Economical Trips...Out the Window

[princess aurora]

It's funny about saving money. I want the most economical trip I can get but once we're there hubby will not deny his family anything. Our girls have been good in the past not to ask for absolutely everything they see and we usually buy them one thing a each park. Could be something as simple as getting the light up ice cube from a drink.

I try to convince him just to have a few food items in the hotel room but he wants to eat out every single meal, even if it's just grabbing a bagel. It's like once we are there all the world is at our feet for one brief shiny week. It's nice but I always feel a little anxious doing this. My hubby insists we're "on vacation" and spends like we're the Rockafellers (am I dating myself with that saying? Perhaps I should say the Hiltons )

Does anyone else plan an economical trip before hand then it all goes out the window once you arrive? How can I learn to relax a little and go with the flow a little more? I want to have fun too and not worry about every penny we spend but I find it a little difficult since I'm the one planning all the pre-arrival arrangements.

 

[disney junky]

We don't really go with a budget. I have learned over the years of being really frugal that you only go on vacation once a year (for us) and my wife's mantra (you can't take it with you) so I do tend to spend a lot more than I am accustomed to while we are on vacation. At work, I tend to be the Disney expert and the first words out of my mouth are "It's expensive. Don't come back and complain about the cost of things." They usually do anyway.

 

[civileng68]

Well this is the exact same boat we're in.

My wife likes to conserve money and we plan on it, but as soon as I get there, I'm like "dinner's out!"

I want to eat in the parks and/or definately eat outside for dinner in the evenings!

We plan to take sandwiches to the parks, but I like the chicken finger baskets!

It's hard, it really is to budget stiffly.

However, I will say, we rarely eat in the parks except when we go on our anniversary, which is coming up. We do eat dinner's outside the parks.

We always go over budget. However I've talked to my wife and things are better. Basically what we do to calm her is go easy on groceries the month before we go.........saving some money from not overspending on groceries. We just conserve. Sometimes it's hard to "save" money over the long haul so we just conserve in our activities.

We've actually done pretty well. Also, my wife is very disciplined with the credit card, so I tell her that in situations likes these it's ok to spend because we always pay it off. It calms her down.

 

[experiment626mom]

You and I are married to the same man!!! My DH explains it that we worry about what we spend all year why should we do that when we are on vacation. The problem then is that he is surprised with how little money we come home with!! Oh well.

 

[civileng68]

Ladies dont you realize that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach?

I mean, i could go without buying anything but when dinner rolls around, I dont want sandwiches made in room or anything like that.

I want DINNER OUT!

 

[crazyboutWDW]

Budget? and WDW? Isn't that like mixing Oil and Water? We usually try to stay within a certain $$ amount overall, but never have actually stayed in that amount. My opinion about WDW vacation is that I want the vacation to be one that my children will always remember, you never know from year to year and I usually go crazy while on vacation and spend wayyyyyyy to much. Even though it cost a small fortune, I never regret spending the money after seeing the joy on my childrens face and the laughing and discussions about vacation that go on throughout the year...

 

[Becky2005]

Actually, THIS is precisely why we went ahead and booked the Premium package.

My DH doesn't like to bring food to our local kiddie amusement park that you are even allowed to bring a picnic lunch into! He would prefer to just buy stuff there and not deal with bringing in our own stuff, etc...

We discussed going with the dining plan and as I was explaining the point system to him, etc... and that it may be where you have to watch where you eat & end up with counter service all day 1 day, etc... we decided it would be better to go for the more all inclusive (we already had Gold booked but saved money switching and didn't lose anything important to us). His eyes glazed over for the dining plan and once we decided to just stick with Premium, he was actually quite happy.

Also, I was afraid we would do the "instead of getting what we *really* want, we will go the cheap route" and this way we can get what we really want plus some and it's the same price either way. In addition, he is definitely worse than the kids with wanting to buy snacks, etc.. and if he is buying it for himself, he is more than willing to buy it for the kids because we are on vacation (we don't go on vacations very often so it's a big deal when we do!).

Plus we get to take the kids to La Nouba, have a couple tours booked, we will be doing a fishing excursion, parasailing, etc... all of things which I know if we were paying out of pocket we would decide "Yes, it would be fun to do that but we just don't want to pay that much for it". LOL!

 

[eeyore0062]

After getting whatever discounts we can to stay on property, all other bets are off! We also eat out whenever we are hungry (usually don't eat 3 full meals a day), and never deny ourselves whatever souveniers we want (we don't usually buy too much, although I do have a weakness for the Mexican and Japan pavillion as well as the Polynesian gift shops). DD usually does have her own money that she is in charge of budgeting, so in that case, she buys what she wants until it runs out.

