To go or not to go ... THAT is the question!

[OnePrinceOnePrincess]

Actually, the question is whether we go Aug/Sept 2015 or Aug 2016?

We (myself, DH, DD *3at time of travel, DS *almost 2 at time of travel) went to WDW for our first family trip - and kids first time - for 10 days at the end of August last year. (2013)

DH and I went on our honeymoon in 2008 and I was ready to take the kids from the moment I was pregnant with DD! lol

Now, we are in the beginning stages of planning out next trip. We are trying to decide if we should go next year (DD will be 5, DS will be almost 4) or the year after? As a household we have been on a debt management plan and have paid down an amazing amount of debt. !0 months from now (by May 2015) we will only have the debt of our mortgage and one car payment.

We went 5 nights on honeymoon, but last year did a 10-day trip and that amount of time was perfection. We had down days and plenty of park days as well, so we plan to do 10-day trips from now on.

Thinking honestly, do you think we should go that Aug/Sept of next year (both pre-school age so missing school won't be an issue) but we will accrue slight debt to do so. (Probably $3000 will need to be on a CC even if just temporarily)
Or should we wait until the next year and go in August (before kindergarten starts) and be able to pay cash for the entire trip?


I realize this is probably an odd post. I appreciate any and all feedback, tips, advice, etc.

Let's be honest ... if I had the money we'd be going tomorrow! Happy Disney dreaming-planning-and wishing everyone!

 

[AriesAriel]

Not odd to me at all as that's why we've been waiting!

I've been twice to Disney and would go every year, but we are a Dave Ramsey style family and don't do debt (except our house). Now, we *DO* charge almost everything (even bills) but we pay off the credit card every month. I realize this is not what Dave would recommend "if you play with snakes..." but my husband and I are pretty good with money & it has been fine for us. So for us, the point accumulated are actually going to pay for our airfare & probably the dining plan as well. That meant I got to upgrade us to a Boardwalk Villa DVC rental instead of All Stars!

Do you think you will go again at a later point, or is this one of those splurges that will probably be it while your kids are young and entranced by the magic? For us, we figure this will probably be the ONLY time we splurge to go to Disney so we wanted to wait til they were old enough to hopefully remember it!

We're going in May 2015. We were planning on going this year but then my DD came along and complicated things. My kids will be 5 and 6 when we go next year. We're going with my sister and her husband and my nephew, who will be 7. I think those are perfect ages for them to be immersed in Disney. It's so magical then!

 

[kohlby]

I'd either go for a shorter time and go sooner or go for the longer time and wait so you don't go into as much debt. The exception is if you could pay off your credit cards quickly - like in a month or two, though not paying off every month would even make me nervous.

Are there any other options when to go? For example, could you put it off until November and shorten it to 8 days? That will give you more time to save and reduce the cost a little. (Make sure to stay away from Thanksgiving week though!)

 

[OnePrinceOnePrincess]

Do you think you will go again at a later point, or is this one of those splurges that will probably be it while your kids are young and entranced by the magic? [/QUOTE]


Honestly. No. We would LIKE to be able to go every other year from now on. Not to sound like a braggart but we can afford it come that time and it's something we love to do. I can't believe how much DD (and she was 3 at the time) loved WDW - to the point that she still brings it up every couple of days! Especially once Elsa & Anna burst onto the scene.

 

[OnePrinceOnePrincess]

I'd either go for a shorter time and go sooner or go for the longer time and wait so you don't go into as much debt. The exception is if you could pay off your credit cards quickly - like in a month or two, though not paying off every month would even make me nervous.

Are there any other options when to go? For example, could you put it off until November and shorten it to 8 days? That will give you more time to save and reduce the cost a little. (Make sure to stay away from Thanksgiving week though!)

That is a great idea. We had such fun in August - loved the water parks - but they obviously aren't the MAIN reason for going.

Have you traveled at times other than October (we went columbus day weekend in 2008 for honeymoon) and end of summer? I don't know much about Disney at those times.

 

[OnePrinceOnePrincess]

Not odd to me at all as that's why we've been waiting!

So for us, the point accumulated are actually going to pay for our airfare & probably the dining plan as well. That meant I got to upgrade us to a Boardwalk Villa DVC rental instead of All Stars!

How do you do THAT kind of upgrade? If one isn't a DVC member how can they stay somewhere like that??

 

[dhardawa]

I'd wait and go in November. The weather is SO much nicer. Plus, more time to save.

 

[MandiC]

I would wait and go the next year. Not only would you be able to pay in cash without accumulating any new debt (I mean how awesome is that!) but they will be at pretty great ages and my guess is after your next trip you likely won't go back for another few years. At 6 and almost 5 you won't have to worry as much about strollers, potty breaks, naps, ect plus they will be taller When we went this February I just couldn't help but think my younger dd was at the *perfect* age for Disney (she was 7 when we went). She was tall enough for everything and yet she still absolutely loves princesses.
So, if it were me, I'd wait the next year.

 

[kohlby]

That is a great idea. We had such fun in August - loved the water parks - but they obviously aren't the MAIN reason for going.

Have you traveled at times other than October (we went columbus day weekend in 2008 for honeymoon) and end of summer? I don't know much about Disney at those times.

This next trip will be our first Sept trip. I'm dreading the heat. We usually go in Nov/start of Dec. It's great! We avoid T-giving week and jersey week and the crowds are quite manageable, low to moderate. The Christmas lights are out and it's really neat to see all the decorations. The Epcot storytellers don't come out until after t-giving, so keep that in mind if that's a priority. We had several trips in Nov/start of Dec and I would recommend that time of year. The weather was good for swimming every one of those trips too. And very, very little rain. When we went over Christmas break, it was warm enough to go swimming most days - but I wouldn't recommend that time of year due to crowds. We went the end of Jan/start of Feb once and it was way too cold to swim but the crowds were tiny. However, it was a record cold winter that year. We've been the end of May/start of June too. Crowds were low-moderate to high-moderate then. (High on Memorial Day weekend though). It was a little warm, but manageable. But weather is a gamble in June when heat/thunderstorms are considered.

