Families Are Going Into Debt for Disney Vacations

Alyssa Leach and her husband have visited Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., every year since 2015. To them, the theme park feels like an oasis where they can escape the stress of everyday life.

So when their son, Lincoln, was born in 2020, Ms. Leach wanted his first visit to the park to be special and spared no expense in planning it. She booked a two-week trip to visit Florida in December 2022, which included stays at Disney World and Universal Studios.

The costs quickly accumulated. Ms. Leach and her family traveled from New Haven, Conn., and paid extra for admission to “Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party,” an after-hours event that cost about $200 per person. She also shelled out $100 for the theme park’s photo service so she could download photos of the family that photographers took during the visit.

The vacation cost around $6,000, which included accommodations, tickets and a car rental, and which Ms. Leach charged to her Disney-branded credit card.

Ms. Leach is one of many parents who have taken on debt for a Disney family vacation. In June, LendingTree, a financial firm, published the results of a survey of over 2,000 people that found that 45 percent of parents with children under 18 who have gone to Disney went into debt for the trip.

For a family of four, the cost of a one-week trip to Disney can range from $6,463 to $15,559, not including flights or souvenirs, according to an analysis by NerdWallet, a personal finance site. Many families can’t afford the trip at all. Last week, Disney reported softening demand for its theme parks because families, after years of dealing with high inflation, have less money to spend on amusement.