disney has ruined us for all future vacations!

[iwrbnd]

I agree! Disney is the only vacation that I get back from and immediately want to do it again! I've found that I can do Disney cheaper than any other place, too. I use the Disney Visa for everything and then use my reward money. Where else can I do that?

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

I agree, this will be our 3rd trip to Disney with DD (I have been probably 5xs before that with my parents). I just feel that there's something for everyone at Disney. Also, DD has a peanut allergy and Disney is the only place I feel safe eating at with her. And as you mentioned, you can't beat the price.

However, next year I am thinking of doing the Disney cruise, I have to read up on it, but I want to go to their island. I figure 4 days at disney and then 3-4 on the cruise, that sounds good to me.

We have taken DD to NH, VT, PA (sesame place), and countless times to NYC b/c we live in Jersey. We are planning on driving down to Disney this year and on our way home we are going to stop in DC to see the White House.

 

[iheartdolewhips]

I cant believe how afordable Disney is! We stayed value both last year and the previous year.....I paid $82 a night! You cant find that room rate anywhere else! Plus we had free dining! What a steal!

I completely agree! We usually stay at moderates and the hotel rooms we've stayed at elsewhere usually cost about the same or more than what we pay at Disney per night.

Now as far as the Disney cruise, I wholeheartedly disagree that it's affordable. My SIL invited the four of us to go with her family in June for a 5 night cruise. My only desire was to have a porthole, so we were talking middle-of-the-road accommodations. Our total (without a flight down there) was over $8000. We could go to WDW for WEEKS for that amount either camping in our travel trailer or in a value resort. I'm sure the cruise is wonderful and I sincerely hope to do it one day, but I just couldn't spend that kind of money on it when my little ones are pretty clinging and probably wouldn't do the kids' stuff anyway.

The Disney cruises are very expensive! We went on a Royal Caribbean cruise for our honeymoon for about $2000. Looked into a Disney cruise week long Caribbean, just like the honeymoon, same time of year - $4000! Twice as much and on Royal Caribbean we had a balcony! On the Disney cruise this was just a porthole room. We still want to do it once for the experience, but the price is crazy. With the time we're looking at going on the Disney cruise, we'll likely be pregnant, but depending on the exact timing we might already have a baby that's a few months old, so one time I entered in our information as though we had a 4 month old. Disney charges an extra $500 for a newborn! They won't be eating or using any of the ammenities - why does Disney being a "family" company charge for them? They let 2 year olds into the parks for free, and they actually get to enjoy some of it. It definitely means we'll either be going before we have a baby or until they're old enough to remember it - I'm not paying $500 for a baby!

When people say it's 'cheaper' than "most" other vacations I honestly have to scratch my head. Exactly what kind of vacation do they have in mind???? Clearly they spend their money much differently than we do.

Part of that may be due to flying vs. driving. Obviously factors like where you stay have an impact too - it is much more likely to be cheaper if you're staying at the All Stars than at a Magic Kingdom view room at the Grand Floridian, for instance. For us, I'd say it's about the same or a little cheaper than going somewhere else. However, we do like the convenience of knowing that when we go everything is paid for - we already know how much the trip will cost and just have to worry about gas, tips, and souvenirs. Going elsewhere, all of the little "That looks cool! And this might be the only time we come here - let's do it!" can add up.

 

[pacrosby]

Part of that may be due to flying vs. driving. Obviously factors like where you stay have an impact too - it is much more likely to be cheaper if you're staying at the All Stars than at a Magic Kingdom view room at the Grand Floridian, for instance. For us, I'd say it's about the same or a little cheaper than going somewhere else. However, we do like the convenience of knowing that when we go everything is paid for - we already know how much the trip will cost and just have to worry about gas, tips, and souvenirs. Going elsewhere, all of the little "That looks cool! And this might be the only time we come here - let's do it!" can add up.

Absolutely, the transportation issue is big. If someone is within driving distance of Disney I can see where it becomes much more affordable. But there is still the cost of tickets if you have a larger family. For you (I see you have no kids) it's a no-brainer, but for my family it's 1500 dollars just for tickets to the park Add on accomodations (Disney doesn't provide affordable accomodations to families like mine) and even with a PIN at a value I'm at 1500 dollars easy. Now we have to eat..................ok imagine feeding 6 in the parks for a week THIS is affordable

And you actually bring up another questionable argument when you say with your Disney vacation you know that everything is paid for. I'm assuming that when you say 'everything is paid for' what you mean is the price of the admission to the parks is the total cost of your entertainment. While that may be true for a couple of years I would imagine that at some point a family would like to branch out and do something more than the just the parks. I know I would. Sure I love all the rides and shows and parades but year after year after year? I'd have to mix it up a bit to keep it new and interesting. So what then? Golf? Horseback riding? Water parks? Spas? Back stage tours? The possibilities are endless. And so are the dollar signs!!!!!!! So sure, a generic Disney vacation (still wonderful yes; but generic nonetheless) may be an affordable/less expensive option...............................but once you start adding in a few bells and whistles, absolutely not.

