Ryan had a good point in that ranting post. I’m choosing to do all these expensive things. The kids have never even heard of HDDR, so I can save that till the next trip. We can bump RFC and DS to arrival day and pay for it with Disney rewards. $240 saved. I already bought the Christmas party and that is a huge expense. I don’t need these extras! Plus my kids barely eat and I can’t eat milk, and possible gluten so my meals are never any good anyway. Ok, I’m seeing the light, I think. It’s hard to talk yourself off that money train.
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That seams high we use Petsmart it costs maybe $30 a day but not all Petsmarts board. I would shop around you should be able to save at least $100 on a 7 or 8 night stay for your dog.
That is the hardest part for me! Maybe because we are new to Disney so only know dessert parties, holiday parties, etc. I am trying to look at the real price of things and decide if i really want to spend x hundreds of dollars for my family to eat here or see this show. If I look at it in those terms then my answer is often no! We have so many other things to experience and keep us busy in the parks that I don’t need to book in these extra things. Then I will have more time for us to enjoy some of the other things that already come with our tickets.
I had gone somewhat nuts trying to book ADRs for TH today- it was my 180day!- (had to split our party and use DHs MDE to book for us too). But now am wondering if we would be better off to eat at Harambe market (we LOVED it last time) and get a FP to meet Mickey and MInnie at the Outpost in their holiday wear. Similar result for a lot less money.
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It is really dependent on where you live. For us, that is a reasonable price. But I am a veterinarian and am also very picky about where I will leave our dog. Going for trust over cost savings is worth it in this case.
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Exactly! We are also new to Disney. First time we’ve gotten park hoppers so we really should just be enjoying the parks!
That was the low one! Another they only let your dog out 2 times a day! You had to pay for extra potty breaks! So if we added 1 potty break and 1 outdoor playtime it was $500! Um, no sorry. We love our rottie, but that is ridiculous.
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What do you pay if you tell them he doesn’t need potty breaks? Do they charge extra for cleaning up the mess? That’s insane!
$5 each. Oh lol, I meant for extra potty breaks. Isn’t that insane., $8 for playtime. Per day for 8 days.
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Yes - this!
I originally ‘added up’ what I thought it was going to cost me for when I was going and for how long. I decided that was fine, I could afford it and I deserved it - Then well . . . . I am pretty sure that adding an extra day, doing two Halloween parties and probably a character meal are costing more than the plane ticket one way that I had enough points for - so I am now sticking my head in the sand and refusing to add up anything anymore! Although I am going solo this trip - so that makes it a lot easier to justify the cost then if I was going with my BF or his kids also 
Look at it this way: a new roof can cost 2 to 3 times that much. How much enjoyment do you get out of a bunch of asphalt shingles?
20 - 30 years worth if done right.
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never do that! it’s dangerous! unless you are on tight budget don’t add it all up!
Ultimately, we only pay as much for a vacation as we have the money for before we leave. Which means budgeting for the trip well ahead of time.
The trip my wife and I are taking in 2020 will be our most expensive vacation EVER, bar none. Last calculation, we have made options that cost anywhere from $5600 to $7952 (at today’s prices, although I know it will be higher by 2020 by some). That includes EVERYTHING, from gas, hotels on the way down, to food, to optional holiday parties, etc. So the variation is based on a change in number of days and which option we choose for staying down there.
We are budgeting/saving for the most expensive option, but if we are unable to save enough, we have the reduced options to fall back on.
The high cost of the trip is less of a concern when you know you already have it paid for before you ever go. In fact, years ago, when I wasn’t so diligent about saving everything before leaving and ended up with a lot of stuff on the credit card, I found myself really unable to fully enjoy the trip. Which also impacted the enjoyment of my family, because they could see my reaction at just the mention of getting a snack.
Now, we go in and say, “Okay, guys. You each have $5 to spend on snacks today.” They now know we have the money, and can decide at any point what snack they want. Anything above and beyond the budget they have to dip into their own money.
Vacations are SO MUCH more enjoyable now.
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I was about to say this very thing.
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I can’t be the only OCD person that wants to know! I mean I don’t WANT to know but I HAVE to know. Lol. You see our vacation money comes out of my part time job. So most of my paycheck goes toward a yearly vacation and the rest for college for kids. So I have the funds, but it just seems insane to me to spend more then $5000 for a trip for 1 week. Last year I figured we probably spent $6000 in Disney when all was said and done. I’ve already gone over that, and it just seems…crazy, irresponsible, idk. Next time we’re either staying off site or value. I will say we thoroughly enjoy and utilize our hotel, we’re not sun up till sun down park people. ESP in the summer, pool time is equally fun for the kids. Carter still hopes to utilize the pools and hot tubs in November!
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I don’t want to know, really.
If I can afford it, I spend it. Then I enjoy it. If I think about the cost of it, I will not enjoy it as much.
If I can’t afford it, I don’t do it. We don’t put things on credit, especially not things like vacation (I use my SW card and then pay it off literally the next minute), because that makes it less enjoyable later.
We obviously have a general idea of what things cost. We have to buy airline tickets, we have to pay for hotel and park tickets and we need to allot funds for spending while there. But I never ever ever go back and add it all up; at least not until many months later when we are trying to figure out how much to budget for next time (because there’s always a next time)
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nah, I’m right there with you. Though my method is more calculating all my discounts I’ve racked up against what would happen should I not take advantage of any (usually causes a big smile).
Sure,it’s still expensive…but anytime that question pops up, I simply have to ask “how much are memories worth?”
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This.
We could have a bigger house, more pristine yard with gorgeous landscaping, fancier cars, trendier clothes, all that kind of noise. But my family would not look back and think, “I’m so glad Mom and Dad got that retaining wall and all those flowers.” But they will look back and think of all the fun times we had and memories we made <3
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I rented a house in Hilton Head for this summer, and I’m like $3200, what a bargain. Never in my life would I have spent that much on a vacation before. Disney has ruined me. Lol I’m like well that $1800 I can put towards Next Disney trip. 
This will save you lots. We can get a full week at a rental home or condo with kitchen/3 bedrooms/2+ bath for less than $1000. This allows us to eat in, rather than at the parks. Okay. So we don’t get 60 days for FPP, only 30. It didn’t stop us from getting the FPP we wanted last trip. And, our last home we rented had a private swimming pool and hot tub. Not sure how many kids you have, but when we went last time, four of our kids (oldest was, unfortunately, busy with school) were with us.
While I am looking forward to our next trip staying on property…it will be the first time since our honeymoon we’ve done so.
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