One of the primary concerns and criticisms surrounding a Walt Disney World vacation has been the expense involved (and occasionally, debt accrued) in going to the Disney Resort and taking a stroll through any Disney Theme Park on site. But recent discussions highlight that there’s one other element that factors into these costs—flights to Disney World.
While the February 8 earnings call has many Disney fans in uproar over the plans it revealed—the layoffs coming for an enormous number of Disney employees and Disney Cast Members. However, as fans get used to this new normal from Disney, an age-old worry has resurfaced with Disney Parks fans; that of the price of a Disney vacation. However, the Walt Disney Company isn’t the one to blame this time.
Reddit user and Disney Guest u/Sweetpotato3000 took to the social media platform to share,
Plane tickets to Orlando have gotten so expensive
Rant: We fly from Mississippi GPT so it’s not far. I can fly to nearly anywhere else in the country, including California, for cheaper that the almost $900 it will cost for 1 round trip. I remember when tickets to Orlando were like $300 a few years ago. We are going in October.
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It’s certainly true that flights to Disney World—or rather, flights to Orlando, be that Orlando International Airport or others, as the Guest specified—have gotten pricier lately. In fact, flight prices have shot up, in general. As reported by CNBC at the end of last year in November, flight prices were up 25%, outpacing inflation.
This has primarily been due to airlines struggling to regain profitability after the pandemic and the losses accrued during that time.
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Many fellow Disney Guests and Disney fans in the comments corroborated this reality. U/PackNit shared their flight expenses, “$2800 from Chicago for 6 in April. And that is through Southwest. But the alternative is a 17 hour drive, probably a hotel night on each end and 4 days of getting there and back.”
Another fan, u/klfet, added, “My airport is Indy. I always can find cheap flights to MCO & that’s it. It would be $2300 for 3 of us to fly round trip to Houston in April. We are doing the 18 hr drive instead. Flight prices are so insane right now.” The Guest clarified that their trip to Orlando, however, only cost them $67 for a round trip.
Flights to Disney World are popular. Enough that many have questioned why Disney just doesn’t build its own airport onsite. It’s a topic of discussion that has come up repeatedly over the years, especially last December during the commotion of the winter storm.
However, at the moment, fans are resigned to paying these high prices to make their way to Walt Disney World in the hopes that this reality will change and become more affordable again.
