Disney World has multiple price points. I have had good experiences at the value resorts.

Disney land is all expensive - pick a hotel in walking distance.

You go in late preschool so you can go off-season when you can get good discounts on room rates. You decide that even though you’d rather go somewhere overseas and fancy that when your kids are a certain age they will love Disney (parks/cruise) the most and you spend the money on Disney and since it’s supposed to be some kind of vacation for you, you don’t want to cook, clean, park and drive, etc and just pay to stay on the property. Many people can afford to spend $10k on a week’s trip (especially if you don’t do it every year) and just suck it up and go.

We rent points from a 3rd party website and stay at Disney Vacation Club villas, which can be significantly less expensive than rack rate. My husband would be happy at an offsite motel but I love staying on property.

Ours was pricy, but not that pricy. We just looked for the ones with deals. Still, Disney was a very expensive vacation for us.

I wish I could find a suite for $1000 a night! Lots of people is the answer. I have to pay for chairs at my resort because it’s so crowded. $1000 isn’t even high end and Disney hotels are cheap because there are so many of them. Check out prices of ritz dorado if you want to wonder who can afford these rooms.

I once stayed with my family at the Grand Floridian. But it was a for a work-related conference.

We thought the value hotel was great-clean and cute.

Credit card debt. Wild concept on DCUM but the reality for many folks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve seen All star resorts as low as $98/night.

A lot of off site hotels will charge a steep resort fee or parking fee, so keep that in mind.

I do not recommend All star. It was nasty and as a woman I did not feel safe staying alone there. I was at a business conference.

I’m here right now and it’s not nasty at all. I feel perfectly safe, not sure why anyone wouldn’t.

Most conferences are held at Coronado Springs. I’m not sure why you’d stay at an All Star resort for a business conference.

Off-season, military discount. Never paid more than $200 a night but we stay at the value or moderate.

$1K a night? I stayed at Wilderness over the summer for well under $300 a night.

Let me note that I am going to Disney next week and staying just outside Disney Springs for $90 a night.

Someone just had a big story with interviews and nearly everyone that they interviewed at Disney had credit card debt. I was shocked but person after person went into a lot of debt for Disney.

We do often stay at the all stars but we call it the Disney motel. It’s clean but feels like a cheap holiday inn.

Going in we knew it was going to be one time and done for DS. So we did a week and stayed at the Boardwalk. Nice hotel but not worth the price. But what is included in the price at these type of hotels are the locations close to the parks (walkable, nice boat ride, etc..) and all the amenities and activities at the hotel.

It was great to do parks in am and then hang out at the pool back at the hotel in the afternoon. Lots of activities for the kids day and night.

I would rather spend the money on a trip to Europe, because it will cost that much or more depending where in Europe. But it was something we wanted to do for DS and for him to have done Disney.

Discounts aside, OP, here's who is spending this kind of money at Disney:

- Wealthy Americans who, yes, can afford it and are willing to pay extra for convenience, luxury accommodations, and less complaining from family members. A friend of mine is a Big Law partner and they will book trips to Disney on a whim and pay the list price for one of the highest end resorts for this reason. For them, dropping 10k on a trip to Disney does not seem unreasonable. They would spend 3-4x that on a trip to South Africa or Tokyo. At least the flights to Orlando are inexpensive.

- Wealthy foreigners. Disney is one of the global musts for a lot of wealthy Asian, Middle Eastern, and African families. They think of it the way you might think of a bucket list trip to the Australian Outback. They are already spending huge sums on flights, spending 5-6k on a hotel while at Disney doesn't seem like that big of a deal and makes the trip more worth it.

- No wealthy Americans who scrimp and save and plan these trips sometimes years in advance. If something is a dream trip, most middle class families could save up 10k for the trip over the course of a few years, especially if willing to forgo other things in order to have the experience they want. They might save up for a certain resort because it has monorail access and allows you to be at the park for rope drop. These families might find other ways to save money, like buying their Disney souvenirs in advance online, eating most meals back at the hotel by having groceries delivered (which is easier if your hotel is very close to the park), etc.

Disney keeps testing prices and customers keep meeting the upper limit, so they will not lower prices anytime soon.