If you watch the Super Bowl in NFL football, after the MVP is chosen, he often says his is taking his family to Disney World in Orlando. It is a paid message, and Disney has given free passes even though with the salary of an NFL player, they could buy the tickets without the freebee. That message has reached to thousands of others who go to Walt Disney World. If you never gone, you may consider going at least once.

In an article by Jessica Fu of The New York Times News Service, a couple from New Haven, Conn, have gone to Walt Disney World every year since 2015. In 2020, they had a son and in 2022, he went. Everyone that goes on a Disney trip also notices fees quickly add up – the after-hours party for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party; the theme’s parks photo service to download photos of the family that photographers took during the visit. The cost was about $6,000.

In June, Lending Tree, a financial firm, published a survey of more than 2,000 people that 45% of the parents with children under 18 went into debt to finance their Disney trip.

For a family of 4, a one-week trip can cost between $6,463 and $15,559 not including flights or souvenirs, according to an analysis by Nerd-Wallet, a personal finance site.

At those prices, it is not surprising that Disney reported softening demand at the theme parks.

Disney parks are the top drawing theme parks with Disney World drawing 17.1million visitors in 2022 according to a report by AECOM. The second busiest theme park is Disneyland in California drawing 16.8 million visitors.

While 99.99999% of the people enjoy it, they do come back with sticker shock. Sometimes it is the extra fees which seem reasonable at the time – $15 a person a day to use FastPass.

A spokesperson at Disney says there are many options in pricing.

Rachel Cruze, who hosts a personal finance podcast with her dad, Dave Ramsey, advises not going into debt for vacations. There is great beauty in the natural parks. If you go into debt for the vacation it will follow you for a month or more.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, the great aspect of people going into debt to visit Disney is the powerful branding it has and will continue to have. People may not go multiple times a year unless they live in the Orlando area, but going at least once is a right of passage or check off the bucket list. There are wonderful moments at the parks and every year they get better as Disney the Master of Marketing and cross over benefits ties those together. If you see Disney is not doing a great job in tying their entertainment juggernaut to the theme park it is time to find alternatives.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.