"How can you afford a Disney Trip?"

[crusin'minnie]

Great post!!!! There are so many interesting points of view on this subject!!!!

One of my BF and her husband live 1 hr from WDW and hate it! They have a friend who works there and can get them in free so they have been a few times. But they are soooo negative about it even in front of their kids! Her husband is extremely vocal about my family's trips. We travel from Louisiana. I think in his case he is jealous of my friendship with his wife. I finally said to him "Until we ask someone to pay our bills, they have no say so about how we spend our $ and I really don't care to hear their opinions"

Of course that hasn't really shut him up. He now harps on how much more I love the mouse than my friend. How much more I would rather spend time with mickey than her. He is so rude!! Because of his rudeness my family and I never stay with them anymore, I get a hotel and have cut down on the amount of time we spend with them. I think I will take a cue from Beansmom and really blast him the next time he starts in on me.

As for In-laws, co-workers, and everyone else, the minute they even look like they are going to tell me how crazy we are for going to WDW so much I cut in and tell them the story about my BF and her husband in Florida. Most of the time when I am finished, they are agreeing with me that how people spend their $ is their business.


I also think that the earlier posts hit the nail on the head about the jealousy. Not only with the cost involved in a trip and being able to give yourself permission to spend that $ on a vacation, but also to have the "polly anna" (if you will) view of WDW that many of us do. I feel happier at WDW than anywhere else on earth. Magic really does happen for us each and every trip and it is priceless to me and my family. I think too many adults can't stop being cynical long enough to really let themselves enjoy something like this with their kids. I feel sorry for them and even more sorry for their children.

As for me and mine we'll be heading back to WDW

 

[theycallmewinnie]

I agree that this question is very aggravating - almost as bad as "So when are you going to have a baby?" - and just as rude. Our family does a 2 week vacation each summer and at least one long weekend during the school year. We do it because we know it is worth it. I'm a teacher who lives in Wisconsin and come January, I take out the tour books and my teacher friend can tell when I've spent the night in my "florida state of mind." It is my happy place that helps me keep things in perspective.

I also agree that the young ones will remember enough to make it worthwhile for all. My 7 year old who went when he was five looked at the pictures recently and had stories to go with most of them. For the ones he didn't, we filled in the blanks and he had a great time listening to our memories of him when he was "little." My nephew went with us to Disney when he was 7. He's 18 now and recently went through a litany of all the great stuff he remembered. He made our trip at the time, and he made our day with the memories!

Jealous whiners, take heed. . . those of us who spent precious time with the kids are getting some precious thanks in return . . . yet more for you to be jealous of.

 

[walls1999]

I am very new to this board but, I picked up on your thread right away. My DD is also going to turn four right before we leave and everyone harps on and on about how she is too young but, her older is going to be 11 when we leave. So, do I wait for her to get old enough and let him miss out on everything? No!!! I don't think your every too young or too old to love Disney. My family keeps bothering us about the buying a house thing too. I don't think the see the difference btween a wonderful vacation that may cost a couple thousand and the twenty thousand or more you truly need to buy a decent house. Anyway, I know you got a lot of replies just thought I'd throw my two cents in.

 

[jacksonsmom]

I want to Thank everyone for the wonderful replies I have received.

we are leaving in 4 Days & we are looking forward to it.
As far as my MIL....well, she will always complain or harp on whatever we choose to do.

We refuse to let her bitterness or jealousy ruin our FUN!
We are going to have a wonderful time in the World.
My son will have a wonderful time!!

Thanks again everyone.....now I got to get busy & get things done before we leave.

 

[TINKTWINS]

UGGGGG. its so annoying.

I have spent alot of time learning how to save money for my trips. People that are, Caution please in reading this, "Non Disney People" just dont get it. If your a lover of Disney, nothing will stand in your way. You learn to scrimp on other things. You adjust to what suits your lifestyle. We live in our own house, but its not my dream home, nor is it in a town I would choose to live the rest of my life in, however, since 3 years ago we kinda re started our family, ( older DS's are 12, 14, 17) and had only taken them on 2 Disney trips when they were small, but can now afford to take the twins and the 12yo ( 14 and 17 could go but choose not to) we are going to do it and enjoy it. We just wont be moving to a more desirable home, by our own choice. Were ok where we are and the vacations together are more important right now. Besides the fact that it took me a long time to finally get my own Princess, she needs to experince that. My kids do remember their last couple of trips and for 3yolds, they are Very Disney knowledgable.
Does it matter that in 10 years they may not? Not to me it doesnt, I dont remember stuff that happened yesterday!!

