Adventures by Disney-- How do people do it?-- It's so much $$

[DisneyWhovian]

And if you pay your bills, work hard, sacrifice and save for one of these vacations, you shouldn't be made to feel like an irresponsible noodge by some self-proclaimed financial expert on the internet. Because THAT'S OKAY!!!!

Oh, I forgot that this was the justification board, not the BUDGET board. My bad.

Good luck with your finances.

 

[holden]

Expressing an opinion isn't being judgemental. I personally would rather plan trips myself (and I have; I have traveled all over the world with my husband and family and friends). If you want to pay a premium for someone else to do this and take a trip on their schedule, go for it!

I find it hard to believe an individual (unless you are a travel agent) could plan a trip like the one we had. ABD has exclusive access to places and experiences that aren't available to the general public. I'm sure other travel companies/tour companies have access to these places as well, but someone planning a trip from their home computer doesn't. That is why ABD is so expensive.

A private wine tasting at a farm in Tuscany with a soda tasting for the kids? check

A private tour of Siena with entrance to one of the contrada's museums and chapel? check

Boat ride to a secluded cove in the Mediterranean where you can swim to your heart's content? check

Forgot your sunscreen? No problem. Plenty available.

Thirsty? Ice cold bottled water coming your way.

Not to mention coordinating transportation to several different cities, sometimes two per day...

These are just some of the things we experienced on our trip. We didn't want to do the typical sightseeing tour. We wanted to experience a different culture.

I have traveled to Europe before and have planned many trips. ABD is a completely different experience entirely. It is not "taking a trip on someone else's schedule." It's experiencing things you otherwise wouldn't be able to do on your own.

 

[Marionnette]

Oh, I forgot that this was the justification board, not the BUDGET board. My bad.

Good luck with your finances.

I don't need luck. I know what I'm doing with my money. Since you know nothing about me or my net worth, save your judgements.

Have a Disney Day!

 

[fbb]

you have less than $500k in cash assets

DisneyWhovian, how do you define cash assets?

 

[Lewisc]

I know there are people out there who make a lot more $$ than DH, but we are comfortably well-above the household national average for income. I can't even fathom paying for an Adventure by Disney trip. Just for kicks and giggles, I priced out a couple: $14K for a week trip to Arizona and Utah for our family of four. .

You're asking 3 different questions.

How do people spend their "excess" money? Some spend it on expensive cars, home remodeling, jewelry, designer clothing, electronic gadgets including home theater and frequent dining in expensive restaurants. Others spend it on vacations.

Why spend money on a tour when it is usually less expensive to book everything on your own? Some people don't have to the time to research and plan. Some people like to have "hand holding" and not to have to worry about the details.

Why spend $$$ on AbD? That's a tough question. Expensive tours like Disney and Tauck stay at better hotels, include more tours, include "extras" and even supply included air or train if it improves the guest experience vs a bus. Disney is generally more expensive then Tauck and some Tauck tours include tips.

Some people are willing to pay a price premium for anything Disney. They think Disney will do it better.

This is the budget board. People on a budget can probably enjoy 2 vacations for the price of 1 AbD tour.

 

[DisneyWhovian]

DisneyWhovian, how do you define cash assets?

Checking/savings/brokerage. Heck I'll even throw in retirement accounts even those can't easily be converted to cash without serious penalties.

 

[DisneyWhovian]

And for the record, my inputs in this thread are to dissuade people from wasting money they shouldn't. 99% of people on these boards should view these trips like a Ferrari, something they know they won't have. You can still have a perfectly good and appropriate life with a camaro or a corvette.

These things are beyond what normal people should spend on a vacation.

You shouldn't look to these things as an amazing once in a lifetime trip. Go take 5 once in a lifetime trips and enjoy life instead.

Regardless, I am going to leave this thread now.

 

[mgsquared]

My take on ABD after looking it up and reading TRs from people who were in my neck of the woods- I plan it for half.

I kid. Kinda. It really can be done for half if you book those activities locally. Most of them are not as exclusive as it seems. There are better located hotels that are just as comfortable and not as expensive (so many American chains. Ugh. It's Europe!) that I would recommend more. I would never allow people to end up in a chain restaurant for one of the several meals they have to pay themselves... I wasn't impressed by what I read. The guide, though German speaking, was not a local and it was obvious in the choices made and in the locations of some of the accommodations.

