"I'm NEVER going back! "

I'm a HUGE disney person, like most here..
When I hear a friend is planning a disney trip, I offer to help. If they want it..
For those that let me help them, and LISTEN to what i tell them it turns out great.. And for those that don't..

Well this is how the conversation has gone with my BBF after the last three times she has gone!

BBF: IM NEVER GOING BACK!
Me. Why? What happened? ( I never should have asked)

1. It was VERY hot!
ME: when did you go?
BBF: Uuuuh.. of 1st week of July..

2. was to expensive
ME: did you do what I suggested to pop a pin code?
BBB: Uuuuuh.. No I got busy
Me: Well did you, check the special offer page before you booked online?
BBF: Uuuuh.. I forgot
Me: Well did you call an ask?
BBF:The wait on the phone was to long.. Me: how long BBF: 5 min..

3. It Was to crowded!
Me: When did you go again?
BBf: 1st week of July..
Me: Well did you make it to RD?
BBF: No, we wanted to sleep in.. It is a vacation..

4. There were no places to eat!
ME: did you get your ADRs at 180 days..
BBF: I don't know what I want to eat 180 day in advance!!
BBf: We ate hamburgers the whole time we were there..
Me: Did you take the list I gave you on good places to get something to eat?
BBF: No, I left it in the hotel room..

5. Food was REALLY expensive
BBF:I spent over $65 just on lunch for my family of 4..
Me: where was the list of good places to eat again?
BBF: in the hotel room..

This went on and on for over 3 hours!!!
The she was trying to convince me that I should cancel my upcoming trips.. And go somewhere else!
I know she is my BBF, but I will never understand why people make things harder then they really are!!

How does everyone deal with people like this? Without ruining a friendship..

:lmao::rotfl2::rotfl::lmao::rotfl2: Disney is not for people like this. Which is fine because people like us like it better with less cranky people :thumbsup2
 
I do wonder how some of you are doing Disney for only $2000 or so. For our small family of 3 airfare alone is at least $1000. If we drove it would be 16 hrs each way and a total of over $700 in gas so flying is a no brainer. Tickets for the 3 of us is another $1000 (8 day parkhoppers). So we are at $2000 already and still need a place to sleep and food to eat. We are doing the DDP but I figure if we went OOP we could save a little but it would be close to a wash so there is another $900. We are renting points to stay at AKV but that cost isn't significantly more than staying at the All Star resorts for a much better place to stay. So we easily will be spending over $4000 and that's not counting PhotoPass+ or souvenirs.

And this includes planning ahead, looking for discounts and no wasted spending.

Props to those that can do it for half that but I simply can't figure out how you can unless you have APs and living within 8 hrs driving distance or have free airline miles for tickets.

Do love the stories of those friends and family that are doing WDW wrong and then complain about it though. :rotfl2:


I agree, I would like to know how to do everything, & I mean everything for $2000.00, Our room, tickets, & dp is $3450.00 & that is with a discount & a value resort, that does not include rental car,( can not fly), gas & extras.

We did go a few yrs ago & did not know anything, better prepared this time, thanks to everyone here & at other sites & I am looking for a more enjoyable time this go around.

I think that most people think DW is like all of these other theme parks, so they go in thinking that they do not need a plan or any info. DW is not like other theme parks & is NOT like your State Fair. I have check crowd calendars, watch youtube on rides & shows, I know what I want us to see & do, in each park & planning on being there at RD.

We leave in 3 days:cool1:
 
I do wonder how some of you are doing Disney for only $2000 or so. For our small family of 3 airfare alone is at least $1000. If we drove it would be 16 hrs each way and a total of over $700 in gas so flying is a no brainer. Tickets for the 3 of us is another $1000 (8 day parkhoppers). So we are at $2000 already and still need a place to sleep and food to eat. We are doing the DDP but I figure if we went OOP we could save a little but it would be close to a wash so there is another $900. We are renting points to stay at AKV but that cost isn't significantly more than staying at the All Star resorts for a much better place to stay. So we easily will be spending over $4000 and that's not counting PhotoPass+ or souvenirs.

