Family of six for under five thousand! Now how to convince tight husband??

[nefritz]

Thanks everyone. I'm very detail oriented, we don't have ddp just quick but I have planned down to souvenirs and beer delivery! I've checked the website every day including today and still have free dining, but thanks!
I wrote up all the logistics for my husband, how we can pay for it out of pocket in the next month or take from savings! Now all I can do is wait and see what he thinks of everything
Thanks again

[Fjobe]

Let us know what he has to say!

[~Kristina~]

I can do a family of 7 for a little over 5000.00, but we bring our own camper down and stay at Ft. Wilderness for 7 nights/8 days. I do room/site only reservations, and then buy tickets at undercovertourist.com but we only do 5 day park tickets. I always book 1yr out and buy Disney gift cards all year long to save money. Much easier for us since if something breaks down or needs to be replaced we'll use our saved Disney money for it. This way, we can't touch the money. It's possible to do, but I agree, you need a good pitch.

ETA: That figure is with my 2 yr old, next year, my cost will be a little more.

[Sugar Jones]

I did an Excel spreadsheet for my husband. I priced out every conceivable option available. Everything from onsite Deluxe, Mod & value, with and without dining, offsite, flying vs driving etc...... I listed pros and cons of staying on and offsite. I listed what option I wanted and why. Then I left the decision up to him, knowing he would pick my option


We are going next September one more time. Dh does not like Disney so I promised this will be the last Disney trip. After this trip I will start saving for a beach vacation, which is more his speed.

[~Kristina~]

Originally Posted by Sugar Jones

I did an Excel spreadsheet for my husband. I priced out every conceivable option available. Everything from onsite Deluxe, Mod & value, with and without dining, offsite, flying vs driving etc...... I listed pros and cons of staying on and offsite. I listed what option I wanted and why. Then I left the decision up to him, knowing he would pick my option


We are going next September one more time. Dh does not like Disney so I promised this will be the last Disney trip. After this trip I will start saving for a beach vacation, which is more his speed.

Just make sure the beach is close to WDW. :-P

[Sugar Jones]

Originally Posted by ~Kristina~

Just make sure the beach is close to WDW. :-P

I like the way you think

[bellaally]

I love that idea also if your gonna surprised the kids and keep it a secret that's good, but the other day on this site I saw a family that wanted to save together for Disney. The kids saved up the allowances, and did garage sales and helped cut back cost in the house didn't ask for anything and it's a great lesson to teach the kids the value on money. Hope he says yes.

[Nancyg56]

I would book the trip at the resort that you want, book adr's and then discuss with your DH. You do not want to have the pressure of losing the trip you are discussing because you waited.

I booked our November trip and then discussed it with my DH. I put the deposit down because I knew that our 180 day mark was two days away and DD adn I are pretty picky about our dining options.

I was prepared to cancel if my DH was not comfortable but I wanted to be able to ave our discussion knowing that the plans I had in place were constnat. Had I waited our prices may have changed.

[usnuzuloose]

I hope your DH realizes that family time is more important than money. Not to say you spend money like that all the time. My ex husband never allowed us to go anywhere unless he approved it, which was never. My children never have been anywhere. Life is so short.

[DisneyFansInNYC]

All I want to add is that your kids are only young once. My kids are getting older and pray that they always want to go with us to Disney. So far we all love it. It truly makes family memories that you cannot get anywhere else. Disney is magical.

[Marionnette]

Good luck convincing him! We won't take money out of regular savings for leisure. We have a separate savings account just for vacations. It makes it so much easier for me to say to him, "I'd like to take a trip to Disney and I estimate that it will cost $X. We have more than enough to pay for it in our vacation account. Can you take the time off?"

