Fans have complained that “Disney World is pricing out the middle class,” criticized the company for “catering only to the wealthy” and no longer wanting to fulfill Walt’s dream as a place where ordinary American parents and children can have fun together. While we’ve understood the frustration, we’ve also pushed back on these notions. However, there are a couple of new developments suggesting that maybe Disney is aiming for the affluent.
First is a bombshell new report from the Wall Street Journal that the top 10% of Americans account for 50% of all consumer spending in the United States. Households making about $250,000 a year or more are splurging on everything from luxury goods to extravagant vacations.
Those consumers now account for 49.7% of all spending, a record going back to 1989, according to a analysis by Moody’s Analytics (based on U.S. Federal Reserve data through the third-quarter of last year, the most recent data available). Three decades ago, the top 10% accounted for about 36% of consumer spending.
Over approximately the last year, the highest earners have increased their spending by 12%. Over the same period, spending by working-class and middle-class households dropped. As this spread widens, spending by the top 10% now accounts for nearly one-third of United States gross domestic product.
Consumer spending among affluent Americans has been boosted by big gains in stocks, real estate, and other assets. This makes sense. The top 10% owns 87% of the stocks in the U.S., as well as 84% of private businesses, 44% of real estate, and 67% of overall wealth. Since 1989, every single one of these numbers is up significantly.
The result of these increases is that the wealthiest Americans have increased their consumer spending well above inflation, whereas other cohorts have not. The bottom 80% of earners spent 25% more than they did four years earlier, barely outpacing price increases of 21% over that period. The top 10% spent a whopping 58% more.
Given all of the aforementioned numbers, a stock market selloff or decline in home values that rattles the confidence of the top 10% and causes them to cut back would have a significant effect on the economy. Consumer sentiment is starting to slide overall, including for the wealthiest third of consumers.
Consumer confidence can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, and one that has wide-ranging consequences. One of which could be a stock market correction, which could have profound impacts on Walt Disney World and beyond. That’s especially true given the overreliance on the top 10% continuing to spend, but that’s beyond the scope of this post.
The bottom line is that economic growth is unusually reliant on rich Americans continuing to spend. And by extension, Walt Disney World’s financial growth is likewise increasingly reliant on the top 10% of Americans, or affluent international tourists and other comparable cohorts.
The other development comes from another Wall Street Journal report, which we’ve already covered at length in Walt Disney World is Worried About Its High Prices and its progeny of posts. That really was a fantastic piece, and included many details that we’re still fully digesting. That included this little beauty:
Walt Disney World pushed back against WSJ’s estimated costs of a typical four-day visit, saying they were exaggerated and didn’t take into account the range of value options available. According to Walt Disney World, “a four-day trip for a family of four in the fall could cost as little as $3,026 before food and transportation costs…and guests don’t need Lighting Lane passes to have a great time.”
That $3,026 is before food and transportation, excludes Lightning Lanes, and requires visiting in August or September (they didn’t say the last part, but we know those are the cheapest times to visit Walt Disney World in the fall).
According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average price of round-trip airfare was $243 last August and $250 last September. For the entire third quarter, the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics has a higher statistic, $365.64. It appears that different methodology is used, but both are nationwide averages.
Meaning that you’ll be paying more if you’re flying out of Cold Bay Airport in Alaska ($1,176 on average), but less out of Chicago-O’Hare or Dallas-Love Field. Anecdotal, but I flew out of Los Angeles (LAX) and John Wayne (SNA) during those two months last year, paying under $200 for the former and just over $250 for the latter. But I also use airfare deal trackers and have flight flexibility.
Regardless, we’re going to play this conservatively and stick with the lower $243 number. The silver lining here is that airfare is actually down since 2019. This airfare adds another $972 to the total. From MCO, ground transportation will also be necessary, and we’ll use Mears Connect for that, adding another $116 to the total.
After transportation, this brings Walt Disney World’s own number to $4,114.
Now let’s do food.
Our own price analysis, How Much Does It Cost to Go On a Walt Disney World Vacation in 2025?, does account for dining. We have four tiers, mirroring Walt Disney World’s own Value, Moderate, and Deluxe Resort hierarchy–along with the addition of a frugal class for guests staying off-site and trying to do Disney as inexpensively as possible. Based on the overlap of our and Disney’s numbers, it appears their numbers are based on our value tier.
Our food costs from that tier are $700, which is about how much it’d cost to pay out of pocket or purchase the lower-tier of the Disney Dining Plan. This brings the ballpark Walt Disney World vacation total cost to $4,814.
Above is a graph from the WSJ showing vacation starting budgets by U.S. household income quintile, along with typical costs for a 2-day Walt Disney World trip. Note that the numbers above were for 4-days, hence the discrepancies. Again, this doesn’t account for airfare, but does include food.
This data analysis was done by TouringPlans, but what I found more illuminating was their deeper dive into how much of a Walt Disney World vacation each quintile of American households can afford in 2025. Notably, this is based on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES), so the same government agency that produced our more conservative airfare number above.
