Are Disney parks no longer for the Middle class?

Any vacation is a luxury not a necessity. Pay your bills and save your money. If you have funds afterwards then a vacation is a thought. Staying deluxe is not required.
I grew up in middle class area with people that never vacationed because their families couldn't afford it.
Never did they feel deprived or feel that vacation destinations should have lower costs so they could even think of a vacation - to anywhere.

Disney is no more expensive then most destinations on the east coast. we used to spend more money at a crappy, very old dated motel/resort in Lake George NY then a week in Disney.
 
It isn't. My husband is a tradesman and my son is apprenticing in a trade. I don't have a problem with that path, but just like college, it isn't for everyone. And the demographics of one's birth shouldn't be destiny. The hostility/testiness of those in the trades, who see any argument in favor of a college prep path as an implication that the trades aren't "good enough", is part of the problem in districts like mine - rural, blue collar, working class, and chock full of tradesmen of varying degrees of skill who resent the idea that bright kids with an interest in college or a degree-dependent career should want/need a "way out" and refuse to support efforts to bring modern technology, advanced academic classes, coding and the like to the schools. It puzzles me; it feels like we've gone from wanting better for the next generation to saying "if it was good enough for me, it is good enough for them".

That's a fair statement, however your use of "settle for" speaks to the way trade school (and community college) is viewed IMO.
 
Of course you can still save toward Disney, without taking on debt.

The cost of a Disney vacation looks like it’s going up 8% a year. If it takes you five years to save, you’re going to pay about 150% of what you originally expected to spend. You can save, but each year you save the target number is most likely growing at a rate faster than your wage increases.
 


That's a fair statement, however your use of "settle for" speaks to the way trade school (and community college) is viewed in general IMO.
My ds left one college to attend a rural state U that has a focus on trades. I would never use the term "settle" when discussing people's choices to further their education or learn a manual skill, unless I saw it as somehow "less than". YMMV.
 
The cost of a Disney vacation looks like it’s going up 8% a year. If it takes you five years to save, you’re going to pay about 150% of what you originally expected to spend. You can save, but each year you save the target number is most likely growing at a rate faster than your wage increases.
"Save" is ambiguous. The common goal is money earmarked for X purpose. How one gets to that goal varies.

You're assuming one and only one way to get money.
 


I’m assuming the most common. I’m leaving out selling organs, giving blood, doing Uber or Lyft part time, and selling ones soul at the crossroads out.
lol wow you really need to think more basic but knowing from your past posts you've got an interesting outlook on things to say the least.

I wouldn't call that the most common at all that people look at how much they are making in wages (you also leave out any bonuses or raises one may earn that outweighs any additional taxes owed).

Things like re-evaluating your expenditures, looking into your car and homeowner's insurance and I'm not meaning reduce coverage but looking at switching companies, even simple things like "hmmm garage sale anyone", looking at trimming the fat such as "do we use this service enough if not let's think about removing it", etc. There's so much more that I can come up with on ways to save, heck even people putting leftover change in a jar is a simple thing (although it may not yield a significant amount it's still saving).

I'd actually say the most common thing people do is look at how much they eat out and how much food is costing them.

People tend to re-evaluate what they have going out and what they have going in when they want to do something like a vacation. Obviously people do go into debt but we're speaking about people who opt not to go into debt.
 
lol wow you really need to think more basic but knowing from your past posts you've got an interesting outlook on things to say the least.

I wouldn't call that the most common at all that people look at how much they are making in wages (you also leave out any bonuses or raises one may earn that outweighs any additional taxes owed).

Things like re-evaluating your expenditures, looking into your car and homeowner's insurance and I'm not meaning reduce coverage but looking at switching companies, even simple things like "hmmm garage sale anyone", looking at trimming the fat such as "do we use this service enough if not let's think about removing it", etc. There's so much more that I can come up with on ways to save, heck even people putting leftover change in a jar is a simple thing (although it may not yield a significant amount it's still saving).

I'd actually say the most common thing people do is look at how much they eat out and how much food is costing them.

People tend to re-evaluate what they have going out and what they have going in when they want to do something like a vacation. Obviously people do go into debt but we're speaking about people who opt not to go into debt.

But shouldn’t you already have a tight budget to begin with? If you look at the cost of eating out versus in from an inflation standpoint, eating in almost always makes more sense. Of course, people are going to eat out, but it’s not the best way to spend money.

I’m coming from this from the POV that you already have your household budget inline with your income.
 
Here is how I save for Disney:

Maximize rewards on my credit cards. Whichever gives me the most at the time is the one I use. The cash back/Disney rewards dollars go to our trip. I always pay them off to zero, so never pay interest.

I shop online using the Southwest Rapid Rewards extension. Those points rack up quickly.

I compare sales among grocery stores and I shop the best sales. I also use Walmart grocery pickup to avoid impulse purchases.

We eat at home 90% of the time.

I don't pay full price. I follow blogs that point me to the best deals.

Those are just a few examples. Wheeling and dealing is what I do. I will get the best deal for what I want/need.

Now I had to take $1600 out of our trip fund for the emergency vet, so I added payments back to that as a monthly bill on my spreadsheet. Since we aren't going to Disney until 2022, I have plenty of time to put it back.

We went 7 times between 2015 and 2019. We used a lot of rewards/points/discounts. It can be done.
 
