Access to Disney World as a metaphor for the collapse of the American middle class and the rise of a culture focused on the rich

Great story that summarizes economic inequality in America c. 2025. But also the fact that people don’t care. The main “middle class” woman (in an obese scooter - could they be more stereotypical) didn’t judge the inequality - she just planned to spend more money next time. Good summary of how the world now caters only to the top 0.1-10% and everyone else is being ignored.

With that said - I will never understand the Disney adult thing. I appreciate it’s a fantasy land to escape the real world - I guess like my own trips to foreign countries.

I don’t know why people want to go to Disney so bad. I’ve never wanted to go even as a kid.

I was visiting my cousin and wanted to take her and her 3 little kids out for the day. After checking the prices for Disneyland, I decided to take them to Knotts Berry Farm. I have money, but I'm not fucking rich.

Disney adults have taken over and made the whole place creepy.

I'm grateful that I was able to visit Disneyland as a child in the late 90s. I remember waiting about 10 minutes for every ride and doing everything in the park. I would never dream of going back.

It's the lardasses in hoverrounds that ruined Disney.

As a middle class child, now old, who visited the park once. I really enjoyed it's a small world after all, Swiss family Robinson tree house and the ride through the fake mine in Anaheim. Much of the rest was a rip off. Mickey was creepy and the rest of the characters were unconvincing. I like to believe Walt was a guy who thought one should use their imagination as much as possible and his parks were a nudge to do that. Now every little sensation is spoon fed to the customer for maximum dollar renumeration to the corporation. I really hate Disney and avoid anything Disney related whenever possible.

They need a coupon day...or something.

Meh... Just take me to the bathhouse on bear night, give me a fresh bottle of poppers and some good lube and I'm good...

At these prices, I do not understand why/how the parks are still so crowded, but they are - and they will not come down (or more likely add free perks back), until people stop going.

I love WDW, but if you haven’t been in years, you would be shocked by how spot m-on this article is. My family is fortunate and the times we have gone in recent years , we have thrown all the money at the problem to make it an easy experience. I feel gross and guilty about it every time. It’s all so in your face, with evidence of haves and have not at every turn. And if you don’t pay for all the extras, your experience is severely diminished. You’ll wait in lines that are truly two hours or more for a five minute ride.

Here’s how, r10

[quote] In the mid-2000s, however, the growing ranks of the affluent presented a profit source that could not be ignored. According to Datos Insights, in 1992 there were 88,000 households worth $20 million or more in 2022 dollars; by 2022, there were 644,000. Those who could pay almost anything for a vacation were becoming their own mass market.

I liked the World Showcase at Epcot most of all. A lot of the guys they imported from their home countries were quite good looking.

I also enjoyed MGM studios the first year it opened. Not sure how much it’s changed now that it has a different name.

I had a good time there last year, but there was plenty of poor white trash there.

When I lived in Fl, we were pass holders for the yr...2013 I think. We could NEVER book a ride in advance as those staying on the property got first dibs of everything Disney...mostly wealthy foreigners .

Back in 1988, we schlubs could book a Disney vaycay for $500. That included airfare , a car and a Disney hotel...for the meals you were on your own

Yes, but the poor have a completely different experience. They are staying in what Disney called the moderate resorts, bad rooms that require a shuttle bus. They either aren’t getting the lightning lanes at all, or they’re getting low dibs. They aren’t taking advantage of so many of the add-ons that make it special. It’s just a completely different experience from staying on property at a deluxe resort, where you get early park entry, early access to the lightning lanes, in some cases of a concierge working on your behalf. Plus, if you’re among the people who can afford it, you can pay to diamond Cinderella’s castle and attend the after hours parties, special viewings for the fireworks, the fast passes where you just pay extra and get right on the ride. Disney has found every way to upcharge, and you choose whether to pay more or suffer more.

It's not just Disney - attendance at Six Flags + Cedar Fair (Kings Dominion, etc.) parks is down 9% from last year.

On the other hand, attendance at United Parks and Resorts, which owns Sea World and Busch Gardens locations, is up, but only by 1%.

I got to do Disneyland on acid.

My mom’s cousin took us Knott’s Berry Farm and fed us some crap about it being as good as Disneyland. What king of bullshit did that queer think he was pulling on us? Jam, fried chicken and Cracker Barrel rides—fuck no.

R18 I did it on ‘shrooms. THE happiest place 💫

R10 Scooter grandma was ripped off left and right…her answer was next time I’ll pay more. That’s America

The other family—father had an open wallet for his daughter—he came across as a total douche bro IMHO.