In our case its my brother in law who is obsessed with people dying broke, and who constantly asks us if we have gotten more life insurance!!

Dude im not spending my free time thinking of death. Let us enjoy our life how we choose too.

Jelousy plays a huge part too, we usually dont tell people until we have to.

Just have fun youve earned it, you shouldnt feel obligated to explain how you spend your hard earned bucks!!

 

[jennymouse]

My mother was always the one on me about spending money on Disney trips. As a kid, my Dad always liked to go to FL for vacations, but Mom always liked to stay home. My Dad would still like to go on vacations, but wouldn't go because Mom likes to stay home and garden or quilt. I was a single parent & now a single grandmother who likes to take her daughter/granddaughter to WDW. I own my home, pay my bills...drive a dependable older car by choice because cars are not important to me. Still, even though I'm 40 years old my mother would always have to say something negative about my spending money on WDW trips.

Well, my mother died of cancer this May 3rd. Believe it or not, I bought 150 points in the Disney Vacation Club with money she left me. I hope she's not spinning in her grave over it, but I couldn't think of a better memorial to her than free resort accomodations for myself, my DF, my DD & my grandchildren until the year 2042.

For those of you who think bad of me for doing that, turn about is fair play. I've also had to sell my house and move in with my Dad which includes taking care of Mom's BIG house and HUGE garden. Which I do gladly between WDW vacations.

 

[walls1999]

Have fun!! Have fun!! I hope your dad has fun too. Enjoy every minute.

 

[Mad4Mickey]

I have been hearing the same stuff for years . My kids are teens now and no longer want to go to WDW ,so I go with a friend. (We still go on our family vacation to Scuba dive) I have to hear about how I take a trip all on my own and spend my family money on my Disney obsession.( last time I checked I was still working) I also like when people tell me that they cant believe my husband "lets" me go with,I "let" him go and play with the pretty lights and sirens for 24 long hours at a time this is the least he can do LOL. This year I am going with my friend and her son , I also talked my little sister into letting me take her 3 yr old son with me .People spend money on what makes them happy in life and guess what DISNEY makes me very happy .I go every year sometimes more then one time and I go to Disneyland. I guess I am a bad bad girl !!!
I say GO and be happy ,wear the ears ( I do !)

Wishing you MANY DISNEY days ahead !!!

 

[NomadFamily]

Everybody has priorities. Some folks don't have a priority in family vacations..such a shame. How many people do you know that alook back at their childhood and think "wow, we really had a luxurious home" or "wow, we had such a nice Mercedes Benz" - NOT!!!! They will, however, think "Wow, remember the time we all went to Disney for two weeks!". That is what memories are about! I spend my money in two areas : education for my kids (pay top dollar for private school which earns me a lot of grief with people) and pay for great vacations, which always include my children. After all, I work my tail off all year - and I deserve to TREAT myself and the kids to a great vacation AT LEAST once a year. Whenever I think twice about such things, I imagine being on my death bed at 98 years old. What will I be thinking of my life? Will I be glad that I took these family vacations? YES!!! Will I be glad that I invested in education for the kids? YES!!! Will I wish I had driven a more expensive car or lived in a bigger home? NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO! My 98 year old self is always right and she gives great advice

 

[patman]

Anybody outside your family that questions you on how you can afford to take an expensive vacation is just rude. I took vacations while I saved for my house.

I enjoy my house (and the 100% increase in value over the last 8 years) That being said parents have the "right" to question their grown childrens decisions.

I myself would not take two Disney vacations in one year rather than paying off bills.

