Your budget... without Disney

[rockundergirl]

I have a recreational question for everyone.
We all talk so much about saving for Disney, budgeting for Disney, couponing to put money away for Disney.. the list goes on.

- How much money have you spent on/with/at Disney in say the last ten years? ( travel and parks, movies , videos..)

- Where would that portion of your budget be going if not for Disney being a part of your life.

I think its an interesting question, just don't answer if you find it to personal... Here are my numbers ( mostly a guess)

Spent about 8,000
That money prob would have been used on other travel.

 

[sarah4770]

That is a good question and one I have been thinking a lot about recently, and the answer is, I don't want to know! I just sold a small DVc contract, and was just about to buy another one, but I think I am going to back out of it.
Disney is a relatively inexpensive vacation. Comparing to what I would spend at Ocean city MD or New jersey shore in the summer, I think Disney beats those prices.
But now with all the cuts Disney is doing and the increases in prices, I don't find it as big a value as it was just a few years ago.
I am rethinking my loyalty to Disney right now.

 

[hipchickie]

I would guess around $12K, maybe a little more? $15k?

What else would we have done? Honestly, we cut all of our bills down to afford it, so maybe it would be be spread around: more cable channels, smartphones, electricity, etc. maybe travel to other places.

I agree w/the pp...when we started going to disney in '05, it was such a deal, we started going almost every year. The next year was even better (probably best ever - the glory days of the dining plan!!!) but since that, it has been a little less "good" every year.
We are taking the next couple years off, our winter vacation will be mexico next year, africa the year after (unless we fit in a short trip at some other point of the year). I am already sad to think that it will be so long before we are back, but the last trip was the least magical ever, and I think it is due to costs and cuts

 

[pigletto]

Hmmm... I *think* about 8,500 in the last 4 years (2 trips with free dining including spending money and airfare). It would most likely have gone to other travel for us as well... or would have been largely wasted. I really changed how I shopped and saved to save for vacation. I started using coupons, reduced cable/phone/internet e.t.c.

Like the pp mentioned, we are looking towards another type of trip next time. We're thinking the Canadian Rockies. And since we'll be driving and getting accomodations with a kitchen for most of our meals it will cost quite a bit less than our Disney trips. However.. you can't really compare the two vacations. One is hiking and site seeing and a day or two of skiing for the boys.. the other is non stop entertainment. I am looking forward to something different this time around

 

[FLA NUT]

8 trips in the last ten years averaging 2.5k per trip I could have bought a nice used car!!

The money would have probably been spent on other vacations or if we were acting like grown ups, possibly home repair.

 

[ilovepete]

Wow I don't want to know. We are only 2.5 hours away so it's easier for us I guess with no planes and FL resident discounts. BUT that means we go a lot more often (4-5 times a year) and so we probably spend a ton of money there.
If we didn't go there it probably would be spent on other travel.

 

[5stljayhawks]

This covers 7 years, 3 family trips camping at fort wilderness (including upcoming Christmas trip) & 2 Corporate visits with rooms & most food paid for, my airfare was skymiles.

Vacations axp $15-$17K
Total Nights on vacation 12, 4, 14, 4, 16,
Total Park days 8, 2, 8, 2, 7,

Clothing, Movies, books, Trading Pins, Sheets, toys, Crocs & Jibitz, play dresses, Halloween & Christmas stuff, birthday party stuff, action figures, MM ice cube trays,

Guesstimate $5K

Would of traveled other places. Maybe not spent as much, maybe would of spent more. The only real variables in cost while camping axp 42 nights @ wdw would be camp site cost and ticket cost, which are MAJOR portions (axp 1/3 of cost) $3K & $3.5k respectfully. If I travel someplace else and camp, site cost would be axp 30%-70% less. Ticket cost would be 1/2???? as I would still have entertainment exp.

 

[CherylA]

Ugh heres one I never wanted to think about. We go to Disney about twice a year, from Connecticut. We've also grown to like the Disney cruise. We spend about $3,500 per trip total including spending money flights rental car. We've been doing this for the past 10 years, so $7,000/yr times 10 years... $70,000 and thats just trips, never mind that we buy every Disney movie and see most of them in the theater and then of course we buy them on VHS but then needed to replace them and get them on DVD and now we're updating to BluRay (thats all DH!!) shopping at the Disney Store, subscriptions to Disney magazines ugh, probably closer to $80,000 by the time you add all that up, over 10 years. So what would I have done with that money if I didn't spend it on Disney? Most likely have spent it on vacations somewhere else. I LOVE vacation, to anywhere! But honestly we would have less debt, we have a home equity loan that I always say we're going to pay extra toward but never do

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

We have been on 14 trips over the last 5 years, none before that, and booked for trip #15 in Dec. I can't and don't even want to think of how much we have spent, it really isn't about the money, the memories are priceless and to me that is what matters most.

