Decisions, decisions.... to go or not to go

[mshanson3121]

Granted, our next trip isn't until June 2017, about 16 months from now, but if it's to happen, we need to start saving/planning now, and we wanted to put the deposit down on the rental this summer.

Thanks to the rate increase, and the drop in dollar, to buy tickets today will cost $550 more than they cost us to buy Feb 1, last year. That's a big increase. We're looking at roughly $2000 for a basic 5 day pass - $100 per person, per day for our family of 4. That's a hard pill to swallow quite honestly.

Originally when we planned on returning, we wanted 6 park days, 1 water park day, 1 Sea World Day and 1 Legoland day. That's almost $2800 in tickets - and that's assuming we can get BOGO deals on SW and LL. We also wanted to do Pirates League and Dine with an Animal Specialist at Sanaa. Another $400 there. We just can't afford that.

So, we can drop SW, the water park, and do 5 park days instead of 6. That would bring it down to about $2200 in tickets. We could also drop Sanaa.

Or, we could do 4 days at US with the Buy 2/Get 2 deal from UT, then 1 day at Legoland and 2 days at SW, for only $1450. Needless to say that's a huge difference in price. But, my husband's fear is - the kids want to go back to Disney so badly, he's afraid that if we go all the way and don't go to Disney, they'll be disappointed.

So that brings up the next option: just don't go at all. Take the money and do something else. Wait a couple more years and see if the dollar comes back up some. That would certainly allow us to do the things we want to do, instead of cutting - but that said - how much will Disney have raised their prices again in 2-3 years? And... by that time our kids would be 13 & 10... I know they'd still enjoy it, but right now, being so young, they're still so much into the fantasy of it.

But... I'll admit, I'm wondering if we're just better off, as thinking of our trip last summer as our perfect, fanasty one and done trip and leave it at that. It will upset the children, they want to go back so badly, but... I'm really not sure I feel like spending $2000 to spend 5 days at Disney, and that's based on today. Who knows what the rates might be by next year when we can actually afford to buy the tickets.

Anyways, I know this is rambling and no one can make the decision for me. I'm just really at the point of thinking... $2000 is a lot of money for 5 days in a theme park, and that money could a) put a pool in our backyard b) pay for an entire vacation elsewhere, in and of itself.

 

[Frank4202]

You only live once and when it comes down to it, you cant take this money with you when youre 6 feet in the ground. To me, the memories are worth the cash. All in all, its only money.

 

[kitntrip]

If you put the deposit on the rental now, do you get it back if you cancel? Hopefully by 2017, the dollar will be up more and it won't hurt so much. I canceled a cruise in April because of the exchange but able to take my family to Disneyland for a week because of being able to pay the majority in CDN.

 

[uandmfan]

It is "just money", but if you're stressed out about money while you're there, you won't have any fun. And if you will have to stretch yourself financially to go - it won't be worth it as you'll be stressed every day you're not at Disney because it's a financial strain.

I can't tell you what I'd do - but if you find it too expensive maybe look at other vacation options. A summer vacation renting a cottage out east (if you're not from there!!), travelling in other parts of Canada, a cruise on another cruise line if you want to go south in the winter (there are some amazing deals), going to Orlando but skipping Disney and doing the other parks you're interested in.

There are tons of amazing things you can do with your family that aren't Disney. But if you really want to do Disney AND can stomach the cost, then maybe delay a bit (not a year but maybe six months or something) until you can save up enough. Or maybe cut the water park cost? Don't do park hoppers? I know these don't really matter for us but it depends what your family likes.

Instead of gifts for the kids at their birthdays and holidays (like Christmas, etc) the grandparents now kick in to pay for some of the cost of activities. Maybe your family would be willing to kick in to help cover the trip instead of presents? My 4 year old seems to get it. And it's a good chance to start teaching that these things are expensive and everyone needs to save to make such great holidays happen. I know this won't work for everyone but it's something we have found useful.

What about a Disney cruise instead? We are looking at a 5 day out if Miami. It would cost the 4 of us about $3k US but that includes all food (granted, not transportation or tips or excursions).

I feel your pain on the dollar!! We are starting to buy it for next winter's trip so we can do some dollar cost averaging. We also already bought our tickets. But, as time goes buy we may get priced out. A vacation isn't a vacation if it stresses you out the whole time (or after because its a stretch to pay it off).

Not much help! But I hope it will help you reframe how you think about this so you can decide what's best for you!!

