Do you spend more money with each DVC trip you take or LESS money???

[crisi]

Some other ways we spend more...

Before DVC it was a one room hotel room. Now its a two bedroom. That isn't making it cheaper for accomodations - but the experience is worth it.

Before DVC we would meet family or friends, but we wouldn't treat anyone - everyone was on their own. Post-DVC we've paid for hotel rooms for family and friends out of our dues, we've taken relatives who couldn't afford the trip by treating them to airfare and park tickets as well. Once again, enjoyable, but adds significantly to the bottom line when you pick up all the costs for Grandma to go along.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

We haven't bought any of the cheap "made in China" crap in the stores as of late, nor do we waste our money on endless "Disney Parks" sweatshirts (Loved the resort merchandise, but that went the way of the dodo.)

We spend a lot on food, but we always have so that's not an increase. Same can be said for beer & wine.

Park tickets have also remained constant over the years.

MG

 

[delaneyc52]

Less per day, more per trip (they keep getting longer)

bookwormde

Ditto!!!

 

[DebbieB]

Definitely less. Don't buy many souveniers anymore. I think we spend less on food too, don't go to the expensive restaurants just to try them out. We've been doing our big meal at lunch, which is cheaper. Then get fast food later. Going in October, so will probably "eat around the world" in the evening.

 

[kaelarad]

Much less for us....like many far fewer ADR's refuse to pay for lousy overpriced food and rude servers, less merchandise...generic and poor quality. we have really discovered some nice places to eat and visit off property when we visit.

Of course the ultimate savings comes with being a DVC member.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

I think we spend less. We no longer have to pay for accommodations other then the annual dues, which are low when compared to the cost of a comparable room. We buy annual passes so we get two trips out of them, some years more. I have a Disney Visa so the Disney dollars I accumulate during the year help to pay for our meals & any souvenir I might want to buy. We usually try to eat earlier in the day (lunch menu) so the cost is lower & it’s better for my digestive system; I have trouble with big meals later in the evening…We usually do a sit down everyday but have the TIW discount card so that saves us money & my Disney dollars help to offset the cost. So over all the only real expense each year are the airline tickets & spending money for tipping & whatever else we may need money for that my Disney dollars don’t cover. I LOVE my DVC!

 

[Deb & Bill]

We don't buy as much stuff - other than new polo shirts for my husband. He always seems to go home with some really nice golf shirts - more than he needs. And if we can stay away from the spa, we'll spend a lot less.

 

[acejka]

Much less on DVC trips vs. cash. Food alone made up a huge expense for us, and we enjoyed going back to the room and cooking our own food and eating in peace and quiet! We'd grab our favorite snacks or a qs meal here and there though.

Now we spend even less since we just moved down here
(definitely wasn't planning on living in Orlando when we bought DVC but when my dh's job put him here)
Now I really don't see a need for stuff with walt disney world written on it.... maybe a photo album with the year on it would still be nice though.

 

[jarestel]

Definitely more now. Transportation, park tickets, and food are all more expensive than they were 10 years ago. Dues have increased some 20 - 25% as well. But OTOH, we didn't become DVC members to travel to WDW on the cheap, but rather to give us an incentive to go more often.

 

[justjudy]

We definitely spend less. There just isn't as much we're interested in buying. I guess we've "aged out" of Disney's target demographic, which is a good thing for our wallet!

 

[patsal]

Less, we don't really buy any merchandise, it is all canned. Nothing unique to want to spend on.

Heck my costs dropped 25% this year since DS said he didn't want to join us!

Annual passes I would have spent on, so that has remained a constant. Food I would have to buy anyway so again a constant.

I use points for the most part for lodging, but occasionally I need to add a night on cash because of flights.

 

[DVC-Don]

Less. We may make one or two ADR's for a one week trip and very little, if any, souveniers nowadays. We mainly eat in the unit (always a one or two bedroom unit).