R2 growing up in LA, when you could easily go a few time a year—it was Magic. High schools had Grad Night! Big companies sponsored employee nights. My mom worked at Mattel and my best friend’s dad worked at TRW. Those private party nights were so much fun.

In the old days you paid a base rate and bought books of tickets…the best being the famous E ticket rides. We used to hoard unused tickets like the S&H green stamps . Except for A ride tickets—that’s was the dorky stuff for little kids.

R7 no child in recorded history loved Small World. It was tolerated at best—and barely that.

It was only a few years ago that they gave you three fast pass reservations per day for free with your ticket. Didn't matter if you were staying in one of their hotels, a motel 6, or an annual passholder that lived nearby. All were treated the same. And you could get additional fast pass reservations in the day after using those.

Then they realized they could get away with charging extra for fast access. And everything else.

As for how people are affording it, yes, there's a lot of Disney fans with money to burn, but don't forget the very American obsession with putting things on credit. I know SO many people who talk about having high credit card debt while still buying like crazy. No doubt many of the Disney adults are doing that too.

Or you could just read the article …

No point in doing that, r26

Old ladies loved Small World.

This was the golden age of Disneyland!

O tempora! O mores!

Middle Class = working class. No one likes to say it though. Anyone making over six figures is now automatically upper class. It’s been this way for decades.

I prefer Duff Gardens...

People don’t go to Disney World because it sucks. They go to Universal.

[quote]On the other hand, attendance at United Parks and Resorts, which owns Sea World and Busch Gardens locations, is up, but only by 1%.

I pay $20/month for the Premium Busch Garden membership and love it. There are kids there but not overpowering or annoying like other parks. The landscaping is always beautiful and the park tends to cater to an older crowd with many boozy option. Always hit the annual Food & Wine Fest and Halloween. Sometimes we don't even get on the rides, just walk around and enjoy the atmosphere and food.

The $20 includes free parking which can run $35-45 per visit so it definitely pays for itself. Plus 20% off food/drinks/merch.

Walt would have lost his head over what happened!

Thanks Eisner!

r33, does that include every day of the year access? Like if I wanted to go on Christmas Eve, could I?

I could “afford” to go to WDW, and until recently did so frequently, but the prices are too ridiculous and I refuse to pay it any longer. I have above average income so it’s even crazier for poor people to go there.

It's like a huge DMV waiting room where everyone is happy

In its day, Busch Gardens was the single lamest “amusement park” in Southern California. Even the Japanese Village & Deer Park was better.

"maximum dollar renumeration"

They are renumbering the dollars now?

A lot of entertainment is now too expensive for working class people.

Pretty much everyone could nab an arena concert ticket 20+ years ago. You might have to live frugally for a couple weeks but people could usually afford a $30 or $40 ticket (or less if you go even further back). Now, even nothing acts want $300 to see their shit show. Major acts, you're going to spend a grand on a good floor seat.

Same thing with theater. And, most everything else.

How do people afford that R40? Is it all rich people attending shows or ??

Hey they still do that stuff! We love it.

I recently bought a 2026 season pass for Cedar Point . It cost $99.00 and includes admission to any of the Six Flags/Cedar Fair parks in the US.

^ and parking.

[quote][R33], does that include every day of the year access? Like if I wanted to go on Christmas Eve, could I?

Yes, whenever the park is open (unless it is a private event) I get entrance. I also get 5 free comp tickets for friends every year.

Also there are member gifts like an annual Xmas ornament, etched wine glasses, etc... as well as early park entrance.

[quote] Disney adults have taken over and made the whole place creepy.

Really? You don’t say!

R40 I so agree with you. Sporting events, concerts, theme parks and other activities have become almost like a mini-vacation in terms of expense and planning/saving ahead of time. R43, you're suggesting a Cedar Point/Six Flags season pass is a good value and it sounds like it, but if you don't plan on going more than once, you're not getting that value. I took my niece to Cedar Point last month and it was ridiculously more expensive than it was pre-Covid. For the two of us I dropped $100 on park entry, $400 for Fast Lane passes, $50 for a meal, $30 for parking, and $40 for unlimited drinks (we needed it that day it was so HOT). We had a fantastic time but that's a lot of cash for a trip to an amusement park. Park hopping at Disney World in 2025? I'm embarrassed to say it's way out of my budget.

R46 had to look "her" up. Fuck you.

R18, way back in the ‘seventies a sociologist called Disneyland “LSD for the middle class.”

Living an hour away, I went to the Magic Kingdom the week it opened in October 1971. Adult admission was $5.75, which included an 11-attraction ticket book, with a reduced rate of $4.75 for children. Parking was 50 cents.

