‘Obnoxiously expensive’: Husband’s shock over cost of Disney trip

A man looking to take his family on a Disney World trip has expressed his shock over the cost of the stay – causing a pile on.

An American businessman looking to take his family on a Disney World vacation suffered sticker shock over the cost of the stay at a resort and passes to the theme parks: almost $18,000.

JT Singh, an accountant, investment banker and franchise owner who advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, took to the social media platform X to wonder whether he was being “scammed” by Disney for a vacation that appeared “obnoxiously expensive”.

“Wife is planning a Disney trip for the fam,” Singh wrote on his X account on Wednesday.

New York Post reports, according to Singh, a travel agent informed the family that it would cost more than $US12,000 ($17,840) for two rooms at the Polynesian Village Resort, which can charge around $US600 ($890) a night per room depending on availability.

“Am I being scammed or is Disney really this obnoxiously expensive?” Singh wondered on X.

The price of a stay at Walt Disney World was the subject of a viral social media post earlier this week. Picture: Bryan R. Smith / AFP

His post amassed thousands of responses, 400 reposts and 5000 likes as of Thursday.

The replies to Singh’s post were highly critical of Disney and its exorbitant prices.

“Wait till you see the food bill staying at a Disney hotel …” one X user wrote in reply.

Singh wrote back: “Might as well hand them the login to my bank accounts.”

Another commenter wrote: “Disney is a legit scam … it’s truly insane.” The same commenter noted that Disney guests are “paying to stand in line for 80 per cent of the time.”

The post amassed thousands of responses. Picture: X

Other commenters on X remarked that the Polynesian Village Resort was among the more expensive hotel offerings at the theme park.

According to Touringplans.com, the Polynesian, which boasts three white-sand beaches, a pool complex and other amenities including easy access to Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, is indeed among the pricier options for a Disney World stay.

The site lists the price range for a stay at the Polynesian at between $1030 and $8660.

A Detroit-based businessman said he was taken aback by the price tag for a stay at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. Picture: Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP

Other Disney on-site resorts that charge a hefty sum for a stay include the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa (where a stay ranges from $1210 per night to $8640 per night) and Bay Lake Tower ($1000 — $8450).

The Post has sought comment from Disney and Singh.

The soaring rate of inflation in recent years coupled with price hikes have made a Disney World vacation increasingly unaffordable for a growing number of cost-conscious tourists.

In October, an analysis by Bloomberg News found that a family of four looking to take a week-long trip to Disney in Orlando can expect to pay between $6360 on the low end to a whopping $63,130 — depending on the hotel they choose to stay in as well as which experiences they pay for at the park.

An entry ticket to the Magic Kingdom could cost as much as $280 ($US189) per person.

Inflation and price hikes have made visits to Disney World increasingly unaffordable for cost-conscious tourists. Picture: Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP

Visitors are also charged as much as $370 ($US252) per person if they wish to gain access to all four of the Orlando-area parks in a single day.

Disney has also instituted a line-skipping system whereby visitors who wish to cut down on waiting times on line would pay in order to get to their rides quicker on busy days.

Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported on a growing trend in which American millennials are opting to take their families to smaller regional amusement parks like Great Wolf Lodge (a chain of indoor water parks) rather than splurge on expensive trips to Disney or Universal.

The personal finance site FinanceBuzz released a study last month claiming that food prices at Disney World have risen by an average of 61 per cent over the past decade — or nearly twice the rate of inflation over that same period of time.

Social media influencers with large followings online have posted viral videos in which they recount having to pay as much as $100 for a bowl of frosted flakes at a Disney restaurant.

Frustrated Disney fans have even vented on Reddit about having to spend more than $700 on food and drinks after just three days at Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and EPCOT.

The exorbitant pricing was one reason cited as a possible explanation for why visits to Disney theme parks fell last year after a robust 2022.

The finance site LendingTree recently did a survey which found that 45 per cent of parents with kids have been put into debt from their recent Disney trip — the average amount landing them $2950 ($US1983) in the red.

This article originally appeared on New York Post and was reproduced with permission