 

[AriesAriel]

How do you do THAT kind of upgrade? If one isn't a DVC member how can they stay somewhere like that??

dvcrequest

The BWV studio with standard view is actually quite affordable. Only 20% of the rooms are that classification though, so you have to reserve way ahead. I'm already booked for our May 2015 vacation.

 

[mm1971]

Actually, the question is whether we go Aug/Sept 2015 or Aug 2016?

We (myself, DH, DD *3at time of travel, DS *almost 2 at time of travel) went to WDW for our first family trip - and kids first time - for 10 days at the end of August last year. (2013)

DH and I went on our honeymoon in 2008 and I was ready to take the kids from the moment I was pregnant with DD! lol

Now, we are in the beginning stages of planning out next trip. We are trying to decide if we should go next year (DD will be 5, DS will be almost 4) or the year after? As a household we have been on a debt management plan and have paid down an amazing amount of debt. !0 months from now (by May 2015) we will only have the debt of our mortgage and one car payment.

We went 5 nights on honeymoon, but last year did a 10-day trip and that amount of time was perfection. We had down days and plenty of park days as well, so we plan to do 10-day trips from now on.

Thinking honestly, do you think we should go that Aug/Sept of next year (both pre-school age so missing school won't be an issue) but we will accrue slight debt to do so. (Probably $3000 will need to be on a CC even if just temporarily)
Or should we wait until the next year and go in August (before kindergarten starts) and be able to pay cash for the entire trip?


I realize this is probably an odd post. I appreciate any and all feedback, tips, advice, etc.

Let's be honest ... if I had the money we'd be going tomorrow! Happy Disney dreaming-planning-and wishing everyone!

It sounds like you have put in a lot of effort to get rid of that extra debt. I would probably wait until you can afford to go without starting the debt cycle again. Plus, ages 5 and 6 are still great ages to take the kids. Not an odd post at all, we use our cc points and always have the trip paid BEFORE we go.

We went on vacation once without having it paid and that great feeling from getting almost debt free and taking a vacation goes away when the bills come in. Just my thoughts. Good luck on deciding and congrats on the hard work paying off (pun not intended).

 

[Mousemommy1]

Can you work the cost of the trip into your budget for next year?

We go every year, without using credit cards, but we book well in advance and then just spread out the cost in monthly payments to Disney.

We've been doing this for years and now the Disney line in the budget is just like paying for groceries we are so used to it.

 

[OnePrinceOnePrincess]

Can you work the cost of the trip into your budget for next year?

We go every year, without using credit cards, but we book well in advance and then just spread out the cost in monthly payments to Disney.

We've been doing this for years and now the Disney line in the budget is just like paying for groceries we are so used to it.

Actually, I just called my kids pre-school teacher. DD is enrolled for this year, but both kids will be next year. Pre-school here is only two days a week and she said missing a week is no big deal - I'd rather a week of preschool (aka two days) vs a week of kindergarten or older (aka 5+ full days).

Once she said that hubby and I looked at budget and think that we can go, debt free, for 8 nights in November/December - especially if we start saving/paying monthly ASAP.

Have you been either of those months?

 

[OnePrinceOnePrincess]

This next trip will be our first Sept trip. I'm dreading the heat. We usually go in Nov/start of Dec. It's great! We avoid T-giving week and jersey week and the crowds are quite manageable, low to moderate. The Christmas lights are out and it's really neat to see all the decorations. The Epcot storytellers don't come out until after t-giving, so keep that in mind if that's a priority. We had several trips in Nov/start of Dec and I would recommend that time of year. The weather was good for swimming every one of those trips too. And very, very little rain. When we went over Christmas break, it was warm enough to go swimming most days - but I wouldn't recommend that time of year due to crowds. We went the end of Jan/start of Feb once and it was way too cold to swim but the crowds were tiny. However, it was a record cold winter that year. We've been the end of May/start of June too. Crowds were low-moderate to high-moderate then. (High on Memorial Day weekend though). It was a little warm, but manageable. But weather is a gamble in June when heat/thunderstorms are considered.

What week would you MOST recommend between November and December??

 

[OnePrinceOnePrincess]

Soooo ... DH and I have been hemming and hawing and I realized something huge. If we switch from moderate to a value (like a Little Mermaid standard room at AofA) we can save almost $2,000 RIGHT THERE.

This changes everything. I appreciate all the input!!! Looks like fall 2015 trip WITHOUT going into debt is possible after all! Hooray!

 

[smiths02]

Glad you are getting it to work out

I was going to say that I would not go into debt to go to Disneyworld or any other vacation. It is just not worth it.

We took my son at nearly age 3 and at age 5. The first trip was great, but the trip at 5 was even more magical (no potty training issues, he could tolerate staying up later, nap not necessary, tall enough for the rides, still loved meeting characters, no carrying him or holding him, etc.). Also, he can remember the trip at 5 (he's 8 now), he can't really remember the trip where he turned 3 anymore.

 

[kohlby]

What week would you MOST recommend between November and December??

It's not so much as a week as some guidelines as when to avoid. Avoid jersey week, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving week. Avoid dec starting about mid-month. if you go the first week of Dec, then don't go to MK on the day of parade taping. We've always had great weather on out Nov/dec trips and low to moderate crowds, but always quite manageable.