Cedar point? Is that near Cedar falls?

Everything is about grift, rentier capitalism and maximum wealth extraction these days. Doesn't seem like a sustainable societal model

We don't have kids so we don't have to spend on Disney. And we don't like big crowds so we don't do arena shows or festivals. We do spend on luxurious vacations and don't care how much we spend eating out or cocktailing. But everything costs too much money now and I don't understand how middle class families do it - much less working class. My dad wrote a check for our college tuitions back in the late 1980s. Now my college is 75K a year. Absurd.

I wrote a check for my college tuition (and my sister’s) back in the mid-1980s.

Thanks for the gift link, OP. A fascinating and eye-opening article.

As a child, my parents never took us to Disney as they couldn’t afford it. Now as an adult with the means to go should I wish to, I find the prices mentioned in that article to exorbitant. I had no idea it was now so expensive.

And if I’m paying that much for a vacation, the last thing I’d want is to be surrounded by children.

Or creepy Disney adults, R55.

I've dated a few Disney gays. I overlooked the weirdness of their obsession and had no interest in going myself. Often the same type who chase frequent flyer status on airlines.

I was too poor to go as a child. I didn't see it until I was 30.

It's indeed lovely, but expensive and full of drunks. The appeal was lost on me.

I had much more fun as a kid going to our local independent theme park. Most of those are out of business now, but they were a much more attainable theme park experience. Funnel cakes, walking on hot asphalt, riding a rickety wooden roller coaster, reenacting the credit sequence from "Step By Step," etc.

Universal feels so janky to me in comparison to Disney. If you are willing to pay top dollar to stay in a deluxe resort on site, particularly club level, and take advantage of all upgrades, the Disney experience is still top notch. The problem was that a lot of these upgrades used to be standard.

[quote]Now my college is 75K a year.

Is that where you learned to refer to yourself in plural?

[quote] Anyone making over six figures is now automatically upper class.

My sides!

A guy I know chartered a 19 passenger private jet for his wife, his widowed father-in-law, his kids & their respective families, and each grandkid was allowed to bring 1 friend. blah, blah, blah. One of the grandkids took a header down an entire flight of stairs on day three and that was the end of that.

R60 - I think he meant per week.

[quote]I don’t know why people want to go to Disney so bad. I’ve never wanted to go even as a kid.

My parents took me to Disney World when I was 10 (this was the 80s) and I thought it was stupid and overrated, budding judgemental queen that I was.

r59 eat a bag of dicks.

Are they more like Disney’s churros or turkey legs?

The point of the article is that all middle class things have been replaced by things catering to the rich. It does really summarize what’s happened in last 30-40 years. The single biggest structural change to the world - the concentration of wealth / spending power to a few million people in the top 1%-10%.

R59 You are right! Shame on me as an English major too. I was thinking about my siblings and I. But I forgot to mention them. I had a few puffs.

Siblings and me.

- R67, Still puffing

It is true. I can’t think of a single thing I would classify as a middle class experience. Even fast food seems like it’s either priced for upper incomes or targeted to the working class.

You don't know half the shit going on at Disney.

I don't want to call you out specifically R60, but the median HOUSEHOLD income in the US in around $80K. HOUSEHOLD - meaning, presumably, two earners.

I've been on DL for years, and there is a real cognitive dissonance here over what most Americans earn. I chalk it up to the number of NY/LA/SF posters, but when I see posts like "I can't find a closet in NYC for under $4K" I roll my eyes so hard I hurt myself.

Fuck off. I loved small world and hated space mountain. Space mountain is for those who need to be jerked off while they stare at a sex doll.

Stealth pedo thread

[quote] Space mountain is for those who need to be jerked off while they stare at a sex doll.

I’ll buy a fast pass for this ride

I loved Small World *and* Space Mountain.

[quote] no child in recorded history loved Small World. It was tolerated at best—and barely that.

I was a little gayling who liked my air conditioning ice cold, so I liked Small World. It was always freezing.

I thought Small World was pretty.

I hope this story goes viral and lights Disney and every other company using data to exploit prices right the fuck up. This is about more than income inequality. This is about corporate greed and the corrosive effect it is having on our society. These companies that are too big to fail need to start failing and they need to be allowed to fail. Even if no longer having them changes our perception of what it means to be American. Fuck Disney. Boycott Disney.

It also shows no signs of stopping. Year after year, all of these experiences get more expensive, to where many of them are now stupidly so. Incomes are not going up at anything close to the same rate. And yet there is no sign that it is slowing. What is going to become of the average American worker who is now stuck in the rut of working their ass off only to be priced out of everything?