So yeah. Those who go enjoy themselves which is great for them. But if someone needs help planning a trip to Europe for a fraction of the price. PM me because it's not hard at all and I will totally help you just like that for the sake of not seeing money go to waste that someone maybe doesn't have to spare.

 

[Tink2Day]

Checking/savings/brokerage. Heck I'll even throw in retirement accounts even those can't easily be converted to cash without serious penalties.

Assets? whatever is convertible to cash.

 

[eliza61]

So I look at ABD the way I look at any other "luxury" item. Worth/value are subjective.

If the vacation is how you like to travel then it's worth what the price is. Now I've been hanging out in Europe that last couple of years and there isn't any thing in ABD that I find worth the money.....

But I also love Chanel pocketbooks. Which the reality is, it's just a pocketbook.

New York city just opened up it's first 5 star luxury hotel, I think it's the grand plaza, average price? 900 bucks a night and that's average price. I'm dying to get a peak in that sucker

 

[Tink2Day]

This is accurate.

I have first hand data for this. The average American has over $10k in credit card debt. The average 50yr old adult in America today has (excluding home equity, if any) less than $10k in cash or investments. Most people will "retire" with a mortgage. Pensions no longer exist.

So we have millions of people with nothing saved, tons of consumer debt, and they will only get social security of $1000/mo if they ever retire.

Pensions do still exist..maybe not in Detroit, but for sure in a lot of locales. $1000 SS, only if the person has a low paying job and/or retired early. Many employers still offer 401K and/or 403B. Many of us of a certain age have had more than one career and have retirement plans in more than one type of profession. I'll not retire because I've seen what it does to my friends, use it or lose it applies to the intellect as well as the physical.
One other thing-we are a generation of grandparents raising our grandchildren and/or empty nesters with the 'baby' birds returning to the nest....they can't make it on their own(and not because they're taking extravagant ABD vacations either.)

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I find it hard to believe an individual (unless you are a travel agent) could plan a trip like the one we had. ABD has exclusive access to places and experiences that aren't available to the general public. I'm sure other travel companies/tour companies have access to these places as well, but someone planning a trip from their home computer doesn't. That is why ABD is so expensive.

A private wine tasting at a farm in Tuscany with a soda tasting for the kids? check

A private tour of Siena with entrance to one of the contrada's museums and chapel? check

Boat ride to a secluded cove in the Mediterranean where you can swim to your heart's content? check

Forgot your sunscreen? No problem. Plenty available.

Thirsty? Ice cold bottled water coming your way.

Not to mention coordinating transportation to several different cities, sometimes two per day...

These are just some of the things we experienced on our trip. We didn't want to do the typical sightseeing tour. We wanted to experience a different culture.

I have traveled to Europe before and have planned many trips. ABD is a completely different experience entirely. It is not "taking a trip on someone else's schedule." It's experiencing things you otherwise wouldn't be able to do on your own.

Child's play!

You can easily arrange activities far more unique on your own. Of course, it helps if you have friends, family and colleagues in other countries! I have been lucky enough to have had some pretty amazing experiences without using any travel guides. Again, it's fine to use Disney for your vacations, but there's nothing really unique or special about what they do (excepting anything they might offer at one of their parks).

 

[JanaDee]

Checking/savings/brokerage. Heck I'll even throw in retirement accounts even those can't easily be converted to cash without serious penalties.

We fit into your criteria for being "allowed " to take an ABD trip. There is still no way in hell we are wasting that kind of money on a vacation.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

I thought of another reason ABD appeals so some (vs just the handholding I said before)....

Some people may enjoy going on a vacation and having a group of people that they would tour around with for the week or two. They enjoy the social aspect of meeting new friends and having these friends to go and do stuff with each day.

Now DH & I on the other hand, we aren't that social on our vacations. We both interact with people 5 days a week and we don't want to on vacation. Even on cruises we usually get a table to ourselves, the exception is when we cruise in Europe as we then eat at a table with others.

It doesn't matter if we think ABD is worth the up charge or not, which has been discussed numerous ways on this thread. But one of the questions was what are you paying the extra fee for. And, some people a social aspect is huge.

 

[CuteAndFluffy]

We've considered it, but I think we'll end up passing.

My husband and I are very comfortable traveling, even in locations where we don't know the language. It's easy enough to get a hold of trip itineraries or excursion vendor information to set up experiences on our own. We like traveling on our own timetable. Not to mention the discount for planning it all ourselves. We are content with just family time.