So I'm going to have to add the size of ones family and how desirous a family is for variety as two of the other major factors to consider when determining whether Disney is an affordable/less expensive option (when we go to Canada we can stay in a beautiful fully equipped 2 bedroom/2 bath condo at the base of a gorgeous mountain in a European styled pedestrian village and enjoy shopping, swimming, boating, hiking, biking, zip lines, luge etc. etc. as well as family entertainment for over a week for LESS than 3 grand complete!!! Now that's what I call affordable )

 

[iheartdolewhips]

Absolutely, the transportation issue is big. If someone is within driving distance of Disney I can see where it becomes much more affordable. But there is still the cost of tickets if you have a larger family. For you (I see you have no kids) it's a no-brainer, but for my family it's 1500 dollars just for tickets to the park Add on accomodations (Disney doesn't provide affordable accomodations to families like mine) and even with a PIN at a value I'm at 1500 dollars easy. Now we have to eat..................ok imagine feeding 6 in the parks for a week THIS is affordable

And you actually bring up another questionable argument when you say with your Disney vacation you know that everything is paid for. I'm assuming that when you say 'everything is paid for' what you mean is the price of the admission to the parks is the total cost of your entertainment. While that may be true for a couple of years I would imagine that at some point a family would like to branch out and do something more than the just the parks. I know I would. Sure I love all the rides and shows and parades but year after year after year? I'd have to mix it up a bit to keep it new and interesting. So what then? Golf? Horseback riding? Water parks? Spas? Back stage tours? The possibilities are endless. And so are the dollar signs!!!!!!! So sure, a generic Disney vacation (still wonderful yes; but generic nonetheless) may be an affordable/less expensive option...............................but once you start adding in a few bells and whistles, absolutely not.

So I'm going to have to add the size of ones family and how desirous a family is for variety as two of the other major factors to consider when determining whether Disney is an affordable/less expensive option (when we go to Canada we can stay in a beautiful fully equipped 2 bedroom/2 bath condo at the base of a gorgeous mountain in a European styled pedestrian village and enjoy shopping, swimming, boating, hiking, biking, zip lines, luge etc. etc. as well as family entertainment for over a week for LESS than 3 grand complete!!! Now that's what I call affordable )

I do know what a family of 6 is like - I grew up as the oldest of four girls. You're right, more people does exponentially increase the cost of a Disney trip. It's going to increase the cost of any trip too obviously, but another part of the difference may be in how many of the more expensive attractions you complete on a trip. Unless you aren't going to the parks, your ticket costs at Disney are pretty much set since you can't spend less than $200 unless you're just doing one or two days. If you're going elsewhere, you have more flexibility in these types of costs - you may decide to pay $40 a person to go to a museum, but pass up the $70 tickets to the Six Flags, etc. How many people probably affects how many of these things you choose to do as well since it adds up quicker for a larger family. I know with my family we were much more likely to do free activities like some of the things you mentioned - bikes, walking, general sight seeing, etc. Whereas with just two of us (and also a smaller family), you're probably more likely to do more of the paid things.

As far as everything being paid for, I meant that we know how much money we're going to spend before we go - we've already paid for the room, tickets, and dining plan. All that's left is the gas, tip at sit down restaurants, and souvenirs. Yes, you are going to do different things the more you go, but if we're going to the water parks we'll already have paid for that beforehand too, if we're going on a tour that is also prearranged, if we are going to Sea World we at least have that money already budgeted. When we go to Disney, we already know how much money we have spent. I was saying this in contrast to if we decide to visit a random city. The room is already paid for, which is usually about the same rate we get at WDW. And we can estimate the gas just like with Disney, but all of the entertainment and food money isn't already spent. We may find a nice steakhouse or Japanese restaurant and have an expensive dinner or two. We'll probably see some tourist attractions that we want to do and take the opportunity while we are there. These things can add up and sometimes you might come home from a trip shocked at how much you spent.

Usually when we go on a vacation outside of Disney, it's a 3 - 5 day short trip, so we technically spend less, but proportionately it works out about the same if not more expensive than Disney. What I said before may have came off as being generalized, but I was trying to respond to your question about how Disney is relatively an affordable / more affordable option for us.