Since joining DVC how have your spending habits changed?

[msdis]

Consider what you used to pay for meals, park passes, transportation (air, gas, rental car, transfers, etc.), recreation (boat rentals, bike rentals, pleasure island, mini golf, reg golf,etc.), kennel fees(big one for us), unpaid time off from work(anyone else do this?), extra shopping you could have lived without, and anything else you can think of and compare those costs of what you used to pay pre-DVC and what you now estimate you spend with DVC. I skipped the rooms entirely because for most it is a wash unless it a hugh difference one way or the other, then include it.

For us, even though we save a lot and can stay in a studio for 3 weeks for what the dues cost us compared to what a 8 day stay at the moderates used to cost us, we have more than doubled our other expenses.

[jmminarik]

So far, ours have gone up, but we don't want to think how much. Mainly, the increase is because we treat family and friends....nothing like spending $2800 on 5 day park hoppers.


-Joe

[yasuern]

If I consider just the Disney components - ie:meals, park passes, shooping and stuff related to being physical in WDW I say I spend less - I enjoy shopping to me its an olympic event - but since I know that I will be going every 6monhts or so I don't "impulse buy as much - and eating some meals in the Villas saves tons. However we fly and now being a family of 4 this is going to get costly - but thats not Disneys related - no matter were we go on vacation airfare 90% of the time is a factor. :)

[dvcHammer]

We actually spend less now. Eating in for breakfast in most days and having lunch and diner sometimes at home saves a bundle over the course of a week.
We would have been going anyway, so park passes have have gotten cheaper with the 10% off and dropping first and last days from the UMP saves $$. We spend that time at the resort or at DD.
With Southwest airfares being very inexpensive, the cost of geting there is low now as well.
And with the cost of a comparable on-site stay for similar lodging, the break-even point will come soon - and who can go back to a hotel style room after having a one or two bedroom home.

17 days till OKW. Can't wait!!! :)

[Doctor P]

I think, all in all, it is probably about the same amount of dollars, but they are allocated differently and cause us to have a more enjoyable and higher quality vacation.

As a comparison, our first trip to All Stars in 1999 cost about $1600 for lodging and UPH passes, plus another about $800 for food at Disney. The costs going to and from Disney were pretty comparable in 2001 so I will eliminate those costs.

For our 2001 trip, I think we spent about $600 on park passes, $120 on fireworks cruises, and about $1000 on meals I think, plus the $500 in annual dues. We also bought a lot more souveniers on the 2001 trip than we did in 1999.

[Richyams]

I said trippled, but there is a good reason for that. We bought ten years ago, our income has quadrupled since then......

So we are actually spending less.......

[Mickmse2002]

I think anybody who says they spend less is fibbing. Pre-DVC we would never go every year and stay 10 nights at a time. Now with DVC we do. Never did AP's pre-DVC, now thats the only way we go. I think the better measure is the perceived VALUE of the money spent pre- and post-DVC. I think the value is tremendous. We CAN do 10 night vacations, we CAN go every year, we CAN minimize the park passes by smartly using the AP's. Eating at the villas is also a huge cost savings from eating everything in the parks/hotels.

All in all the value for the dollars expended is much greater post-DVC then pre-DVC.

[seventh heaven]

My savings habits have changed. Since I plan each vacation so far in advance, I am able to budget spending money accordingly. There is no doubt that we are saving money on lodging.

[donald@home]

We spend less (and I am not fibbing). We eat breakfast and lunch in the rooms, only go to the parks for about two hours a day (on the days we go into the parks) because we have been so often so there is less impulse shopping, we have been so often that the need to buy souveniers is lessened, we spend most of our time by the pool with bottled water we buy at WalMart and keep cold in our villa, we enjoy our time in the rooms (because of the roominess compared to a regular hotel room) and have often just "stayed in" and watched a movie, for us a good time is taking a quiet walk from OKW to DTD where we will walk around and people watch, we often take friends and in exchange for our supplying the rooms they usually take us out to dinner or rent the car or both, we have gone on the cruise a few times and all of the food is included, etc. etc. etc. All of this adds up to spending less.