 

[bababear_50]

Hi
Next year we are planning on going again in March 2017 and the CAD has me concerned.
My grand daughter really wants to go back so I told her she has to save some of her own money this time.
I have taken her 4 other times and paid for everything.
Hannah DGD knows that Christmas and Birthdays will be different (less presents) this year because we are saving for our trip. She will also be an adult admission this time.
I am still paying off my middle sons wedding in the Mayan Riviera from last July.
I gave her a Disney piggy bank and she is excited about her growing savings each time I talk with her.

We are thinking of doing 1 Disney theme Park Day (her choice) and 1 Disney Water Park Day (probably Typhoon Lagoon) and 2 days at Universal. The remaining 3 days will be spent between Disney Springs and the Resort Pool at Old Key West. I may cave in and add an extra day at a Disney Theme Park , BUT disney has to add some new things to DHS and AK for me to be interested in doing that.

I'm in Southern Ontario so I try to buy Theme Park Passes as I can afford them through CAA.
I combine my Petro Canada Fuel Points to CAA dollars, which helps a bit.
I also collect Airmiles for starbucks Gift Cards.

Maybe a chat with the kids about how they see a family vacation and what things they would be willing to do/give up for a family holiday?
Best wishes
Hugs Mel

 

[mshanson3121]

You only live once and when it comes down to it, you cant take this money with you when youre 6 feet in the ground. To me, the memories are worth the cash. All in all, its only money.

Haha, yes, it's only money. But we're also a one-income family with two children with special needs, that live on an income that most here would laugh at. Vacation will be paid for by some frugal savings and our income tax return. I mean, we get enough of a return that yes, we could pay for what our original plans were, but, I also don't want to eat up our entire return with Disney, either. I like to keep some in savings for other expenses that may come up. I'm hoping between cashing in PC points, Checkout 51 and monthly savings to have about $2000-$2500 CDN saved by next spring. The balance would come from income tax.

If you put the deposit on the rental now, do you get it back if you cancel?

Yes, we do that at least, so that is good. I just hate to tie up her rentals etc... and go through the hassle.

I can't tell you what I'd do - but if you find it too expensive maybe look at other vacation options. A summer vacation renting a cottage out east (if you're not from there!!), travelling in other parts of Canada, a cruise on another cruise line if you want to go south in the winter (there are some amazing deals), going to Orlando but skipping Disney and doing the other parks you're interested in.

Instead of gifts for the kids at their birthdays and holidays (like Christmas, etc) the grandparents now kick in to pay for some of the cost of activities. Maybe your family would be willing to kick in to help cover the trip instead of presents?

What about a Disney cruise instead? We are looking at a 5 day out if Miami. It would cost the 4 of us about $3k US but that includes all food (granted, not transportation or tips or excursions).

Hehe, we live on the east coast. And don't get me wrong, I think we live in a beautiful part of the country, but we've toured around the east coast so much that it just doesn't hold the same appeal. We love doing day trips, long weekends etc... but somehow the beaches on PEI, while nice, don't have the same appeal (aka: WARMTH!!!!) as southern beaches, lol. We have considered taking a trip out west but it's too far to drive right now with the kids, and we've priced out flights and it would cost us roughly $3000 to fly round trip (hmmm... that does put $2000 for tickets into a bit of perspective). Crazy how much flights in Canada cost!

I like the idea of people giving "parts" of the trip (tickets etc...) as a gift for Christmas/birthdays, that would be a good idea. I honestly would love to try a cruise, but not sure DH would go for it.

 

[Deanie1]

I don't know if you are flying or driving but if you are flying, but adding a sixth day to 5 day tickets is not that much more. I would hate to have you miss the water park day as for our family, with 3 kids, that was always our sleep in a bit, rest up and re-group day. AND, it was always one of our favourite days. You still have a while to save. I don't know anything about your finances but I love urging people to travel. Are there ways that you can cut back during the year - such as eating out less, cutting back a bit on gifts, etc? This is probably a great time age wise to take your kids back to Disney. In a few years, Universal may be a better fit, I don't know.

This poor exchange rate will be hurting us all but on my next trip to WDW, I will be eating at mostly CS places, drinking water and maybe bringing breakfast and snacks with me in my suitcase. Personally, I buy very few souvenirs but this would be somewhere that you could cut back. When our kids were young, I told them that they had to help out saving for trip. They saved birthday money, Christmas money and their allowance. When it was time to go, I gave that money back for their spending money and they never asked me to buy them anything but they used their own money. One spent it all, the other spend over half and my oldest saved every penny.

I wish you luck in whatever you do. If you don't do WDW, there are so many beautiful places in our own country!

