If you couldn't afford the hotel you wanted to stay in, would you still go?

[bedogged]

We don't go to Disney often, once every 8 or 9 years. We travel different places. So when we go, we like to do it the way we want to. A longer trip, and staying deluxe. (just my preference, we spend time at the hotel)

In a discussion today, a friend was debating going now and staying at a hotel she really didn't want to, or save up and go next year and stay where she really wanted to. I told her how I would do it (save up).

Would you go now and settle for less in the hotel (in your mind) or save up for what you really wanted? (meaning you could want deluxe, moderate, value, off-site, whatever!)

If I couldn't afford the place I wanted (Beach/Yacht club or Polynesian!), I wouldn't go until I could afford it.

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned is that if you wait to go you end up paying more because Disney raises the rates every year! That might be a reason to go now instead of waiting.

 

[MagicalMawMaw]

I always admire the Yacht Club when we eat at those restaurants & think it'd be fun to stay there. Not so much for the resort itself but because of the awesome location. Would be so handy to walk to Epcot & to the restaurants.
However, I highly doubt we'll ever stay there. Is just too much $.

I love POR & now CSR ...but, I'd stay at POP if necessary to go to Disney yearly. Now, my DH now chooses to stay in one of these each time.

I love a nice place to stay...but really we are on the go type people & rarely are in a room except to sleep & I've found even the values at Disney are nice, neat & pretty.

[Like we traveled on our dream vacation to Alaska this year. The scenery of snow topped mountains & glaciers was awesome! Seeing bears, caribou, bald eagles, millions of salmon, whales, seals, otters, etc was wow! The lodging however, is expensive, limited & kind of primitive. I mean finding cabins in some areas that included a bathroom was a big deal. Guess, lodging isn't as big of deal to me as it sure didn't damper our love of Alaska.]

 

[WillowBelle]

We do this every trip. I'd love to stay at a mod or deluxe, and always end up value. That said we go on short trips (actually leaving Friday for a 3/2 trip) so spend a minimal amount of time in the room. Also though for longer trips (up to 6/5) we've stayed value as well. Again though, the majority of our time is spent outside of our room.

 

[ciera321]

I have a resort or two at every tier I like. If I couldn't afford deluxe I'll gladly stay mod or value if I have to. Depends how long it's been since we've been as to if I'd go or not. I would not however go if I couldn't afford to stay onsite. That's where I draw the line

Exactly the same for me! I have to stay onsite, or I'd wait until I could.

 

[minnie mum]

We don't go every year- but we do go every 18-24 months. Not because we can't afford it, but because there are so many other places in the world that we love to travel to. Whether it's WDW, a Caribbean resort, or anywhere else in the world, we don't go anywhere until we can comfortably afford the trip/resort that we really want. Vacations and travel are special to us- why compromise? We'd much rather wait until we can afford the level that really appeals to us.

 

[CindyIsMyFave]

We'd definitely go now rather than save. A major reason for that for me is a little unique. I've been to WDW at least once a year every year of my life since I was 1. So to keep the streak alive, sometimes I can't be picky. That said, DH and I really don't care for the values. So he's always been willing to spring for a moderate. That's pretty much where our budget lies. We did WL once, but had such a bad time with the buses and terrible room view, neither of us were that thrilled. Next weekend, we are heading down for Poly! Booked a bounceback back in Jan. and can't believe it's come to fruition! I'm really excited because I don't think I've been there in at least 15 years. I'm secretly hoping he likes it too and will be interested in going deluxe more often. We are big parks people, but this time I've built in a little more resort time to make the most of Poly.

 

[eliza61]

We don't go to Disney often, once every 8 or 9 years. We travel different places. So when we go, we like to do it the way we want to. A longer trip, and staying deluxe. (just my preference, we spend time at the hotel)

In a discussion today, a friend was debating going now and staying at a hotel she really didn't want to, or save up and go next year and stay where she really wanted to. I told her how I would do it (save up).

Would you go now and settle for less in the hotel (in your mind) or save up for what you really wanted? (meaning you could want deluxe, moderate, value, off-site, whatever!)

If I couldn't afford the place I wanted (Beach/Yacht club or Polynesian!), I wouldn't go until I could afford it.

So one year our finances were really tight so we decided a value was better than no vacation. after all so many people say "a room is just some place to sleep in". HUGE MISTAKE!!!

We were absolutely miserable and it turned out to be exceedingly expensive since halfway through the trip when we couldn't stand it anymore, I charged rack rate at the Beach club just to get out of the value.

Now at my age I totally know my travel style and I know when are where I will compromise. Resort rooms are too important for me and my family.
The reason why we purchased our dvc was primarily because we did not want to ever, ever be forced into a value.

I probably wouldn't skip the trip, I would simply stay offsite.

 

[Simba's Girl]

I would say we are a wait and save family. Weather that is a trip to the Caribbean or to WDW or a cross country adventure, if we don't have enough $ we don't go-period.

Matter of fact I cancelled our planned cross-country adventure this summer, DH & I both had expensive car repairs come up and funds just got too tight for comfort.

We do tend to do WDW every 3 years now. There was a time where we went every year and twice a year a couple years. Staying in moderate and value resorts. Disney never changed and got old for us. Then, we bought DVC and watched as Disney constantly had discounts while we kept paying more and more dues which were close to what it would cost to vacation for a week at Disney anyway (apples to apples, this was not including park tickets) at a similar level. We felt trapped that we could pretty much only do Disney (yes, I know you can trade out points outside of DVC but felt that it was not such an easy thing to do) and only Disney at certain places (this is prior to BLT/AKV) without using bigtime points to stay at non-DVC WDW resort. We had enough points to stay for a week or two every year. We longed to go to places other than Disney. We felt like we weren't getting our money's worth with DVC so we sold it.

