Lost job, how can we still go?

[TinkerBess_SnowTori]

We were planning a nice trip to Florida including WDW and a few other attractions. My husband was let go of a 13 year job last friday, and given only 2 weeks severance. In the last year we bought a new house, kept the old to rent out and the new mortage is very large.

The plane tickets are paid for, we were staying at a friends condo, we have 1100disney reward dollars saved up. Can anyone help me figure out what to do at this point?
How many days should we do? How cheaply can we eat at the park? Should souvieners be completely out of the question?

What else is REALLY cheap that we can do while we are there?

Trip is May 26th - June 3rd

This trip was going to be a dream and now it feels like a nightmare. I would appreciate any help, anyone can give.

Thank you so much in advance

 

[DVCBELLE]

Part of me says - don't go! Your DH needs to be looking for a job and you can save your Disney Dollars until you can go and enjoy them.

The other part of me says that you could go and only go to Disney using your Disney Dollars and eat in the condo for all your meals.

This might be a nice break your DH needs and will get him ready for the job search ahead.

You didn't say how many people are going.

 

[BrettS]

At this point I'd definitely go... it sounds like it's really not going to cost you too much out of pocket. The plane tickets are almost certainly non refundable and you may be able to cancel the flights and get a credit (minus a fee of $100 or more per ticket), but you wouldn't get any money back. You're staying at a friend's condo, so you don't have any lodging costs and $1100 can go a long way toward your dining costs.

If I was you I'd probably sacrifice souvineers and try to put that $1100 toward dining. You didn't say how many people you had, but if you're careful with where you go you can probably get all or most of your meals in. Take a look at the menus at www.allears.net as they include prices and you can plan a few sample meals and see how far your money will go. Although be aware that I have discovered that a some of the menus are a bit out of date and the costs are 5% or 10% higher. Even so it would still give you a good ball park idea of how much you'll spend on dining.

The other thing that we do as locals to save money is to bring in a picnic lunch. You can bring a soft sided cooler into the parks and put it in a locker ($9 per day) (or carry it around with you if you have a stroller or a backpack. Typically we'll eat breakfast before we come, and then have our picnic for lunch or dinner and eat the other meal at Disney. If you're going to a table service restaraunt go for lunch because lunch is usually cheaper than dinner there. The counter services restaraunts are the same price for both meals.

Actually, do you have park tickets yet? Maybe that $1100 should go toward park tickets instead.

HTH,
Brett

 

[TinkerBess_SnowTori]

Thanks for responding so quickly

There are four of us going. My husband and I and our 2 girls.

We have not bought the park tickets yet...thought that the reward dollars could go towards those and then what???

I am just so confused, our inital gut feeling was not to go too. But with the tickets paid for we just thought we were better off to try and be as frugal as possible.

thanks for the help, keep it coming

 

[BrettS]

Well... now that I posted that glowing endorsement for going I am wondering if it's going to cost you more out of pocket than I was first thinking... as I said above, you may still need park tickets and a rental car which could be expensive. Maybe the best place to start is to figure out exactly how much this is going to cost you for the things that aren't already paid for.

 

[Chic]

I would absolutely go on the trip as planned and buy the Quick Service Dining Plan. There are many counter service restaurants which offer excellent menu items. I was in a similar employment situation, as your husband, during Christmas of 2008. We had already reserved a room at Saratoga Springs and purchased plane tickets. I seriously considered cancelling the trip but went anyway in hopes of lifting my depression during the holidays. Even when you're super discouraged, the "Magic" of Disney can ease the stress of life and allow you to enjoy the things you do have and to dream for a better future. Best wishes.

 

[BrettS]

Thanks for responding so quickly

There are four of us going. My husband and I and our 2 girls.

We have not bought the park tickets yet...thought that the reward dollars could go towards those and then what???

I am just so confused, our inital gut feeling was not to go too. But with the tickets paid for we just thought we were better off to try and be as frugal as possible.

thanks for the help, keep it coming

Yeah, spending the reward money on park tickets might be a good idea. Just taking a quick look a 7 day adult (10 and over) ticket is $249.21 including tax and a 7 day child ticket is $214.07. Assuming both of your daughters are under 10 then you'll be looking at $926.56. It's not really worth going for fewer days because it's only $3 per ticket per day after you get to 4 days. Even if you dropped the tickets down to 4 day base tickets you'd only save $38.34 *total* for all 4 tickets.