 

[momof2gr8kids]

I would cut out the other tickets and just get Disney tickets with the water park option. Plenty to do and it's so much cheaper to add a day than getting tickets for another park. If you are using $$ from this year's return towards your trip, I would get on Undercover tourist right this second while they still have tickets at the old price left and order them! lol

I don't think we are going to see that much of a better dollar that it's going to make a huge difference that makes or breaks a trip, and with the price of everything going up it will cancel out any savings from a stronger Canadian dollar anyways.

When your kids are in their teens they will want to do Universal. Do Disney while the magic is still there for them. We are planning a Universal trip in 2019 with extended family and I am seriously considering getting those buy 2 get 2 free day tickets as well right now.

We are making our next trip to Disney work by driving down next time and using airmiles for at least 3 tickets. And packing a lot of snacks and food and not too many adr's.

Agree with the others - get kids on board with saving for the trip - you have birthdays and Christmas coming up you can put towards it. They have cute Disney themed piggy banks at the dollarama here anyways that you have to open with a can opener. My kids used to love putting money into it for their trips.

 

[ottawamom]

You could also look into using Airmiles to pay for those tickets. I had never given my Airmiles much thought until this past September when a couple of friends wanted to go to Disney for a girls only trip. When the dollar plummeted we looked at different ways to save the US component of our trip. If you put a little bit of effort into it you can rack up huge airmiles in time for your trip. I've managed just over 6000 AM since September 2015 buying things I would purchase anyway. Sobey's and Rexall are two great sources that are likely to be in your area. Promotions September through December are great for getting huge #'s of airmiles. Check out the Airmiles Alert thread and join the game. You can do it and you'll be able to do your trip too.

 

[disneycrazy2004]

Hehe, we live on the east coast. And don't get me wrong, I think we live in a beautiful part of the country, but we've toured around the east coast so much that it just doesn't hold the same appeal. We love doing day trips, long weekends etc... but somehow the beaches on PEI, while nice, don't have the same appeal (aka: WARMTH!!!!) as southern beaches, lol. We have considered taking a trip out west but it's too far to drive right now with the kids, and we've priced out flights and it would cost us roughly $3000 to fly round trip (hmmm... that does put $2000 for tickets into a bit of perspective). Crazy how much flights in Canada cost!

I like the idea of people giving "parts" of the trip (tickets etc...) as a gift for Christmas/birthdays, that would be a good idea. I honestly would love to try a cruise, but not sure DH would go for it.

We are from PEI and couldn't agree more with you about the beaches. We are saving right now for a big trip this summer. Every month we put away a little and I pay toward the vacation. I pay whatever I can...It is not easy to save but it is all worth it for us. We try not to spend a lot of money- eating out, movies, unnecessarily shopping, kids chip in whatever they can....If you can save the money and plan ahead it is all worth at the end, the memories are priceless

 

[BigAlsGal]

Try to think of it this way. When you're laying on your death bed are you going to be thinking "I really wish I wouldn't have taken that last trip to Disney"? Probably not. Are you gonna be thinking "I really wish I would have spent that money on a new hot water heater"? You only live once. You can't take it with you. All that good cliche stuff. Just go have fun with your kids while you can. They'll be grown before you know it.

 

[hardis5]

...6 park days, 1 water park day, 1 Sea World Day and 1 Legoland day...

When looking at trying to jam that much into a vacation, I'd need time off after my vacation to recover.

I can attest to having the mindset previous many times to try and jam everything into as short of a time as possible because flight and accommodation costs being what they are. You are looking at $400-500/day in attraction costs and are looking at some pricey meals and add-on's, but looking at tax refunds to cover much of, IMHO you need to revisit the want from the need to do on all elements of such a vacation.

As PP stated, if one is stressing on the cost of being able to pay for a vacation leading up to and while there the cost of everything, you will diminish the anticipation prior and enjoyment while there.

Yes you cannot take it with you, the kids are only young once, but I sit on the other side of many in that I believe one should plan a balanced vacation from a cost perspective and not plan beyond their means. If it means delaying, delay. For us it meant not planning yet into 2017 and cancelling shorter times away to save for the bigger vacations already scheduled. If Disney is the sought after destination, plan the costs (all travel methods and accommodation options) and see what can be managed reasonably if doing next year. Do not bank on the exchange being any better next year and if it does get better, the vacation will only cost you less (or you will be able to to more with the $ available for).

We are ones to do a few park days and a few pool or lesser attraction days combined, eating off-site and eating in-room for a number of meals to reduce cost (definitely all breakfasts and a few dinners). Our next time away this Spring we will hit the Gulf coast beaches to allow for a few cheaper days (love the cost of gas down there now) with pool days thrown-in between a few park days. One of the hardest part with kids is having them recognize days at a park or attraction are not free just because mom and dad are paying for and how much each days actually costs in a means they can relate to.

