How do you justify non-Disney vacations when you've spent so much on DVC?

[briand1023]

My wife and I have spent time there not going into the parks, just hanging out on Boardwalk relaxing, watching fireworks at night, etc. Very relaxing. The most memorable was the trip down the year when the Red Sox beat the Yankees, to come back from 0-3 and win it all and go on to the World Series, we spent alot of time and money in the ESPN Club...lots of fun, food and friends there.

 

[Kathi OD]

...

By the time mine our college age, I don't expect to be vacationing with them. When I was in college, my vacation time was booked with my friends and boyfriends, not my parents. So we have about ten years to fit the world in - from eight to eighteen...

Crisi, you may be surprised. Your children will definitely want to vacation with their friends more than you. However, they may still want to go to Disney with you.

Our kids are adults now. Ever since the oldest hit the later teen years, they have all always fought over who was going to Disney w/ mom & dad. One year the 2 older ones even suggested that I make their little brother stay with their grandparents and take them along!

We're leaving next week for a short trip. The fighting for the sofa bed in our OKW 1BR started early. The lobbying was strong. In the end it boiled down to who could get the time off from work.

It's kind of funny to listen to them try and position themselves for a spot.

 

[crisi]

Crisi, you may be surprised. Your children will definitely want to vacation with their friends more than you. However, they may still want to go to Disney with you.

Our kids are adults now. Ever since the oldest hit the later teen years, they have all always fought over who was going to Disney w/ mom & dad. One year the 2 older ones even suggested that I make their little brother stay with their grandparents and take them along!

We're leaving next week for a short trip. The fighting for the sofa bed in our OKW 1BR started early. The lobbying was strong. In the end it boiled down to who could get the time off from work.

It's kind of funny to listen to them try and position themselves for a spot.

They may, but I'm not intending on funding Europe and Hawaii (or Disney) when they are in college or as adults, nor will I control their schedule - that's why I have only about eight years to fit that sort of travel in. If they want to come to England with Mom and Dad when they are in college, they can pay - assuming Mom and Dad want them along.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Every family has its own priorities for spending money. We have spent a lot on DVC (1150 points) and we do other vacations as well (just returned from Hawaii). But we are just middle class folks so that means we don't live in a fancy house nor in a fancy neighborhood. We rarely eat at fancy neighborhoods and we don't wear fancy clothes. It works for us but I'm sure some people question our choices.
OP, it sounds like you are a thinking person and as long as you are making conscious decisions then you are wise. As the years pass your circumstances may change and so may your choices. In the meantime, enjoy every Disney moment! Even if my only vacations were Disney I would still be a very happy lady!

Great Post Jean!

We all make our choices, there is no right or wrong as long as you are self supporting.

And +1 to Lisa!! I purchased DVC as a vacation home for me and my family. It has served its purpose well. I have no desire to fly to any of the aforementioned places for a week and I dont want to take young children there. Alot of people can afford to do alot of things, they simply choose not to. That does not mean they are suffering from some kind of affliction. Some people choose to never go anywhere and nothing wrong with that either.

 

[Brian Noble]

you may be surprised. Your children ... may still want to go to Disney with you.

Maybe. But, unless the kids are fully indoctrinated, it may be the exception rather than the rule. My DD12 would much rather spend a week at Sea World/Universal than Disney---the coasters are much better, and she'd rather be Hermione than Rapunzel at this age. My DS10 spent a good chunk of his mid-winter break power-riding the Dragons at IOA, and might not be too far behind her. And, he'd rather spend a week at the Wisconsin Dells waterparks than doing anything in Orlando, except maybe Wet-n-Wild.

They'd be okay going to WDW, but it's not their preference at this point, even for a "park vacation". And, I get that. When I hit my early teens, I could take or leave the Disney experience, and didn't really go back to it until I had kids of my own.

 

[eliza61]

By the time mine our college age, I don't expect to be vacationing with them. When I was in college, my vacation time was booked with my friends and boyfriends, not my parents. So we have about ten years to fit the world in - from eight to eighteen. When I was nineteen I backpacked around Europe (without my parents, but with my sister). .

I don't know Crisi, I thought the same thing. lol. my sons are 19 & 17 and I swear they can both 'smell" when we are even thinking of going on vacation. I think they have figured out that when they vacation with us they eat way better and stay in much better accomadations than when they go on their own. My oldest was damn near devastated when he went on his senior trip and found out he was staying in a value. ***gasp****

Now when I was a kid, there was no disney world LOL and California was literally the other side of the world from NYC. and back then family vacations where viewed a bit differently. I was pretty blessed in that my mother dragged me to Europe on her dime up until she passed away.