And this includes planning ahead, looking for discounts and no wasted spending.

Props to those that can do it for half that but I simply can't figure out how you can unless you have APs and living within 8 hrs driving distance or have free airline miles for tickets.

Do love the stories of those friends and family that are doing WDW wrong and then complain about it though. :rotfl2:

I was wondering the same thing about the $2k:confused3 When we went 4 years ago with the 4 of us we spent about 3.5k staying off site with cheap flights from houston. I am planning a trip for Sept :cool1: and it looks like it will be around 3k staying at POP but I can't seem to get it much lower than that and we already have the adult tix:confused:
 


floydfamily4 said:
I was wondering the same thing about the $2k:confused3 When we went 4 years ago with the 4 of us we spent about 3.5k staying off site with cheap flights from houston. I am planning a trip for Sept :cool1: and it looks like it will be around 3k staying at POP but I can't seem to get it much lower than that and we already have the adult tix:confused:

I think the days of doing a trip for around $2000 are gone, only bc free dining is not happening as much.

This is our trip:
Flights $600 paid with CC miles
Room $900 paid by disney Visa card points ( normally I wait for a better deal on the room, but it wasn't happen this year)
We use these two CC to buy EVERYTHING! And pay them off every month..

Tickets: in the past we did UT.. Or AAA
But this trip we are getting APs b/c we are doing 2 10day trips and one 5 day ( so 25 days in total)
( you only need one to get the befits.. But since we are coming back everyone gets one!)

APs are $611 over 25 days.. That's $24.50 a day..

So 245 x3 = $735
Food: And then we calculated it will run us about $1100 for this trip( using TIW) this is HIGH for us, but it includes 18 TS!
(We normally do FD, but it didn't work out this year)

I get $1935!

If there is a better way, some please share.. ;-)
 
I got into a discussion with a friend of mine regarding the fact that I like to go to WDW a lot. She said "Well of course YOU have a good time there, but not everyone can afford the fancy fastpasses and character meetings, you know". Me: ".....what?"

My husband has never been to Disney- is absolutely clueless about what all is there- and the cost of the fastpasses was one of the first things he asked me about when we decided to plan a trip for next year. I was so happy to tell him that we didn't have to pay extra for them. This kind of thing is probably one of the reasons he has been reluctant about taking a trip there. Can't wait to get rid of some of his misconceptions. ::yes::
 
I think the days of doing a trip for around $2000 are gone, only bc free dining is not happening as much.

This is our trip:
Flights $600 paid with CC miles
Room $900 paid by disney Visa card points ( normally I wait for a better deal on the room, but it wasn't happen this year)
We use these two CC to buy EVERYTHING! And pay them off every month..

Tickets: in the past we did UT.. Or AAA
But this trip we are getting APs b/c we are doing 2 10day trips and one 5 day ( so 25 days in total)
( you only need one to get the befits.. But since we are coming back everyone gets one!)

APs are $611 over 25 days.. That's $24.50 a day..

So 245 x3 = $735
Food: And then we calculated it will run us about $1100 for this trip( using TIW) this is HIGH for us, but it includes 18 TS!
(We normally do FD, but it didn't work out this year)

I get $1935!

If there is a better way, some please share.. ;-)



So without the credit card miles for flight & credit card points for the room, your trip is actually around $3300.00 for Three people. Right???
 


Thanks for a good laugh, OP!.

I am now a firm believer in: best to be in the know and not try to "help" (plan the whole thing) anyone else:upsidedow.

I have few coworkers/friends who will ask ?'s and I basically tell them the same thing:

Go to the library of bookstore and get the latest edition of an Official Disney travel book.
Go online to the official Disney website.

I have received a huge THANK YOU for explaining FP and how to use it most effectively. This was after their trip. :thumbsup2
It felt good to know I helped
 
2012bella13 said:
So without the credit card miles for flight & credit card points for the room, your trip is actually around $3300.00 for Three people. Right???

But you did ask how she did it for less than $2000, and she told you... Discounts, points, flyer miles. I think that's the point.
 
2012bella13 said:
So without the credit card miles for flight & credit card points for the room, your trip is actually around $3300.00 for Three people. Right???

