Survey: 45% of parents take on debt for Disney vacations but the regrets are few

A new survey shows that almost half of parents are going into debt during a Disney vacation.

Conducted by LendingTree, the survey published this week found that 24% of all Disney-goers have accrued debt during their trips, along with 45% of parents with children under the age of 18. The average amount of debt for those parents was $1,983, LendingTree said.

Concessions were the biggest driver of excessive spending, with 65% of respondents citing the high cost of food and beverages. Additionally, 48% of respondents said that they had not budgeted enough for transportation, and 47% cited accommodations.

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LendingTree found that a stay at a Disney World resort hotel for two adults and two children could range as high as $1,079 a night – the biggest cause of debt.

A view of the Walt Disney World theme park entrance on July 11, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Some parents willingly take on debt for Disney

Notably, 75% of respondents said that their Disney trip did or would take six months or less to pay off. Even so, 59% of parents expressed no regrets over dropping a hefty chunk of change on a Disney vacation. And a whopping 90 percent said that they were satisfied with their trips overall because they were a treat rather than an obligation.

“For so many parents, taking their kids to Disney is a rite of passage, something they remember fondly from their youth and want to experience with their kids,” LendingTree chief credit analyst Matt Schulz said in a statement. “Because of those feelings, they’re often willing to take on debt to get there.”

Among those parents who have taken on debt to travel to a Disney theme park, 83% did so in the past five years. The number of total respondents who went into debt during a Disney trip also increased 33% from LendingTree’s 2022 survey.

LendingTree spoke with 2,001 people ranging in age from 18 to 78 for the survey.

Tips to save money on a Disney trip

Citing the high cost of food, Schulz advised parents of a way to save some money on a Disney vacation.

“One of the best ways to cut costs is to bring your own food and nonalcoholic drinks to the park,” he said in a statement. “There are limits as to what you can bring, but packing snacks and refillable water bottles, for example, can make a real difference in the overall cost of your Disney experience.”

LendingTree also recommends that parents keep an eye out for discounts, like for members of the military or for in-state residents. Discounts also pop up for members of hotel chains and online rewards for off-site chain restaurants could also help save.

Max Hauptman is a Trending Reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Survey: 45% of parents take on debt for Disney vacations but the regrets are few