BLS CES data reveal the following full-year travel budgets for each quintile: lowest 20% ($612), next 20% ($1,118), middle 20% ($1,187), second-highest 20% ($3,076), and top 20% ($7,516). That’s not the single starting budget for a specific trip, but what each quintile actually spent on travel in 2023 (the last year for which data is available).
This means that the cheapest Walt Disney World vacation exceeds what every single quintile except the top 20% spends on travel, on average. (Even the top 20% spends less than our own cost-analysis of deluxe-tier Walt Disney World vacation.) At the risk of stating the obvious, these numbers are concerning! They reinforce the notion that Disney is pricing out the middle class, and increasing dependent on the top 20%–or top 10%.
However, the numbers are not conclusive of that. There’s an undeniable nexus between income quintiles and travel spending, but it’s not definitive.
It’s a fool’s errand to conduct an analysis of Disney pricing out the middle class–or any of the quintiles of consumers–based solely on spending and income data. There are over 125 million households in the United States, and Disney only needs to capture a small percentage of them each year. And that’s assuming no one visits from overseas, which is obviously inaccurate.
What various tiers of average American households spend per year on travel is only part of the equation. All it takes is the outliers to skew things completely. Nevermind credit card debt, saving up for expensive vacations, multi-generation trips funded by grandparents (more likely to be in that top 20% than their millennial children), etc.
Our own analysis has shown significant increases since 2019, with the bulk of these concentrated in 2021-2022 due to a mixture of massive price increases, reduced discounting, and the loss of perks that used to be built into the price of packages or admission.
As we’ve pointed out previously, Walt Disney World did not raise ticket prices between December 2022 and last year. That was unprecedented. Between that and better deals, the effective prices most people paid for Walt Disney World vacation packages actually decreased last year vs. 2021-2022 (or parts of 2023).
Ticket prices are up in 2025. Menu prices have also continued to go up, but what we’ve seen at counter service restaurants is an increase below the rate of inflation and their real world counterparts. Walt Disney World quick-service is often less expensive than meals at Panera, Chipotle, or other fast-casual restaurants as of 2025. That’s actually the rare positive change versus 2019.
All things considered, there’s a reasonable possibility that you’ll pay less in 2025 for the cheapest Walt Disney World vacation than the same trip would’ve cost in 2022. (To be clear, it’s still a massive increase over 2019.) This is doubly true if you can manage to take advantage of discounts.
In each of the last two years, Walt Disney World has offered a 4-Day, 4-Park Magic Ticket that encompass travel dates throughout the off-season months of August and September (as well as April through July, but those are more expensive months to visit, so not really relevant for our purposes). With no new rides opening this year and competition from Epic Universe down the street, there’s every reason to believe this deal will be back by April 21, 2025 at the absolute latest (potentially as soon as next month if there are blockouts for Easter).
There’s also every reason to believe that Walt Disney World will soon offer another room-only discount for these months. Last year’s deal brought the All Stars down to as low as $118/night during the off-season and Pop Century to $160/night. Given that hotel rack rates barely budged for 2025 and demand has decreased, it’s safe to expect those prices again.
These deals alone could reduce vacation costs in August and September 2025 by over $2,000. (Our estimate is up to $2,600 in savings during the off-season with a 4-night weeknight stay via room-only discounts and the 4-park ticket deal. Most of the savings come from the latter–that ticket deal has been insanely good for those who can take advantage.)
This cuts the cost of the previous baseline $4,814 Walt Disney World vacation roughly in half. Even assuming families cannot take advantage of the absolute cheapest days because they (unsurprisingly) fall right after school goes back into session, we’re still looking at an early to mid-August cost of under $3,000 after those (assumed) discounts.
This is why I expressed surprise at the company’s odd highlighting of discounts to underscore its affordability in Disney Responds to Rising Costs Criticism. As discussed there, Disney’s statement felt a bit Bluthian. Savvy consumers and longtime fans (or newbies with an experienced travel agent) could almost certainly do a 4-day trip to Walt Disney World for less than $4,814.
This is not to paint Walt Disney World’s costs or affordability to the middle class in a more favorable light. If anything, this should further reinforce what the data reflects: Walt Disney World is increasingly out of reach for at least half of U.S. households, even assuming the cheapest rate seasons and most favorable discounts.
Where we disagree with the is the notion that Walt Disney World is now catering only to the wealthy–or even the top 20% of American households. It is probably fair to say that the top 20% is overrepresented at Walt Disney World as compared to most domestic destinations, but that’s not the same as “only” or even “mostly.”
It’s also undeniable that many middle class Americans have already started to trade down from premium to cheaper vacations–beaches, state and National Parks, and even certain cities. Or destinations within driving distance. There’s no shortage of data that suggests this is happening, including consumer spending in other areas or Orlando International Airport’s own passenger numbers (travel to MCO has only slowed slightly, but Universal and Disney attendance is down to a disproportionate degree).
