Is a Disney Theme Park Vacation Still Worth the Price?

Earlier this year, Jake Williams, a filmmaker and content creator in Toronto, made his long-awaited return to one of his favorite places on earth: Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. After traveling to Disney World and Disneyland multiple times a year since childhood and becoming an annual pass holder as an adult, Mr. Williams hadn’t been to a Disney park since 2019.

“As someone who went all the time, it’s crazy to me that I hadn’t gone to a Disney park in that long,” he said in a phone interview. “It’s a special place.”

Before his trip, Mr. Williams heard about some changes at Disney World, but he didn’t anticipate how different things would be, starting at the airport. Since his last visit, the company had gotten rid of the Magical Express, a free bus that for more than 15 years shuttled people from Orlando International Airport to their Disney resorts. Guests must now take a shuttle that costs between $23 and $30 per adult each way, depending on the time of year, use a ride share service or rent a car.

To Disney-goers, the end of the Magical Express speaks to a larger issue: The cost of being at the happiest place on earth is going up while the perks are going away. As the company has raised the price of tickets and hotel rooms, and added costly, difficult-to-navigate tools to book rides as replacements for previously free products, even its most loyal fans are asking themselves if it’s still worth it.

Mr. Williams said that a day in the Orlando parks and a one-night stay at Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort cost a “jaw-dropping” $886.34 for two adults. He decided to calculate how much the same trip cost in 2017 — a year when he visited the park several times. The cost: $567.90. Even accounting for inflation, he was stunned.

“It’s hard to justify going to Orlando rather than, like, Iceland,” he said. “When you have a budget like this, you can go a lot of places and see and do a lot of things. You could even do a Disney cruise for less than that.”