What's the one area of your WDW budget...

[Jen D]

We've known a lot of people who would rather stay home until they can afford the kind of trip they want, than settle for a shoestring budget trip. That's NOT us! LOL!

That is me! I'd rather wait.

Well, waiting is a necessity, really-- we're only a family of three but feel pretty stretched, not just money-wise but time-wise-- there is only so many vacation days a year and sometimes they have to go to visit extended family (who all live far away.) My husband works two jobs, I work parttime, and we are filmakers on the side, and then there's that parenting thing...I don't see us taking a family vacation more often than every 2-3 years, so I really want to make that vacation count!

My answer to the question-- is definitely lodging. I don't cut back on lodging. Don't get me wrong, I wait on code rates, and don't splurge on views or concierge, but I really want to be in a deluxe for my vacation. Don't know why. I guess it's that we live in a cramped apartment in a cramped city-- we love our home and our city, but for vacations, we like to have more luxury than we are accustomed to, not less.

In general, I'd rather wait until I can save enough money so that we're not watching the bank account the whole time we're there, but I find I can always cut back on sitdown meals, and definitely souviniers. They are fun, but pretty wasteful.

 

[Disney Doll]

I would probably cut out the cheesy souvenirs.

I ahve a multitude of Disney mugs, sweatshirts,t-shirts etc. and don't feel like I need any more.

If I buy something now, it has to be "special".

 

[Kimickey]

Vacation is not an option in our family of three...It's a must. I'm in the military and DH works non-stop. So when we take our yearly WDW vacation we just go with the flow, relax, and enjoy the moment. We stay at the moderates and we do fly. We also try to keep things reasonable. DH sets a budget on the entire vacation and we stick by it. Most of the time we are under our budget. The only thing we refuse to do is pay for our vacation by credit card, I think that would be our limit. What matters most to us is the quality of family time it's far, few and in between.

 

[MELSMICE]

Originally posted by doindisneyagain
I Agree!

My DH and I say the kids are only young once and we want to experience many vacations with them while we can - you never know what tomorrow brings!

 

[MELSMICE]

Originally posted by doindisneyagain
I Agree!

My DH and I say the kids are only young once and we want to experience many vacations with them while we can - you never know what tomorrow brings!

Okay - that was dumb - I forgot to type in my response. LOL

Anyway, doindisneyagain - those are mine & DH's sentiments exactly. We figure that someday our DD's will not want to or be unable to vacation with us so we are taking advantage now.

As far as what we budget or don't budget for - we just try to do things in moderation, however, we don't specifically "skimp" on things either. It is vacation & we are fortunate enough that we can plan very far in advance & save money along the way. Anything not spent on a trip goes towards the next one.

 

[AJA55]

Good question and there sure are a lot of different answers. I say do what works for you! I visit WDW only once every 2 or 3 years. But I do vacation 1 to 3 times a year. This year will be Las Vegas in spring and Washington DC in fall. We try to stay at a property with a refrigerator and microwave. Off-site is so much more reasonable. I never drive. (lol….Washington state to Florida!) Have most breakfasts and dinners in the room. Lunches we have a nice long and large sit-down meal if no kids are along. Which is the norm for me. I have no children but have taken my nieces on vacations. Rather than buy a souvenir we do something special, a show, day cruise, tour, expensive meal, etc. Except when with the kids they get to spend a preset amount on a souvenir.

 

[crazelion]

I ddon't skimp on vacation I ususally. I try to save money for a whole year then decide if I won't go on vacation. I am blessed that I live 2 hours away from Atlanta and Pigion Forge and do a weekend trips when I can't go a week vacation.

Also when I can't go on vacation I just get a season pass to Six Flags Over Georgia that will be my vacation.

Also my city have so much in the summer to do it's like going on vacation.

On with the question. I don't get alot of so souvenirs because I don't just spend the money for them. I might get only a T-shirt and they would come a cheap place that have for 3 for 5.00 dollars.

I don't skimp of food. I love to eat so that's where most of my money goes. I don't believe in cooking on vacation.

Also I beleive in staying in a nice hotel. I do not like to stay at a dump.

The best tip I give people is to shop at Wal-mart and use there layway department. My rule of tumb if Wal-mart have it layway it. Then I don't have to put it on my credit card.

I save so much money in interest rates that I can afford to do all the things I enjoy.

 

[kaabost]

Our Disney trip are not extravagant but they are extravagant for us. The one thing that I require is that we stay on site. Not only do we stay at a Disney hotel, we eat on site, and only go to onsite parks. In other words, I don't want to leave the grounds of WDW until our trip is over (and then I still don't want to leave but I have to). That being said, luckily, I love the All Stars Resorts and DH doesn't care. We eat on site the whole time but generally do only one or teo sitdoen meals. Additionally, the longest trip we have ever done is 5 days as it is tough to get vacation time for both of us at the same time and tough to pay for more time at the world without breaking the bank.

