May Have To Change Plans

[WantToGoNow]

We have been planning our grand gathering for almost a year. My dh tells me this morning that his job may move to Mexico at the end of the year which means he will have no job - he has been at the same company for over 20 years and would be getting a severance. I quit my job 2 months ago to stay home with the children as I wasn't even making enough to pay childcare for ds7 and dd5.

We were planning to go 11/28 - 12/6, staying at POR with the basic dining plan and hopper tickets. We were also planning on flying for the first time. We were going to use our income tax refund to pay for the package (which we still could). We talked this morning and feel that if we were still to take the trip, we should scale it back.

The other family we are travelling with has never been to Disney. We are expecting us to "show them" how to do Disney. They have 4 children (ages 8, 5, 4 and 2) so a value resort is out of the picture for them. My dd and her friend will be in a 3rd room.

I told dh that we could stay at a value, drop the hopping and change the dining plan to the QS plan. We could save almost $1K doing this. We could also save another $1K by driving. He said that would be better - after all, I would rather do Disney with those things cut than not do Disney at all.

Any advise on breaking this to the other family? We could still meet up with them through the day at whichever park is their "main" park for the day but we would be at a different hotel and wouldn't be eating with them at the TS restaurants. My older dd and her friend would still be though.

 

[ilandrazdsw]

So sorry you have to alter your plans...but you're right, scaled back Disney is better than no Disney!
Couldn't the other family go for a suite at ASMu (I think that's the one with the suited)? It could save $ all around...who doesn't like that?!?!
Driving is a perfectly logical choice in travel...often cheaper and no security checks.
Planning is 1/2 the fun, could you get together and plan? Then you would each know each other's schedules and park days.
Just be honest with them. Most everyone knows the hardships of the economy. You don't have to share personal information. Just be honest that you need to scale back, but are still looking forward to the trip and fun. Who knows, the other family may also have a little relief to scale back.
Good luck!

 

[HannaBelle]

Oh no! I am so sorry to hear about your DH. When will he know for sure? It is possible he might not get laid-off.

I agree with the PP, you friends should totally understand.

How long would your drive be?

I think the suite is a good idea. I have a friend with 4 boys and her family loved it! She said there was tons of room and in room breakfasts were easy.