 

[Becky2005]

Ladies dont you realize that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach?

I mean, i could go without buying anything but when dinner rolls around, I dont want sandwiches made in room or anything like that.

I want DINNER OUT!

I just had to crack up at this My DH is not all that thrilled to go to Disney but one of his requests for a vacation are to "eat big", so we have to accomodate that (especially since in my case, HE's the one paying for it!)

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

While I am not exactly a bon vivant at WDW, it does seem like it is always me suggesting that we skip over the cheesecrackers we have smuggled into the park and go for the chiken fingers or hamburgers instead. DW is so good about keeping her head on straight, but it is me who buys the kids a Mickey bar when it gets hot. We don't have any family skirmishes over this, but I am the one who pushes the plans.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

It's like once we are there all the world is at our feet for one brief shiny week.

That's because you are on vacation at WDW and for one brief, shiny week, the world IS at your feet.

As for souveniers, I am guessing from your smileys that you have two girls. I think that the idea of buying one thing in each park is a good one, I'd also suggest waiting till the end of the night, just before you leave...the lines/stores may be more crowded, but at least you won't have used up your one thing earlier in the day, and then have had them find something else that they absolutely love. This is what I did when I went with my neice. It was inevitable that if I got her something early in the day, 3 hours later she'd find something else and really want it (and I was not going to be the big, mean auntie and say no to something else under $20 but it adds up, I know...)

Another thing to keep in mind is the WDW Mail Order line. You can buy virtually anything from the parks when you get home. If the girls see something they really like, but you don't have the budget for it (or if YOU see something you like... ) you can usually order it later from home, pay for it by credit card over the phone with a CM and have it mailed to you. They ship worldwide. So if you don't buy it then and there, it does not mean you can never buy it.

As for food, my best suggestion is to make lunch your "big meal". Lunches cost less at WDW than dinners, and often less than breakfasts and you can usually get a late lunch around 4:30 pm. The menus are almost always the same, just cheaper. Some lunches do have characters.

Snacks are different. I'd keep some snacks on you, just in case in the parks (crackers or something) but IMHO, on vacation, Mickey Bars and Cookies for a family of four is not going to add up to that much over a week in the long scheme of things and the joy they bring you when you are there is worth it. Maybe try to limit to one snack a day. I guess what I am trying to say is I see a lot of people on these boards fret over paying for snacks and going broke for it. But IMO, the cost of snacks for the average family for one week, even at 2 snacks per family member per day, is not usually going to be a financial burden that you can't bounce right back from (unless you are traveling with 35 family members...)

 

[leighe]

I start every trip by declaring "this one is going to be a budget trip". I plan to make a reservation at a moderate, which turns into WL or AKL, which turns into GF, Poly, or YC. I also say - we are going to eat in the room more and then make 1 PS, then one more, then one more, etc. I actually make "shopping" a key part of my budgeting - I know I'm going to do it - I just can't say no to those Engel-Puppen dolls in Germany! DH laughs at my attempts to economize and then reminds me that it's vacation - don't worry about it! We take money out of our checks every month and put it in what we call our "vacation account" so we don't feel bad about spending it all!

We don't have any kids yet! Heaven help us then!

 

[princess aurora]

Well thanks for all your responses. You know I've said it before but it's just nice to know there are others out there just like us. I know I have to "let it go" a little and I guess you're all right it's a vacation and we don't go to Disney every year. You posters all deserve a great big & from me

Okay let the games begin...we're goin' to Disney and I'm not going to fret about the money

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Well thanks for all your responses. You know I've said it before but it's just nice to know there are others out there just like us. I know I have to "let it go" a little and I guess you're all right it's a vacation and we don't go to Disney every year. You posters all deserve a great big & from me

Okay let the games begin...we're goin' to Disney and I'm not going to fret about the money

Have fun!

 

[Gymbomom]

We overbudget on food. So, our food allowance might be $200 a day for the whole family. Whatever is left over is extra money. The kids have their own spending money, so when it is gone, it is gone. But, over the year they usually save about $100 - $150.
All my PS I make for lunch time. We can go early or late, whatever, the other meal is counter and one meal is eaten in.
I am really going to miss the vouchers this year. That helped us budget the most.

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

Budget!!! We went over our "budget" by about $800 last time!!!