Anyone still going to WDW even with all the talk about a recession?

[tiff211]

I know that I should stash the money in my savings that I am using towards our trip but can't bring myself to cancel. We invited my 83 yo grandmother to go with us this year, an early birthday present, she has never been and i think she is more excited than my dd's. This will be a memorable trip for her and DD's (spending time with her at the "happiest place on earth") and to me that is priceless. She visited us over the holidays and mentioned "when she leaves us" a few times. She NEVER talks like that. It kinda scared me. I heard that older people sort of know.

So, we are still going, using our tax refund. Just cutting back, only one character meal instead of 3. No hopping. No souvies. Looking for other ways to budget between now and April. I would be devastated if I cancelled and then something happened to her. Under ordinary circumstances, we would probably cancel and save the money.

 

[heartsy77]

I am with you I just used all of our tax return to pay off all cc debt and all I owe is my car payment!!! WE ARE STILL GOING IN DEC TO WDW! If I had extra $$$ laying around I would be buying all the stock everyone is selling off today! I treasue our trip to WDW and I would sacrafice a whole heck of lot to still go!

 

[budbeerlady]

Have a great trip! I am still secretly planning one. I dont know if we will make it or not. Dh is laid off so it has cut into our "Fun" money alot.

I think the recession thing gets so blown out of proportion. We in MI have been in a recession for a few years, most of us have made little changes. But since both of our jobs are soley focused in MI I dont think this will be largely impacting us. (Other than my savings earning less %.)

 

[solfan68]

We're going this summer. Finally paying off two big debts in April, then June. Not the mortgage, sadly. And the credit cards are still being worked on. But frankly, this is the carrot for many months of slugging away at two biggies. Here's hoping your trip is awesome for the entire family !

 

[mickeyfan2]

In your case I would definitely go. Don't take what she says as any premonition. My Grandmother was dying for about 20 years.

We are going later this year to celebrate our 25th Anniversary. We may downgrade it the need be, but will not cancel.

 

[momof1princess]

nope, i just cancelled our april trip this morning. we're scaling WAAAY back and taking off to gatlinburg for a few days. i hope the money we save by doing this will go toward a trip next year.

 

[DiznEeyore]

We're still planning on our end of November trip. Of course, if for some strange reason our financial situation changes, we'll cancel. We had to do that once before 3 years ago when we were concerned dh might get laid off (and he did), so it's definitely something we're more than willing to do if necessary. Just hoping it won't be necessary!

 

[kfeuer]

We're kind of on the fence. My parents want to go back and have offered to pay for a condo for all of us for a week. We have leftover tickets, so no expense there. All it would really cost is gas money to drive down (which we could cover with credit card rewards, so $0) and food/souvies for the week. We did a trip like this last year and it ran us $800, but that included some fairly expensive meals. I think we could make it on $600 for a week, which I know I can raise without taking anything away from budget/savings (and we have no debt except mtge and a private loan, but we are trying to save up for a new car).

The problem is, DH won free airline tickets from his job and we were tossing around the idea of going to DL, and MIL wanted to go with us. However, upon pricing it out it looks like we'd spend more then $600 for just a few days at DL, and that's without the kids. Frankly, I'd rather go to DW for the week, but....

that leaves MIL, who would probably want to go with us to DW, but my parents and MIL are NOT a good mix. MIL drives my parents crazy, but my parents are polite enough to hide it so she doesn't realize it and I know she'll want to tag along. I don't know how we can back out of the DL trip and go to DW without inviting her, but I don't want to get caught in the middle of all that.

The other alternative is to go to DW with just MIL, but then we lose our paid lodging, and I really don't want to spend more then $600 for the week. DH and I are hoping we can still use the airline tickets next year (we just have to buy them by 12/31/08) to go somewhere, so this has to be a CHEAP vacation.

So sorry this turned into a novel, these thoughts have been swirling around in my head and they just all came out. If anyone has another option I haven't thought of though, I'd love to hear it!

 

[Not so Dumbo]

I think the recession thing gets so blown out of proportion. We in MI have been in a recession for a few years, most of us have made little changes. But since both of our jobs are soley focused in MI I dont think this will be largely impacting us. (Other than my savings earning less %.)

So true.
We are also from MI. When we heard about the "recession" I was like, haven't we already been in a recession for the last 7 years. So the recent news was no biggie for us. In fact, I think the bigger deal the rest of the nation make of it the worse it will be.
That said. We bought annual passes this year, so we plan on getting our money's worth with multiple trips.