 

[simplyton]

Also from PEI - hit the beach on Saturday can confirm was not as good as Disney

 

[mshanson3121]

When looking at trying to jam that much into a vacation, I'd need time off after my vacation to recover.

We drive 6000 km round trip to get there, so we're not going to go to all that time/effort for 4 days. We stay 11-12 nights, so we a) have several days "off" from parks altogether for rest and b) we also don't do full days. Basically RD to 1 or 2 only, or take a long afternoon break. Hehe, we're not some of the crazy, die-hard rope drop to close people, like on here. I have no idea how they do it. But, it's definitely not worth it for us to spend 4-5 days on the road, just to spend 4-5 days in Florida.

 

[mshanson3121]

Also from PEI - hit the beach on Saturday can confirm was not as good as Disney

lol. You're braver than I! I wouldn't be caught near a beach in Canada in winter!

 

[dancin Disney style]

You only live once and when it comes down to it, you cant take this money with you when youre 6 feet in the ground. To me, the memories are worth the cash. All in all, its only money.

I agree with this but I too live on a tight budget and vacations are an extra. I always manage to save the money for trips because the memories are priceless. I was VERY much reminded of how priceless this last year when my DD had a 16yo friend become ill and pass away.

OP....if you really want to go to WDW then find a way to make it happen. You never know what's around the corner.

 

[DizzyDis]

What about starting the saving right now, and if you think AM could be an option, start trying to get some of those and see if it works. If the saving doesn't work out as well as you had hoped or if something else comes up, you won't regret having extra money put aside.

The other thing you could do (if you are an analyzer/planner like me) is cost out some different options, not just the Disney ones. Also get an estimate for a pool or some other vacation you have discussed, so you know what you are actually comparing. Then you can have a discussion (with DH or family, if you want to involve them) to look at the different options, with actual information on what each costs so you know what you would be giving up for each one (in terms of how much you need to scrimp now as well as what other things you don't spend the money on).

Then, you can also look at doing portions of whatever you choose as gifts, this year DH and I put money towards house projects for Christmas so we had extra money to spend on vacation. It is all tradeoffs!

 

[mort1331]

I know how budgets can be tight. It looks like I might be forgoing my fall trip because of the dollar. So saving for next fall. Take a year off and save then do it big ( or bigger) next. I know it sucks but you want to be able to afford those memories down the road.

 

[scrappinginontario]

You are planning well in advance which is a bonus. What I've done is create a spreadsheet for myself and chose what I hope to be is a 'worse case' exchange rate and budget according to that. I'm tucking away what I can each month to see if I'm able to afford our upcoming trip. Each little bit of 'extra' is going against the trip and slowly it is adding up.

If you create something like this you can begin saving and then see how realistic it would be for you to go. Takes some of the pressure off and also gives you a monthly/weekly goal to save.

One other recommendation. If you're only considering going to a water park one day, it is less expensive to pay the day rate than it is to add the water park and more option.

 

[mshanson3121]

What about starting the saving right now, and if you think AM could be an option, start trying to get some of those and see if it works. If the saving doesn't work out as well as you had hoped or if something else comes up, you won't regret having extra money put aside.

The other thing you could do (if you are an analyzer/planner like me) is cost out some different options, not just the Disney ones. Also get an estimate for a pool or some other vacation you have discussed, so you know what you are actually comparing. Then you can have a discussion (with DH or family, if you want to involve them) to look at the different options, with actual information on what each costs so you know what you would be giving up for each one (in terms of how much you need to scrimp now as well as what other things you don't spend the money on).

Then, you can also look at doing portions of whatever you choose as gifts, this year DH and I put money towards house projects for Christmas so we had extra money to spend on vacation. It is all tradeoffs!

What is AM?

We've been crunching numbers more, and I'm feeling a bit better about it. Right now currently what we're doing is a $1-$52 savings plan which will give us about $1300 CDN towards the trip by this time next year. Then, between cashing in PC points and Checkout 51, we should have another $1000 (minimum) that way. And I've been booked for a wedding this fall, so we've already agreed to put that money towards the trip. So, we should have about $3000 saved for the trip by next spring. Plus, I can normally pick up extra freelance work (newspaper), so I can throw that towards the trip, too, which could certainly add a good chunk to the amount saved. Then after that I'm comfortable using 1/2 of our income tax return towards vacation - it's what we've always used our IT return for, half goes to vacation, half goes to savings for whatever may arise. This year's return is going to house renovations, as we don't think we'll be going anywhere as we've got a lot of upcoming medical travel for our daughter. So, we'll just try and make some of the hospital trips long weekends and do some local sightseeing whenever possible.