I think the rates will settle in at around $325 per night for 2, except for a few prime weeks, for lodging. I airfare for 2 is $1k, that makes a reasonably priced vacation. (I hope that I am correct.)
If you're simply looking at it from a "is it X amount nicer", I agree; no, it's not. It's definitely significantly nicer, but not nice enough to seem like it's worth practically double what it was. However, I don't know if that's really a reasonable or at least realistic way to look at it. One, from my understanding the price up till now has been pretty stagnant with little real increases despite that being somewhat the norm in terms of resort prices. Two, the price may've been a little low previously for what we were actually getting (i.e. a bit more of a "bargain" then than now). Third, the reality is with many resorts that the increase in "star quality" is exponential when it comes to the price. If they're truly pushing for closer to that 4 to 4 1/2 instead of 3 to 3 1/2 they were before, the reality is the price was likely going to jump more than what it seems it's "worth". I was kind of annoyed at the price initially as well. However, I started looking at it a different way. Rather than attempting to compare it to what it was in the past, I'm comparing it to the current price without the membership. When I was researching my trip for late April/early May, it seemed like ultimately having premiere was going to end up making the trip about $1300 less for me. Which means that, yes $286 sucks compared to what the cost previously was, but is still a bargain relative to what I'd be paying otherwise. So it comes down to, is the increase money in total "worth it" when I take into account the new realities of the resort PLUS the unique atmosphere and style of the resort? For me, the answer is a clear cut yes. For others, it may not be; and that's understandable. For some people, the extremely low cost previously was perhaps a top reason for coming to TTR. It was definitely a beneficial factor for me, and one that would've meant we were hoping to visit 2 times a year once our job situations allowed for it. However, for us, the price was secondary to the atmosphere. So yeah, we have to pay more and instead of 2 trips it may be 1; but it's still a trip we absolutely WANT to be taking and another resort that's cheaper likely wouldn't scratch that itch. For those where money is much more of a factor, I feel for them; the increase sucks and it's probably not "worth it" in their mind. I get that. However, while I'd much rather the older money, the nicer amenities all around with the same atmosphere is such that I don't mind paying the extra money even if my preference would've been to not have to.
This got clarified on Facebook. There's a clause in pretty much all the contracts that the one other way the rate can go up, beyond the Consumer Index, is relative to the cost of any renovations or increased costs to operate the facility. So essentially, the large increase isn't so much due to the consumer index, but rather the extremely large investment in renovating the place.
