuual Firefly festival you might enjoy...
https://smokymountains.com/park/things-to-do/synchronous-fireflies-smoky-mountains/
The which of the what now?
https://www.bankrate.com/calculators/savings/simple-savings-calculator.aspx
I plugged in, a $5000.00 vacation to Disney World, or, rather, the money saved by not taking one.
Then, monthly, $416.67, additional, to represent the savings if I continued to take no further vacations to Disney up to age 65.
The whole amount, compounded monthly, for 40 years, from, say age 25 to age 65.
Interest rate of 6.5 % (quite feasible in stocks).
Amount at age 65: $1,018,363.51
Disney is a complete waste of money.
Amazing how they manipulate kids into getting their parents to take them on this Hajj.
Imagine if you skipped traditional college, skipped owning a car, with its attendant expenses, and skipped drinking at bars and restaurants. Skipped fast food and eating at restaurants.
Disney used to do first responders night once a year. Tickets were cheaper and they shut the park down at 5 and let the firefighters and police in. No lines for anything. You could ride everything 2 or 3 times by the time they closed at midnight. We used to take the kid every year and have a blast.
Not sure if they still do it though.
I did.
skipped owning a car, with its attendant expenses
Unless you live in a city like New York, that's a huge imposition on your ability to travel.
skipped drinking at bars and restaurants
I almost never drink alcohol.
Skipped fast food and eating at restaurants.
Why in the world would I want to do that? Fine dining is one of life's great pleasures.
You’re way ahead, by anyone’s reckoning.
No flames from me. Been several times and loved it. Last time was at a family member’s timeshare..saved a bundle.
EPCOT is still worth the price of admission, the rest is suspect.
Being able to interact with citizens of the nations represented, as well as get pretty good grub, is a good deal financially and culturally.
My Brother-in-law stayed at the Beach resort for a wedding they spent $400 a night.
When is LGBTQ day? (Or is it a month now?)
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