With the current economy will you "DVC" differently now??

[bobbiwoz]

Yep, I got that same rate for my May 2009 trip....I have never flown to Fla. for $54/one way before, can't believe I got that fare!!!!!

Some of you have gotten great fares! Good for you. We feel good if we can get r/t for under $200 each, and it's not always possible. Sometimes we've been able to use FF miles, but DH travels mostly on Continental, and that just doesn't work from Dayton to Orlando.

However, using his miles, we've gotten r/t to Copenhagen for our September European cruise...and business class for one of the ways! So...no tears or complaints from me!

SW flies out of Columbus...which is 90 minutes from our house, and just isn't as convenient for parking, or overall for us. Airtran out of Dayton is more convenient.

Bobbi

 

[taysmom]

Just curious if the economy has affected your DVC vacations. Or maybe you are the type "vacationer" that has a wonderful vacation yet budgets so to speak while at WDW or at home before you go on a trip. Would love to hear your ideas. I have decided that we will be more thrifty while vacationing than on past trips. I feel that sometimes we SPEND way too much at WDW and it doesn't necessarily have to be that way to still enjoy our trips there. Plus a biggie is DD just got accepted into her number 1 college choice and she will be starting college in the fall. So we need to prioritize more so to speak. So.....here we go and I have answered too.


1. Will you continue to go the same amt. of times per year or for as many days?? Yes but I will actually start using my dvc as my actual vacation destination instead of an additional "freebie" after my main vacation.

2. Will you spend less money while there and if so what changes will you make so that you are spending less money than previoius trips? For ex. Will you eat out less in the parks? Maybe less table service meals? Less shopping? Maybe even not buying park passes or AP's?Probably the same. We are pretty thrifty while visiting the parks right now. I don't feel that it will change.

3. Have you become more thrify/mindful of what you spend while vacationing? Yes, definately yes!

4. Do you cut back at home...so that you can REALLY enjoy your vacation?yes, I have cut down all frivolous spending. No more subscriptions, changed all the phone/cable plans. I am jonesing for a vacation but will take a year off and then I'll really enjoy what I do.

I'm also thinking of trying RCI. My vacations have been moderately costly in the last couple of years, so now I am rethinking and looking at trying to get a RCI on the california coast for a weekend, or week in the summer at the beach. Then we can just drive and grocery shop and be mellow.

 

[edk35]

Just curious if the economy has affected your DVC vacations. Or maybe you are the type "vacationer" that has a wonderful vacation yet budgets so to speak while at WDW or at home before you go on a trip. Would love to hear your ideas. I have decided that we will be more thrifty while vacationing than on past trips. I feel that sometimes we SPEND way too much at WDW and it doesn't necessarily have to be that way to still enjoy our trips there. Plus a biggie is DD just got accepted into her number 1 college choice and she will be starting college in the fall. So we need to prioritize more so to speak. So.....here we go and I have answered too.


1. Will you continue to go the same amt. of times per year or for as many days?? Yes but I will actually start using my dvc as my actual vacation destination instead of an additional "freebie" after my main vacation.

2. Will you spend less money while there and if so what changes will you make so that you are spending less money than previoius trips? For ex. Will you eat out less in the parks? Maybe less table service meals? Less shopping? Maybe even not buying park passes or AP's?Probably the same. We are pretty thrifty while visiting the parks right now. I don't feel that it will change.

3. Have you become more thrify/mindful of what you spend while vacationing? Yes, definately yes!

4. Do you cut back at home...so that you can REALLY enjoy your vacation?yes, I have cut down all frivolous spending. No more subscriptions, changed all the phone/cable plans. I am jonesing for a vacation but will take a year off and then I'll really enjoy what I do.

I'm also thinking of trying RCI. My vacations have been moderately costly in the last couple of years, so now I am rethinking and looking at trying to get a RCI on the california coast for a weekend, or week in the summer at the beach. Then we can just drive and grocery shop and be mellow.

One of my kids favorite summer vacations was when we rented a 3 bedroom condo with my parents on the beach at Ft. Walton Beach FL. It was on the gulf and we did nothing but relax, swim, hang out. We had no schedule. It was heaven.

 

[Nikisha421]

No for the most part since the room is already paid for all i have to do is get there . when i bought into DVC last year the idea was a sort of prepaid family fun combo so i will still DVC the same ...if im meant to be rich ill be rich but in the mean time ill continue to live my extemely ordinary pretty great middle class DVCing life and i aint gonna change just bc the economy has.

pretty much i still have to foot the bill for financing my points and i cant walk away from the bill so i wont walk away from my hopefully 3 disney trips this year.

NEXT YEAR TO ME IS STILL A MYSTERY (heres to wishing that it remains the same or gets better)

 

[RLRDA]

1. Will you continue to go the same amt. of times per year or for as many days??
We had always planned to go only once per year but between August 2007 and October 2008 we went an extra time (in May). It seemed like a lot to us as we have to fly 5 people down to WDW and that gets expensive. Now we our back to once per year for 7 or 8 nights - which is enough for us.