 

[dansyr]

We are just 2 adults

I don't mind staying at a value resort. We really don't spend much time in the room anyway and the AS's provide everything we need.
However, I would never stay offsite even if the price was really good. I love the convenience of the bus transportation, the theming of the resorts, and all the other perks of staying onsite.

We splurged this year by doing the gold dreammaker package mainly to take advantage of the meal plan. For us being able to eat at all the really nice restaraunts this time is gonna be great.

Souvenirs are usually not a big deal for us. I usually pick up a couple inexpensive items for us. I shop a bit more for my nephews, but we don't really spend all the much on souvenirs.

Passes - We have always done ultimate hopper pass. I like the convenience of going wherever we want as many times as we want. We can also take advantage of going to PI even for a short time without feeling like we wasted money if we only stay for an hour.


But this is an adult take on the budget. If I were bringing children I would probably eat at less sit-down restaraunts and spend more on souvenirs.

 

[heart4dis]

This question has helped me think through my priorities more clearly! Thanks for a great thread!
NON-NEGOTIABLE: I want at least one day at each of the four parks, so time (which is money) is most important to me.
DH wanted some relaxing time, so we added the cruise. (Can you tell opposites attract?)

At one time, I would have said staying on-site was non-negotiable, but being a family of six has "forced" us to staying off-site (see my "packages for family six" thread on this board). I figure we don't spend much time in the room, so it isn't critical--but I've stayed in enough cheap roadside motels to know there is a definite limit to how low I'll go!!

Food isn't critical as far as eating at nice places--I just want access to healthy foods, so I like have a mini-fridge so I can have some fruits and veggies--hard to find in a fast food world--to supplement our "meals". Souvenirs are a yawner to me, no problem there. We'll use frequent flyer points for airfare. I like doing laundry on vacation because I hate to haul a lot of luggage. Again, with a family of 6 it adds up quickly, so I'd rather pack light and do laundry. I guess when it comes to WDW the one area we don't have much choice on is the park tix. Not a lot of flexibility there.

 

[cindyfan]

I guess for us it is a question of "Must do's" and " We can live withouts"!!
There are certain non-negotiables.....Must fly non-stop. Must stay on-site, although depending on the budget for that trip we have stayed value, mod and delux. Must have at least one Character dinner or dinner show. Must purchase at least one new Christmas ornament (that is me I have a Disney Christmas tree )
DD is allowed to choose one thing that I do not have the option to say "no" to. She does have a $$ limit, and if there are other things she wants, I can say no. But she knows that there is that ONE thing that she doesn't have to "ask Mom if it is okay"! It really makes her think about "what she really wants" as opposed to "what will Mom let her have"!!!

As for "live withouts"......we do not do many sit-down dinners, just not enough time to waste The rental car...but DH would say this was a Must-have Those re-fillable mugs (sometimes I really wonder if they are worth it), we can just pick up bottle water at the store on the way in.

We pretty much live by the rule of all things in moderation anyway.

 

[lamcci]

okay - here's my 2 cents!!!!
I recently planned a week trip - we are taking our boys, ages 5 & 7, for their very first WDW trip. I choose the cheapest time of year that worked for us -in this case, 2nd. week of Feb., 2003. I originally booked All Stars with Ultimate Park Hoppers. I came across a code that allowed me to get a moderate-Port Orleans Riverside- and changed our tickets to 6 day park hoppers, and saved a couple hundred dollars! We decided to drive (from Maryland) instead of flying because it saves us over $1000. I don't wanna cook on vacation...but I did get a fridge in the room for the convience of it. I'll through in a few things for the boys, plus I'll get some snacks, mostly because my husband and boys always seem to be hungry! We always plan on doing one "sit down" dinner per day. This trip I also planned a character meal. I figure $200 a day. Then I try to save another $500 over that so we can go, and not worry at all about money. We don't use Credit Cards. WE SAVE....yes it is possible. I won't put my kids in daycare, and with me working part time along with my husband working full time, we aren't exactly rolling in it, but with carefull planning we were able to save. We usually vacation in the British Virgin Islands or the Nags Head area...so this WDW vacation will be a bit off of our usual track. We did honeymoon there though. I can't wait - the kidos are very, very excited. And my husband and I are happy cause we can go and not have one worry about watching the checkbook. However, that being said.....I have no idea what we are going to do for the "extras".....T-Shirts, toys and such. I think we'll let the boys pick one item a day within reason...I don't know - that does seem a bit much...maybe a few things over the course of the week.

 

[Lisa P.]

...T-Shirts, toys and such. I think we'll let the boys pick one item a day within reason...I don't know - that does seem a bit much...maybe a few things over the course of the week.

When our three were your children's ages while we vacationed, we told them they could pick one thing (within reason) for the week and we asked them to keep track so we could buy it on the last full day of the trip. We did surprise them each with an occasional inexpensive treat but the expectation of one nice souvenir of their choice kept the begging away.

