$4 a gallon... we aren't going...

[WDW Monorail]

Be realistic, thats ONCE a day maybe TWICE....not 15 gallons a day.

It adds up incredibly quickly. Especially if you buy even just one cup 5 days per week for 3 months. That is $258 that you could save or spend elsewhere.

The alternative is to buy a $10-$15 can of ground coffee which you brew at home (or even at the office if you have access to a brewer) which could last you 3 months.

 

[yankspy]

I am curious about the phrase "big oil". Who exactly are we talking about. There are many different entities involved. I am curious as to how that 7% figure was arrived at?



Big oil are the major oil companies. Their profit margin (% return after all costs are paid) is actually 9.7% today for all major oil companies...It was 7% about a month ago; never-the-less, Walt Disney Co. is 13.01% as of today. http://biz.yahoo.com/p/722qpmu.html

I wonder how different those numbers might be if the companies were looked at individually. What exactly is included in cost? Are dividends included? Are salaries included in operational cost? There are many ways to fudge numbers so that it looks as if you are making a modest profit. I am not accusing them of anything, I am just saying that it is not necessarily a black and white type of thing.

 

[sublimesting]

I wonder how different those numbers might be if the companies were looked at individually. What exactly is included in cost? Are dividends included? Are salaries included in operational cost? There are many ways to fudge numbers so that it looks as if you are making a modest profit. I am not accusing them of anything, I am just saying that it is not necessarily a black and white type of thing.

If you click on that link you actually can filter individual companies, some were as high as 15% and others, obviously, lower. The description of profit margin is ALL costs to run a business suh as employee wages, operational costs. Naturally they are making record profits as we are paying record prices; however they are also paying record prices to run their business. Keep in mind that part of their business is doing research to find alternatives to oil...and make no mistake, they are desperately looking for alternatives because, there is only about 50 years of petroleun left on this planet. Oil companies don't want to be left out of the boom of the next energy wave by being so short sighted as to rely on oil only.

 

[Epcotian]

Are we getting to the point when oil is something only a financial speculator can afford?

 

[IheartWDW]

Question

is there a website or some sort of cacualtion formula that the driving families are using to determine which method of transportation is cheaper? Me and my BF are returning to Disney in Jan for our anual trip, he wants to drive i want to fly. So to fend off a battle, we decided that which ever is the cheapest is the route we will take.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

and not to add fuel to the fire, but i heard on the news the other day that in Jersey there is specualtion with all the prices increasing that cigarettes will be almost $10 a pack soon. doesn't really affect me, but my BF smokes so we'll feel that increase as well.. although maybe that will be incentive to quit... but it seems as though people will start having to prepare for increases on more then just gas. Milk is almost $4 a gallon in some stores near me..

 

[sbkline]

This is not Disney's fault. But at $4 per gallon, the difference in going to Disney right now is unbelievable. The total gas cost difference for us is the price of our food for the week.

I would like to know if anyone else has decided that the price of Gas has put Disney out of the loop for this year.

Our most recent Disney Trip cost us alot of money. The MYW package with Dining was around 2,100 bucks, I believe. We had 5 days left on last year's 10 day parkhopper, and we bought a one day pass in order to get the dining plan. So figure maybe another 400 bucks for our park admission. Then, there was about 1800 bucks that we brought for spending money, which covered gas, food and lodging on the way there and back, admission to Sea World, etc. Out of that money, we came home with $1.18. So the entire trip cost around $4,000.

I say all that to say that if I have the money to afford to spend four grand on a trip to Disney, 4 dollars a gallon on gas is just a drop in the bucket compared to the overall price of the trip. If the high gas price were to become a major issue, then rather than cancel the trip altogether, I would trim the budget a bit. Maybe instead of getting the dining plan, we would just eat the cheaper counter service places. Heck, on this last trip, staying for 8 nights on the dining plan, we payed right around 100 bucks just on tipping alone. Maybe go for 5 days instead of 8. Maybe skip Sea World or any other places outside of Disney that we may have planned on visiting. Maybe stay at a value resort instead of on property. Or maybe do what we did the first couple times we went: stay at a Super 8 motel for 40 some odd bucks a night instead of spending 80 bucks a night at a value resort. There's all kinds of ways that I could cut some costs if I really needed to, but the bottom line is that if I have 4 thousand clams to burn on a trip to Disney, I'm not too worried about an extra couple hundred bucks on the cost of gas.

Like I said, if you can afford to spend a week at Disney, with all the cost that it entails, then you shouldn't worry about a little extra in the cost of gas. Just offset that cost by cutting elsewhere. Maybe you're not spending that trip living as high on the hog as you otherwise would, but at least you're there and not sitting in your cubicle at work. Or, perhaps, cut on some costs back home in order to make up for the difference, rather than cutting costs on your vacation. Don't go out to eat as often, cut back on other unneccessary expenses, and then say that you're reallocating that money to help pay for your Disney trip.

