once a year or once every 2 years?

[rockundergirl]

I was wondering everyone's opinion. If given the choice of super budget Disney trip every year ( bringing your own food to the parks.. staying off site at discount hotel, no extras basically), OR a not budget friendly trip every two years ( deluxe resort , dining plan , etc.. ) Which would you rather do ?

 

[andrews_dad]

Personally, I vote for twice per year. Oh wait, that was not an option. Of those two I go with annually on the cheap.

 

[Justsyd2]

I would choose once every two years. We like to stay onsite, and use the DDP. We just don't do budget vacations -- we save up so that we don't have to worry about a budget while on vacation.

 

[ProudMommyof2]

I am in the every two year camp. I love Disney but it would be stressful to me to try to stretch every penny.

We do disney every other year and then a car trip on the off year

 

[njsweetP]

This will be our 3rd year in a row going to WDW, and the only way that would happen is doing a 'budget' trip. I purchased 10 day non expiring tickets 3 years ago knowing that we would eventually use them. That was a big chunk of change added to that year's trip, but knew it would be worth it in the long run. We fly out of Newark (I see your in NJ) and stay off site at a 2 bedroom/2 bath condo. That means we have our breakfast in the am before heading out, and are able to take any leftovers from restaurants back to the room with us (full kitchen, laundry). It also was handy the year my DD had the stomach bug and was able to make her meals in the condo. It works well for us even with renting a car and paying parking fees. We would never be able to afford to stay onsite and I don't think I'd want to. I don't think I can do (dare I say it) Mickey 24/7. We also like the freedom that goes with having the rental car. So bottom line is I would rather take budget trips, knowing I can afford it (and it's paid for before we go).

 

[ChrisinNJ]

Every 2 years. Personally we like to go on vacation with a vacation attitude & splurge a bit. If I had to watch every penny that closely I wouldn't enjoy the trip as much.

So we do Disney every 2 to 3 years with smaller more local trips in between.

We do pack drinks & snack for the parks & eat some meals off property in less expensive places, and we have never stayed on property because we want 2 bedrooms & would only be able to do that at disney every 5-6 years! (if that)

But if I had to cook every meal, pack every lunch & snack, stay in a tiny budget hotel room with my family of 5...that to me isn't a vacation, I'd rather stay home.

Just my 2cents

edited to add: Another reason for going ever 2 years....I happen to love Disney, but my whole family hasn't caught the bug the way that I have. We last went in Fall 08, and planned to return this fall & as it is right now, 2 out of the 5 of us would rather go somewhere else for vacation this year.

And as the PP said I am not sure we could do Mickey 24/7 either. I know a lot of people who love Disney Dining & it wouldn't be a trip without visiting their favorite restaurants...personally I could take or leave most of the food I have ever had at WDW so I don't feel "cheated" by eating off property, nor do I eat off property for strictly budget reasons.....

 

[*pixie*dust*]

I am somewhere in the middle. I would do a budget onsite trip every year.
Stay in a value during low season (often priced similarly to an offsite, plus no daily parking of $14) . That way you get the onsite "magic" at a fraction of the cost.

 

[robinb]

I would vote for every two years. I would not enjoy a super budget trip where I pack lunches and eat on the cheap.

 

[DL55]

I voted every 2 years. I like the anticipation and planning. Plus I just don't like going to the same place twice in a row, even if it's Disney.
If your choice is super budget if you go every year, wouldn't it still be a bit tight for deluxe stays? I would probably go moderate every 2 years (less $ stress).

 

[marlaine]

This is our 5th year in a row at the Poly. This is the first year we're staying Club Level. We look forward to it every year. We don't go on any other vacations though.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

Tough call. We go sort of midddle ground every 2 years, so maybe I personally would do middle ground every 18 months.

I stayed off property once and didn't enjoy it nearly as much as on property. It was still fun in the parks, but I like to be surronded in the Disney feeling when we go. So for me, off property is the deal breaker. However, lucky for us our favorite resorts are the All Stars. So, we can go pretty budget and make us happy. We can't afford to go more then once every other year, but we are happy with that (so many people we know have never and will never go, so we can't complain.) I'd go every other year on a middle ground trip and use the extra money for a less expensive trip (long weekends what have you) on the off year. Actually, that is what we do.