2. Will you spend less money while there and if so what changes will you make so that you are spending less money than previoius trips? For ex. Will you eat out less in the parks? Maybe less table service meals? Less shopping? Maybe even not buying park passes or AP's?
No, I don't think so. We usually buy the 10 day non-expiring passes with water park/fun passes. This lasts us about 3 to 4 trips. We usually only eat breakfast in the villa. We do like to plan on TS meals at our favorite (or new) restaurants - that's something we look forward to so we won't compromise on that too much. We don't buy too many WDW souvenirs to begin with so limiting that won't be difficult.


3. Have you become more thrify/mindful of what you spend while vacationing?
I don't think so. We've always been "mindful" of what we spend.

4. Do you cut back at home...so that you can REALLY enjoy your vacation?
Not really. I don't consider us "big spenders" to begin with. We haven't changed our spending habits in the slow economy. We still eat out, buy our daily coffees, etc. I figure as long as the bills are paid, we pay our credit cards off each month and save along the way we're OK. We budget for the vacations so we don't end up paying for them months after we get home.

 

[christianweecare]

I don't know when DH & I will make it back to our "home". DH is being laid off at some point this year (plant closing). We have cancelled our May Vero Beach trip and our Sept. DCL cruise. We were very fortunate to have made several trips to WDW and Vero this past year. It may have to do us for a while until DH has his job situation back in order. I never knew how addicted I was until I had to face and empty countdown counter!

 

[edk35]

I don't know when DH & I will make it back to our "home". DH is being laid off at some point this year (plant closing). We have cancelled our May Vero Beach trip and our Sept. DCL cruise. We were very fortunate to have made several trips to WDW and Vero this past year. It may have to do us for a while until DH has his job situation back in order. I never knew how addicted I was until I had to face and empty countdown counter!

Oh I am sorry to hear that. I wish your family the best of luck.

 

[christianweecare]

Oh I am sorry to hear that. I wish your family the best of luck.

Thank you! We are putting our trust in God to watch over us. He has truly blessed us.

 

[Paging Tom Morrow]

1. Will you continue to go the same amt. of times per year or for as many days??

This year, we will likely go more days. In part due to the developer's points that were an incentive for our BLT add.

2. Will you spend less money while there and if so what changes will you make so that you are spending less money than previoius trips? For ex. Will you eat out less in the parks? Maybe less table service meals? Less shopping?

While we will make changes, none of them are being driven by the economy at this time. Everything is based on the value of what we will receive vs. the cost.

3. Have you become more thrify/mindful of what you spend while vacationing?

I am always mindful of what I am spending regardless of where I am.

4. Do you cut back at home...so that you can REALLY enjoy your vacation?
No.

That being said, my wife and I are fortunate to both have well paying jobs which feature job security and a state pension. When we did our long range financial planning almost four years ago, we began by assuming that there would be a significant recession at some point during the ten following years. We've been putting money into a separate "rainy day" fund to account for significant inflation during that time or to have expanded purchasing power if said inflation didn't materialize. All that being said, I wish the economy was in a state that my friends who called me overly cautious were right.

 

[KirstenB]

Each year we do one vacation at WDW in a 2 br villa, and 3 nights at HH in a studio in March. We're doing the same this year.

Last year, for the first time ever, we tried Universal. We loved it. You can't beat the 7 days pass price, so we'll do that again. We have platinum Busch Gardens passes, so we get into Sea World free. Like last year, we'll either skip WDW parks altogether, or do 1 day at the MK. I can't justify WDW ticket prices, even though our family's finances have slightly increased over the last 2 years.

We're pretty cheap food-wise. We rarely do restaurants here at home, so we don't really get the urge to do TS at WDW either. We'll probably do counter service for lunch, and off-site for dinner. I'll make a grocery trip and will probably splurge on that. Whenever we're on vacation, stuff just leaps into my cart that wouldn't ordinarily.

We've driven down the last 6 years, and I don't see that changing. Our youngest is 3, and I just hate the thought of airline travel with young children.

I'm in my 40's and I think I must be getting stuck in my ways or something. Our finances are good, and dh is in a pretty secure industry, but we really struggled financially when we were in our 20's. I've not really forgotten that, so I guess we still live pretty frugally. It's like I can't shake off that mindset, even though it was a long time ago.

OP, best wishes to your dd and college.

 

[DisneyQueen1320]

This year we are driving and cooking our food instead of using the DDP.

