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

[LIFERBABE]

A few years back, we decided to do a staycation to Schlitterbahn Waterpark about 5 hours south of us. It's in a small town, so only Days Inn type places, but waaayyy overpriced like almost $200 a night. Then the park tix for S-bahn were almost $100 each for 2 days. 5 of us,for a weekend waterpark trip was close to $1200 and I I had to stay in a rundown motel, so we passed. I'd rather drive to WDW and visit TL and BB (WP AP is $99 at WDW) stay at my DVC and pay for the gas to get there

Another staycation we tried was Great Wolf Lodge and it averages $500 a day. Was not impressed and would rather go to WDW.

Spring Break it was cheaper for us to go to WDW than stay at home and do local activities. The local zoo made the news because they offered 1/2 price admission during Spring break week and it caused traffic jams!

No matter where you go, it is expensive to entertain kids. I find we get alot more bang for our buck at WDW and it allows us to travel at peak travel times when everything is more expensive. I would not pay Spring Break prices or Holiday prices for most destinations which means we would not travel during those times but with DVC we do.

 

[bwvBound]

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? ... I'm not ignoring the initial expense, but I see it in terms of future value I guess.

For us, "cheapest" could be camping. As in your example, we've already addressed the initial costs and have the needed gear. Our closest National Forest campground is only 8 miles away, $15/night. I drove through it last Friday just for fun -- it offered sufficient privacy between campsites, a grill and picnic table at each site -- but no hookups. Our preferred locations with hookups run closer to $50/night + fuel for the RV.

 

[dbs1228]

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.

I am not sure the exact date Jet Blue starts service I believe sometime in Nov. in the past we always took SW, which was certainly more reasonable then Delta and much better customer service.

We left for our Feb trip 2 days early since there was a pending storm coming and no flights available the day before. SW did charge me the difference in airfare pp which was about 125.00 pp. since there was no weather advisory in place. Our original flight got canceled due to the storm and I called SW customer service (when we got home) and they immediately refunded the increased airfare! SW has been very good to us and I will be a loyal customer as long as they offer non-stop flights and keep in line with current competitors fares. No baggage fees either and with a family of 5, that is important!

 

[Lost in Neverland]

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

This is true but honestly those are the ones that sleep 15+ people and have everything from a private pool to golf privileges. We stay oceanfront and for a 2500 sq ft house the avg cost is between $3200 and $6500 per week depending on the development in which the house is located.

 

[nunzia]

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

We like to do this also..counting airfare and room costs, this runs us about $3,500. Where did you stay?

 

[crisi]

We like to do this also..counting airfare and room costs, this runs us about $3,500. Where did you stay?

Azul Sensatori. We did get a "the economy still is in the toilet" deal.

But our DVC vacations cost us - as I said upthread, about $1200 in airfare (minimum) and that in park admission. Plus food of a couple grand. We EASILY spend $3,500 on a DVC vacation on just out of pocket costs (airfare, food, tickets - but not dues or buy in costs).

The cheapest Mexican vacation we ever took was DVC like in its expense. We stayed in a private home that belonged to a friend of a friend - so no hotel cost - we paid the maid $100 for a week. We stopped by the market in town and bought food for our meals - picking up avacados by the bagful for very cheap as well as tortilla chips. Had food in reasonably priced restaurants.

 

[mwmuntz]

Yes. Between DVC, the Disney Visa Rewards and my wife's castmember discounts, I'd say that Disney is the cheapest vacation I can take in it's class. I'm sure I can find cheaper vacation options, but not with the accomodations, entertainment and amenities that Disney/DVC offers.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Cheapest DVC trip is HHI, as we can drive there. Food purchased at grocery stores, a couple of nights out at restaraunts, its pretty cheap.

 

[mattj009]

DVC has been a real vacation saver for my family. I lost my job after 25 years with one company two years ago, and thank goodness for DVC, because being an owner has allowed us to keep going on vacations, and really to maintain a sense of self-worth.

We've gone to HHI the past three spring breaks, and managed to save money by eating mostly in our villa. Manipulating frequent flyer/credit card points to get airfare, we were even able to finagle a trip to DL last summer. We saved up various gift cards that we had received over the previous year to help pay for meals, and aggressively employed the trick of saving up all of our daily pocket change for the entire year to help defray other expenses.

