Anyone else struggle with cost/benefit of short trips?

[yeahdisney]

I thought about going this weekend
Someone posted blt 2 nights studio $777
Disney only had moderate for $555 ish
Flight to Jacksonville would have been $340 where family has car.
Flight back $61 Thursday from with mco or Jacksonville. I would have had to Uber either way. Plus then went more nights if stay at
Orlando.

We are out of dvc points. My annual pass expires Sept 2.
So for $1100 ish I decided I will wait and go for the short trip in Nov. with the $61 flights and then slightly longer trip in December and chill this weekend. And buy another ticket then.

 

[Pinnochio]

I don't like short cruises. I feel like you're just getting the feel of things and it's time to go. We felt that way on the Wish last year. From now on at least 7 nights.

totally agree with the just getting the feel of things.....longer trips are a must for me

 

[first*toright]

We pretty much only do short trips to WDW. Its a quick flight for us, so we can do a Thurs-Sunday, hit two or three parks and feel like we've gotten a little break from life. Between kid/work/family schedules, we have a hard time getting away for more than a week at a time, so if we have a week or 10 days off we generally use that time to go somewhere further away than Florida.

A long weekend is plenty of Disney fix for us at this point in our lives. It is not what you'd call a cheap weekend away, and there are definitely savings to be had by staying longer, but time is sometimes more of a constraint than money!

 

[meriface11]

For us, a full week has been our standard trip. Now everything cost wise seems to be measured against that.

We would love to go on a couple short trips but then the what ifs start.

For example, plane tickets are the same price for a 3 day trip and a 7 day. Park tickets get cheaper overall every day you add. 3 day trips lose part of the days to travel.

Before long we have talked ourselves out of a short trip to wait until we can stay longer.

We are DVC and AP, so we usually do 2 week long trips and one or two long weekends per year. The airfare can get expensive, but we have lots of airline miles to help along the way.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

We are DVC and AP, so we usually do 2 week long trips and one or two long weekends per year. The airfare can get expensive, but we have lots of airline miles to help along the way.

Are you me? lol

 

[Harmacist]

I get 4 day weekends with my job (I work 4 day weekends too), one weekend last year my girlfriend and I decided to try a short trip. It worked out great. We then booked a short weekend in December. Once we saw the price of the trip in December, we just upgraded to an AP and have no regrets. All in all we will get around 23-25 days in the parks this year. We live right next to an airport with Allegiant so we can get fairly cheap flights. We are renewing the AP next year since we are going again in December to do Jollywood Nights (ours was cancelled last year). We definitely won't go as much next year as this past year, as I need to replace my car soon so that cuts into my disney budget. But I think with 3-4 short trips it will pay off.

Those short trips are REALLY expensive on a per day basis, and I really think the only way to make it worthwhile is with an AP. The added discounts of an AP are nice too, better hotel discounts, 10-20% off dining, 20% off merch. Being able to buy photo pass for $100 for a year is great option, as well as the park hopper included.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

Magic formula is

DVC + AP + Airline miles through credit card churning + Not doing table service all the time = many affordable trips during the year

The variable always ends up being if you're beholden to the school schedule but that can be worked around if booked early enough

 

[DCLMP]

I used to struggle with the cost benefit of any length trip to wdw. Now I've decided it's not worth it. No more struggle.

 

[MabelM]

Yes, which is why we only take a long trip to Disney every few years. With a 3 hour flight, it isn’t worth it to me to travel this far for a weekend.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

We love short trips. In fact, I'd rather make a couple of trips that are 3-5 days each instead of 1 trip once a year that lasts 6-8 days. Just me though. We live 10 minutes from El AeroPuerto Grande in DFW, so we have our choice of flights. But we're Southwest people (Love Field) for the most part because they're just as cheap as anything out of DFW and it's a much smaller airport. Also, we like to go down when there's special events like MNSSHP or MVMCP. That way we can go down for just a couple of nights, spend some time at Disney Springs, maybe do 1 other park and call it a trip. In fact, we haven't been to AK or HS since Dec. 2022. We didn't have time to plan those parks on the last 2 trips, but we're also not big fans of those 2 parks (they're maybe a half day each for us).

 

[CapeCodTenor]

There was a time when I never would have considered taking anything less than a 6-night trip to Disney World, always wanted to do a 10-Day trip but never did. However, I'm now considering a 3-4-night trip for sometime in the future, be it a solo trip or a daddy/daughter trip, my DW's a musician and it's difficult for her to take time off. I'm now of the mindset that any time down in the World is better than no time in the world.

 

[jo-jo]

I used to struggle with the cost benefit of any length trip to wdw. Now I've decided it's not worth it. No more struggle.

We are still doing one more trip.

But yes, I always think this trip is 5 grand we could get new carpeting or new fridge or ....... Just added up what cash I will need for tips. Airport, car service, bell service, housekeeping , that along is close to $300. That alone would pay for 5 dinners for us at Texas roadhouse. With the cost of tickets, we could eat at Texas every weekend for almost a year.

 

[ExcitedForWDW]

7-10 days for us. Longer stays seem more justified since we are spending on the flights and all but hotel, tickets and food all add up lol. It’s getting very expensive what with our exchange rate so 7-8 days will likely it be our sweet spot from now on.

 

[georgina]

We love short trips. In fact, I'd rather make a couple of trips that are 3-5 days each instead of 1 trip once a year that lasts 6-8 days. Just me though. We live 10 minutes from El AeroPuerto Grande in DFW, so we have our choice of flights. But we're Southwest people (Love Field) for the most part because they're just as cheap as anything out of DFW and it's a much smaller airport. Also, we like to go down when there's special events like MNSSHP or MVMCP. That way we can go down for just a couple of nights, spend some time at Disney Springs, maybe do 1 other park and call it a trip. In fact, we haven't been to AK or HS since Dec. 2022. We didn't have time to plan those parks on the last 2 trips, but we're also not big fans of those 2 parks (they're maybe a half day each for us).

That’s me also. Just got back from a quick 3 night trip. My flights were about 4000 SW points each way, 2 free Marriott nights from credit cards and 1 night at the Swan. Used Uber to get around when offsite, went to Epcot Monday, MVMCP Tuesday, and Jollywood Wednesday. Great time, resort hopped during the day when not at parties.

 

[jtopp]

We are big fans of a few smaller trips as opposed to one long one. We've been there, done that, so now our stays are shorter, but more targeted. We do a small stay at vero beach, one for the parks, and then one just for the christmas party. Granted, the cost of getting there is steeper, but our enjoyment is spread out over the year for more frequent visits.

 

[georgina]

We are big fans of a few smaller trips as opposed to one long one. We've been there, done that, so now our stays are shorter, but more targeted. We do a small stay at vero beach, one for the parks, and then one just for the christmas party. Granted, the cost of getting there is steeper, but our enjoyment is spread out over the year for more frequent visits.

Yeah! Agree with the been there, done that attitude. I skipped AK my last 2 short trips but will hit it in March. Many decent options from DCA - MCO. Flew SW in December, using American points in March, just got a JB credit card with 70,000 points so will use them next.