Why is Disney so expensive?

[jaywoods678]

On 8/15/2023 at 7:44 AM, ace2542 said:

Most expensive one outside of the super luxury ones from what I have seen.

I've traveled most all cruise lines - from budget to semi luxury, and actually on a per diem basis Disney is more expensive than the premium lines and sometimes as much or more than the semi luxury lines. I love Disney Cruises, but it is completely ridiculous.

[ace2542]

3 hours ago, jaywoods678 said:

I've traveled most all cruise lines - from budget to semi luxury, and actually on a per diem basis Disney is more expensive than the premium lines and sometimes as much or more than the semi luxury lines. I love Disney Cruises, but it is completely ridiculous.

It is also the only game in for that kind of a cruise with the characters etc

[helloim_tay]

Ugh, Disney can really empty the wallet! I think because of their brand name/exclusivity they can charge premium prices. Hopefully prices wouldn't impact making special memories with loved ones too much. 

[phissy]

We just returned from Disney cruise on Magic , out of San Diego. We took our daughter /SIL and grandkids. They are big devotee’s of Disney.

We are older and have about 35 cruises under our belt. This was their first cruise as a family.

4 day cruise went well. No issues with sea sickness.( trial run for future)

First time on Disney for us. We did Concierge cabins. Having sailed products like Haven and Yacht Club, interesting comparison.

We had 1 bedroom cabins. 2 bathrooms in cabin is a definite plus for level of cabin.  
Cost came out to about $4,500 a day for cruise. 4 adults and two kids , under 8.

Pretty expensive , as premium cruise products go.

Cabin design was great. Daily service was “hit or miss”. 
Concierge lounge very small but very nice refuge. No sun deck or pools.

No exclusive restaurant . Small snacks and coffee machines.

Disney fans are used to standing in lines, and there were plenty of long lines for every special event. Character meets and photo ops.

Nightly entertainment was very good.

Food was average and not an upgraded product as one would have in upper level cruise products.  Servers had difficulty getting our orders correct.

Last two days, big push for cruisers to please tip everyone extra in addition to DSC. For first time cruisers, perhaps helpful . For us, we always tip those who made our experience onboard special, in some way. Personal decision.

So, yes, very expensive. 
But, Disney fanatics are willing to pay for any Disney product.

[carohs]

3 hours ago, phissy said:

We just returned from Disney cruise on Magic , out of San Diego. We took our daughter /SIL and grandkids. They are big devotee’s of Disney.

We are older and have about 35 cruises under our belt. This was their first cruise as a family.

4 day cruise went well. No issues with sea sickness.( trial run for future)

First time on Disney for us. We did Concierge cabins. Having sailed products like Haven and Yacht Club, interesting comparison.

We had 1 bedroom cabins. 2 bathrooms in cabin is a definite plus for level of cabin.  
Cost came out to about $4,500 a day for cruise. 4 adults and two kids , under 8.

Pretty expensive , as premium cruise products go.

Cabin design was great. Daily service was “hit or miss”. 
Concierge lounge very small but very nice refuge. No sun deck or pools.

No exclusive restaurant . Small snacks and coffee machines.

Disney fans are used to standing in lines, and there were plenty of long lines for every special event. Character meets and photo ops.

Nightly entertainment was very good.

Food was average and not an upgraded product as one would have in upper level cruise products.  Servers had difficulty getting our orders correct.

Last two days, big push for cruisers to please tip everyone extra in addition to DSC. For first time cruisers, perhaps helpful . For us, we always tip those who made our experience onboard special, in some way. Personal decision.

So, yes, very expensive. 
But, Disney fanatics are willing to pay for any Disney product.

I find your summary quite accurate. Every time I hear about someone cruising concierge on Disney I never think i's actually worth the difference in expense. You get so little perks, especially sailing out of SD. A lot of people will do concierge just to have a better chance at the pre-book activities like the character breakfast (longer cruises) or the Cabanas at Castaway Cay. 

 

And you're right about the lines! They can get quite ridiculous. Although I'll take a line for a photo op over a line at the buffet which IMO is better laid out and managed with serving staff on DCL than other lines.

[jalves]

18 hours ago, carohs said:

Every time I hear about someone cruising concierge on Disney I never think i's actually worth the difference in expense.

Got to agree that Disney concierge isn't quite up to the standards of say a Celebrity Retreat cabin.  However there is a real difference in the concierge product in the Disney fleet.  The Magic/Wonder have minimal concierge lounges.  The Dream/Fantasy have much better lounges.  The Wish class has really hit it out of the parks (no pun intended) for the concierge lounge features.  

[Watchmen]

I’ve ever only cruised Disney but because of price, in part, I’m going to give Virgin a try. 