But it all starts with DVC. Pre-paying vacations when times are good really makes life better when times are bad!

 

[LIFERBABE]

DVC has been a real vacation saver for my family. I lost my job after 25 years with one company two years ago, and thank goodness for DVC, because being an owner has allowed us to keep going on vacations, and really to maintain a sense of self-worth.

We've gone to HHI the past three spring breaks, and managed to save money by eating mostly in our villa. Manipulating frequent flyer/credit card points to get airfare, we were even able to finagle a trip to DL last summer. We saved up various gift cards that we had received over the previous year to help pay for meals, and aggressively employed the trick of saving up all of our daily pocket change for the entire year to help defray other expenses.

But it all starts with DVC. Pre-paying vacations when times are good really makes life better when times are bad!

I feel the same way and happy to hear it was there for your family when you needed it Our DVC has definitely been there for us, in good times and not so good! In the last 10 years, we've experienced job loss, DH starting his own business, me growing my business and then scaling back, etc. but our vacations have been consistently enjoyable.

 

[nunzia]

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

So far it's still fine to go resort areas..like those around Cancun...ours is in Playa del carmen. I would NOT go to any border areas and woudln't really feel comfortable away from resort areas. We live 85 miles from Juarez..so odd how everyone is pretty much just ignoring that the most dangerous city in the world is right on our border and El Paso is steps away.

 

[crisi]

So far it's still fine to go resort areas..like those around Cancun...ours is in Playa del carmen. I would NOT go to any border areas and woudln't really feel comfortable away from resort areas. We live 85 miles from Juarez..so odd how everyone is pretty much just ignoring that the most dangerous city in the world is right on our border and El Paso is steps away.

Its in Mexico's best interests to keep the tourist areas safe. And you do feel safe and comfortable at a resort or in a ex-pat town (there are a number of towns that have a lot of American retirees).

 

[Brian Noble]

We actually can get by a little bit less expensively in the Smoky Mountains or the Wisconsin Dells. Both of those are drive-to vacations for us, and we can use our Wyndham timeshare points at those locations. Entertainment is generally less expensive there too, but not by that much when you add it all up. Even if we had to rent the timeshare units from an owner, it would cost less than Disney, and not just because of the lower travel costs---everything is just a bit lower in cost. But, both are a lot of fun. We've been to the Smokies twice, and the Dells once, and the kids are itching to get back to the Dells again.

I'm planning to stay at one of the two Wyndhams in Washington DC next summer. That will be even less, as the Smithsonian and monuments will keep us busy for much of the week and they are free. A trip to the S. Carolina coast with the Wyndham points would also be less---we'd have to fly there, and flights to MYR are more expensive than MCO in summer, but the beach is largely the entertainment, so it works out to be cheaper there too.

 

[jarrdisney]

My wife and I were talking about this today. We have a month long July trip planned to FL (Jax Beach, ST Pete, Key West, Miami and Orlando), and plan on going to Napa/Sonoma, Portland, and Willamette Valley in Aug. The airfare to SFO is more than twice that to MCO and the hotels/car rental are double as well. We stay offsite in orlando over weekends and can get a 4 star for under $75/night with tax. I know we're not comparing apples to apples, but I find it to hard to justify spending thousands of dollars on a trip for half the amount of time. We're fortunate to have family to stay with in the JAX beach area, but that aside our DVC takes care of a good 2.5 weeks while we're in town.
We feel so incredibly fortunate to have been able to pay for our 200 pt contract at BLT in cash. It's afforded us the oppurtunity to go to WDW at least 4 times a year. We stay in studios and can not believe that we have nearly a months worth of points (not including all weekends). It pains me to think back to the time we paid rack rate at WL and it was over $275/night with tax. AP's and TIW are expensive, but once you get past that hump there's a years worth of DVC waiting for you!

 

[d-r]

I know you can't look at this way, but since we have the points already and have the APs already....let's say we want to go on a trip for a week this summer. Disney costs us the gas to drive down there and food. Anywhere else costs us actual money to stay! We can go to disney pulling less money out of my pocket now than to gatlinburg or even atlanta zoo and aquarium, which seems nuts. It's had to say "hey let's go spend a couple of nights in Atlanta" and pay a couple of hundred dollars for a room and more for tickets, when we could just drive a few hours further and have the room and tickets we already paid for. It is sort of nuts.