Most Fun Wastes of Money at Walt Disney World

[caribbeandream]

http://www.wdwinfo.com/walt-disney-world/most-fun-wastes-of-money-at-walt-disney-world/

This DIS article has really made me think about budgets and Disney trips. Most every article you read tells you to stay off site, pack your own lunch, avoid the "extras" such as separate party or park hour tickets, etc. Some of the things that this article suggests are pretty pricey, but I will have to admit they are in my bucket list. Now that I'm starting to do adults-only trips, the things that make my Disney trip come with added costs. To me, a Disney vacation is the equivalent of staying in an all-inclusive resort. Staying (and eating) on-site, that is, staying IN the Disney bubble IS my vacation. I don't rope drop, I don't do open-to-close commando style touring and I'm getting to the point where I would be perfectly fine doing a ride-less trip to Disney. Heck, I would be fine doing a hotel-only trip because there is so much to do outside the parks! I want to experience all of Disney, not just the rides, but how to stay in budget and still enjoy those extras?

 

[Mome Rath]

Budgeting is all about knowing where you money is going and make sure you are "telling" it where to go. So, just because there is a budget for Disney doesn't mean you can't ever experience those things, it just means you have to plan for them. My advice, for what it's worth is this; prioritize for future trips, so if you absolutely want to stay on property that has to be budgeted in early on. Take your total amount of money for your trip. If you are going as cheap on property as you can, find a time when the values are even cheaper and aim for them. Then plan how much your tickets will be. Then how much your food will be. Then see what you have left over and pick something to do with that money. More than likely you can't do it all on one trip and not bust the budget. To squeeze more money out you can stay fewer days, or buy fewer ticket days. I'd pick something you really really want to do (say a dessert party), price it, then figure out what you can maybe cut from daily/weekly expenses in everyday life to cover that price, and you could repeat for each thing, again after prioritizing them.

We've gone so long that we've done most of those things in the list, but we've never done them on the same trip. I don't know if that was what you were looking for, but it's just my ideas. If you wanted to do them all on one trip, it just may mean putting that trip off for longer and saving more for the Disney budget before you go.

 

[missnic]

Look for deals throughout the year, and plan around lower cost dates (if you can). For example, we are staying CL TPV at the Poly for a few days next month for about $500/nt. We normally take a 'big' trip in November, but this deal was in August/September, so we're going then. We also have Tables in Wonderland, which can really save some money if you're eligible.

 

[Marionnette]

http://www.wdwinfo.com/walt-disney-world/most-fun-wastes-of-money-at-walt-disney-world/

This DIS article has really made me think about budgets and Disney trips. Most every article you read tells you to stay off site, pack your own lunch, avoid the "extras" such as separate party or park hour tickets, etc. Some of the things that this article suggests are pretty pricey, but I will have to admit they are in my bucket list. Now that I'm starting to do adults-only trips, the things that make my Disney trip come with added costs. To me, a Disney vacation is the equivalent of staying in an all-inclusive resort. Staying (and eating) on-site, that is, staying IN the Disney bubble IS my vacation. I don't rope drop, I don't do open-to-close commando style touring and I'm getting to the point where I would be perfectly fine doing a ride-less trip to Disney. Heck, I would be fine doing a hotel-only trip because there is so much to do outside the parks! I want to experience all of Disney, not just the rides, but how to stay in budget and still enjoy those extras?

There's a big difference between doing Disney ON a budget and doing Disney WITH a budget.

If you're ON a budget, you're watching every penny and hoping that you don't end up drinking tap water and eating free saltine crackers for dinner by the end of the trip.

If you're traveling WITH a budget, you have carefully evaluated the costs of everything you want to do and you have ensured that you have more than enough money to cover it.

There are some things that I've paid for that in retrospect I have felt were overpriced. There are some that I felt were a great bargain for what I got. I wanted to do the extra FP+ and night time viewing areas when we stay CL next spring. For $50 per person per night (minimum 3 nights) it was an Okay deal. Then they removed the viewing spots but left the price the same. I'm reconsidering whether the 3 extra FP+s at 90 days out is worth the cost. I budgeted for it, I just don't know if the value is there anymore.

 

[clutter]

I haven't looked at the cost lately, but when dd was little, my big cost savings was an AP. For two of us, it wasn't that bad a cost. I'd plan two one-week trips at the beginning and end of the year using the AP rates for the resorts. Then if a good airfare popped up, we could go down for a quick trip. Then I'd take the next year off. Then do it all over. Then I bought in to DVC.... Ah those were the days. Seeing how much ticket prices have jumped, I don't know if its feasible any more.

As for extras, I always loved MVMCP. We always play Winter-Summerland.

 

[caribbeandream]

I have to say I think these are the most eloquent replies I have ever received on the DIS boards! Thank you.

 

[Narnia_girl]

Fun article. Thanks for sharing!

 

[afan]

Interesting article and not at all what I thought it would discuss when I saw it pop up the other day. Most of that stuff doesn't seem like a waste of money to me if you can budget/afford it.