[phissy]

21 hours ago, Watchmen said:

I’ve ever only cruised Disney but because of price, in part, I’m going to give Virgin a try. 

You might also look into MSC Yacht Club.

We feel this is a superior product.
MSC was very big in Europe and now is  sailing east coast of US.

Out of NY, Port Canaveral and Miami. 

We hope they come to Seattle soon for Alaska sailings.

[Tenderpaw]

Wow!  Some folks on this thread really must like Disney, considering some of the comments.  We like Disney and have done several cruises on Disney post kids, but while Disney is a nice premium cruise product, they are cutting things too while raising prices. 

 

We've also done Royal, Celeb, HAL, NCL, etc.  Is Disney better than Celebrity (also premium)?  Well, in some respects, yes, especially in entertainment.  And yes, the buffet has shrimp and crab, but the rest of the buffet really isn't better than Royal.  They Disney Dining room food is way down in quality compared to not to long ago.  

 

On our last cruise on the Wish, the dining room food definitely decreased in quality.  We were had a concierge cabin, and the suit lounge experience wasn't as good as the suite experience on Royal considering the cost. But, the Disney shows are great and the character meet and greets are great too on Disney.  I do wish Disney had live bands and such, something they've never had.

 

But have you seen what Royal is charging for the Icon and Star?  Actually more than Disney!  I guess like on Disney, people are willing to pay.

Edited January 2 by Tenderpaw
s

[peder]

We did Concierge on the Wish, thought it was wildly overpriced / significantly less value than MSC Yacht Club. One and done with Disney Cruise Line for us.

 

Also agreed that Royal with Icon is ludicrous. A non-suite option for our family isn't much cheaper than a 1-bedroom Concierge stateroom on the Wish on a per-day basis.

[linz98144]

This thread is pure silliness. 

Why is Disney so expensive? For the same reason Vegas and Reno are not. 

 

THEY DON'T HAVE CASINOS 

 

Cruise lines make more from their casinos than the bar tabs-even with those drink packages. 

There are people who will "save money" and go on Carnival, RC or NCL with a $200 Casino package cabin deal. And then sit in there for 7 days straight, blowing thousands at a time. 

 

But if you all want to keep believing it's the "Disney Magic", then continue on...

[peder]

That's not correct. The cruise lines charge what they can charge. Regardless of the amenities onboard.

 

In Disney's case, the simplest explanation for why consumers continue to pay Disney prices, is that people will stand in line for an hour on a short 3-day cruise just to get a photo with a Disney princess. The brand appeal is that strong with Disney.

 

But for anyone that's not a Disney fanatic, their prices are absurd.

[Itried4498]

On 1/15/2024 at 12:35 PM, linz98144 said:

This thread is pure silliness. 

Why is Disney so expensive? For the same reason Vegas and Reno are not. 

 

THEY DON'T HAVE CASINOS 

 

Cruise lines make more from their casinos than the bar tabs-even with those drink packages. 

There are people who will "save money" and go on Carnival, RC or NCL with a $200 Casino package cabin deal. And then sit in there for 7 days straight, blowing thousands at a time. 

 

But if you all want to keep believing it's the "Disney Magic", then continue on...

 

Do you have any evidence to support your assertions or are you just making assumptions?  No doubt casinos are lucrative but they're not as lucrative as you think.  The casino keeps only a small percentage of those "thousands" that are blown; the rest is returned to the gambling population.  Yes, that small percentage adds up... but there's noticeably less foot traffic in the casinos today than there was in yesteryear -- that's especially been true as crowds have gotten younger.  Heck, Bingo is practically dead.  

[ggo85]

I’ve never sailed Disney, but disagree that it’s the casinos.  Crystal, a luxury line, just relaunched without casinos.  Took them out.  They obviously decided that they could make more money in other ways.  Silversea, another luxury line, has casinos not much larger than an average cabin.  And it’s almost always empty.  There as a courtesy but not bringing in significant revenue.  The prices on these lines isn’t much higher than Disney, and could at times be lower.
 

Whether a casino is popular on a ship depends a lot on the demographics.  I’ve been on cruises where casino is always empty and those when it’s packed at all hours. 
 

Disney is a for-profit company.  It is great at marketing and offers things not found on other lines.  As long as people are willing to pay, they will charge whatever they can get, to maximize profit.  If it get too expensive, people will go elsewhere. Until they do, there’s no incentive to lower prices.  

[mizzoufinal4]

On 12/6/2023 at 9:04 PM, phissy said:

You might also look into MSC Yacht Club.

We feel this is a superior product.
MSC was very big in Europe and now is  sailing east coast of US.

Out of NY, Port Canaveral and Miami. 

We hope they come to Seattle soon for Alaska sailings.