 

[yzma]

WHAT A GREAT THREAD!
It all seems very familiar to me. Why are you going to Disney again? blah blah blah! The first time we went our DD was 2. Of course she doesn't remember but we have the cutest pictures of her on that trip. We all had a great time. The next time we went DD#1 was 5 and DD#2 was 18 months. Why would you take an 18 month to Disney? Gee , I don't know maybe because she is my child and part of this family. It was great. We were there for 8 days. We had bought AP's and stayed at AS with a code. We went 2 more times that year. We stayed at Port orleans and Boardwalk(we got lucky here they had overbooked the Coronado so we were offered an upgrade). We got the lectures and we have a house and both have good jobs. I think people are extremely jealous. It is none of their business what you spend your money on. It is your money and you work hard for it. I researched all the deals and saved tons of money on all our trips. Thank goodness for mousesavers.Life is precious grab some magic while you can. Material things like clothes and new cars don't last forever but memories do. We are moving in 2 weeks to clermont, Fl and you can bet your life I'll be at Disney all the time. Bring on the lectures!
Jenn

 

[poober25]

Originally posted by patman
That being said parents have the "right" to question their grown childrens decisions.

I don't see how parents have the "right" to questions their grown children's decisions. I guess technically speaking, maybe the do, but then I, as a grown child, have the "right" not to speak to my parents if they get on my nerves too bad.

We had some problems with certain members of my family disciplining our children while we were right there in front of them. (And we DO discipline our children) Since we had a discussion with them about and made it clear that if they weren't going to have a part in our children's lives if they interferred with our parenting, we have had no problems. I guess that's OT, but it does say a little bit about "rights." Sorry to vent.

 

[jacksonsmom]

Originally posted by patman


I enjoy my house (and the 100% increase in value over the last 8 years) That being said parents have the "right" to question their grown childrens decisions.

I don't see how parents have a 'right' to question their grown children's decision.
Their grown chlidren are Adults....they are in charge of their own life.
I can see if a grown child was asking their parents for money to help pay for a trip but in my case we are using our own money we worked hard to earn. I sold on Ebay, DH & I did a paper route for a while....all to EARN extra money to go to Disney World.

Personally, I don't see how my MIL has a "right" to question OUR decision. We have never asked her for ANY money, ever...and would never do that.

I guess as a mother I may not agree with some of the things my son may decide to do when he is an adult BUT I would not question it as it is his life....NOW if we are talking something that is endangering his life, well, that is a whole another story.

 

[Free4Life11]

It's no one elses business how much a vacation costs you and whatnot.

To be honest, we didn't save a ton of money or anything for our trip in January. We tried to cut costs - stayed in a vacation home, got a great rental car rate and airfare, prepared a few of our meals, and had a great time.

Did we rack up a lot on the Visa? Yep, and to be honest I couldn't care less.

Life's too short to always be worring about the bills and such. We've never taken a family vacation like this - EVER (and my oldest brother is 24). So in 24 years we never took a vacation, heck I had never even been on a plane until this trip!

I can't believe how rude peopel would be about that. Sure the vacation is exspensive but its a helluva lotta fun and a good time!

 

[KittenLittle]

A WDW vacation is what the kids will remember for the rest of their lives. What do I remember? The fabulous vacations to the NY World's Fair in 1964 and Expo in Montreal IN 1967. I have a few negative memories about some other bad stuff, but I bask in the recollections of those MAGICAL times. I have recently been introduced to the magic of WDW , and I am going to try to make sure that my kids have the same WONDERFUL childhood memories that I did.GO FOR IT!!!!!!

 

[BostonMouse]

My boys are 8 & 11. We've been to disney every year for the past 6 years. What really "blew" everyone's mind was when we did a cruise in June and Disney in August last year. If asked "how we can afford" my answer is "It's a matter of setting priorities".

Memories last a lifetime!


BTW - The August trip was $99pp RT on SWA and $90/nt at Vistana (2 bed lock-out unit). I couldn't pass up trans/room for 4 people for $1,000. It would have cost me more to go to Cape Cod for 4 days.

 

[jeleebeene]

This is where I have told my parents to mind their own business.

DH and I make a pretty good living - live in a nice townhome, and really enjoy the neighborhood we live in.

My parents constantly badger me about when we are going to get a new car (I have a '96 that is payed off..and don't want another car payment right now. I current car runs just fine) and when we are going to get a house.

Why are they so concerned about this? My parents own a home and it is a dump - they never put work into it and it is now falling apart.

They have no idea how much money DH and I have in our savings account, and it is none of their business.

I think it takes parents a long time to just let their kids go, no matter how old you are.

