Disney is the cheapest vacation we can do - anyone else?

[MelissathePooh]

I know it sounds crazy and I know that there are initial costs and annual dues, but considering that the initial cost is fixed and paid for, we get AP's as annual Christmas gifts, Disney really is the cheapest thing we can do. Basically it costs us gas money and food. Is that just a twisted way to think of it? Everyone I know practically thinks we're crazy, but we spend way less than most of them do for a week at the beach. I'm not ignoring the initial expense, but I see it in terms of future value I guess.

 

[dianeschlicht]

While it's an incorrect thing to ignore the initial expense,I think we all do that to a degree. It's already paid for, so it's like we are already half way there when we book. I think the reason we feel that way is because before DVC, we were spending about $5-6000 for each trip. Since DVC (we've been members since 1997), our trip OOP cost is somewhere in the $1500-2000 range. That seems like a bit savings over all. We always have one more costly trip (when the APs become due) and each after that gets progressively smaller until it's time to buy APs again.

Because we live so far away, we tend to space our trips out, so if it's going to be 4 months or more from the time an AP expires until our next trip, we just buy new ones instead of paying the renewal. That way our end date is extended a bit.

We always have air fare, food and rental car expenses though. We'd have those no matter where we went though. We certainly could exchange our DVC to somewhere else that would likely be less expensive than Disney, but Disney is familiar and a comfortable choice for us.

 

[kristenrice]

I told DH if he wants to take a spring break trip anywhere else, I am completely open to suggestions. I told him that it must be out of state, warm weather and have some sort of entertainment available. Then, I told him that if he could find a way to do that for less than it would cost to go to WDW (without staying in a tent and eating Ramen noodles for a week), I would be amazed.

By utilizing various rewards programs, DVC and our AP's, we just took a 9-night spring break trip that cost us less than $1000 out of our vacation account.

Next year, we are going to try and compromise and go to HHI for spring break. Again, using the rewards programs that I participate in, we will probably spend less than $500 out of the vacation account for a 6-7 night trip.

None of this would be possible without our DVC. We were fortunate enough to have the cash up front for our small contract and our MF's are around $500 right now. Owning DVC really makes is easier for us to actually take a vacation. If we had to cough up $3000-$4000 to take a trip, we certainly wouldn't be going every year.

 

[Lost in Neverland]

DH and I were just talking about this a couple of days ago. If we rent a cottage on the NC Outer Banks we are looking at no less than $3200 for a week during the Summer. This does not include anything but the house. Even when we were paying rack rate at WDW in a moderate resort we did not paay that much for the room for 9 days. We got the meal plan, tickets and room for about that cost. Now that we are DVC our only upfront out of pocket expense each trip is tickets which realistically cost about $900. We have to buy groceries at home for that week any way so those are no additional cost than any other week. In the end excluding intial buy in costs we could have almost four trips to WDW for the cost of one 7 night stay in a house at the beach. The cost for Disney when looked at in comparison to other options just can not be beat for what you get.

 

[starbox]

That first trip of the year when you have to pay to renew APs and TIW bites hard though! Over spring break, we checked in at AKV and I bought the QSDP, then went to AK and renewed the APs and TIW. I turned to my husband and said "I just spent over 2 grand in less than 30 minutes".

BUT - forthcoming trips will be a couple hundred bucks each. After that first trip of the year, the subsequent ones are very affordable

 

[crisi]

The cheapest vacations we take involve a friend's cabin "Up North." For us, Disney is $1200 in airfare away. We aren't there often enough for APs to be worthwhile, so its another $1000 in tickets. Its $1000 in dues every year.

Compared to our contribution of three meals (often spaghetti, grilled cheese and pancakes), six bottles of wine, a little housekeeping and $50 in gas - Disney is really expensive.

 

[Dean]

The last 8 years or so we've done a large trip most years that we had to fly to (MX 3 times, Aruba, HI twice) and we normally spend somewhere around $150-175 per day including dining, air, rental cars, direct timeshare expenses and indirect timeshare expenses. That takes into account our upfront buy in costs, yearly fees exchange fees, etc.

 

[corpcomp]

Sore subject.

My wife's family gets together once a year for a week in a totally rundown cabin in Lake George NY. It costs them $900 a week which is divided between three families. They would never consider taking their children to Disney as they would never spend that much money on a vacation (5 kids). I rarely go there because I just cannot spend a week with 12-15 people in a badly mantained three bedroom cabin.


In my family, We spend less at Disney in DVC for two weeks than we did staying at moderates, and the DVC rooms are so much nicer. We go at least twice a year. Of course the baggage fare is a sore subject also.

Call me a room snob but I would rather spend the money and stay somewhere really nice / comfortable than a cramped room on a cheap vacation.

And regarding NC beachhouses, those directly on the ocean can go for $15,000 per week and up.

 

[toniosmom]

Call me a room snob but I would rather spend the money and stay somewhere really nice / comfortable than a cramped room on a cheap vacation.

I'm right there with ya. My sister has a trailer permanently parked in the Jersey shore area, which costs her $4,000 for the summer season JUST TO BE PARKED THERE. That doesn't include any expenses (food, entertainment, beach passes, etc.) that she will have to pay while there over the handful of weekends she is able to get there. The accomodations are rough -- we went a couple of years ago for the weekend and it was like vacation with the Griswolds. No thank you. I bought my APs last year (and will be activating them in December), so I will have THREE trips (including airfare) to my DVC resort for less than what she paid to park her trailer for the summer. Yay me.

