Do you plan for what you want or what you can afford?

[asea86]

Just like the title says... when planning you disney vacay do you plan for where you hope to stay and hope for a discount or package to be avaliable or do you plan for what you can pay with the price it is now?

We are kind of in between with this right now... we can stay at a deluxe if they have the 30% off like they did this year but if not we will have to lower to a moderate sooooo what does you family do?

 

[mommyrosa2]

We plan on what we can afford and if a better deal comes out, we either upgrade or stay as is and take advantage of the extra savings.

 

[angierae]

I plan for what I can afford, with the hope that there'll be some sort of special or deal that will allow us to upgrade.

I wouldn't want to be disappointed if I had planned to stay Deluxe for a year+ and then couldn't.

 

[cglaura]

Just like the title says... when planning you disney vacay do you plan for where you hope to stay and hope for a discount or package to be avaliable or do you plan for what you can pay with the price it is now?

We are kind of in between with this right now... we can stay at a deluxe if they have the 30% off like they did this year but if not we will have to lower to a moderate sooooo what does you family do?

I do both. I'm a single mom, saving for retirement and paying for dd's college now, so I like to take budget vacations...we stay at values and go only if room only discount...approximately $2,800 for 10 days for 2 people: room, tickets, food, airfare, souvenirs. We go every 2 years (or try to) so I put $50 in vacation fund, and the rest I earn through other methods: survey sites, rebates, dog sitting, etc...basically anything that was not part of my regular income. Once I hit my savings goal here, then I add it to the retirement part of my budget.

But, I also have an account for "some day" vacations. Greece is the big one. I put at least $25/month in it, and then extra when I can. This is an account I don't really plan to use for about 10 years.

However, we are very lucky in that dd's grandparents (ex's parents) travel alot, and often invite us. So we have taken many non-disney vacations over the years. Grand Canyon, Hawaii, Chicago are some, dd went to France, Spain & Scotland. We are very blessed to have generous people in our life.

 

[Aristocath]

I guess I do both in a way. I plan any vacation out well in advance (not just Disney) and figure what we want to do and how much it will cost. I work up a budget for every vacation so I know how much we need to save. Then I spend time researching for discounts to apply. My husband loves it when I come in under budget! But I guess I can say we do what we want because we've saved for it.

 

[SDSorority]

We plan to fine the absolute best deal we can. (aka as inexpensive as possible).

We almost always (now) stay in a Value Resort, and rent a car so we can go offsite and get groceries. The convenience of having a car trumps staying at a mod with the dining plan for us.... but most of the time $$$ is about the same. We book our room with a PIN or AAA rate, only traveling during value seasons (no kids, we can do that). We often get Disney or Southwest gift cards for holidays (birthdays, christmas, easter, you name it) so our trip 'pays for itself' so to speak.

 

[mom2princesss]

I always plan for what I want and work to get the best deal I can. I research up front what it will cost to do/get what I want. I then gage how long it will take to save that amount and plan accordingly.

For vacations I look at what our options are for travel(school breaks) and then research to see what time frame will cost us the least and still be an enjoyable time to go. I figure out where we want to stay and what deals/promotions may be available.

I do this will all purchases though. I don't buy X because it is the cheapest or best deal if it isn't exactly what I want. I will wait for a deal on exactly what I want even if I have to significantly delay the purchase. Why settle?

 

[RachaelA]

Plan for what we can afford. Before DVC, we had decided we'd only stay deluxe which meant we either booked what we could afford in the deluxe category or waited for a pin code or deal.

 

[cluvsdisney]

We plan and save for what we want. I'd rather go away less frequently then stay some place I don't think I'll enjoy. Time off from work and vacations are too precious to make certain compromises.

 

[laura.anne]

Right now I am saving for a Universal/maybe Disney trip for next fall (2012), so my strategy is "see how much I have saved up by January and then work it out from there." It's highly unlikely I'll get to go to Disney on that trip, so my plan for that will be "save and save until I have enough for what I want."

 

[GinnyEmma]

It really is the same. The money is there for the best opportunity that come up.