I finally had to tell my parents to just mind their own business. We make good money, but because DH may have to relocate, we have no intention of buying a house in the next couple of years, just to have to turn around and sell it. I won't waste my money that way.

DH and I take a vacation every year, and while family members may whine and complain, I intend on enjoying myself, because I can!!

 

[Alfie]

You're not alone! We are far from well off, I drive an 86 old towncar but I have to get to disney everyother year! Half the fun is planning the cheapest way to go, we stay offsite and use aaa discounts, we just came back 2 weeks ago from 7 nites off site, on the way home my mind was working overtime on how I can swing this fairy tale package, I was going crazy wondering whether to do this or not, but in all the years of going down there we have never stayed on-site, my daughter is now 20 and probably won't want to go for much longer with us, so yes! I decided to go for it, I'm going on a v e r y stiict budget for the next four months and for what I can't save I'm charging it on the disney visa and paying the balance off with income tax refund in feb., I know I'm crazy for taking two vacations in the same yr, I;ve never done this and I'm getting slack from everyone, only my true disney friends understand, but what the heck, my son is 6 and this time I'm taking a nephew who has never been there, I feel excited but guilty at the same time! I just figure the bills will always be there, life is much too short!

 

[SamSam]

We have made vacations a priority in our lives. That means we may not have the best 'decor' in our house and we certainly don't remodel on a regular basis. We don't have collections (drake, beanie babies, snow angels, or whatever). I cook most of our meals at home from scratch. I buy clothes on sale or at discount stores. We keep our thermostat set at moderate levels.
You get the drift...........Since vacations are a priority for us; everything else is strictly monitored and controlled.
For us it's worth it to do without and watch our spending on a day to day basis in order to enjoy our vacation time. It's all a matter of priorities. For us buying $60 jeans is not worth skimping on vacations.

 

[Banshee]

I know how you feel My DH and two DS are going oct. 30th to Nov 8th! And my MIL had a fit, I train and breed horses and my husband works for my father. She feels what I do is frivilous that I am just wasting my DH money!! Even thou the sale of one of my horses practically paid for our home!! My DH family Never went on vacation never went to Great adventure amusement park never went to the boardwalk to go on rides, Never even went to a county fair! why?? Because my MIL is CHEAP My Fil worked at a nuclear power plant making nice money and my MIL is a reg. Nurse making nice money. We paid for our vacation in full cash with our refund! And she said you should save that money in case something happens and the economy crashes, se is still nagging us actually telling my DH that I am just wasting his money on horses and now Disney and that he shouldnt let me get away with it When will she get it thru her thick head that it is not HIS money it is OUR money????My dad always said life is to short, if you are happy with where you are at that is all that matters as long as you are enjoying life. My dad started his business when I was baby and he is very successful at what he does with the first 4 of his kids there were sacrifices and they had to scrimp and save But they still took my older siblings on small vacations! My brother and I were younger so we kind of lucked out we went on wonderfull vacations my parents love horses and that love was instilled in me I ws very fortunate I had horses was able to show them. My parents always wanted to give us better than what they had and that is how I feel about my children! My MIL said that to me once about my DH and his brothers HA! As I said they never vacationed or did anything! But I found out when she was a kid that her parents took her to Europe all over america they vacationed a lot on one income???????? I feel she is a hypocrite!!!! Yes we have bills But guess what we always will have bills! But my children will be young only once! And I want them to have just as good or better childhood as I had! Definatly better than what my DH had! I feel very bad for my Hubby he really had a very crappy upbringing he literally had to go to school in thrift shop clothes! Nothing is wrong with that if that is all you can afford But if your dad works at the power plant and your mom is A reg. nurse? why the thrift shop clothes? If theywanted to participate in sports it had to be paid for with thier B-Day money from relatives or when they were in high school they had to pay for it with a job My DH played football and base ball in High school and had to pay for a vehicle and had to keep his grades up all on his own they even tried to get financial aid for college for my DH The man from the school looked at them like they were insane when he saw thier w-2's and they were mad when he told them they would not qualify for aid! I am soooo sorry to vent but when I read this thread it struck a chord. To everyone who has naysayer's........ Enjoy your vacations.........enjoy your children......ENLOY LIFE!!! It is tooo short!!