Once they got older, we gave each child a modest budget (between $20-$50) that they could spend through the week on whatever they wanted - extra snacks, toy, visor, etc. But when the money was gone, it was gone. They thought carefully before buying t-shirts & stuffed toys the first day or two. It worked well and got them thinking about their priorities for that spending. It also eliminated having to be the scrooge who always said no.

Now, they are all between ages 12-13. They bring their allowance and odd job money, if they want, on vacation. We usually supplement with anywhere from $10-$50 apiece, for doing special activities or buying souvenirs. Again, they choose between horseback riding, sea kayaking, video arcade games, t-shirt/sweatshirt, etc. The amount we supplement depends on our family's finances at the time. This is real life and they seem to have gotten used to making these kinds of choices - it's non-issue both at home and on vacations.

 

[westjones]

This is our first year as DVC members, so we don't have to worry about hotel costs.

I wanted to do a character meal, but when I learned about the 3:00 Character Ice Cream social at Epcot (for around $7/8 per person), I switched to that instead.

I give my daughters a fixed amount of money and they can spend it on what they want, but that is it. I don't really buy much, and DH doesn't buy anything ever. This time, I am giving them each $20 and they can add to that whatever they have saved, but that is all I am giving them to spend.

We plan to eat breakfast at the resort, and then eat a late lunch / early supper at the parks and then eat at the resort again that evening.

So I guess I try to watch all areas of spending and look for ways to get the most fun for our money.

DJ

 

[LovesHauntedMansion]

The area that I cut down on is food. I usually eat all of my meals at counter-service restaurants. We pick one nice place to eat for the week. I don't go on vacation to eat. Since I live in La., I have the best food(IMHO) here. We usually are disappointed in the food we get when we are on vacation - not just at WDW, but everywhere.
I will not cut down on souveniers.

 

[Pig Pen]

For years we drove to Florida from Vermont, stayed off-site, and ate fast food or out of a cooler - just so we could enjoy the magic of WDW. At the time we could not afford flying, or staying on-site (especially before the All Stars and Mods were built - who remembers the days when the only resorts were Contemporary and Poly?). Sometimes we went when we probably shouldn't have, but we NEVER regretted any of it.

Now the kids are grown and the college loans are almost paid off, and we realize that life is short and vacations are a MUST. We bought DVC recently and I cannot wait to make use of it.

This upcoming May trip we are flying, using town car service, staying at our DVC.

I managed to get a free airline ticket by using a credit card with frequent flier rewards. I kept an eye on fares and booked DH's ticket when there was a momentary dip in rates.

A recent raise is paying for the DVC. I have utilized mypoints.com to get a gift certificate for RainForest Cafe (not my favorite place, but it's a free meal...). For other meals, we utilize the AP discounts and generally eat our big meal at lunch to save money. We don't like eating late anyway, so this is not a big sacrifice for us. I like fruit for breakfast and DH will grab a pastry in the park. We tried using the cooler on our last trip, but it proved to be too big a pain for the little we saved. DVC will have a fridge so I might try that.

I'm not a shopper so souvenirs are never a big expense.

As we get older and are able to save more money, we will probably scrimp less, but I think we are doing pretty darn well!

 

[roadtripper]

OK, you real budgeters will be horrified at this, but the one thing I must have at WDW is Caymus Conundrum-- my favorite white wine that I can never find (or afford) at home. It is (gasp) about 11 dollars a glass!
I gladly traded a few souvenirs, a few in-room meals on rented points at OKW, and a 24 hour drive from MA, for a few lovely sips while watching the MK fireworks from the California Grill last year!

 

[crisi]

We don't go as often as we could if we were willing to stay cheap, budget food, etc. But when we do, we go without a budget. So I guess I am willing to do without frequency, but not willing to do without whatever I really want to do when I am there.

 

[ivanova]

I won't cut back on entertainment (i.e. park admissions, swimming with the Dolphins, etc.)

I will compromise on food ... if we get to eat out at the places we want, we're willing to scrimp on some of the lesser important meals (like breakfast) by eating in (yes, it can involve cooking if we're thinking eggs or pancakes).

I will CONSIDER compromising on the airfare (i.e. fly Southwest Airlines) but only if I'm saving a FORTUNE that way. A few bucks savings isn't worth the discomfort otherwise.

Souvenirs can be managed. We did the Disney Dollars for allowance, Xmas and birthday so our DD had her own spending money. Then I just had to reign in DH and myself.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I refuse to cut on food, but souvenirs just aren't a must for me anymore. I have an autograph book now that I started when I worked in Disney, so I will just take that with me to collect along with photos. DH and I love a good sit down meal and that's where A LOT of our money goes. (thank goodness I discovered the Disney Dining Experience Card for FL residents.... )

Since DH is out of the military now, we can't do the SOG. That used to cost us $69 a night and it was outstanding. We will always stay at the ASMu resort. It's just right for our budget and considering we only use the hotel to sleep, rest, and shower, nothing fancy is really needed.

This is a great thread!