So, that would leave you with about $174 left for dining.

 

[BrettS]

I would absolutely go on the trip as planned and buy the Quick Service Dining Plan.

Unfortunately this won't work for her. You need to be staying onsite to purchase a dining plan and she state that she'll be staying at her friend's condo.

 

[Chic]

Unfortunately this won't work for her. You need to be staying onsite to purchase a dining plan and she state that she'll be staying at her friend's condo.

Oops! I overlooked the accommodations part. If eating in the parks, I would choose the counter service restaurants to save money. As I mentioned in my previous post, there are many excellent places to eat that are counter service.

 

[Leajess99]

With the amount of Disney Dollars you already have saved, I think you could do the park just fine. You will have to pay to park at the park ($14 a day) but then you could leave and come back if you need to as well. When we stayed offsite the first year (very budget 1st trip) we would eat something small in the park if we needed to or just head back to the room for lunch and/or dinner. Some of the counter service meals are big and could be shared by the children or even yourselves if you are not big eaters.

I would seriously skip the Disney souvenirs but if you want T-shirts than head to target or Walmart and buy them. They have some cute inexpensive ones. They have other inexpansive souvenirs as well.

I'm sorry about the job loss but I vote for going since the plane tickets are bought, the disney dollars are had, and it would be a great stress reliever. Give yourselves a break and then when your dh comes back home than he can worry about job hunting. Good luck.

 

[QVCshopper]

So sorry about the job loss. I wish I had more answers... you may want to think about selling the house you're renting out. That could be tricky if your renters didn't pay you and you couldn't pay the mortgage on it (Suze Orman rationalization). As for Disney, I think you should go, but bring your own food into the parks/cook in the condo. You'll still be in Disney, at least. Maybe you could sell something before now and then to make money? Best of luck; my dad is facing a possible layoff right now.

 

[luvthatdisney]

I am so sorry you are going through this

I was laid off from a job I had held for 15 years, it was like I had lost a part of myself. Really depressing, the only good thing for us was DH still had his job and could pay most of our bills. We just had to cut back some things to make that work, I actually went back to school.

I would assume your DH would start drawing unemployment after his severance runs out (that is how it worked for me, but I did get 2 months severance). At least he will have some income, probably not anywhere close to what he was making.

If I were in your shoes, this is what I would do... I would have to run the numbers on each option - staying or going.

If you were to go you would need to look at your food costs (eating at park or eating at your condo), park tickets and transportation while there. Since you can only use the Disney rewards at Disney, I would think I would use them for tickets and the possibly get groceries at a local walmart and eating most meals at your condo. Eating as cheaply as possible would be the best way to cut costs.

But you would have to estimate your out of pocket expenses to see if you can afford to go. I would think your house payment and other necessities would take presidence and if you do not have any savings to supplement unemployment and severance, I might consider staying home and just taking the loss on the airfare. I would not lose my home just for a trip to WDW. Your DH finding another job is a priority.

It is really a personal decision that I know is hard, but I wish you both well and I know things will work out! Keep the faith

 

[Carl Fredricksen]

I am so sorry you are going through this

I would assume your DH would start drawing unemployment after his severance runs out (that is how it worked for me, but I did get 2 months severance). At least he will have some income, probably not anywhere close to what he was making.

If I were in your shoes, this is what I would do... I would have to run the numbers on each option - staying or going.

If you were to go you would need to look at your food costs (eating at park or eating at your condo), park tickets and transportation while there. Since you can only use the Disney rewards at Disney, I would think I would use them for tickets and the possibly get groceries at a local walmart and eating most meals at your condo. Eating as cheaply as possible would be the best way to cut costs.

But you would have to estimate your out of pocket expenses to see if you can afford to go. I would think your house payment and other necessities would take presidence and if you do not have any savings to supplement unemployment and severance, I might consider staying home and just taking the loss on the airfare. I would not lose my home just for a trip to WDW. Your DH finding another job is a priority.

It is really a personal decision that I know is hard, but I wish you both well and I know things will work out! Keep the faith

I am sorry to hear it as well. As someone who has been through this before, the uncertainty a killer. But with diligence and prayers from others, it should all work out.

