Affordability - The Princess Experience

From a Google Image Search - Disney Dining

Perhaps “the Princess Experience” doesn’t seem like a key moment in a young girl’s life. Perhaps it could even be argued that it gives girls unreasonable expectations of their future lives. Perhaps mothers are living out their princess dreams through their daughters. No matter. “The Princess Experience has been trending for at least 20 years. Disney has focused on offering us princess after princess, heroine after heroine - all the way from Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White (from their mother’s generation) to Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, and others now.

https://www.sideshow.com/blog/the-13-official-disney-princesses

“In total, there are 13 officially recognized Disney Princesses. No, really! The Disney Princess Official Site confirms this lineup. The official princesses are Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Moana, and Raya. While Venellope crashed a royal slumber party in Wreck-it-Ralph, she got to hang out but didn’t get the title. And sorry, Star Wars™ fans — Padmé Amidala and Leia Organa don’t count, even after Disney took over the sci-fifranchise.”

Moms feel pressured to take daughters of a certain age (and sons for pictures with Mickey) to Disney World or Disneyland for the princess experience. Princess guilt doesn’t just attack the middle class. It weighs hardest on families earning minimum wages if they are even able to consider a trip to Disney. People go into debt to provide their daughters with the princess experience. Since the Bibbiti Bobbiti Boutique opened in 2006 costs have gotten steeper. The princess package now includes nights at a Disney hotel as part of the trend. And it includes renting or buying a dress at the boutique and a photography package to document it all.

“Today the princess package is a must for beloved daughters-

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique - Castle Package (hair, makeup, sash/tote) (bring your own dress) $100-$120

Kingdom Package (includes gown, accessories) Starts around $230, Premium Signature Dress Collection (heirloom gown) About $450 plus tax” (AI)

“To get a picture with Mickey Mouse could cost nothing if you use your own camera or for a professional “Capture Your Moment” session, $99.” (AI)

There were no princess packages when Disney World opened in 1972.

The Boutique opened in 2006, and the Magic Kingdom started offering royal makeovers in 2007.

Disneyflation has been rising consistently for decades: (These are per person prices)

1971: $3.50 ($20.95 cost adjusted for 2017 inflation)

1972: $3.75 ($22.23)

1973: $4.50 ($25.26)

1974: $5.25 ($26.23)

1975: $6.00 ($26.46)

1976: $6.00 ($25.24)

https://www.womansday.com/life/entertainment/a60422/disney-world-ticket-prices-over-the-years/

2000: $46 ($66.71)

2001: $48 ($67.10)

2002: $50 ($67.62)

2003: $52 ($69.29)

2004: $54.75 ($71.52)

2005: $59.75 ($76.70)

2006: $67 ($80.43)

2007: $71 ($83.59)

2008: $75 ($83.80)

2009: $79 ($89.60)

2010: $82 ($91.94)

2011: $85 ($92.18)

2012: $89 ($94.94)

2013: $95 ($99.59)

2014: $99 ($103.22)

2015: $106 ($109.50)

2016: $110

2017: $115

2025-6: $119 to $199 for peak days with lower multi-day rates (AI)

Hotel Rates:

“Disney Hotel stays range from $229 - $436 depending on the hotel.

Here’s a look at the data. Back in 2019, the average per-night cost of a room at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa was $800. In 2024, the average price rose to $963. That’s a 24 percent jump in just five years.

Now, it’s worth putting that price into perspective. Across the U.S., inflation has driven costs and prices up across many key categories, and hotels are one of them. Average costs for hotel stays across the U.S. have increased by roughly 20 to 23 percent since 2019. So, Disney’s Deluxe Resorts aren’t too far off in terms of keeping pace with industry increases.”

https://www.wdw-magazine.com/are-disney-worlds-deluxe-resorts-too-expensive/

How much Disneyflation can we pin on Trump? There is the way he messed up the COVID pandemic. When MAGAs decided that wearing masks was a bridge too far, that it was authoritarian and that they would resist (does resisting a useful health move make sense?), Trump got on the bandwagon with his peeps. Would the pandemic have ended sooner if wearing masks was ubiquitous? Would we have been able to keep the economy open? We will never know.

Many businesses lost ground during and after the pandemic, even Disney World. Do Trump’s tariff’s directly affect the prices at Disney? Hard to tell. However, we are seeing anxiety about whether the current economic climate is sustainable and that may affect levels of inflation in general, with Disneyflation just being affected also. Although clearly prices have risen steadily across the economy, this is one area that is a nonessential that parents are finding it hard to eliminate.

Obviously, hungry children and expensive health care are more important than whether a child can have the Disney experience, but when people have trouble giving their children a chance to share what other children are doing it adds to the overall sense that the economy is in trouble. With government agencies in the hands of Trump allies and extreme conservatives we find it difficult to trust the data we are getting about child hunger, joblessness, inflation, and healthcare. So far, the government has not contaminated the data coming out of Disney. That makes the princess experience a good place to get some microdata about the overall economy.

Will Trump make sure the minimum wage rises? Since 2009 the minimum wage has been $7.25 an hour, although many jobs pay more than the minimum wage and this varies by cities and states, Trump shows no signs of wanting an increase. How important is an affordable princess experience? Is it more important than affordable child care? Of course not. Does it add to the perception by many parents that affordability is a real issue? Possibly. Affordability is not always just about the price of eggs or gasoline.

From a Google Image Search