Now that the US Dollar is expensive ...

[Madame]

I'm strongly considering paying in full today my Disney trip for 3 months from now. Couple of questions. If I pay off the balance in full, and then new discounts come out, what happens to that credit? Can I keep the credit it and use it against meal tips and extras?

We paid off our March & Aug trips last week - the dollar is most likely going nowhere but down. I'm still kicking myself for not paying in full when I booked!

When we booked last Aug we paid it off months early b/c the dollar was slipping then. FD was released for Canadians I think end of June or so. Our CC was credited when I called to aply the discount. I don't think they can keep it on your account.

 

[MegaSilver]

When we booked last Aug we paid it off months early b/c the dollar was slipping then. FD was released for Canadians I think end of June or so. Our CC was credited when I called to aply the discount. I don't think they can keep it on your account.

Thanks! Yeah, I'd prefer to have the discount credited back. Just wanted to make sure I was locked in at this rate.

 

[mkmommy]

We paid off our March & Aug trips last week - the dollar is most likely going nowhere but down. I'm still kicking myself for not paying in full when I booked!

When we booked last Aug we paid it off months early b/c the dollar was slipping then. FD was released for Canadians I think end of June or so. Our CC was credited when I called to aply the discount. I don't think they can keep it on your account.

I have in the past had the credit left on the account, but it was a room only reservation and I did have to specifically ask fir the credit to remain on the account.

 

[Frozen2014]

Does the recent drop in CAD over the US (roughly $1.15 CAD / $1USD), does this impact your plans?

We usually go to one of the Disney parks every 2nd year, so we were thinking about 2015, but it is a lot more expensive than I was there in 2013 when the dollar was at par.

Yep...we were looking at a cruise for our next trip (Disney World probably trip after that). DCL quotes in US. RCCL quotes on CAD. The price of the two cruises are already different with DCL being higher. But with the dollar so bad and not stable, we went with RCCL. At least we know what we are paying. (and the ship we selected is super kid friendly too)

 

[Liv4Dis]

We are probably going to change our booking from Riverside to All Star Sports because of the dollar. I calculated this out to be a total savings of over $1,000 for our trip. I was sad about this (we had a Royal room booked), however, we have never stayed at All Star Sports so that will be fun and we are still getting to go to Disney!

 

[pigletto]

We are probably going to change our booking from Riverside to All Star Sports because of the dollar. I calculated this out to be a total savings of over $1,000 for our trip. I was sad about this (we had a Royal room booked), however, we have never stayed at All Star Sports so that will be fun and we are still getting to go to Disney!

I like your attitude about it all . If we were to go back to Disney at these prices we would be doing the same thing or staying offsite again. As it is, as much as I'd like to go back to Universal in October to get one more trip out of these AP's I just don't think we can swing it at these prices. Like the above poster my mind is starting to consider places where I can steal get a deal in Canadian funds.

 

[mshanson3121]

The dollar is now down to roughly $0.78 - and that's the posted rate, that's not what you actually get when purchasing, you have to take off 1-3 more cents, so you might as well plan on adding 25% to all costs. CBC said today that it will not be going back up, in fact they expect it to continue to drop, and to hit as low as 70% in the next year or so. Seeing as how in December they didn't expect it to go below $0.82 by the end of 2015, and within one month it had plunged lower than that, I wouldn't be surprised to see the dollar hit $0.70 by this summer. It all depends on what the Middle East oil company decides to do (their name has momentarily left me).

So... yes, it's changed our plans, and hasn't.

We did briefly consider canceling our trip. However - knowing that the dollar is only going to go lower, we figured we had better go now, before it gets worse. We are buying all our US cash this month, even though we don't go until June, because let's face it - the dollar will be lower then.

We also changed the house we had rented. We were going to stay at Windsor Hills, and it was still a great value compared to staying at Disney ($253 a night, being split two ways since we're traveling with in-laws). But... we knew there were also cheaper options out there. Anyways, I came across a WONDERFUL place - it's in Clermont area, so about 15 minutes drive to TTC (about 8-10 minutes farther away than WH). It's a 4 bedroom house with games room, huge private pool etc... AND (drumroll), it's owned by a Canadian!

We contacted her and she gave us as great deal - instead of $119 USD a night, she's giving it to us for a really good discounted rate. So, we just saved $1775!!! Granted, that's split two ways, but still!!! So, given how much we're saving, we've decided to add on an extra night And sure, we'll have to drive a little bit further, but... for that big of a savings, we really don't care!

 

[mshanson3121]

http://www.vrbo.com/441673

This is the rental, too, in case anyone is interested.

 

[mab2012]

The dollar is now down to roughly $0.78 - and that's the posted rate, that's not what you actually get when purchasing, you have to take off 1-3 more cents, so you might as well plan on adding 25% to all costs.

Market rate right now is 0.7923 CAD/USD = 1.2621 USD/CAD * 2.5% (typical conversion markup) = 1.2937 USD/CAD. So plan on adding 30% to all costs. And rising.