Personally, I am in the "don't go" camp. I would do my best to get out and get a new job as quickly as possible, and once everything settles take the trip as a celebration. No matter how hard you plan, there will be unplanned expenses that come up during the trip that will further deplete your resources. Plus if you take the airline credit and go this fall, you can take advantage of the free dining if you stay onsite. Your 1100 Reward Dollars would go a long way towards an onsite vacation with free transportation and dining included, which IMO would give you a nicer vacation than trying to mind every penny while you are there. Nothing wrong with being frugal, but money matters can make you crazy when you are traveling.

Sometimes life presents roadblocks that we have to get around before we can hit out goals. Again, sorry to hear of this, but I would hunker down for a bit and the reward will be waiting at the end when everything is back to normal.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I have been in your situation and as much as I love Disney, I would have to recommend that you put it off until your finances are more stable. DH was layed off, had severance pay, had unemployment and then nothing at all. It took him 3 years to find a job that paid enough to cover just the bare necessities... The jobs were just not there.

Disney is not going anywhere. I would wait and go when you can be comfortable financially and mentally.

Here's hoping that you DH get a position soon.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

i'd normally stay home, but you could use the rewards for tickets, carry in sandwiches, and priceline a rental car for a minimal amt.

i'm sorry for your loss.

 

[Claire-Bear]

We were planning a nice trip to Florida including WDW and a few other attractions. My husband was let go of a 13 year job last friday, and given only 2 weeks severance. In the last year we bought a new house, kept the old to rent out and the new mortage is very large.

On a slightly different point (as I work in HR), for 13 years service he should have received 12 weeks of paid notice (or more) along with redundancy pay (depends on age but for the middle age band would be another 13 weeks at up to £380). If you want to make sure he was paid enough redundancy, feel free to PM me.

 

[HeatherC]

So sorry you are going through this!

We have friends who this just happened too. The dh got laid off a week before they were to leave for Jamaica for an all inclusive vacation. They had paid for it at that point and went.

They were so sad and shocked beforehand that they really didn't want to go. But they did because they would have lost all their money. They came back and said it was the right decision because it really helped them step out of their daily life for a little while and gain a new perspective on things. They have since come back re-charged and he has already had a couple of second interviews.

Sometimes when things like this happen, it can be helpful to step away from it for a little while to gain a fresh perspective.

I say go if you have most of it paid for. Relax, enjoy and come back ready to begin a new chapter.

If you have most things paid for, you still have to feed everyone at home. So make it fun...have meals that you don't normally let the kids have at home, relax at your condo in the evening with a glass of wine after the kids have gone to bed. Visit Mickey and smile!

Wishing you ALL the best!!!

 

[mom2d&b]

As someone who lost her job 6 months ago (after 16 yrs with the same company) and DH lost his job this past Friday (after 18.5 yrs) I say GO. Most of your trip is paid for. When you return home you will all be recharged and be ready to tackle the job hut full force.

Another thing to think about is that most job hunting is now done via the computer. Is it possible that on vacation DH would have access to the internet? He could spend a little time every day or 2 searching Monster, Career Builder, etc?

 

[MinnieForMe]

We were in your situation a few year's back. My husband lost his job of 10 years and was devastated. We did go and had a great time. It gave my husband time to process and grieve. He had hoped to retire from his company and was very upset.

We did not buy any souvenirs and only ate one counter service meal in the park. We carried in water and snacks from Walmart and ate inexpensive meals at the condo. With the exception of the car rental, we paid no more than what we would have to eat at home.

My husband did carry his laptop and did some searches at night but I encouraged him to let it go for our vacation. He did find a consulting job shortly upon returning home. He is high tech and there were a lot of consulting jobs until he found his permanent job three year's later.

Why not ask your husband if he will be able to relax on the trip or if it will cause him more stress?

 

[lastminutemom]

On a slightly different point (as I work in HR), for 13 years service he should have received 12 weeks of paid notice (or more) along with redundancy pay (depends on age but for the middle age band would be another 13 weeks at up to £380). If you want to make sure he was paid enough redundancy, feel free to PM me.

Perhaps you know something I don't, but I don't have any indication that the original poster is from England.

In the US, we don't have those kind of rules.