My son, however, is an extreme extrovert only child. We've considered a ABD trip just to up the chances that he would have kids to play with as we check out Europe or Asia.

Choosing a travel package like this would limit other experiences (weekend trips, longer road trips or vacations) because money and time have boundaries, but you're just trading one experience for another set of experiences. Neither has greater value than the other as long as you are getting out there and really trying to experience *something*

 

[SirDuff]

This thread is really reminding me of this recent one...

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3336112

I'm one who is unlikely to take an ABD tour, just because I don't think that their touring style would give me what I want. However, I did spend probably a similar amount of a bike tour in Thailand and am planning on doing another in Argentina next year. I do not, at all, regret what I spent. Nor, do I believe that I was financially irresponsible in doing so. Nor does my financial planner, who actually commented on how frugally I tend to live given my financial situation (my dad, who was a financial planner and double checks my taxes called me cheap).

I know that I could go on a couple of cheaper trips rather than the big bike trip, but *for me* the big bike trip is how I want to spend my money (though I will have done some smaller trips in between the big bike trips, which will be about three years apart by the time I take the next one).

 

[JaimeK]

I love travel planning so for me buying a travel package would suck all my planning fun out. Why pay the huge premium to have everything set up when I can do it for free and enjoy it so much?

We just got a travel brochure for a (non-Disney) family adventures company. Some of the prices were just shocking. For a family of 4 a trip to Greece would be close to $30K! I'm sure I could do a similar itinerary for $8K.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Just out of curiosity, when people are saying "I could do the same trip for $x" are you saying you could go to the same place? Or stay in the same hotels, tours, etc.?

I tend not to travel on the cheap. I'll try to find deals but have a high standard for hotels, etc.

I will sometimes plan myself and sometimes with a travel agent. I hate group tours so don't do that, but will have a tour guide depending on location. For example, I didn't go traipsing around the Sinai Peninsula on my own.

I'm always curious about the way people compare vacations. You can always almost do a vacation to the same place for less money, but wonder if they're truly apples to apples.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Just out of curiosity, when people are saying "I could do the same trip for $x" are you saying you could go to the same place? Or stay in the same hotels, tours, etc.?

I'm always curious about the way people compare vacations. You can always almost do a vacation to the same place for less money, but wonder if they're truly apples to apples.

This is what I posted earlier in this thread...
"A few months ago when we were trying to determine what we'd do for our 2015 "big" vacation and one of the options was an African safari. We checked into ABD. The cost for us two (DH & I) for the trip through ABD (including tips and buying airfare on our own) came out to $21,700. We priced the identical itinerary down to staying at the same hotel in Capetown and same game reserve when you did the safari. Our cost to do on our own was $12,500. For us to do the same itinerary as ABD we could not justify spending $9K+ more. But we are comfortable traveling in areas we don't speak the language. "

This is staying at the EXACT same hotel ABD was using in Capetown and the EXACT same hotel and room category on the game reserve. When I was looking at the trip, it did seem awesome when I saw all the info about the safari that ABD had planned out, it said how you will be picked right up at the airport (as you fly a small commuter plane from Capetown out to the safari area), all meals were included right at the game preserve, how all safaris were included, ranger hikes were included, etc. I thought initially wow that is awesome to have all that with ABD, it will be hard for me to replicate. But then I saw the game reserve and looked up their info online and all t hat stuff that ABD is giving you was included in what they charge per night (even airport transfers). It's basically like an all inclusive.

So for me when I am comparing prices, yes I am comparing apples to apples with same excursions and lodging (and estimated meal costs when I had to buy meals). Plus I also added on some extra sighseeing places that we would have done in Capetown that ABD didn't have and I still came out $9K cheaper.

 

[Nayan]

I'm always curious about the way people compare vacations. You can always almost do a vacation to the same place for less money, but wonder if they're truly apples to apples.

Most of the time, no. A good example for Disney:

Vacation A- Being a FL resident, I have an advantage. I could wait until until the March-May time-frame and grab the FL resident ticket special they usually do (last one was 3 days for $135 I think), pitch a tent, cook most of my meals and have a really cheap Disney vacation.

Vacation B- I could stay at the AKL, get the dining plan and take advantage of the Sunrise Safari, which is only available to those who stay at that resort and spend much more on my vacation.

Same destination but two totally different vacations.