[lsutigger2]

I think ours is about the same, but what DVC has done for us is allow us to have MUCH BETTER accomodations. I would never have spent the money to stay in a deluxe before DVC. I keep telling my DH that the more we visit the fewer things I'll need to buy. So far, he's not 'buying' it!! We do spend less on food, but we've done extras, like tours and Cirque du Soleil tickets. I guess it's about the same.

[crisi]

So many variables.

We haven't taken our first DVC vacation, but like Rich, our incomes have changed pretty drastically since I first went to WDW. For one thing, I'm married and have two incomes, each of which is significantly larger than my just out of college income. But I've added three people (husband and two kids). So we will definately spend a lot more - but it isn't DVCs doing.

Like Mickmse, we go more often. We still are planning on only every other year, but that is different than the three, four, even five year schedule I was on.

DVC can allow you to save money on vacations - by eating in, by prepaying and not being subject to hotel inflation, by changing the nature of your Disney trips from commando style every day in the parks to "today lets sit by the pool".

But DVC can also encourage you to spend more money. The money used to pay your dues (and mortgage if you have one) is out of sight out of mind - making you feel that your hotel is "free." Or that you've gotten such a good bargain, you can afford more (dinners out, souvieniers, nights at DTD, whatever) than you really can.

[gmboy95]

WE have spent more, which to my wife and I is very dissapointing.....we got into DVC to pay less....but we only have ourselves to blame....I budgeted $1,000 for this last trip, and ended up spending $1,800....We are committed to spending just the thousand this year....we need to eat more meals in the room (one bedroom), and stop buying things on impulse....we have decided to have only three meals in the park restaurants this time around one breakfast one lunch and one dinner....lets see how it goes.

[Cruelladeville]

We spend much less now, but then we always stayed at the luxury resorts We have always gone to Hoop-de-Doo Review, the luau, golf, horseback riding, and fine restaurants. Now we usually eat breakfast in the room, occasionally some of the other meals, too. We have AP's now instead of park hopper passes, and that saves us money too. We take 3 trips per year, a week or more each time, so things can get expensive, but we usually eat very well for $1000 per trip, including souveniers, which we don't indulge in too much. We never used to go on a trip for less than $2500, and that was before 1997 when we bought in.

[jimmytammy]

We are going home 1st time in Dec and hoping on spending less. We are committed to less spending on souvenirs and at least eating breakfast in room except for DDs bday. Food and park tickets we hope will be our only major budget.
Tell me you DVC vets is this possible or am I just blowing smoke in the wind?

[ncligs]

Originally posted by jimmytammy
We are going home 1st time in Dec and hoping on spending less. We are committed to less spending on souvenirs and at least eating breakfast in room except for DDs bday. Food and park tickets we hope will be our only major budget.
Tell me you DVC vets is this possible or am I just blowing smoke in the wind?

http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/family/smokin.gif

[jimmytammy]

I thought that might be the answer. My DW and Myself both got a good kick out of it. Thanks!

[ncligs]

Originally posted by jimmytammy
I thought that might be the answer. My DW and Myself both got a good kick out of it. Thanks!

jimmytammy,

In all seriousness, if you cut out souvaneirs, eat breakfast in the rooms, don't go to fancy restraunts, and enjoy a few days at the DVC resorts without going to the parks, you will save considerable amounts of $$$$http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/family/biggthumpup.gif

[jimmytammy]

My DW said I was crazy if we were that close to the parks and didnt go and she likes San Angel Inn and Le Cellier so scrap the idea of saving $$$. So much for that I guess, oh well.