But shouldn’t you already have a tight budget to begin with? If you look at the cost of eating out versus in from an inflation standpoint, eating in almost always makes more sense. Of course, people are going to eat out, but it’s not the best way to spend money.

I’m coming from this from the POV that you already have your household budget inline with your income.
No you're coming from a viewpoint that so many people are going into debt just to go on vacation and there's no way to save despite the fact that there is plenty of ways to save (as per your original comment).

A tight budget such that you're talking about? If you're living so tightly that you cannot cut anything out without cutting basics you're in a way different category of people than we're talking about.

I think you're being obtuse here. I know you understand what I'm meaning. It's like you're trying to showcase some knowledge superiority on how economics work but whilst talking about things no one is actually talking about. IDK no offense meant here truly but you just tend to talk about things in a different manner.
 
Any vacation is a luxury not a necessity. Pay your bills and save your money. If you have funds afterwards then a vacation is a thought. Staying deluxe is not required.
I grew up in middle class area with people that never vacationed because their families couldn't afford it.
Never did they feel deprived or feel that vacation destinations should have lower costs so they could even think of a vacation - to anywhere.

Disney is no more expensive then most destinations on the east coast. we used to spend more money at a crappy, very old dated motel/resort in Lake George NY then a week in Disney.

That kind of misses the point though. Disney has experienced a crazy inflation rate, making it much further out of reach for the average family than it was 20 years ago.

In 2000, a one day ticket was $46 per person. Adjusted for 2019 inflation that same ticket would cost $70. The real cost of a 2019 ticket was between $110 and $125 depending on the day. Wages haven't increased at the same rate as inflation, so when you factor in the EXTRA inflation that Disney prices have had, the gap between what middle class Americans earn, and what it costs for certain experiences, is much wider than it was 20 years ago.
 
That kind of misses the point though. Disney has experienced a crazy inflation rate, making it much further out of reach for the average family than it was 20 years ago.

In 2000, a one day ticket was $46 per person. Adjusted for 2019 inflation that same ticket would cost $70. The real cost of a 2019 ticket was between $110 and $125 depending on the day. Wages haven't increased at the same rate as inflation, so when you factor in the EXTRA inflation that Disney prices have had, the gap between what middle class Americans earn, and what it costs for certain experiences, is much wider than it was 20 years ago.

Middle class income has kept up with inflation. It hasn’t really surpassed it. To your point the price of Disney has gone up a lot faster, which reduces the number of people that can afford to go. The fact that so many people still go tells me that either they have taken on debt or saved to go for a long time. But what have they sacrificed to go?

The fact that folks figure out a way to go doesn’t make it cheaper or more affordable relative to income growth. It’s not.
 
I really recommend picking up a Disney gift card or ask for them as presents. They can at least offset the price of eating in the parks. I'm not sure if you can use them to purchase tickets. We got a few over Christmas and we'll sit on them until our next trip.
 
Middle class income has kept up with inflation. It hasn’t really surpassed it. To your point the price of Disney has gone up a lot faster, which reduces the number of people that can afford to go. The fact that so many people still go tells me that either they have taken on debt or saved to go for a long time. But what have they sacrificed to go?

The fact that folks figure out a way to go doesn’t make it cheaper or more affordable relative to income growth. It’s not.

I'll have to revisit the actual statistics on real wage growth, it has admittedly been a little while since I've looked at the datea.

That said, your last statement is pretty much the point of the OP, and my point as well. Folks can't afford to go when the prices are far outpacing real inflation and wages...or they're putting themselves into debt to do it (which to me is crazy).
 
I really recommend picking up a Disney gift card or ask for them as presents. They can at least offset the price of eating in the parks. I'm not sure if you can use them to purchase tickets. We got a few over Christmas and we'll sit on them until our next trip.
Yes you can use them to purchase tickets :)
 
I'll have to revisit the actual statistics on real wage growth, it has admittedly been a little while since I've looked at the datea.

That said, your last statement is pretty much the point of the OP, and my point as well. Folks can't afford to go when the prices are far outpacing real inflation and wages...or they're putting themselves into debt to do it (which to me is crazy).

Or they have to substantially cut back other spending. The problem with that is that healthcare costs have gotten out of control. One visit to the ER could easily wipe out their vacation savings. This situation is a lot worse than it was in 2000.
 
Or they have to substantially cut back other spending. The problem with that is that healthcare costs have gotten out of control. One visit to the ER could easily wipe out their vacation savings. This situation is a lot worse than it was in 2000.

Absolutely true. It's insane the % of my weekly pay that goes toward my employer provided insurance plan, plus the cost of copays and prescriptions....and I know so many people that have it even worse than me. Forget vacation savings, no amount of scrimping and budgeting is going to save you from a monthly prescription if you get diagnosed with a chronic illness, and don't have adequate insurance or any insurance at all. The High Deductible plans were a gigantic bill of goods that we were sold, among other things.
 
Absolutely true. It's insane the % of my weekly pay that goes toward my employer provided insurance plan, plus the cost of copays and prescriptions....and I know so many people that have it even worse than me. Forget vacation savings, no amount of scrimping and budgeting is going to save you from a monthly prescription if you get diagnosed with a chronic illness, and don't have adequate insurance or any insurance at all. The High Deductible plans were a gigantic bill of goods that we were sold, among other things.

A family can still save for Disney. But I’d argue it’s a lot harder these days.
 

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