 

[Blanche_Neige]

we now go every year and stay on site. I wouldn't call it a delux stay as we go suring value season and stay at the All Star Resort. We also drive 2hr to the US and save over 2000$ on our flights. We have also used points to buy tickets, flight and hotel.

I don;t think we could afford the deluxe with a family of 5.

Next year we are going on our first cruise

 

[wdwfan16]

I was wondering everyone's opinion. If given the choice of super budget Disney trip every year ( bringing your own food to the parks.. staying off site at discount hotel, no extras basically), OR a not budget friendly trip every two years ( deluxe resort , dining plan , etc.. ) Which would you rather do ?

Neither. The first is not my idea of a vacation and the second can be done cheaper so I can go again the next year.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

We do a non-luxury Disney trip every year. We stay at Pop, usually go during Free Dining, and save our pennies* for months beforehand. This year, we're doing the Poly because we had a 40% off PIN, and that's a lot of money, but it's a really special year for us (new baby, 30th b-day). It's back to the values after that! That's fine by me, though

*This doesn't mean we live like peasants for the whole year, we do things, we just don't go crazy on extras like concerts, tv's, iphones.

 

[3boymthr]

I voted every two years as scrimping and saving like that just isn't my idea of a disney vacation. But you definitely need another option - Other. We don't go to WDW that often. last year was our first trip in 10 years. Don't get me wrong we vacation every year but usually our vacations are either outdoorsy or to visit family.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

We were going to WDW every year and not cheaply ($3-4k a trip for the two of us) but we were getting burned out so now we're going to go every two-three years for 10-14 days. We're still spending the same as we would by going every year but I think we'll enjoy being able to be there for 3-6 more days (staying at Disney resorts but having Universal days, relax days, etc.) than we have been going every year and I think we'll get more excited about the trip instead of feeling like we were just there (which is how we felt going every year or a couple of times a year). When we have kids we'll probably go every year while they're younger 'cause kids change so much from year to year it's like a different experience every time .

 

[njsweetP]

This will be our 3rd year in a row going to WDW, and the only way that would happen is doing a 'budget' trip. I purchased 10 day non expiring tickets 3 years ago knowing that we would eventually use them. That was a big chunk of change added to that year's trip, but knew it would be worth it in the long run. We fly out of Newark (I see your in NJ) and stay off site at a 2 bedroom/2 bath condo. That means we have our breakfast in the am before heading out, and are able to take any leftovers from restaurants back to the room with us (full kitchen, laundry). It also was handy the year my DD had the stomach bug and was able to make her meals in the condo. It works well for us even with renting a car and paying parking fees. We would never be able to afford to stay onsite and I don't think I'd want to. I don't think I can do (dare I say it) Mickey 24/7. We also like the freedom that goes with having the rental car. So bottom line is I would rather take budget trips, knowing I can afford it (and it's paid for before we go).

I think I need to clarify my post because I don't know if I'm sending the wrong message. We don't scrimp and save for our WDW vacation. We choose to not stay on site (can't see spending the $$ for such a small space) and love the space of the condo, it works for our family. This doesn't mean we can't afford staying onsite (we can) just choose to spend $$ elsewhere. We take 2 vacations a year and staying offsite (which is where all the $$ goes) lets us do that. We don't 'give up' anything while on vacation or worry about 'pinching pennies' either, we eat great meals and really don't worry about the the money we spend (within reason) while on vacation.

 

[Kathi OD]

Every two years, regardless of the level of accommodations - as long as it is ON property. This is what we did before being able to buy DVC. We just value the convenience of staying on property too much. I also don't want to do a whole lot of work while I'm on vacation. I don't mind a quick grab breakfast in the room, but I don't want to be making lunches and dinners too. I'd rather save and go every other year, maybe even every 3 years, than have to go so budget I wouldn't enjoy myself.

 

[PinkRhombus]

We plan on the every-other-year scenario, but mainly because I don't want to do the same thing every year.

But I also am totally against making anything as complicated and tiring as a week stay at Disney more complicated by having to fiddle around with cooking, too, the entire visit.

Give me buses and a meal plan.

If we go to the beach and rent a condo...I'm fine with cooking because I'm not standing in line and walking around for 12 hours a day.

 

[SDSorority]

Once every other year, non luxury. Though, we do get park hoppers, but we stay in values, don't get DDP (we're vegetarians... it doesn't make sense for us to do it).