And wait till AI guts what’s left of the middle class

My little nieces and nephews enjoyed Children’s Fairyland in Oakland. Every single employee including ride operators was baked.

R71 What godforsaken part of the country do you live in?

Most of the good parts are expensive.

It's cheap to live in Ohio, West Virginia, Arkansas and North Dakota but all those places are also awful.

This is one of the most existentially depressing stories I’ve ever read in the NYT, and that’s saying a lot. The part where she has to wait three hours for her fat-lady scooter to get fixed…grim.

r78, it won't convince Disney to do crap, but I'm glad you mentioned that it's not just about income inequality in the general sense.

Disney is the one who decided to charge extra for quick access when for over two decades it had a fast pass system that was free to all ticketholders. They've done this for so many other things. And the only thing I've seen them reverse and go back to their less greedy ways was overnight resort parking fees for resort guests.

They've also eliminated some perks even for those with money who do buy in on the whole vacation. For example, if you went for a vacation package, they used to pick you up at the airport in the "Disney Magical Express" and your luggage, which you had tagged with special luggage tags they had sent you, would be delivered directly to your Disney resort room later that day. No need to bother with baggage claim. No need to use a third party shuttle or bus service like Mears. You could be completely in "the Disney bubble". But they decided to just eliminate that entirely.

We went to Hersheypark when I was a kid. Small park, but lots of fun, with lots of old-timey rides back in the day. There are newer rides now as well, and it's $65/day. There are add-ons as well, but a total that wouldn't break the bank.

My sister actually worked there in the summers when she was in high school.

Strangely enough, a lot of NYers take their kids there. NYC is not quite three hours away.

R4 Right. Like these adults are into Disney more than children. It’s hella weird. Learn to be an adult.

R79 paramilitaries owned by people like peter thiel will murder/enslave them in the next 3-5 years, we will be forced into hard labor (probably under the premise of institutionalization for mental illness or arrest for political extremism, like being registered as a dem) until automation advances to the point that you can be killed and burned for fuel.

I never got to go there as a kid, but I’ve been curious. ChatGPT estimate is on par with a trip to Europe. Non, merci.

I went to WDW in 1977, while on college spring break. A day pass cost $19. I enjoyed it, but I have zero desire to go back. As I’ve gotten older, I can’t stand large crowds, the great unwashed masses, parking lots that stretch for acres. My idea of hell would be to spend a day at a State Fair. So many people take zero pride in the appearance, and behave horribly.

I’ll stay home with my pizza and Netflix.

Same here, r89. Disney World would be a nightmare for me because of the things you mentioned.

Their cutting of Disney Magical Express was indeed an act of pure greed. It was truly good and time saving perk that made Disney feel a step above other family vacations, and they used COVID as an excuse to cut that cost and never put it back.

I went to Disneyland twice this summer and was shocked how empty it was, both on a weekend. Only one or two rides with a 45 minute wait. I think people are fed up with the prices going up and perks being taken away.

My hubby loves Disney and we have gone too many times.

Over the last decade, I’ve seen the prices jump steeply. Just being there is still a nice experience but there are too many hoops to jump through (and things to pay for) to get on the most popular rides. Too much planning; too much strategizing; too much in extra costs.

Since Reagan, GOP tax cuts have shifted $50 TRILLION, you read that right, to the upper class.

Of course the middle class is barely hanging in while the upper class is thriving. It just got another boost with the Trump tax law

[quote] My hubby loves Disney and we have gone too many times.

Which state's sex offender registry does he belong to?

Once at lunch I started talking about my father and his sports craziness. He had us at games or events at least once a week, sometimes twice. When I looked at peoples' faces, it seemed they thought I was bragging. I was a bit older than my lunch mates. When I was a kid, that was affordable. And my father took advantage of any and every discount on tickets: kids' nights, ladies' nights, gear giveaways. We smuggled sandwiches into the games so we did not buy expensive concessions. I don't go now myself, so I hadn't realized how out of reach that had become for families.

In the 90s I went to WDW in the summer, and I took off my shirt because it was so hot. They made me put my shirt back on. Is it still like that with Disney?

This kid's obviously having a ball.

[quote]Hersheypark

From pedos into scat.

You’re a Blue Meanie! ;)

there are tons of other theme parks in Orlando (and elsewhere). Why go to the most expensive one?

You want to go to Lego Land?

[quote]You want to go to Lego Land?

That's Winter Haven. Next county over.

I know where it is, R103 -- what's your point?

[quote]there are tons of other theme parks in Orlando (and elsewhere)

What about the words "and elsewhere" don't you understand?