If we hadn't found Disney, the money would probably have been used for disposable things, we never travelled much before, because we were poor newlyweds. I have always loved Disney movies, so I would have still bought those.

We started going to Disney because of failed fertility treatments and just continued to go because it brings us so much joy.

Suzanne

 

[bwolfe]

I'm not sure that I want to know!! We were there in December of 2009 & June of 2010. We are going again in November of 2010 & June of 2011. We are a family of five...so it adds up. However, we are a cash only family. We save up and when the money is there we book a trip.

Without Disney...this money would probably go towards other travel plans.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

I agree w/the pp...when we started going to disney in '05, it was such a deal, we started going almost every year. The next year was even better (probably best ever - the glory days of the dining plan!!!) but since that, it has been a little less "good" every year.

This is exactly how we feel. The sharp increase in ticket prices and whittling away at the DDP is just too much for us.

DH and I first visited WDW in 1993 and have been back almost every year since then, some years more than once. Our trip last month was our most expensive trip - $4,600. I paid it in installments (and it was fully paid off before we went), but when I added it all together it made me sick. Of course, not all of our trips over the last 17 years cost that much, and our family has grown to a family of 6, but enough is enough. We will still visit Orlando next year, but we're staying in a 3 bdrm condo at Windsor Hills ($760 for 2 weeks!), and spending most of our time and $$ at Universal.

 

[annsteere]

Is "I don't know. I don't know" a good enough answer???

I'd have fewer fun memories and my best guess is that I would NOT have anything specific to show for the money I didn't spend. It would have been piddled away on groceries or garage sales.

 

[Ava]

That money prob would have been used on other travel.

Same here. Right now I'm saving money for Disney, but if I weren't planning a Disney trip for next year I'm sure that same money would be being saved for a different vacation. (Obviously I'm not someone who goes to WDW every year, or only vacations at WDW.)

As to how much I've spent in the last 10 years... I have no idea. Definitely under $10K. For my upcoming trip I'm budgeting $2600, so even if each of my last 3 trips cost that much (which I know they didn't, especially b/c one of them was as a CM so I got killer discounts, but let's just pretend they did) - that would be $7800. I buy very little in the way of movies/merchandise, so probably only a few hundred there.

Interesting thread.

 

[hopemax]

I am not only a Disney vacationer, but a Disney collector. I would guess we spend about $5000 per year on Disney type stuff, including the travel expenses. Before my parents moved to FL, it would have been more because we would also be spending money on admission and lodging (now we stay with my parents and my Mom is a CM).

So over 10 years, probably between $50K-$75K.

If we weren't doing Disney, it would be spent on other vacations or improvements on our house, paying down mortgage. Probably, mostly vacations. I have a wanderlust spirit, and if I don't go somewhere, I get very irritable. Even when I was a kid, my parents would send me off to my aunt's house just to satisfy my need to go somewhere.

 

[mrsltg]

Somewhere in the neighborhood of $40k.... But boy was it fun!!!! If we hadn't spent the money on Disney, I'd venture a guess that we would have used it on other travel. However, who knows??? We decide to go, then figure out what it will take to pay for it, then the get the money together.

 

[KELLY]

I don't even want to think about it!
WE go once a year and are average trip for everyting is around 3200.00. WE buy alot of movies also so that is a hard one to figure out.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

It's alot. Our trips usually run about $4,000-5,000 each. We didn't travel alot before our first trip in 2000. And being that I was 40 and DH was 43 at that time I have no problem spending the money.
The money probably would have gone to a new driveway or other minor home projects, disposable spending and some savings.

We have more fond memories of our trips then how are house is decorated.

 

[Taja]

I've visited WDW ten times beginning in 2003--first trip was in 1981, then a 22-year "break!"

I've spent about $4500 total on the ten WDW trips. Some were solo, and cost a bit more. Others were with my BFF, where we split lodging costs. Some were made using SWA rewards (no charge), others were findng the best SWA airfare available (max. was $325 RT on one trip, most were $200 or less). I'm not a big shopper, so souveniers were a minimal cost. It was mostly transportation, lodging, park tickets and food.

If I hadn't visited WDW, the money probably would have been spent on one visit to Europe (about four weeks).

 

[beansmom]

my first trip in 2000 was totally free due to rewards programs...the second was a cheapie in 2005. Altogether, tho, i bet we've spent between $15k and $20k on Disney trips.

Waaaay too much.

We probably would have spent the same traveling other places, tho. Scotland and Hawaii are next on my list.

 

[GoofyMomInOhio]

Wow...over $40,000. Disney is just part of our budget. If we weren't going there, we'd probably still spend it on travel. We choose to have a small house, no cable, prepaid cellphones, etc., etc... Also, if it ain't broke, we don't replace it and certainly not with the latest and greatest. It doesn't work for everyone but it does for us.