 

[Frozen2014]

Market rate right now is 0.7923 CAD/USD = 1.2621 USD/CAD * 2.5% (typical conversion markup) = 1.2937 USD/CAD. So plan on adding 30% to all costs. And rising.

Maybe that's why DCL now offering a Canadian rate of 20% off on select cruises?

 

[pigletto]

I've been thinking about this all day. We like to do a table service meal every night but that might be out the window. We'll still do 3 (since we are celebrating 3 birthdays while we are there).
I think until things start to look up this might be the year to book that long dreamt of trip to the Rockies that I have always had in the back of my mind. Neither of my kids nor my husband have ever been to Banff/Jasper and I know they'd love it. Mind you, unless we made that ridiculously long three day drive, we'd get hosed on flights in Canadian funds anyway.

 

[sympatico]

I've been thinking about this all day. We like to do a table service meal every night but that might be out the window. We'll still do 3 (since we are celebrating 3 birthdays while we are there).
I think until things start to look up this might be the year to book that long dreamt of trip to the Rockies that I have always had in the back of my mind. Neither of my kids nor my husband have ever been to Banff/Jasper and I know they'd love it. Mind you, unless we made that ridiculously long three day drive, we'd get hosed on flights in Canadian funds anyway.

Have been pondering where to go for our 40th anniversary in July. Had a couple of places in the States and the Rockies picked out. Think we'll be doing the Rockies too if the dollar stays down.
We were thinking about doing a last minute trip to Florida for mid Feb. but might rethink that one.

 

[bcwife76]

I just called our travel agent this morning and paid our cruise in full (full payment wasn't due til July 9th). Our hotel in Disneyland was booked and paid in full at the end of 2014 so at least that's something. Still need to book our flights home though....and buy our Disneyland tickets. Oy Vey.

 

[Phoenixrising]

Unfortunately for me I can't book my trip till July next year, so I'm at the mercy of the USD for some time to come. I've started to call this trip "We're going come h*ll or high water" trip. I was planning on staying at POR, but if the CDN dollar still continues to be weak against the USD in the coming months we may need to switch to Pop Century instead.

 

[dsneygirl]

I've been thinking about this all day. We like to do a table service meal every night but that might be out the window. We'll still do 3 (since we are celebrating 3 birthdays while we are there).
I think until things start to look up this might be the year to book that long dreamt of trip to the Rockies that I have always had in the back of my mind. Neither of my kids nor my husband have ever been to Banff/Jasper and I know they'd love it. Mind you, unless we made that ridiculously long three day drive, we'd get hosed on flights in Canadian funds anyway.

This is kind of our thinking, we're hoping to still go in the fall but we don't need all the bells and whistles of some other trips. We've been blessed to go many times before so we don't mind scaling it back a bit. Our acommodations are already paid for (DVC dues) so that's already done.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

We are definitely scaling back some of our plans while in Florida. More dinners at the condo planned. Wish I had bought our Universal Tickets already! Everything I look at I calculate the actual price with the exchange. Blech.

Pigletto - we did the drive out to Banff a couple of years ago with our trailer. My husband still thinks it was one of the best trips. Not sure of your kids ages, but a stop in Drumheller along the way might be fun for them. We stayed in a couple, um .... interesting .... campgrounds along the way, but it was an adventure!

 

[dis_guy]

I paid off out trip yesterday even though it's not due until mid September. If the dollar's slide keeps on going, I probably saved a bit paying it earlier rather than in the fall. We're also scaling back a bit on our spending while there like some others here. We've found the DDP to be about the same cost as out of pocket for how we roll but we'll skip it next fall and have fewer table service meals on this trip. The real savings will be in having fewer meals requiring gratuities. Didn't need all those desserts anyway.

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

Have a long 12 night trip planned for July for dd's high school grad. Will definitely downgrade to Sports from Pop to save about $120US and only 1 ts meal with breakfast, sandwiches, snacks in the room and offsite meals. However, this is the worst case scenario. Still holding out booking waiting to see the summer specials and if Disney comes out with a Canadian discount to offset some of the exchange and the projected ticket increase. As it stands we are looking at about $2000 in total just in the exchange rate even with staying value and only doing 7 day base tickets to the parks for 4 people.

 

[minnie56]

Were none of you doing WDW when the $$$ was at $1.60?!
I was ...a lot.
It's still better than that!

 

[dsneygirl]

Were none of you doing WDW when the $$$ was at $1.60?!
I was ...a lot.
It's still better than that!

Sure I was but everything else has gone up. In 2003 dinner at Le Cellier was not $200 like it is now. the famous filet used to be like $30. Now it's what $50?

Hotel? A one day ticket is $100. Everything else has gone way up in the last decade.

Also when it was $1.60 there were only two of us. Now there are 4.

ETA: in 2000 a 1 day ticket was $46 x 1.6 =$73. Now $130.

I think it's awesome some people don't bat at an eye at a 25%-30% increase but we sure don't have that luxury.