While Walt Disney World is fairly viewed as a premium product, it’s more difficult to argue that it’s a luxury product. And there is a big difference. Although there are between 25 million and 50 million households that can afford Walt Disney World vacations based on the BLS data, that also assumes that every single one of them wants to visit Walt Disney World for more than just one-off rite of passage vacations. Bluntly, there are not enough wealthy Americans in this subset to fill the parks and resorts on a daily basis.
The top 10% has more means to fund lavish Walt Disney World trips, but that also means the same is true of extravagant European holidays, cruises, etc. They have more options, in general, and there’s more competition for their dollars and time. Money alone does not necessarily increase their interest in Disney as a destination.
As we’ve pointed out on countless occasions, the rich are not booking motel-style rooms with exterior hallways at the Value Resorts, let alone the many nearby off-site budget hotels that Disney relies upon to fill the parks. The core demographic of the All Stars is probably the middle 20%, and the off-site budget motels are likely below that.
Even on the high end, Deluxe Resorts don’t offer the caliber of service, amenities, or general quality the wealthy expect of real world destinations. This is why Disney “outsources” luxury to Four Seasons on the hotel side. There are low-volume niche experiences at Walt Disney World aimed at the wealthy, but they’re relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
Walt Disney World is a middle class vacation destination–that’s its bread and butter. Park attendance and occupancy are still reliant on the middle class, and that demographic being willing and able to spend the ever-increasing amount that a Walt Disney World vacation costs, whether that means saving, splurging, going into debt, etc. Disney is trying to squeeze the middle class, not exclude them.
The latest report from the Wall Street Journal about the top 10% account for half of consumer spending is concerning. As is the Walt Disney World vacation budget versus actual cost disparity. But this does not alter my fundamental view that Walt Disney World is inherently an aspirational or premium product that appeals to the middle class, and not a luxury product aimed at the wealthy.
If anything, these new reports are slightly more worrying for me than that alternative. In light of the above numbers, it’s difficult to square how Walt Disney World’s core customer continues to afford its product. Something’s gotta give.
Nevertheless, we actually would expect Walt Disney World to aim more upmarket going forward.
This is not a particularly bold prediction, as it’s already happening. The hospitality industry in general is chasing higher-spending customers, with airlines reducing their inventory of economy seats and replacing them with fewer premium cabins and hotels replacing standard rooms with suites.
Walt Disney World has been less aggressive in doing this, often instead converting hotel rooms to Disney Vacation Club villas. Similar animating idea, different means to that end. Without having any supporting data, it’s probably safe to assume that new DVC buyers are largely from the top 20%. There’s a reason that Disney Lakeside Lodge is full steam ahead on construction despite several other properties in active sales, and direct DVC sales continue to show strong growth.
There’s also a huge unsatisfied market for more concierge lounges at Walt Disney World. In the last few years we’ve noticed that Club Level rooms are often excluded from discounts, or have no availability. This is quite the change from 5+ years ago, when it was common to luck into free Club Level upgrades due to low occupancy. We wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Walt Disney World continue to add to its resort inventory aimed at the top 10% (or top 5%).
This is also hardly a bold prediction; it’s exactly what Disneyland Resort is doing. Disney just announced the expansion of two of its Club Level lounges, along with a brand-new lounge and premium suites to launch in 2025 and 2026. Now there will be 4 concierge levels at Disneyland’s 3 hotels. There’s plenty of untapped demand for more premium accommodations at Walt Disney World, and we’d expect that to be filled in Florida, too. (By contrast, I’d be surprised to see more Value Resorts anytime soon.)
Lightning Lane Premier Pass is another example of this already happening. This is due, at least in part, to Walt Disney World hitting a wall on pricing for its mass market (e.g. middle class) line-skipping services. If anything, Disney offering increased discounts and slowing the rate of price increases since 2022–while adding new premium products–suggests to me that the company realizes the middle class is financially tapped out, but Walt Disney World still very much needs them.
Ultimately, we’d expect more of this approach going forward. Even though the top 20% is not Walt Disney World’s bread and butter, the company will continue targeting that segment with new and differentiated product offerings because, as illustrated above, that’s clearly where the money and growth potential lie.
And each new announcement of such upcharges will continue to be met with a chorus of complaints, inflicting brand and goodwill damage among Walt Disney World’s actual bread and butter. Basically, this upmarket strategy will work…until it doesn’t. There are countless reasons as to why that could happen (some of which are discussed in the opening), but it could pose problems for the company. The potential for these issues increases as consumer perceptions increasingly view Walt Disney World as a destination for the wealthy.
Once that middle class reputational damage is done, it’s hard to undo. This is precisely why we’ve repeatedly emphasized the importance of improving the guest experience and satisfaction (among other metrics), as well as the hugely negative long-term ramifications to pricing out families and alienating longtime fans. The top 10/20% undeniably has more money to spend on fancy one-off rite-of-passage vacations, but it’s still middle class families that are the lifeblood of Walt Disney World.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about the top 10% accounting for half of U.S. consumer spending? Can Walt Disney World sustain itself with these big-spenders? Or do you agree with our assessment that Walt Disney World is inherently a middle class destination, and it needs this bread & butter demo? What would you like to see done to improve the guest experience and satisfaction at Walt Disney World? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