 

[WildLodgeFan]

Sorry - but I can't really see the point of that argument. So European countries are smaller than the USA - yes - but Europe itself is pretty large - don't forget there are a lot of new Eastern European countries which are now part of the EEC. For us to drive there, is much the same as someone in the USA traveling to a distant state, but its not going to happen every day!

True, just like we generally don't drive from state to state on a daily basis - unless you are like me and live near a state line.

If we are discussing every day traveling, therefore our weekly petrol bill, it is quite common for people in the UK to travel an hour or more each way to their work. Within cities I think there are very good public transport services, but not everyone lives in a city. We live in a small town, and most people have to use their cars to get to work or college, as there is no suitable public transport.

You seem to be making the point that because the UK is so much smaller than the USA, we don't use as much petrol, but I disagree with you. I would say the average person in the UK would do much the same milage as someone in the USA. I am not taking into account people who drive lorries or drive long distances, just your average worker.

Actually I didn't mean to necessarily imply that Europeans use less gas, and since I haven't been there and lived there I could not say a hundred percent. I'm curious, have you lived in the US?

I admit I don't necessarily have first hand experience, so this was simply an opinion (which can certainly be flawed - :ROFLOLbased on observations of what I have read and heard about European living. One of things about America - is that it's just not our daily work commute, but also all the commuting that we do for grocery shopping, etc. It seems like especially in suburbs that we have to drive a distance to get to the stores. Wanted I was trying to suggest is that modern city/town planning in America has instituted a problem for us. We got in the mindset that oil was cheap and so we could sprawl out however we wanted and now we are essentially paying the price because we do not have the infrastructure areas in many places to set-up mass transit easily to help reduce our fuel usage without some major reconstruction.

Plus it's about a mindset - here in the Kansas City (basically right in the middle of the US) area, we only have a bus system (and cabs with outrageous rates) for mass transit. Prior to the recent fuel spikes, buses were half full, because our mindset here is that we need to drive everywhere and our area is very sprawled in square mileage. Now buses are filling up rapidly, but the bus system is struggling because it doesn't have in place enough buses to meet the increased demand, etc. However, in New York, a lot less people use personal transport and rely on cabs, subway/trains, and buses, the mindset there is very different. They are used to longer commutes, and their public transit offers more variety.

 

[WildLodgeFan]

Good point - have any of you farmers priced fertilizer yet? Out of sight! That along with the price of diesel and I can see food prices just soaring.

They food orices are indeed soaring - milk is almost $4 a gallon here in the midwest - it didn't seem that long ago that I was only paying about $2.89. We have been seeing prices increase about 10 - 20% in the last year for items we buy on a regular basis for the home.

 

[disneymyway]

Like I said, if you can afford to spend a week at Disney, with all the cost that it entails, then you shouldn't worry about a little extra in the cost of gas.

I'm sorry, I'm not even sure why I am sticking my nose in again but I really think you presume too much with this statement.

How do you know that people will spend as much as you do? How do you know that they are not staying off site, only at WDW one or two days, have packed their own food, and are not stretching themselves to the limit to afford this trip in the first place? How do you know that the gas prices aren't just the last straw?

Really, I just don't understand the need to convince people to spend money they say they don't have. Can't we just take their word that this is something they can't afford.

We don't want to turn into enablers here do we folks!!:ROFLOL: I mean, it's like a bunch of drug addicts encouraging someone who's been clean for a few months to use!!!

 

[sbkline]

I'm sorry, I'm not even sure why I am sticking my nose in again but I really think you presume too much with this statement.

How do you know that people will spend as much as you do? How do you know that they are not staying off site, only at WDW one or two days, have packed their own food, and are not stretching themselves to the limit to afford this trip in the first place? How do you know that the gas prices aren't just the last straw?

Really, I just don't understand the need to convince people to spend money they say they don't have. Can't we just take their word that this is something they can't afford.

We don't want to turn into enablers here do we folks!!:ROFLOL: I mean, it's like a bunch of drug addicts encouraging someone who's been clean for a few months to use!!!

You're right...I guess I don't know any of that. I guess I'm just assumming that I represent the average guest...stay for a week (give or take a day or two) at a Disney resort and spend money on souveniers and other activities, adding up to a few grand.

But you're right; for all I know, he may be staying with his Aunt for free, eating at McDonalds and Arby's most of the time, and not spending nearly as much as we did.If he really is in the category that you're describing, then I don't want to encourage him to spend money he doesn't have and dig himself into a financial hole.

On the other hand, if his trips more closely resemble mine, then I'm just trying to encourage him to put it all in perspective and look at the bigger picture. Really, what's a few hundred dollars in light of the 3 or 4 thousand that many of us spend on a trip there? I guess I'm looking at it the same way I look at all the sob stories I see each year when the ticket prices go up a few bucks...people who have the money to go to Disney, but trying to say that they aren't going to be able to afford it now because they are going to have to pay an extra 50 bucks or so for their park admission. I know that a dollar or two more a gallon on gas adds up to alot more than a few bucks on park admission, but the principle is the same: people who can afford all the expense of going in the first place, but then saying that they can't afford to go because of this extra cost which is trivial compared to the overall cost. Again, if that's the case, then just trim the budget to offset it.