 

[kkmcan]

We book what we can afford. Example: When kids sail free came out for the Mexican Riviera on DCL we booked a window cabin even though I so wanted a balcony cabin. We gambled and took our chances by booking with a gty room. We were at least guaranteed a window but there was a chance we could have been upgraded to a balcony. We didn't get the upgrade so our next thought was to try and upgrade at the port. There were none available and as it turns out we were pretty happy with our window room.

Still I would have loved the balcony but at a $1000 more that money pretty much paid for our new Disneyland Annual Passes that i bought on Saturday.

My motto is usually more Disney instead of better accomodations! i'd rather go more often than stay Deluxe for one trip every few years.

 

[Donaldswife]

Well, I guess you could say I do both! I plan for what I want, but adjust to what I can afford if I need to as time gets closer.

Right now we are planning for Hawaii in May/June 2012. I will plan for what I want, and cut some things as time gets closer if I have to.

 

[mommyof2princesses]

We plan for what we can afford. If something better comes along then all the better! Once year we stay at AKL for 50% off room rate! But most times we do free dining at POFQ. Our next trip may not have free dining (haven't heard anything about it for Jan/Feb yet) so we haven't booked yet, but we know we can do a moderate again. Now, if a really good discount comes along for a Deluxe then I am all for it!

 

[*Seanaci*]

We plan and save for what we know we can afford. We've never stayed at a mod or deluxe...but really have no desire to. We really enjoyed staying at a value back in 2008. And, by staying at a value, we have the money to buy a few more souviners.

 

[eliza61]

Just like the title says... when planning you disney vacay do you plan for where you hope to stay and hope for a discount or package to be avaliable or do you plan for what you can pay with the price it is now?

We are kind of in between with this right now... we can stay at a deluxe if they have the 30% off like they did this year but if not we will have to lower to a moderate sooooo what does you family do?

During the inital plan we try to decide based on what we like. Like in Disney we realized that we were deluxe people and while one time to cut the budget we tried a value, we realized it wasn't a real value since we hated the room and were uncomfortable for the entire trip.

So now we price out where we want to stay, estimate cost of meals based on how we really eat (for example, people always say to eat breakfast in the room to save money, for my family that wouldln't work since we are big breakfast eaters) and miscelleneous and then we make that a goal for savings.

When we book though, we book at what we can afford now. I'd be a nervous wreck if I booked a room on the hopes of getting a discount.

 

[englishteacha]

A little of both, here. We know going on any vacation is going to be "expensiveish". It will cost more than staying home. We also know that if we're not careful with our money, we'll never, ever go anywhere. So when we go to Disney, we go the cheapest way we can to get the most bang for our buck. In our case, we stay offsite in a condo, rent a cheap car, take the cheapest flight we can, etc. In every instance where I've run the numbers, it's at least $300 cheaper for us to stay offsite and rent a car than to stay onsite in a value resort and use WDW transportation. We still eat our meals out, but being offsite we do have some bargains available to us that we wouldn't have onsite. We're careful with what we spend, and we have a loose budget we follow. Someday, I'd love to stay at the Grand Floridian or the Polynesian and go all out without worrying about money. However, I don't want ONE vacation in my lifetime...I want to see and do lots of things, so I choose to travel frugally so I can see and do MORE things!

 

[neatokimmo]

Neither? Or is it both? I am fine with a value. I won't book unless there is a promotion too.

I like the deluxes, I've toured most of them. But we've stayed in nicer places for 1/4th of the cost. So I guess I can't justify deluxe rates? (or maybe I'm just cheap )

 

[tink2044]

Plan for what we can afford. I also have to justify what I'm paying for. I can't pay for deluxe or moderate when I'm never in the room. A value is all I need to sleep. Also we have found POP's bus service better than some moderates and other values.

 

[hannahdrewmom]

Both I guess.... I won't book at all unless there is a deal on the rooms and then I book what I can afford. I'm sorry but Disney's rack room rates are ridiculous and I refuse to pay them. We'll go someplace else if rack rate is all there is... it's kind of a matter of principle.