Pretty much as long as my kids want to vacation with us, we'll take them. I suspect when they finish college and move out on their own that will change. my 19 year old is a freshman at home and has no problems if he can get the timeoff of work hanging out with his parents.

 

[crisi]

When I hit my early teens, I could take or leave the Disney experience, and didn't really go back to it until I had kids of my own.

And honestly, I don't know how often WE will go once the kids are college age. We've been talking about DVC being a "while the kids were home" thing since we purchased. I PREFER the Deluxe hotels when I'm at Disney if its just my husband and I. I'm one of those weirdos who likes having my room cleaned every day. And when its just my husband and I - I really can't see us going every year, or every other year. Or not 150 points worth of going. My kids can't invite themselves along to Disney if their dad and I aren't going.

I completely get that there are people who are "Disney People." For them, DVC as a lifelong commitment makes sense. And they might not need to justify non-Disney vacations - because "why go anywhere else." But that has never been us. Disney is somewhere we CURRENTLY go in ADDITION to other places. In the past, when the kids were little, its been our primary destination. Now, its a lower priority for us than other travel because we want to do a wider variety of things. In the future, we may go every five or ten years.

 

[Nahanni]

I love the DVC resorts too, but we could never go to WDW for approx. 2 weeks each summer and not go to the parks.

But, I think it really has to do with whether one has kids, and their ages. As I explained above, this would absolutely not work in our family at all due to the ages of our kids. Plus, we go for a long stretch each summer, so we need to go the parks!

Tiger

I agree it would be difficult to spend 2 weeks at WDW without going to the parks but I also can't imagine going to parks everyday for 2 weeks. Last trip DS5 really enjoyed the games and crafts at Kidani library and community hall. This summer, we will see if those activities are still of interest, use the pools and water play areas more, go to the Orlando Science Center (free with our local membership) and one year we'll add in Kennedy Space Center, the wildlife reserves (manatee watching), orange grove visit, etc. We are buying into DVC with young children because it is relatively close (2 hours direct flight), relatively safe & easy and there is lots to do within driving distance of Orlando. As much as we want them to experience the world, we don't want to do it until we know they can take care of themselves if we ever get separated (lost being relatively easy but imagine an earthquake or tsunami separting you - unlikely, but how would a 6-10yo in a foreign country fare).

 

[Tiger926]

I agree it would be difficult to spend 2 weeks at WDW without going to the parks but I also can't imagine going to parks everyday for 2 weeks. Last trip DS5 really enjoyed the games and crafts at Kidani library and community hall. This summer, we will see if those activities are still of interest, use the pools and water play areas more, go to the Orlando Science Center (free with our local membership) and one year we'll add in Kennedy Space Center, the wildlife reserves (manatee watching), orange grove visit, etc. We are buying into DVC with young children because it is relatively close (2 hours direct flight), relatively safe & easy and there is lots to do within driving distance of Orlando. As much as we want them to experience the world, we don't want to do it until we know they can take care of themselves if we ever get separated (lost being relatively easy but imagine an earthquake or tsunami separting you - unlikely, but how would a 6-10yo in a foreign country fare).

We love Disney for a lot of the same reasons you mentioned, especially being safe and easy to do. When we are there for 2 weeks though, we pretty much go everyday because we are there for so long. Once in awhile, the kids want a break day, but hardly ever. We only go into the parks for a few hours here, and a few hours there. We are not park commdandos at all, but because of DVC and APs, we don't feel like it's a waste if we only go the park for 1 hour at a time.

We just started eating 2 meals per day in our villa, and love that, and we always take a midday break. Always go back for a rest, snacks and swimming So this way, we enjoy the resorts and activities. Kids love DVC resort playgrounds, so they play on those too.

We just can't do a non-park Disney vacation at this point, especially while staying at a DVC resort. Like I said, we aren't park commandos at all - no rope drops, ever, plus we sleep in almost everyday. And I also know that as the kids get older, our Disney vacations may change.

We are still taking in all of the awesome discussion on this thread! Like I mentioned, it's the cost associated with other vacations, that is hard to rectify with. I've been crunching numbers and looking at all options, so it's been an interesting week around here in terms of vacation talk!

Thanks all, Tiger