I also do a lot of rewards savings ahead of time just to make the out of pocket cost even lower. I do online rewards programs for gift cards or cash that gets saved specifically for trips. I toss all of my change into a jar to pay for souvenirs. I look for "free money" opportunities like bonuses for opening a new checking account or rewards credit card offers that offer free flights or lots of points for getting approved and using the card for a while. So, when I approach him with the idea of a trip, I play up the saving measures that I've already done..."Look, I've got 2 free round-trip flights. It will only cost us the 9/11 fees. I bought 6-day park hoppers with the "pay yourself back" points on credit card X. I have $X in Disney Rewards Dollars and my brother will rent his DVC points to us for $8/pt. because it's either use them or lose them. He already has a studio on hold for us. Total OOP cost would be $X and we have more than enough in the savings account to cover it."

Of course, I spend a year or more accruing all of those awards and rewards. And it's usually just the two of us now that the kids are in college. But, I've found that he is so much more open to taking a trip (any trip) if he knows that we are getting a good deal and it won't impact our regular savings.

I hope that you can convince your husband to go this year. But if not, tell him straight up that you are going to start saving for a trip next December. You might even want to get the kids on board with saving for the special trip.

[Sugar Jones]

Yes get the kids on board as well. My kids have been saving since we got back from our first trip in 2010. Dh said that was a once in a lifetime trip, but we ignore him

Originally he said he wasn't going back, so I started planning a trip with just myself and the kids. When my MIL found out she asked if she could go and I was like absolutley!!!! Now my MIL and my mother are going and low and behold dh has decided he is going to come along as well. I guess he realized how much he would miss out having fun with the kids even if it wasn't his idea of a good time.

When we get back we will start saving for something that is his choice next time.

I look at it this way. Dh goes to Nascar every year with his friends for 4 days. He is also an avid road biker. He has bought 2 new bikes in the last 3 years that cost more than a Disney trip. That is his thing and it makes him happy so I don't complain. I cringe at the thought of that much money being spent on a pedal bike, but I bite my tongue

Disney is my thing.

[Ccann]

I thought our trip in 2010 was our last trip, but I went ahead and booked one for Nov. 2012 and a cruise in Dec. 2013. I told my husband I wanted to book a vacation we first wanted to do a cruise but found we could do a full week at WDW for less. My husband agreed to something around 4000 for the 4 of us he has no clue that we are nearing 6500! I upgraded to AKL and were doing 8 days 7 nights with Park Hopper, and Deluxe Dinning.
He has no clue only that our airline tickets were more. I work mainly in the summer so what I did was cashed my checks and paid cash. I take care of the bills at home so he doesn't pay attention to the bank account!
I should feel bad but I don't, he spends a lot of money on Golf, fishing, beer, smokes, and chew by habit is mnt dew, this is how I justify this lol!

When I asked about the cruise he asked how much I said about the same as this trip... He said okay as long as we can pay for it and our bills... Haha... I did end up telling him that went over the original amount he was fine with it... Our kids are 6 and 3...

On a side note I know my husband he doesn't care as long as we can afford it, and it doesn't interfere with his time to golf.. Another seeking point he will be golfing one day of our trip. 😃

[mummabear]

I also suggest that you look offsite there a cheaper places close enough that you don't need to rent a car. I would also reconisder the dining plan-I can't see how it saves any money and to me it looks like it would cost us extra....

[BuzznBelle'smom]

I have to agree on offsite. Even with renting a vehicle, you can save a ton, especially if you're willing to cook a few simple meals.

Bonnet Creek is offsite, with park shuttles. It's actually located right next to OKW, so very close to the parks and all. I would love to try it, but my gang really prefers a house rental. Thye offer deals on 2Br and 3BR villas--much more room for your gang, plus a full kitchen and laundry facilities, plenty of resort-type activities. Some airport car services will allow a halfhour grocerystop on the way to your destination, or you could get groceries delivered by Wegoshop or another grocery delivery service.

P.S. I'm totally not a fan of trying to hide the actual costs from my spouse. I just don't think that's respectful, and it "allows" him to do the same thing. I just don't think it sets a good tone in a marriage. JMHO