 

[nunzia]

We can do DLR very cheaply, but WDW is another story. The train for us both round trip is about $250.00, parking at the train station and cab to and from the park are about $80.00. We have APs, but of course wil have to be renewed (and there is no DVC discount on renewing DLR APs..but of course they don't cost near as much as WDW APs) With reward programs I have Disney gift cards and I save for trip spending cash in a painless way (anything left in the envelope at the end of pay period goes into the trip cash box). Right now I have a free train ticket wanting to be used, so that will lower the next trip even more. We can easily do DLR for 600.00, counting all costs. We could drive as well, but I don't think gas would be much cheaper (and you just know gas is going to skyrocket now). We don't have the use of any cabins or anything, so DLR is really the cheapest trip we can do. We're doing Sea World in June with the some of the grandkids and that will cost more like $1,200 and we're driving...

 

[Dean]

Call me a room snob but I would rather spend the money and stay somewhere really nice / comfortable than a cramped room on a cheap vacation.

Our tastes and expecations have definitely changed over the years. Some people are oriented to resort/room and others to the destination, we find ourselves in between where both matter. Of those none DVC larger trips I noted above, all resorts/rooms were roughly comparable to DVC quality or above. Here's a list of the resorts involved:

• Embassy Maui Now Kaanapali Beach Club
• Embassy Kauia now The Point
• Westin Maui
• Wyndham Beacwalk Oahu
• Paradise Village Resort PV
• The Grand Mayan Cabo
• La Cabana for a few days combined with the Marriott Aruba (have exact same trip planned again in Dec)
• Royals Cancun
• Daughter's honeymoony for the same price range Maui Marriott and Marriott Ko'Olina.

Since you mentioned family trips, we do a family trip about every 1-2 years and we pay for the accommodations. Usually it's 3-4 2 BR units at HH but 3 years ago we went to Mountian Loft in Gatlinburg with 8 two BR and 1 three BR units. Our total cost for the rooms themesevles were all indirect timeshares costs and were under $2K. We do not get out anywhere near that well for HH usually averaging about $1000 a unit and wishing we could get more villas for that amount to include more people.

 

[dbs1228]

I am just happy that Jet Blue is starting service out of Hartford CT, it has forced Delta to reevaluate their fare structure! My DH and I just booked 159.00 pp direct non-stop flights in Dec. I stopped using Delta years ago since they priced themself out of the market for me (they were charging 450.00 -600.00 pp R/T) for our Feb trips. Just checked yesterday and they are at 269.00! Yipee

 

[Nikisha421]

I went to the Travel Agency yesterday and after spending two hours there I realized that WDW is probably the least expensive for us since we have already made the initial buy in...but I am between the resort thing and destination thing...so I always have to go somewhere other than Disney each summer!

 

[crisi]

We also did a week in Mexico this winter for cheaper than our DVC vacations at an all inclusive.

 

[momoflizandains]

I have thought the same thing as well. When I look at a vacation at WDW, I pretty much know all of the costs upfront. When I have looked at taking other vacations (and have done so), there seem to be so many extra costs. The entertainment for the family at Disney is pretty much included for the price of the tickets. When I go elsewhere, we might want to visit many attractions and each has a separate cost. That really adds up quickly.

We looked at the all-inclusive vacation and cruises for this summer. They seem pretty expensive when the kids are out of school. We are thinking about a cruise in January to help with costs. I just have a hard time spending $5000 for a week.

I love reading all of your ideas. Keep them coming.

 

[corpcomp]

We also did a week in Mexico this winter for cheaper than our DVC vacations at an all inclusive.

Would love to try the resorts in Mexico, but DW refuses to cross the border.

 

[corpcomp]

I am just happy that Jet Blue is starting service out of Hartford CT, it has forced Delta to reevaluate their fare structure! My DH and I just booked 159.00 pp direct non-stop flights in Dec. I stopped using Delta years ago since they priced themself out of the market for me (they were charging 450.00 -600.00 pp R/T) for our Feb trips. Just checked yesterday and they are at 269.00! Yipee

Good news! We take Jet Blue out of Kennedy in the winter since it has a longer runnway than LGA and Westchester is unreliable & fewer choices(but OK in Spring through Fall).

Glad to hear there is an alternative that has much cheaper parking and is a more relaxed airport.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Our least expensive vaation is to our vacation home in Maui. Since we rent is out about 85% if the time, it is hard to calculate the upfront costs as part of the vacation cost, but at least we bought it long enough ago that it has more than held its value.

We are on the west coast and we have found airfare to Maui recently of $350, not a lot more than the current rae of $290 to Orlando. Rental cars right now are also comprable, with a full size costing $140 per week (including fees and taxes) in Maui this month. Even dining is not too expensive, as we actually eat more meals in our Condo as we spend a fair amount of time enjoying the ocean view, pool and beach. -- Suzanne

 

[toniosmom]

I save a lot of money by using my Disney Visa and accumulating the reward points. It helps not to have to lay out much cash while I'm there.

 

[vellamint]

I always research other trips for our family of six but even BEFORE we bought into DVC it was always much more expensive to go anywhere else. I have looked into all inclusives, cruises, paradise island, any other caribbean island, mexico.


Sadly my kids are older teens now and are most of them are Disney'd out right now so we arent taking a real vacation this year. (going to PA with extended family in a rundown resort with horrible food where the main entertainment for adults is drinking and the main entertainment for kids is not hanging out with the adults for week does not count as a real vacation in my mind).