I thought it was going to be about things like Mickey ears and bubble wands. Things that make the trip fun but really are a waste of money because they just collect dust when you get home. Not that I don't enjoy seeing my ears on the wall but they are just collecting dust so they were a fun waste of money

 

[a1tinkfans]

Not at all what I thought would be on that list. I didn’t think any of them were money wasters..
Sometimes time is money ( Minnie van) and that’s only one haven’t done lol.. I’d like to.. cause I’m somewhat Disney addicted lol

With a budget and on a budget.. very different.

 

[kathy884]

With my vacation budgeting none of those would make it to the budget. The closest thing I'm coming to next trip which is just four nights/three days is the Minnie Van. I'm offsite and instead of renting a car (first time ever not doing that), I'm planning to use uber and lyft to get everywhere. And I did the math and even with parking costs that will be with all the places we'll be going more expensive than the rental car. It's not all that much more this time and with just three days we aren't going to be doing grocery runs and things like that (I do love a car for that) and that's my splurge. And it is a splurge to do that rather than take a bus or drive -- very convenient and something I decided I wanted to budget for and do this time. Just don't feel like driving on this trip for a change.

I can certainly understand someone enjoying all the things, but everyone has their own value judgements about what's worth it. With ten families you can certainly end up with 10 very different looking trips.

 

[Gigi22]

Chef’s Table at V & A. Serious splurge!

 

[deedeezee]

Totally agree - a big difference between a "budget trip" and having a budget on the trip you can afford (even if it isn't the least expensive option!).

 

[LauraLap]

My DH is what one may call "frugal" or "cheap", but he does enjoy the dessert parties and occasional tour that I slip in to our trips. He doesn't, however, ask how much these things cost because he doesn't want to know.....

 

[caribbeandream]

My DH is what one may call "frugal" or "cheap", but he does enjoy the dessert parties and occasional tour that I slip in to our trips. He doesn't, however, ask how much these things cost because he doesn't want to know.....

One of these days I'll do a dessert party! I can't say it dosn't fit in my budget as much as it hasn't fit into my touring plan yet.

 

[RangerPooh]

Years ago we use to do the Christmas and Halloween parties as well as dessert parties but now find them to not be worth the price. It worked out well when all of our kids were free, youth pricing, or a combination there of. But now that two are considered Disney adults we rarely justify the cost. Personally I'd rather spend the money shopping, on meals, or at the water park (using our DVC member discount).

Character meal are a splurge these days. Read above for when we use to maximize it. Occasionally still do them but are much more selective and use TIW, AP, or DVC discounts when possible.

 

[slpeters]

I think if a certain type of vacation is important to you should save up, plan for it and have it. My husband and I really turned the corner on the whole budget thing years ago when we finally were able to internalize the notion that we weren't trying not to spend our money, we were trying to avoid spending money on things that weren't important to us (but were fun or more often just convenient) so there would be money to spend on the things that actually are important to us. Yes, being out of debt was important to us as is a fully funded retirement, but so are a couple nice vacations a year, a couple really nice meals out a month. I didn't realize until we reached that point that for years I had felt bad about literally every penny I spent--extravagant or not. Now I can shell out what would have once been truly disturbing amounts of cash and feel perfectly fine, because we've thought about it, discussed how and why it was important to us and determined that we can do it without it derailing our other goals. I never expected that rigorous budgeting (we did the whole Dave Ramsey weekly tallying the receipts for a while to get there) could finally make it actually enjoyable to spend money.

 

[tex1989]

We have done these things over the years and as another poster said we would not do them all on the same trip. As the kids are grown and it is just the wife and I we have tended to settle into our comfortable routine with AP's and Mod/Budget stays but always try to throw one splurge in every trip. We have been going since 1989 and have over 36 trips by now. The one interesting thing I have seen over the years is how Disney introduces something in one form for free or little cost and then morphs it over time into a new program where they charge a lot more for it. Granted some of it is just inflation and increasing prices but part of it is just milking as much as they can out of things. EMH today were the E-Ticket nights of the 90"s. It cost like $10 each to have access to the park for 3 hours after closing. Only available to onsite guests. Now they have the program that costs a lot more but is essentially the same thing. I also remember discussions of them one day charging for extra FP's and discussions here that Disney was not Universal and that would never happen. But now they have the CL program to buy 3 extra FP's for $50. I see that as at some point morphing into a pay to play program for all onsite guests to "buy" extra FP's.

It's all good though because we continue to find value in our trips and keep them within our budget, but realize that our budget is in no way "fixed" but merely a function of the choices we make and the extras we want each time we visit.

 

[Sagginit]

To be honest Disney for me is never really a budget trip so I always had the philosophy that it was better to spend more to make it enjoyable or not spend at all because I would rather go every few years than penny pinch while there. One thing we always paid for was car service to and from airport. We had one trip where we landed by 8:30am, got to the resort, checked in, changed, and were on Main st by 10:30. My mother has always refused to go on the “magical school bus” so the $200-300 was worth it as far as time. We also paid to upgrade to deluxe dining when we got free dining so we could do character meals and one signature dining each trip. We saved on airfare (about a 2hr trip so we often used spirit), bought minimal souvenirs, and pretty much skipped Disney springs because we felt like it was just a giant mall anyway. My favorite “waste of money” was when we went to MNSSHP. It was the end of Sept and no where near capacity, we went on all the rides a few times and met tons of characters. Mvmcp was a total waste, we went in Nov the week before Thanksgiving and it was sold out so lines were terrible.