What would you do?

[mommyto3]

UUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Airfare will NOT go down for us.

Dates are August 13 - 19
Party of 6 (only have to pay for 5, daughter's friend will be paid for by her parents)
Out of Houston airfare - $250 x 5 = $1250
The drive calculater for gas - $244.76

I REALLY don't want to drive, but this is supposed to be a "budget" trip and it's not (we just went last June, so had to do a lot of begging to get my husband to agree to go again) First I told him that we would only go if we could get free dining...well you can see by my dates how well that worked out. I am SERIOUSLY thinking of just canceling .

I think I'm talking myself out of going just typing this out. No deals anywhere....Disney or the airfare. Maybe this trip is just NOT meant to be. I'm so bummed!!!!!!!

Thanks for listening to me rant!

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Oh that's just a shame. I know how you must feel. We've had to cancel or postpone a few WDW trips due to the costs. $1250 in airfare is just way too high! But I'd rather shoot myself in the foot than drive from PA, so I can sympathize with you.

How much longer until you have to make your final payment? I know it's got to be more than 45 days until the trip, right now. I would continue to look for better airfare up until 46 days prior to your trip. If nothing comes up, you can still cancel without penalty.

Keep a good thought. I'm sending pixie dust your way for better airfares!

 

[Kies99]

Driving would be a no-brainer for us. When we take trips, we start to consider driving if we can save $200 over airfare. Saving $1k??? We'd definitely drive. That would practically pay for everything else! (Well, not exactly, but you know what I mean).

 

[goldneye]

Have you checked aaa-texas dot com? They seem to have better rates right now. I'm wanting a 4 night stay but for 6 nights for 2, I'm getting $292.20 airfare right now.

Check it out.

Hopefully I don't need to have AAA to book these flights. Does anybody know?

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

Driving really ISN'T THAT bad. We drive to WDW everytime we go. AND we have 3 small children (5, 3, and an infant). The kids were gems and it really isn't torturous to take a road trip.

 

[englishteacha]

For that price difference I'd drive in a heartbeat. Is that round trip gas? According to Mapquest, it's about 14-15 hours from Houston to Orlando. If I could drive to Orlando in 14 hours, I'd be there a whole lot more often! Definitely drive! Are you staying onsite? Think about renting a condo while you're there instead. We got a condo for $50 a night for the same time frame. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 4 TVs, kitchen, living room...super nice. We stayed there last year, too. It's cheaper than one value room! We always rent a car, but you'll have a car anyway if you drive. You can then eat at the condo for breakfast (which will save a ton of money), do the parks, then come home to plenty of room to spread out! It took us 10-20 minutes to get to the parks, depending on which one we went to. I'm sure from a value resort on a bus it would be at least that from your hotel to the park of your choosing. We didn't think we could afford a trip to Florida this year, and we can't swing Disney this time, but with some creative planning, we're having a very frugal vacation, and I know we'll have a blast!

Oh yeah, an advantage to a condo when you're driving-you can pack fewer clothes. Most condos will have a washer and dryer! When you're putting 6 people in a vehicle, every little bit helps! (I'm the youngest of 8 kids-try that on a road trip!)

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

I totally agree with Englishteacher.....that is EXACTLY what we do. Roadtrip, get a condo through our timeshare, etc., etc...... It makes for a wonderful time!!!

 

[mickeyfan2]

I would drive. We do it from PA all the time and it is a piece of cake. We also like that we have our own car too. We can also prepack the car during the trip and only have to carry out a small bag or two on the last day.

 

[DisneyMomJen]

We are from NJ and it takes approx 17 hours, non-stop and we try to do it in a day. We have been flying the past 3 years, but I have always gotten an airfare for about $150 a person for 6 of us. If it went to $250 a person I would probably drive. 14 - 15 hours could easily be done in one day if you plan it right. Pack a lunch for the car, take bathroom breaks only when you stop for gas, do drive thru for dinner and we do not let the kids drink a ton since that would mean more bathroom breaks.

 

[LauraAnn630]

We have the same problem here in Cleveland. For the 4 of us $1,2000.00!
So I started looking at flights from other cities. We ended up booking our flight from Detroit on Air Tran for $675.00

So, we'll drive 1 1/2 hours to Detroit. It will cost about $50.00 in gas.

Its still a huge savings.

Not crazy about the drive but I like the price.
We never sleep the night before because we are so excited. We have to leave Cleveland about 4 am. We'll sleep on the plane.

