What do you REFUSE to scrimp on????

[Pig Pen]

What would you refuse to scrimp on?

For instance, I would definitely stay at All-Stars again, but I would NOT bring an electric skillet with me on vacation! I would rather eat at McDonald's.

[zippehsmom]

I refuse to cook on vacation. I refuse to purchase any type of sandwich fixings or anything to that I have to prepare on vacation.

I am on vacation, and I want everything done for me!!:D

Now, DH can cook all he wants, but that's doubtful since he doesn't do it here.:rolleyes:

zippehsmom:)

[hellokitty]

I agree no cooking on vacation, spoils the fun!!

Also, i enjoy buying disney "snacks" at the park and not bringing the same ol thing
from home. I want something I cannot get at home, like mickey shaped ice cream and
pretzels!!

[kandj2]

The ONLY thing I won't scrimp on for Disney is my shoes! It's Teva sandals and New Balance tennys for me! Everything else is open for penny pinching. Now I won't stay in a cramped hotel room or cram 6 people in a Metro. I always get the best deal possible on luxury!

:) kerry

[tink2dw]

1. I would never scrip on character meals.
They serve a duel roles First the meal, buffets allow everyone to eat what they like[I dislike eggs],but second it is the BEST way to Interact with the Chacacters!! Especially if you want pictures!!

2. I will not stay in anything but a suite till the Kids,leave home!!

[SandraC]

Great thread!

(1) TIME! I WILL NOT SCRIMP ON TIME! We figure out everything we want to do, build in rests and then come the conclusion of how many days we want to stay. April 2002 we are staying 10 nights to get everything in and relax!

(2) FOOD: I will make sandwiches and snacks (apples with peanut butter, granola bars, dried fruit, cookies, fishy crackers, veggies and fruits) I don't like spending all my money and time in restaurants. However, I will go to my fav character meals, like Cindy's, Crystal Palace and ONE NEW ONE that I never been to before.

(3) there's more, but dd just got up! later!

[bethie]

For me.....

Character meals- I will do a least one a day if I can. I want to have at least one great, entertaining meal a day!

BB:p

[nluvwithdisney]

We aren't into cooking on vacation either. So we always bring more than enough money to go to various restaurants onsite and offsite.

[sueg]

We own at DVC & have become totally spoiled by spacious accomodations. In fact, this March, DSs have convinved us to get a 2BD unit for the four of us. We have a nice spacious house & I don't like to be too crowded on vacation, even though we don't spend a tremendous amt. of time in our rms.
On the other hand, I really don't mind "some" cooking on vacation & DVC lets me do it in style. We almost always eat breakfast in the rm. It allows us to get an early start & we are not heavy breakfast eaters. Also, I am caffeine addicted for my first cup of coffee in the AM. I can't wait until we are all up & dressed to get my coffee. But since I only drink one cup of coffee per day, it has to be really good coffee, which I can't always get at restaurants.

[Miss Jasmine]

I guess I really don't belong on this this board. :p LOL
We don't scrimp on anything, except buying souveniers (and even then sometimes :rolleyes: ).

[Mom of Sleepy, Bashful and BabyDoc]

I am one of those that cook a lot at home, for my family and for others. My family used to own a restaurant and I LOVE to cook. BUT, I also LOVE to be waited on and have others cook for me. I figure I do it 50 weeks out of the year, I can be lazy for 2 weeks. This is one reason I never see us buying into DVC or staying in a condo or something. I know the next thing out of someone's mouth would be, "well, we have a kitchen, we could save money if we just cooked some meals in".........that's the kiss of death!
So......................

I won't "skimp" on eating out. That is, I don't care that it is a hamburger from Pecos Bill's, I just don't want to cook it myself. If we had a bigger budget, we would eat more sit down meals but with three little ones sometimes the counter service is the best way to go anyway. In a 10 day trip we probably have around 7 sit down meals which I guess is pretty nice. We LOVE the character meals.

I always thought that I wouldn't skimp on the hotel either, but last time we stayed at Allstars and loved it so I guess I was wrong there. But I won't back off of the no-cooking thing. Too many great choices of restaurants to choose from down there.

:D

[SNOWBOARDER]

Accomodations & food!!! This year, we're staying at an off-site, but close(Orange Lake Country Club), resort. I like the idea of having a BIG place, with a couple of bathrooms and a kitchen. I'm the cook in the family, so I don't mind preparing something simple for breakfast, which is the best way to get a decent cup of coffee,(lol sueg!), and saves time. We may do a carry-out for an evening, or two, but that's it. One of the joys of going on vacation is the food. Great thread!!!

[yepod]

Isn't scrimping at Disney kind of an oxymoron!?!?!

[GEM]

I refuse to skimp on food. I don't just mean not cooking or eating sandwhiches in our room, but I mean eating at nice places. It's just my DH and me, so we really enjoy all the great restaurants at WDW - The Flying Fish, The California Grill, Artist Point, etc. We always spend a lot on food. We usually eat at a sit-down place for breakfast, a counter service place for lunch, and a nice sit-down place for dinner. I always budget the nice meals into our trip. I just hate the feeling of eating a hotdog at the food court and wishing I was eating at Artist Point! We also don't deny ourselves any snacks we want in the park. We don't carry in our own crackers or drinks or anything like that. I enjoy the Mickey Ice Cream bars and the Mickey Rice Crispie Treats too much! We live in a really small town, so we don't get to eat in great restaurants that often. When we got to WDW, we live it up! We go two or three times a year, so we can really relax and enjoy ourselves. That's why we don't feel like we are wasting precious part time in the restaurants.