 

[girli565]

We're still going. It's not exactly a budget trip but it is more frugal than normal. We bought the $125 4-day FL Resdient tix. But we splurged on Deluxe dining.

The problem is that it's our 4th anniversary this May and we want to take a quick relxing trip. Just don't know where. We booked a cruise (which I might cancel) but it's a bit expensive because it's in the summer (teacher here so summer's all I got).

I don't know. I won't cancel WDW but I may cancel the cruise.

 

[Passions71203]

Yes, we are still going (Since our trip is paid for and is in 10 days) but our next vacation (2009) will not be quite as $$..

 

[kimsuenew]

You betcha! Nothing is changing! We were lucky enough to bounceback with free DDP so that is helpful! We saved the money the in-laws gave us at Christmas, and I will work a 2nd part-time job all summer again to pay for it, and we will go!

 

[extremesoccermom]

We are still going. We just bought into DVC last year and need to use our points before Feb 09. So we are going with my parents in Oct. We have no debt except the house and although savings was tapped into this year we still feel we can cut back in a number of areas to make up for it.
We will also cut back on the extra things we usually do at Disney. I don't really need a TS meal everyday. Mom and Dad like them but I am the planner and have been able to come up with some compromises.

 

[Nancyg56]

I think that we are going to go. I have a November trip planned and while the final decision is not in, DH has not said that he is opposed. He is our money manager and if he was worried he would not be letting our DGD discuss how she is going to save her money so that "she can bring him the WDW".

We have no CC debt and our finances are good. I would cancel if his company is impacted by the recession and we are not able to put enough away to remain comfortable.

 

[ceecee]

Yes we are still going! And counting the months!! Just don't know if it will be June or September yet.
That is great that you are taking your grandma...what wonderful memories you'll have. Just keep cutting back here and there and you will have enough. Have a terrific time!

 

[What are we doing?]

I know that I should stash the money in my savings that I am using towards our trip but can't bring myself to cancel.

Think of it as doing your part to keep the economy moving. The government is looking for ways to get people to spend money. You'd be doing your part if you made the trip.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

no Disney trip, but then --- we didn't have a trip planned before the recession either. I have a cruise booked for next fall and we're taking a trip to California this summer.

If tourism tanks the way it did in 2001/2002 and the prices for next fall go way down, I might consider booking a small trip.

 

[Disneyoverload42]

I for one (just my OPINION) think the "recession" we are going into is completely caused by media hype. I will continue to live my life as MY economy dictates as I always have... there have been times when everyone else was thriving and we were cut back completely and times when everyone else was worried and we were great. Right now we are being tight and conservative, but that has to do with our debt level and wanting to be debt free and less with the overall economy (which if you ask me is the problem with the economy - people are overextended which is causing the slowdown, but you didn't ask so I'll shut up LOL)

So if we pay off our final two loans (not including our student loans and mortgage), yes we still plan on buying into the DVC - and going with cash.

 

[branv]

We're still going in May for 3 nights at WDW and 4 nights on DCL -- 2/3's of the trip has already been paid for, and half of the 1/3 left is covered by a WDW/DCL gift card DH's mom sent us for xmas.

We're starting to get closer to the penalty phase of cancelling, and some of it is already nonrefundable (trip insurance, park tickets, gift card and $200 penalty to cancel airfare). But DH and I already decided that if he were to be laid off (like during the last recession), we would still go but scale back (cheaper hotel, counter service, etc.). Without considering unemployment payments, severance or 401K, we have about 3 months of living in our savings, so perhaps we would be stupid to still go, but as of right now that's our plan.

After years in the tech industry during all its ups and downs, with the threat of layoffs seeming to loom more often than not, we just finally learned that you can't put life on hold forever. You can be smart about it (i.e. don't go buy a second home ), keep a budget, grow your savings, but if you live your life in perpetual limbo waiting for the axe to fall you just end up twitchy and miserable.

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

Another Michigan person here! I agree with my fellow Michiganders (or gooses ) Its already been here for years so no reason to panic now!

My last Disney trip I paid cash for, and I am now saving up for a cruise in 2009 or 2010. I sometimes take on side jobs or get extra cash here and there, and I'm just stashing it in a cupboard. When trip time comes, I hope to pay for everything with cash and I will feel good about it!

As to the OP going with Grandma, I no longer have my grandparents, and I would pay every penny I have in this life and the next to be able to go to WDW with them one more time. Do not let a little thing like the media going beserk scare you into cancelling something this special!!! You can cut down a little, as you are doing, but trust me, the memories are worth their weight in gold.