 

[jsalls]

How will we respond with the current economy

1. Will we cut back. We are not current DVC members, but rent points from members just about every year. I believe if the economy were better we might look at buying the points instead.
2. Will we behave differently there? I think that we will cut back some on our spending in the park and probably purchase less gifts.
3. Have you become more thrify/mindful of what you spend while vacationing? We are always mindful of the costs when on vacation.
4. Do you cut back at home...so that you can REALLY enjoy your vacation? To some degree we cut back, but that is just so that we can go on vacation.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I don't know when DH & I will make it back to our "home". DH is being laid off at some point this year (plant closing). We have cancelled our May Vero Beach trip and our Sept. DCL cruise. We were very fortunate to have made several trips to WDW and Vero this past year. It may have to do us for a while until DH has his job situation back in order. I never knew how addicted I was until I had to face and empty countdown counter!

Hope things are better for you soon.
Bobbi

 

[edk35]

Each year we do one vacation at WDW in a 2 br villa, and 3 nights at HH in a studio in March. We're doing the same this year.

Last year, for the first time ever, we tried Universal. We loved it. You can't beat the 7 days pass price, so we'll do that again. We have platinum Busch Gardens passes, so we get into Sea World free. Like last year, we'll either skip WDW parks altogether, or do 1 day at the MK. I can't justify WDW ticket prices, even though our family's finances have slightly increased over the last 2 years.

We're pretty cheap food-wise. We rarely do restaurants here at home, so we don't really get the urge to do TS at WDW either. We'll probably do counter service for lunch, and off-site for dinner. I'll make a grocery trip and will probably splurge on that. Whenever we're on vacation, stuff just leaps into my cart that wouldn't ordinarily.

We've driven down the last 6 years, and I don't see that changing. Our youngest is 3, and I just hate the thought of airline travel with young children.

I'm in my 40's and I think I must be getting stuck in my ways or something. Our finances are good, and dh is in a pretty secure industry, but we really struggled financially when we were in our 20's. I've not really forgotten that, so I guess we still live pretty frugally. It's like I can't shake off that mindset, even though it was a long time ago.

OP, best wishes to your dd and college.

Thank you so much. You know my oldest son has wanted to go to Universal for years...so this trip next week (gosh i love saying next week... ) my dh and him are going for one day to check it all out. We did Sea World Nov. of 07 and US in May of 98 but that is it for venturing off site. I really want to start exploring some things off site in the future. Twice I have been tempted to try Vero too. So these are things in the back of my mind....so maybe 2010 we will try them.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

I don't know when DH & I will make it back to our "home". DH is being laid off at some point this year (plant closing). We have cancelled our May Vero Beach trip and our Sept. DCL cruise. We were very fortunate to have made several trips to WDW and Vero this past year. It may have to do us for a while until DH has his job situation back in order. I never knew how addicted I was until I had to face and empty countdown counter!

I am so sorry... I'm in the same boat.... We still (hopefully) plan to go to VB the first of May. Points are paid, and we have a bazillion train points, so going down and staying won't cost us much more dollars. We prefer to cook in so even that won't cost us much more.

I hope your situation gets better soon. Tomorrow we have a new President, and I am very happy and hopeful. Very excited!!!!

 

[daisyduck123]

The current economy won't really have any effect on our vacation style. We will continue to have our summer vacation & school year (on average, one Sept.-May) vacation. We drive, so sometimes gas prices may determine how we get to WDW (last summer, we came quite close to flying).

We will continue to go for the same # of days as we always have.

I don't plan on really spending less $$ while in WDW. I do think that in the past year or two, I've been spending less $$ at home (Target esp.) so that I'll have more $$ in Disney.

I'm a teacher, and looking forward to my next WDW is one thing that gets me thru the semester!

 

[edk35]

Hi Laurie...... and we hope to join you on those summer trips for years to come. This July will be our 2nd annual summer trip together. I can't wait. I hope we never have to give up the trips our families share together. Just think this time next week....we will be in WDW again together.

 

[DisFlan]

We'll make our yearly trips, but we may spend a little less on Signature meals. (DH will still play golf - that's non-negotiable.) We've never been big on buying a lot of "stuff" while we're there, so that's not a problem. I can't see where we'll do a whole lot that's different. We'll go and enjoy ourselves as usual. Now that we're retired and have the time, we may decide to drive a bit more often - more to bypass the airline nuttiness than to save money. And we wouldn't have to rent a car.

DisFlan

 

[daisyduck123]

Hi Laurie...... and we hope to join you on those summer trips for years to come. This July will be our 2nd annual summer trip together. I can't wait. I hope we never have to give up the trips our families share together. Just think this time next week....we will be in WDW again together.

Hi Denise

My family had such a good time with yours last summer. We can't wait to go again this July.... BCV & AKV HERE WE COME!!!!!

My only regret is too bad we didn't start years ago. Imagine all those scrapbooks of the kids I would have. I would've had you working on those by now too

 

[crisi]

We aren't scheduled for another trip until sometime in 2010 - I have high hopes that the "current" economy won't be "current" by then.