 

[ransom]

We spend about the same amount of money per trip, but instead of going to rooms like it did pre-DVC, now it goes to longer trips (food), water park tickets, APs, Tables in Wonderland card, etc.

 

[hoffmann2828]

I would definitely say LESS. And that's with a new 3 year old. When it was just DH and me, we went crazy. Bought anything and everything we wanted. Now, it is probably out of necessity that we spend less. We have been doing the DDP the last few times, and we get very creative to stretch meals (DD was JUST under 3 last time, but still ate LOL) and this time we are doing QSDP and will make 2 counter service meals stretch to three with snacks, etc.

We don't buy tons of garbage souvenEARS, DD doesn't like pins just yet, and we already have tons of stuff around the house. Absolutely less stuff gets purchased, although DD is coming into the "I want that" stage, so who knows next time???

Jenny

 

[edk35]

We don't buy as much stuff - other than new polo shirts for my husband. He always seems to go home with some really nice golf shirts - more than he needs. And if we can stay away from the spa, we'll spend a lot less.

What is it with MEN AND POLO SHIRTS???
My husband gets polo type shirts whenever he travels too. He has been all over the world and I tell you what...I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANOTHER POLO SHIRT. Used to be a hat obsession.....and he still buys TOO many coffee mugs too.

 

[quentina]

We seem to spend less each time....don't buy alot of stuff and only do one or two sit down, disney priced meals. We are not fancy eaters.....along the lines of Whispering Canyon.

 

[Deb & Bill]

What is it with MEN AND POLO SHIRTS???
My husband gets polo type shirts whenever he travels too. He has been all over the world and I tell you what...I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANOTHER POLO SHIRT. Used to be a hat obsession.....and he still buys TOO many coffee mugs too.

Mine wears them to work. He doesn't have to wear a suit jacket and tie, so polos work fine. He just ruins a few each year, though, so they have to be replaced. Took him over to the Eddie Bauer Outlet at Prime Outlets last year and he got two or three for about the same price as one from WDW.

 

[Alexander]

We definately spend less, much less.

• Dining in the world is okay at best, so we pretty much cook for ourselves now. We will eat lunch if in one of the parks, but definately not breakfast, and usually not dinner.
  
• We pretty much own every souvenier that they have come up with, so we buy next to nothing anymore.
  
• We have the new FL resident select weekday seasonal passes, so for $169 we have Mon-Fri park access for a year minus black-out periods (which we don't travel in anyways). Can't get much cheaper passes for us than that!
  
• And now that we have consumed all of our points for the next two years (tied up in 3 cruises) we have been renting stays at Bonnet Creek which costs a fraction of the DVC villas. A two-bedroom for the end of August into early September was $600 and a two-bedroom Christmas week was $1,000. Can't even come close to that with DVC!
  
• Since airline flight prices have been pretty high lately, we have been driving when we travel in from NY. So instead of $800 in airfare and $200 for a car, we drive for $400.

 

[culli]

We definately spend less, much less.

• Dining in the world is okay at best, so we pretty much cook for ourselves now. We will eat lunch if in one of the parks, but definately not breakfast, and usually not dinner.
  
• We pretty much own every souvenier that they have come up with, so we buy next to nothing anymore.
  
• We have the new FL resident select weekday seasonal passes, so for $169 we have Mon-Fri park access for a year minus black-out periods (which we don't travel in anyways). Can't get much cheaper passes for us than that!
  
• And now that we have consumed all of our points for the next two years (tied up in 3 cruises) we have been renting stays at Bonnet Creek which costs a fraction of the DVC villas. A two-bedroom for the end of August into early September was $600 and a two-bedroom Christmas week was $1,000. Can't even come close to that with DVC!
  
• Since airline flight prices have been pretty high lately, we have been driving when we travel in from NY. So instead of $800 in airfare and $200 for a car, we drive for $400.

How did you get FL resident passes?

 

[Malaguti Ball Clan]

More....far more, but I am new and have not quite gotten over EVERYTHING DISNEY....when I learn to save more on our trips I will probably start buying Disney Art