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

[mom2t]

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.

Same here.

 

[neatokimmo]

A value is all I need to sleep.

This is me....sleep, shower and I need a body of water to float in.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I think we do neither.

We have a set amount each week that goes into the vacation account. We just know how much we have to spend each year. But, I never pay rack rates if I can help it. I call hotels directly, use Priceline, use any employment discounts, etc., to make sure we get a nicer vacation without us breaking our budget. We also travel in the shoulder seasons, so that helps a lot as well. Not having kids allows us to not have to worry about school schedules.

If we can't afford it, we don't go, or find another enjoyable place to visit that is less.

 

[clintswifeymomof4]

Plan for what we can afford. We are a family of 7 (2 adults, 5 kids) on 1 income. I wanted to stay on site but there is no way we can afford it based on the amenities/room I have found off site... so we'll do what we can afford.

 

[amylynne01]

Both. We have some requirements for our vacation, so to make those work, we can't go ever year. We toyed with going in January 2012 instead of 2013, but that would mean we'd stay in a value (not for us), drive down in our hybrid (22hrs each way), and eliminate extras like park hoppers and table service meals. We decided that's not how we want to vacation, so we pushed it to 2013 so we can have the vacation we want.

"Afford" is relative as well. For example, I don't have $3000 to drop on a vacation right now, so I can't afford it. But if I have time to plan, budget, and save, I will have the money, so I can afford it.

 

[WheelCEO]

do what i want.. you only live once

 

[Kat&Dom]

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!

This is how we travel too. Last year, we did 2 trips to Disney, one in April for 8 nights off-site and one in November for 6 nights with 2 nights on-site at All Stars and 4 off-site. We also did a trip to Hawaii for 10 nights - 6 on Big Island and 4 on Maui. If we didn't go for the cheapest flights and stay in timeshare condo's, there is no way that we could afford to do so many wonderful trips. I love to travel and I make it happen with my budget.

 

[pigletto]

I would say we plan for what we can afford. We really like the mods (CSR and POR) and it is more than fine for us to stay in one so we plan for a trip to a mod. However, the last time we booked I already had a pin for 40% off a deluxe so we did a split stay between CSR and the Poly.

This trip when pricing out everything the most affordable option was renting points and YES tickets so we did that.

 

[ilovemk76]

We plan for what we can afford. If a discount comes out that allows us to change then we consider it. Sometimes we just take the discount at the resort we are at. Sometimes we have to change our resort as there are no discounts at the resort we are at.

 

[QVCshopper]

We plan trips around the discounts and promos and cheap airfare, not dates. I like my Animal Kingdom/Wilderness Lodges so we wait for a discount and go. They are at least a little cheaper than the more expensive deluxes. And I like Southwest for the changeability.

 

[lisaross]

I always save years in advance for big trips such as Disney and our upcoming Cruise!

I figure out approximately how much we'll need and divide that by how many months till the trip - so two years planning i'd dividie it by 24 months etc - any extra $ i'll usually add to the fund so i will either have more than needed or just stop saving that much sooner!

For smaller weekend getaways, i'll usually try to budget it - stay in a cheaper motel etc..

 

[crisi]

If we can't afford what we want on a luxury like vacation, we don't go. But our wants are reasonable.

 

[marie1203]

For us is pretty easy since the military deal has been around. We call be price it out and depending our vacation budget we decide were to stay. We haven't found any deal to be better or cheaper.

 

[JennMouse32]

i plan for what i want. If you want it bad enough you will be willing to sacrifice for it..

 

[Priorityonecb]

I've gone back and forth. I think we plan for what we can afford, but it's the same as what we want! We love Pop Century, and I've never paid more than $100 a night there. It's what we want, and it's affordable. We've toured all the deluxe's and just didn't care for the "feel" of them, even if they were POP priced we wouldn't choose them.

 

[thegilchrists]

We plan for what we like......not necessarily what we WANT. I WANT to stay at a deluxe resort for a year and not have to work
But since I know that is never going to happen-we stay in a value resort to free up our money for other things...........besides, we are only in the room to sleep and shower so why pay the extra $$$$$?

Just my opinion......

 

[Totoro]

We plan for what we can afford. We enjoy staying at POP and the values.

 

[charming23]

I plan for what we can afford and if we get a pin or a deal comes out then we might get lucky and get what we want. This happened on our September 2009 Trip. We had planned for a value resort and fewer days until free dining came out and for about the same price we were able to stay at CBR and add two days to our trip.

I am currently saving for a fall 2012 trip and am planning on saving for a value room but hope that a good deal comes out for something.

 

[asea86]

Thanks for all the replies so far... Here's my dilemma. The hubs isnt in to disney, never went a child and frankly doesnt want to go. It's taken me 2 years to get him to agree to it and likely will be our one and only trip there. My thoughts were if we can stay in a nicer resort and closer to parks, eat what we want, etc. I think if he has a good time.. we might be able to come back? So I'm planning for the Poly and trying to save at the same time. We are paying off the bulk of the trip with a lump sum so I'm just saving for airfare and extras. Thanks again!

 

[Marionnette]

Thanks for all the replies so far... Here's my dilemma. The hubs isnt in to disney, never went a child and frankly doesnt want to go. It's taken me 2 years to get him to agree to it and likely will be our one and only trip there. My thoughts were if we can stay in a nicer resort and closer to parks, eat what we want, etc. I think if he has a good time.. we might be able to come back? So I'm planning for the Poly and trying to save at the same time. We are paying off the bulk of the trip with a lump sum so I'm just saving for airfare and extras. Thanks again!

The Poly is an excellent choice and your husband will appreciate not having to open his wallet to pay for his meals if you're on the dining plan.

However, this kind of vacation will spoil you for future Disney visits. I know that a lot of people love the value resorts, but there is not comparison to the convenience, ammenities and the size of the rooms at the deluxes. That could mean that your return trip to Disney World will be further into the future.