We absolutely LOVE MSC Yacht club! We have sailed Disney in a balcony cabin and in a 1 bedroom concierge and While we loved Disney MSC Yacht club blows it out of the water! We have been on 5 MSC Yacht club cruises now and will continue to cruise with them! If anyone has any questions about them feel free to ask me!

[fantavet]

Been a long time since I cruised. Have grandkids now and I chose Disney for them because they did not grow up idolizing a RCL princess 🙂 But after this summer cruise I don't see myself going back because of the expense.

 

But it will make for great memories so worth the extra splurge this time. They have not been to Disney World but that trip would be exhausting to me. Give me the condensed Disney experience on a ship.

[sharpie13]

“…all magic has a price!”

[MyriamS]

Disney recently released new summer 2025 itineraries for Europe, so I had a look and, yep, they are twice as expensive as Princess, Celebrity etc. Itineraries are nothing special either.

 

Maybe it's better this way. I would be willing to try them if they were affordable, but my partner swore never to see foot on a Disney property again after a very bad experience in one of their parks. So with those prices it's easy to give them a pass.

 

It is my feeling that Europeans spend less per holiday day than Americans (because our holidays are longer, we need to stretch our budget) and have less loyalty to Disney (not that kids don't love Disney characters, but going to Disneyland is not the must do family holiday), so perhaps their audience are American flying to Europe who don't mind the high prices. 

 

[Itried4498]

12 hours ago, MyriamS said:

Disney recently released new summer 2025 itineraries for Europe, so I had a look and, yep, they are twice as expensive as Princess, Celebrity etc. Itineraries are nothing special either.

 

Maybe it's better this way. I would be willing to try them if they were affordable, but my partner swore never to see foot on a Disney property again after a very bad experience in one of their parks. So with those prices it's easy to give them a pass.

 

It is my feeling that Europeans spend less per holiday day than Americans (because our holidays are longer, we need to stretch our budget) and have less loyalty to Disney (not that kids don't love Disney characters, but going to Disneyland is not the must do family holiday), so perhaps their audience are American flying to Europe who don't mind the high prices. 

 

 

It's not just Europe.  It's a combination of a small fleet, huge demand and cult like following that enable Disney to charge huge monies for its itineraries.  We are doing a 7-night Mexican Riviera on Princess (utilizing what's currently their newest ship).  It's less than $3,000 for two adults / two teens in a balcony with Princess Plus for the adults and soda packages for the kids.  Meanwhile... Disney's lowest price for a similar itinerary departing the day after was over $4,500 for an interior and $7,000 balcony (without the added inclusions, sans soda).

[cfabar1]

It is also the amenities that cater to families....

 

As much as people can complain about disney, they still do turndown service - that is a huge advantage for families.

 

We have done DCL twice - both post-pandemic.... Way better food than RCL...

 

Nursery is also very nice, very few cruise lines offer that feature for infants.

[Itried4498]

21 minutes ago, cfabar1 said:

It is also the amenities that cater to families....

 

As much as people can complain about disney, they still do turndown service - that is a huge advantage for families.

 

We have done DCL twice - both post-pandemic.... Way better food than RCL...

 

Nursery is also very nice, very few cruise lines offer that feature for infants.

 

What people complain about is the cost.  Agree turndown service is nice but if you contact guest services I'm confident you could get a simple turndown service (one lines that discontinued twice daily room service).  If that doesn't work, slipping your room attendant a few bills will :).

 

And everybody has their opinion on which lines serve the best food.

 

 

[ArthurUSCG]

Disney is expensive because it can be. There is more demand for the produce then they have supply. This is why DCL can double the size of their fleet while still raising prices.

[Itried4498]

On 4/5/2024 at 6:43 AM, ArthurUSCG said:

Disney is expensive because it can be. There is more demand for the produce then they have supply. This is why DCL can double the size of their fleet while still raising prices.

 

Another way of putting it is that Disney has a dedicated, cult like fan base who won't be happy with anything but a Disney experience and are willing to pay for it.  My oldest brother and his wife are good examples -- huge Disney fanatics that live, eat and breath Disney.  They live in a crappy house in a crappy neighborhood, she works two crappy jobs and every penny they make goes toward Disney (many weeks DVC, DCL, etc.).  You can't even have normal conversation -- you could say 'did you hear about the horrible tragedy this morning down the street from you, in which numerous people lose their lives' and he will respond with 'OMG - speaking of horrible tragedy, Tiana's Bayou Adventure's soft opening was pushed back a few days.'  These aren't rational people.  Hence why DCL's prices are in the stratosphere.  DCL offers an excellent product but you have to be a Disney fanatic to convince yourself it's that much more exceptional.  

[asouthey1]

Because it's Disney and everything about Disney is expensive!