Couldn't be happier. Now we go to Disney every 3 years and most things are the same as they ever were but there is lots of new and exciting and updated things for us to experience. We haven't gone to the parks commando since I graduated from college and don't have plans to again. We stay longer too, about 10 days so our resort choice is important to us since we are there for a while therefore we focus on deluxe resorts that can sleep 5 to a room. Since we have been doing this (only 5 years, I'd say) we've been to the Virgin Islands twice (sans kids, but they will come NEXT time we go as they will be better swimmers then) and I was in Africa for a month learning about midwifery and I must say it is nice to be able to explore the world without all Disney all the time.

So my long answer to your short question is clearly, we are wait and savers. We are also drivers, like having the car there and like the fact that it is a fraction of the cost of what it would cost to fly 5 of us to Disney even with stopping overnight on the way down and on the way home.

Disney isn't going anywhere and although it may cost a bit more to wait (we are talking a $100 difference between a trip for the same dates this year vs. next here) we prefer to wait and choose more comfortable (to us) accommodations than go every year like we could but stay in less comfortable rooms.

 

[cruisingkat]

I am really a deluxe sort of person - love cruises because of all the pampering - but we go to Disney several times a year and because of that we usually will stay at a value. We figure that we can stay 1 night a deluxe or 2 nights at a moderate or 3 nights at a value for the same price. It is not a hard choice - I can give up the deluxe or moderate for more time at Disney.

 

[alex9179]

We save.
Since we are a family of 5, we'd pay mod/deluxe prices to stay on property, anyway. I realize that off-property is more budget friendly but we don't do this kind of vacation every year (first time ever!), so we're going all out. Our surroundings and convenience are high priorities for me, so we saved in order to get those.

Unfortunately, I've been bitten by the bug AND have been swimming in the Kool-aid so I'm planning another trip in the spring for just my mom and me, and have started saving for that. This one will be either mod or deluxe depending on the promos. Ambience is still a priority so I'm looking at POR/POFQ, AKL, or possibly rent DVC studio if anything is available.

Yes, where we stay is important to me but it's dependent on who is with me and what we want out of that trip. I can see renting a house/condo one day but, as newbies, I'd rather stay on property.

 

[ready2vacation]

Before having my DD (9 mo), we'd go periodically with my DSS (now 24), but always go Deluxe so it was fewer and farther between trips. We also always spend a lot of time at the hotel. Now that we have the little one, we will likely go much more frequently and not worry as much with whether we can go Deluxe that trip or not. That is a HUGE change of mindset for me

Our trip in two weeks is our first time staying offsite in a townhouse with splash pool so we'll see how that goes. Thought it would be easier with a baby.

 

[I Love Pluto]

We have stayed at all Values & all Mods. You are in WDW! Being there is more important than where we stay (although we favor POR!)

 

[AimeeMichele]

Add me to the save up group! We spend a good amount of time at our resort, so it needs to be exactly what I want (what a good problem to have!)

 

[pepe of ohio]

We go every year and sometimes 2 or 3 times....resort is very important....we can easily save throughout the year for our trips....

We never pay rack rate....either have a AP and use the room only discount, AAA discount or General Public discount ... But alway have one...we also only go in value season...

We have been deluxe people for over 40+ trips but have strayed a few times to deluxes we haven't stayed at and regretted it! Same for a couple moderates we tried and weren't happy with either!

We're all done with that bologna....we know where we are the happiest, know the going rate so we save up for that total and enjoy our resort with no qualms anymore ....when we travel 1100 miles, we do not want any surprises or hassles !

 

[lilandvisma]

I'd rather spend my $$$ in areas other than the hotel/resort. With my kids being younger at this point it really isn't all that important to us where we stay since we are hardly ever in our room as it is.

 

[daisy_77]

I would still go. I have always wanted to stay at a deluxe...but with the cost of flights I don't think I could ever afford it (at least until DH is done with his schooling).

I am just so happy to be going!

 

[AJ1983]

I would still go. I have always wanted to stay at a deluxe...but with the cost of flights I don't think I could ever afford it (at least until DH is done with his schooling).

I am just so happy to be going!

I feel exactly the same. Airfare for my bf and I was $1450.00 return

We have nothing even CLOSE to DisneyWorld or any other theme park in my area, so when I go there, its for the parks, because I can stay at a nice hotel on another trip where hotel/resort time is more of the focus (ie: an all inclusive).

I am just happy to be staying onsite, even if it is value...and I'll be excited if I can get DBF to agree to the Little Mermaid room at Art of Animation! haha

 

[Missytara]

I do go every year at the place I love; POR.

The place I want to stay will come - BWI.....

 

[biondagirl]

I would stay where I could afford to stay. I would love to stay at the GF just once, but I'd rather go now and stay at an All Stars while my kids are small and we can enjoy it together. Someday, we'll stay where really want. We hardly spend anytime in our room or at the resort, so I don't like to spend a lot on accommodations we won't use.

 

[*TheWigs*]

Yes...We are going for 2 weeks to celebrate DD "Golden Birthday" and there is NO way we could have afforded our hotel of choice (CR) for that long!
We literally would have had to ditch our last 2 years of WDW vacations to save that kind of $$. For our regular once-per-year WDW trips, tho it's ALWAYS CR, MK view for us!! Not snobs, but we just LOVE waking up every morning saying "Good Morning, Castle!" We work hard for our vacations and they are as much for Mommy and Daddy as they are for the kiddos!