[Mickmse2002]

We go to the parks every day in the AM (after eating breakfast in the villa), return for lunch and pool time, eat most dinners in at the villa then head back to the parks for the night shows. In a nine night trip we will eat out normally three times. For a family of 5 we drop around $100 for each of these dinners. We spend lots on souveniers (whats the point in going if we don't bring home lots of Mickey stuff!). I only reported that our spending is up because we go far more often than ever before. Thankfully my income has outpaced my Disney expenditures so we can still go at least once a year without breaking the proverbial bank.

[wdwendyd]

I am one of the people that voted we spend three times as much but our enjoyment is probably tenfold! (and I used to have a great time before!) I have been a penny pincher all my life and now we are taking those saved dollars and living our dreams. DVC is the best one!

[poolgirl]

We're going home for the first time this November. But we've stayed at FW Cabins at least five times of our 25 plus visits in the last ten years. I find and so does DH that eating breakfast alone every morning at home, having evening snacks available and an occassional meal at night after a day at the parks saves a fortune!! It's also a matter of renting a decent car vs. a covertible or luxury car saves a ton too. Knowing where to shop for food vs. just outside WDW makes a big difference and having lots of bottled water in the fridge. vs. buying H20 at the parks.

We've always stayed at GF, BW, BC or the like and having all the @ home amenities seems to make a big difference.

oh yea- having an AP when you go more than 10 days per year seems to make a big difference in the amount of $ you would spend on passes.

After visiting 25+ times in the last ten years - we don't buy much in regards to souveneirs but we need to watch out with the high end of collectibles. My DH is notorious for buying something else to add to the collection! The problem is - I love the stuff as much as he does.

So just like you - being new to DVC - it only made sense to purchase!

Enjoy your next visit!

[lodgelady]

we spend the same amount (which by the way is our pre-planned vacation budget) but what we get for the money is vastly more wonderful! :D

[eva]

We spend a lot more than we used to. For one thing we go much more often then we used to. Plus, since we don't have to save for accomodations, we end up spending the money on nice dinners out. We probably spend about the same amount per day that we use to, but now we go more often.

[mickey7861]

We do spend less. Pre-DVC we always stayed for 2-3 weeks in the summer, splitting the days between moderate and deluxe resorts. Now we use our points for those 3 week stays. We eat breakfast in the villas, go to the parks for a while then return to the villa for swimming and lunch/snacks. We only eat one meal out each day....BIG savings for my family. We also have the kitchen stocked with soda, water, snacks. The $$ we spend on groceries is money we would have spent at home anyway. That lower cost for dining out makes a huge difference for my family. We have always bought AP's and still do so that's no different. Since my kids are older now the souvenir cost is lower too. Having free laundry rooms available is a cost saver too. I always end up doing laundry and now the washer/dryer is either right in our villa or we have the free DVC ones available to us.

[Love Tigger]

Usually DH & I spend more, but not quite double the amount. It seems that what we save in the way of accommodations we now spend on dinners out and recreation. We do a grocery stop for beer and water but we're not big on cooking and eating in. (I'm on vacation & I'm not cooking.) We now do a sit down dinner almost every night and at least two big blow out dinners on each trip. Pre DVC those two dinners would have been our food budget for almost a week. Since we know we're coming back the next year, we make time do more of the extra/fun things. We play miniature golf, rent the watermice & bikes, go to Cirque, take the behind-the-scene tours, and go on Illuminations cruises when we can.

[DaveH]

We have done one trip so far DVC. Park tickets the same. Meals was the same because we did not do anything in the room. This next trip we plan on getting stuff at the store on the way to WDW. That should save some. I used Brita bottle for the water and refill bottles from the parks and saved some on the water. We are paying more for room right now because we used All Stars. The rooms now are much better. A big plus for us and we know in the long run we will save $$$ on the rooms. I agree not putting money for room during trip we spend that money on maybe a better meal or something special. Because of only one trip I do not know which way we are going on that. I bet would be the same or more overall just on different things.