[Judy from Boise]

The only place i won't Scrimp is on the flights to get there. I won't do Southwest etc that has 3 stops and takes a whopping 12 hours to get there ! Besides that everything is on the table !
( except of course not going this year....that is never an option....which is why scrimping is ! )

[jmminarik]

Originally posted by Pig Pen
What would you refuse to scrimp on?


Quality film and taking lots of photographs, even if we already have 60 shots of the castle...you never know when you'll get the lighting and angle just right to have that perfect image. We do scrimp on processing...I do my own B&W and know and trust the 1-hour lab employees at our closest Sam's Club.

Since we live in Philly (a city of neighborhoods, which I now think of as the city of restaurants), eating out isn't a special treat with the exception of Fish -n- Chips at the Rose and Crown. So we do 'scrimp' on meals out. I also enjoy cooking when I have time to do it, so for me its part of my artistic expression and fills the primal need to feed those I care about. :)

What we don't scrimp on is the food we buy for making our own meals...we're on vacation, so why not buy a porterhouse instead of a sirloin steak or buy Tony's version of Frosted Flakes instead of the store brand.

-Joe

[Shelly]

We take one vacation a year and scimp on nothing, what's the point of having a vacation if you can't enjoy it. The only time I would scimp at DW is if it was a short second last minute trip. I might not scimp then either LOL!

[Dodie]

After staying onsite, I would never stay offsite.

I would never "cook in the room." This is MY vacation too.

I will always have at least one nice, sit-down, Priority Seating meal during my trip.

[mikewdw]

we won't stay anywhere offsite. i know so say you are really paying deluxe hotel rates for an average room but i disagree. i have stayed in a few hotel around the south and none of the rest had a big statue of mickey anywhere on the property! we love being surrounded by "disney magic" even if it is just cool border around the walls and oversize football helmets outside our door. thats what makes it special!
we also love the discovery magic plan. we use it for all of our meals at wdw.

[DeeP]

I refuse to scrimp on a room by staying offsite and I refuse to scrimp and try to save money by driving, I will only fly.

[joeysbomb]

I never skimp on those "on ride" photos. They make great souveniers and I encorporate them into my memory books!

[snowmouse]

Scrimping at Disney misses the whole point for me. The hotels and restaurants are most of the 'magic' for me, even if the rest of my family could care less! We DO scrimp, however, on breakfast. We'll have muffins or pop tarts in the rooms so we can get to the parks sooner, I can't imagine getting my three children to sit down for food when they know what's waiting.

1995 Yacht Club
1997 Wyndham
1999 Swan
1999 DCL (3 day) Magic
2002 DCL (7 day) Magic
2002 Yacht Club

[cforza]

I won't scrimp on anything that saves time or on a nice, on-site hotel. My husband has a very high profile job that frequently equires him to leave early from vacation and be gone less than a week. There have been times when he has had to fly back to put out some fire, and then fly back to vacation! We can only stay 5 nights, so I have to get a towncar rather than rent a car, (it's the quickest way). Even though we are staying on-site we will probably take a taxi to some parks since the buses take too much time. I also WILL scrimp on food. First of all sit-down meals take too much precious time, and the food at Disney isn't that good, so I'd rather grab something quick. We also stay on the concierge level so we can get breakfast first thing and not waste "park time"!

We wouldn't have to do this if my husband wasn't coming with us, but this is the first time our whole family will be going to Disney together. We have been 3 times without him, since it isn't the type of vacation he has been willing to take time off for, but finally he agreed to come with us. My sons are very excited that Dad will be going on the rides with them this time!

[Meagansmom]

I am with everyone else. I am on vacation so here is my order:

1) I have to cook every other day, so I do not cook on vacation.

2) The same with laundry. I will pack enough for the trip. I do not do laundry.

3) And the rest - food and souveniers. They just go along with a vacation.

You work hard to pay, so it is time to play!!!

[WDWMom]

We don't skrimp at Jellyrolls. We love spending the evening watching the piano players and drinking beer. We usually have a $50 tab by the end of the night.

[Boots]

We love to plan where we are going to eat and make PS. I don't think we would cut this out.

[Lynn-Marie]

No cooking -- unless it's at our "home" at Old Key West (that's actually fun family time.) When we go to DLR (which is more often now that I'm scared to death of flying to Orlando), we only stay at hotels (sometimes DVC, sometimes not) and we always eat at the restaurants, both on and off site.

A new no skimp: gotta get a Mickey balloon for my son. It lasts more than a month and it's great to see him enjoy it for such a long time. It makes paying $6.50 for a balloon make some sense.

[Lynn-Marie]

No cooking -- unless it's at our "home" at Old Key West (that's actually fun family time.) When we go to DLR (which is more often now that I'm scared to death of flying to Orlando), we only stay at hotels (sometimes DVC, sometimes not) and we always eat at the restaurants, both on and off site.

A new no skimp: gotta get a Mickey balloon for my son. It lasts more than a month and it's great to see him enjoy it for such a long time. It makes paying $6.50 for a balloon make some sense.