But that's for 10 days. Not everyone stays that long. And for her it was under $2000 for this trip. Anyone can earn reward miles/points etc toward a trip.

I also priced a 5 night trip for a family of 4 in Aug at Pop (no discounts). With 5 day tickets it would be $1700. With $100 a day for food (this is a budget trip) it's $2200-2300 depending on how much you'd use on arrival/departure days. If you can drive from 700 miles or less you could honestly do it for under $2500. Not the $2000 of a few years ago but maybe pretty close with a discount or free dining or maybe some reward money (Disney or otherwise)
 
I'd ignore it. If you want to spend your vacations at Disney or the dark side of the moon, it's really your business and not your BFF's.

I'd just say:

"Sorry you had a rough time... We've always had a lot of fun which is why we're going back."

I get the "I can't believe you're doing Disney again" thing all the time. I have nothing to be ashamed of for going, so their opinions matter really very little to me.

This! :thumbsup2

You just have to realize that it's pointless to argue with some people.
 
bennifer said:
But you did ask how she did it for less than $2000, and she told you... Discounts, points, flyer miles. I think that's the point.

Yup! We wouldn't go if it wasn't for those.. ( I do wish the discounts were better this year)
 
But you did ask how she did it for less than $2000, and she told you... Discounts, points, flyer miles. I think that's the point.

I was not trying to sound rude or however you thought,:confused3 I was just asking if that was correct, I like to have all the ideas that I can get to save money & she helped with her advice.
 
2012bella13 said:
I was not trying to sound rude or however you thought,:confused3 I was just asking if that was correct, I like to have all the ideas that I can get to save money & she helped with her advice.

I think any kind of CC extras are great as long as you can pay them off each month! It really helps..
 
k5thbeatle said:
This! :thumbsup2

You just have to realize that it's pointless to argue with some people.

I think the thing is, when these people ask "us", they are thinking that we have some minor tips saving on a "typical" vacation location (with some hype and steep prices thrown in).

Man, they just have no clue, but that's okay with me. I've been going since '72 and it really is the the most magical place on earth, and it just gets better every year.
 
2012bella13 said:
I was not trying to sound rude or however you thought,:confused3 I was just asking if that was correct, I like to have all the ideas that I can get to save money & she helped with her advice.

We're good...sometimes it's hard to tell what people mean exactly when you read it. I was confused!
 
Robo said:
"I go THERE because they refuse to bring it to ME!"

My parents ask why we go to Disney instead of visiting them... I tell them as soon as they get a Magic Kingdom in their back yard we will go.

Stacy
 
The really sad thing is her DD 15 has been over to my house a lot.. ( helping me with a new baby)

She has been able to see me plan.. When I told her what I was spending on our trip, she couldn't believe it!
It was a 1/3 of what they spent!
She then tried to tell her mother (my BBF) but her mother wouldn't even listen to her.. :-(

I would find the conversation very annoying. And when she said that you should not go back I would quickly state that you have a great time because you do all the things she ignored. But Disney is not for everyone.

I will say though that I find it inappropriate to talk finances like that with someone else's 15yo, and at 15 she should know or be told it is not her business, nicely but still.
 
I love that you did a Power Point! Feb. 2012 we celebrated our 40th anniversary with 20+ family members and I sent out Newsletters to help them plan. I love the idea of the Power Point even more!

If we do a 45th Anniversary Celebration I may steal your idea!

Feel free to use the idea! It worked out great!
 
littlejen22 said:
I would find the conversation very annoying. And when she said that you should not go back I would quickly state that you have a great time because you do all the things she ignored. But Disney is not for everyone.

I will say though that I find it inappropriate to talk finances like that with someone else's 15yo, and at 15 she should know or be told it is not her business, nicely but still.

If it was any other of my friends kids, I would agree

But this 15yo. Is like a daughter to me.. I'm her emergency contact at school and other things..
I took her school shopping, when her mother couldn't due to being out of town..
She is at my house almost every other day.. Even before the baby..

Plus sometimes when I'm busy with the baby she would check airline flights for us... :-)
 

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