It’s no surprise that a family vacation can become a pretty costly undertaking, especially in a location beloved by tourists. Needless to say, Disney is one of them.
Atlanta-based entrepreneur Summer Reign Henning shared the amount she spent on a family day at Disney in a video that went viral. The four-digit number shocked her fellow TikTokers, some of whom believed it didn’t have to be this expensive. Scroll down for the video and people’s reactions.
Below you will also find insight on unnecessary spending, shared with Bored Panda by the CEO of ‘Spring Planning’ and the co-author of “Women & Money”, Julia Chung.
Entrepreneur Summer Reign Henning revealed her spendings on a day at Disney in a TikTok video
Image credits: summerreignhenning
Tickets + Lighting Lane $870
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Headbands $130
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Breakfast $223
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"A mediocre breakfast at Hollywood & Vine cost us $223. Then we headed over to Toy Story Land, and even with Lightning Lane, we still only got to ride one ride."
Image credits: summerreignhenning
Image credits: summerreignhenning
Ice Cream $25
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Popcorn $16
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Lightsabers $800
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"Ice cream was $25 and popcorn was $16. Then over at a Galaxy's Edge, three lightsabers cost us a whopping $800."
Shipping $40
Image credits: summerreignhenning
"They also no longer hold them for you until the end of the day. Plus different airlines have different restrictions when flying home, so we opted to ship them to us for an additional cost."
Image credits: summerreignhenning
"Every ride had 120-minute wait times, so we only got to ride one ride in this section of the park as well."
Milk $27
Image credits: summerreignhenning
"We tried the infamous blue and green milk and had lunch at Backlot and funnel cakes at Epic Eats."
Lunch $80
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Funnel Cakes $44
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Photo Pass $170
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"PhotoPass was an extra $170 for cellphone-quality pictures."
Treats $25
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Dinner $311
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"And finally, we had dinner at Planet Hollywood. Factoring in our nightly hotel rate of $997 brings our total to $3,758 for the day."
Image credits: summerreignhenning
The video received over two million views on TikTok
A visit to Disney can be quite an expensive one
Every year, millions of people flood the grounds of both Disney worlds and lands located all over the world in the hopes of having the greatest time. And they often do, but at what cost, you might wonder? Well, it’s difficult to calculate the exact amount, as it depends on personal preferences—be it food, housing, or entertainment they relate to—as well as numerous other factors that might be difficult to predict.
Yet, it seems that no matter the preferences, you might have to be ready to spend some cash; USA Today revealed that visiting Walt Disney World, for instance, has become more expensive than ever. Last year it pointed out that the price of one-day one-park tickets to Magic Kingdom, EPCOT has increased for the first time since 2019, reaching anywhere between $124 and $189.
USA Today’s analysis of Disney prices before their increase revealed that a long weekend at Disney for a family of four can add up to nearly $1,900; and that’s excluding the costs of getting there, which can make it a significantly larger amount. Yet, the number is still far from what Summer Reign spent for her family in one day, even though the commentators under her video believed that their costs didn’t have to be this high.
Image credits: Brian McGowan (not the actual photo)
Spending money can evoke feelings of guilt
To the people saying that the TikToker’s expenses could have been smaller or suggesting ideas on how to save money on a Disney trip, Summer Reign responded by saying she wasn’t sparing any expenses. Since it was a birthday weekend, she likely wanted to treat her family to an unforgettable time, which included activities, snacks, and souvenirs, even if overpriced.
Spending money on things that are not typically considered “necessary” is often viewed negatively; but if one can afford it, why not let them enjoy it? To be fair, sometimes it’s not even others stopping the individual from spending their hard-earned money, but them themselves.
In a piece for Forbes, the founder and CEO of the financial wellness app ‘OneEleven’, Dani Pascarella, pointed out that spending one’s money is often accompanied by the feeling of guilt. She suggested that one of the main reasons for that is the fear that the money “could be going towards something better or more important”.
According to Pascarella, such fear comes from lack of planning, as that’s what evokes the uncertainty about whether the “unnecessary” thing was a worthy investment. The expert suggested that having a plan for each dollar in your wallet can help combat such feelings of guilt and fear.
Image credits: Alexander Mils (not the actual photo)
“Unnecessary spending is the spending on things we don't even want"
The co-founder and CEO of ‘Spring Planning’ and the co-author of “Women & Money”, Julia Chung, pointed out that the spending we regret is the things we do that aren't aligned with our values. “It's when we dropped money we didn't have on a dinner we didn't like with people we don't like,” she gave an example to Bored Panda. “It's when we took a week off to holiday in a place we didn't even want to go. It's when we bought a navy blue suit and we hate navy blue suits.”
The expert emphasized that, despite what other people might say, there is no "one right way" to spend your money other than a way that is aligned with your values and your goals for the future.
“We can easily be led astray when we don't have a clue what those values and goals even are. Ramit Sethi talks about this kind of thing all the time, and I think he's right. When we know what we really want and what feels like a rich life to us, it's so easy to walk away from those other things that aren't actually how we want to live, but we've been told we should want to live that way,” she added.
“Unnecessary spending is the spending on things we don't even want,” says Julia, and it’s pretty safe to assume that family time at Disney was something Summer Reign sure wanted, arguably making it a worthy investment; even though some redditors might think otherwise.
Bored Panda has reached out to the OP via Instagram and will update the article once we've heard back from her.
People shared their opinions in the comments
Summer Reign addressed the TikTokers' comments