 

[Kay1]

Maybe Disney isn't offering the deals you want but I'll bet someone is. This probably isn't going to be the trip you planned but you can still have a budget trip if you're willing to think outside the box. I think driving down and staying in a nice condo sounds like a great idea and a ton of fun.

 

[mdsouth]

I would drive down. At least you get to go! Otherwise, if it really is a stretch for you - you may want to reconsider going this year. I really wanted to go this year - but we are going to visit family instead. So, I am already planning ahead for summer 2008.

We have taken 16-18 hour car trips in the past and are planning one for late June. It really isn't so bad, especially if the kids all have their gadgets to keep them busy. I call the DVD player Mom's sanity saver!

It really does help. I try to buy a few new DVDs that they haven't seen before to take on the trip. There are the great Mickey Mouse cartoons that my kids do not mind watching over and over. I just saw them at Walmart yesterday for $7.50 each. Not Bad!

Take Care!

 

[mdsouth]

To: englishteacha

Think about renting a condo while you're there instead. We got a condo for $50 a night for the same time frame. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 4 TVs, kitchen, living room...super nice. We stayed there last year, too. It's cheaper than one value room!

Can I ask how you got a 3 BD condo for that price and where?

 

[Tinkerbelle32]

Gas will only run you $246 all the way to Orlando? That seems mighty cheap.

 

[Kies99]

AAA gas calculator shows $234 roundtrip for my Honda Odyssey from Pittsburgh PA.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

It was only $350 for our roundtrip from NH to Orlando. And that is driving a Toyota 4 Runner (SUV).

 

[figaromeetsmarie]

Driving would be a no-brainer for us. When we take trips, we start to consider driving if we can save $200 over airfare. Saving $1k??? We'd definitely drive. That would practically pay for everything else! (Well, not exactly, but you know what I mean).

That is how I Feel exactly! I would rather spend that money at Disney.

 

[mommyto3]

Thanks everyone for the encouragment.

I think my issue is GUILT for spending that money for ANOTHER trip at DW. (Just went last June, and thought we would get free dining to justify going again). We HAVE the money, it's just sitting in the bank.... so it's not a "can't afford it" issue. We had $2200.00 of unexpected car repairs last month which dampened my spirits and that REALLY didn't help my feeling about going either.

We have driven before, and it $ucked . Doable...yes, but really no fun. And yes, $244 was ROUND trip for gas. (I"m pretty suprised about that myself).

My kids are excited about going..........I hate making this type of decision. Of course extended family doesn't help with the "your going again?" comments. (This will be #7 for us) I even feel guilty about my LOVE for Disney.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!!!!!!!!!! I should look like this about our trip!!!!!!

 

[chris4disney]

We have the same problem here in Cleveland. For the 4 of us $1,2000.00!
So I started looking at flights from other cities. We ended up booking our flight from Detroit on Air Tran for $675.00

So, we'll drive 1 1/2 hours to Detroit. It will cost about $50.00 in gas.

Its still a huge savings.

Ever think about flying out of Akron/Canton? It's only an hour drive from Cleveland, if that. We live just 5 minutes from Akron/Canton airport and always fly out of there. Airtran and Delta have direct flights every day to Orlando! Last year I got 3 tickets round trip for a TOTAL of $424!! For our trip coming this October I got 3 tickets round trip for a total of $538. Not as good as deal as last year, but still pretty good I think!

 

[iluveeyore]

Does Southwest fly out of where you live? We were in the same boat with airfare for mid-July out of Buffalo ($178 each way per person), so we got a room a day sooner with $69 each way per person. Then, just last week (six weeks out from leaving), they posted the same flights at $34 each way . Southwest let us re-book the same flight and credited our visa. So if Southwest flies from your airport, you could book with them, and then wait for the price to go down, or simply just be patient - rates usually drop 1 month to six weeks out of your dates. You should be like this for your trip - we go every year and have no guilt whatsoever, although we are DVC members so we only have to pay for airfare and passes.
If you go every year, you should look into annual passes for the room discounts alone. We always plan our trips around using the annual passes twice - this year we're going in July with AP, and next year we're going before that to use them again, so we'll only have to pay for airfare and spending money next year! We bought DVC also to save on eating out - spend $200 on groceries for two weeks for four of us and I cook dinner (nothing extravegant) in my beautiful DVC villas kitchen.
I'm sure with the help of these boards you'll be able to go on your set budget and have a wonderful trip, guilt-free!