 

[Katybug]

I am going as a group of 4 in September and our plane tickets with Southwest were $1100!!!! I think we will be driving that 13 hour drive and still save money!! Gas isn't going to keep me from going to Disney World. It will keep me from doing as much down there like eating out every night, buying souveniers and having drinks but it won't keep me away!! :animwink:

 

[wdwfan100]

wow, paying for your own health care.. Do you actually pay YOUR WHOLE AMOUNT EACH MONTH? I'll bet not. I would bet that your company is paying a good portion of your health care..]

My company does pay for a portion of my health care costs. That does not mean I am unaware of its cost. I have priced it for myself and my family. I can get comparable coverage to what I have now for about $425/month. Less than a gas increase to $11/gal would be and I would still have a free market system of medicine.

but if you do pay all of it, wait until something big happens.. or not so big. One of my daughters best friends was riding his bike to work and was hit by a car. a hit and run. ]

I am truly sorry for her, I hope that she is alright.

He had to go to the emergency room for stitches and what ever.. the bill is well over $1000. and they have NO insurance. ]

My brother does not have insurance and had a heart attack. He was not booted out of the emergency room and he did not die in the streets. There is a system set up that allows for the health care system to absorb or be reimbursed for there costs in these situations. He was billed monthly until the debt was paid.

Do you have $1000 to pay for something like this? Do you know what nursing homes cost? Do you have the money to pay for any surgery? ]

Not that it makes any difference, I too have been a good steward of my money. I have an extremely low debt to income ratio. I save every month, and have living expenses and emergency funds in place. I could afford a serious hit if needed. I did this by working 60 hour weeks for the last 19 years and living within my means. Even if that meant driving a slightly less comfortable vehicle and living in a slightly smaler house than my income could have allowed.

You talk real smart.. Tell us that you can put your money where your mouth is. ]

I did not intend to talk smart in any way. It just seemed odd to me that someone driving around in an expensive vehicle with no debt, could not afford the gas to go to Florida. I admit I do not know all that is going on in your world. So if I unintentionally offended you I apologize. I am not looking to make enemies when I share some of my opinions. I often type first and proof read later. I never intended it to be a personal assault, though looking back on what I wrote, I can see how you could take it that way.

if you were a millionaire, You couldn't afford a nursing home. why? because they charge based on ability to pay.. YOU got money.. THEY WILL TAKE IT. ALL OF IT.. and they won't look twice or feel bad once. ]

It is true. The cost of nursing homes are unreal. Medicaid will pick the cost for those unable to pay, but for those who have a nest egg they will take it, as you have said. I have been alternating weeks with my brother to care for my father who is terminally ill. Had he needed to go into a nursing home, my parents would have lost most everything. I believe though that it is our responsibility to care for the elderly. Particualrly when they are our parents. By me and my brother taking some of our time and giving it back to my parents then the need for nursing homes has thankfully been removed. He is now in Hospice and medicare now is paying for a lot of his costs asociated with his pain management and comfort. My brother and I still travel to see him and are the primary care providers while he is going through this.

You had better start looking into what exactly you are talking about.
because right now you have no clue about truly paying for YOUR OWN HEALTH CARE.

Again, I actually do have a clue. I am not one who forms opinions by reading the newspaper, or letting the talking heads tell me what I should believe. I try to look at the issues and research them to come to an educated, informed opinion. That being said, I recognize that it is just my opinion and not universally agreed upon. I hope you will accept my apology, If I offended you in any way. What I should have said is, No the gas prices will not be changing my plans on any trips to WDW.

 

[bjlc57]

well you already admitted that..

you already admitted that YOUR COMPANY pays your health care.. that you are not paying for health care. or maybe a small portion.

so don't give us that "you will pay for health care." that is a bunch a bunk.

 

[bjlc57]

as for a spending budget on WDW..

for the four of us.. Our total budget has been $3000 or less.

Here is what we have done in the past.. I got the Holiday Inn at the Main Gate west ( now the Saralargo) for $60 per night... Alamo had a Disney Discount that allowed us to buy a three day park hopper for $168. We spend on an average $50 per day for food. the last trip we took 48, 32 oz bottles of Power Aid with us on the trip. With the local coupon we paid an average of 45 cents per bottle but I believe that price is high. In the past our Gas price was no more then $400 but 350 is closer.

we have rented a car in the past instead of taking our own car. But since we bought and paid for the Suburban, that would not be a necessity. ( but it does remove a lot of stress figuring should something go wrong, its Enterprises' problem..

on our last trip we did AK and MGM in one day..

we saw all of Epcot with the exception of Canada in ONE DAY..

and one day at Magic Kingdom.

we did squeeze in a day at Daytona. We did get a free pass to Pleasure Island one night with the tickets.

but its one night at a hotel on the way down and on the way back.
and the hotel on the beach always cost a lot more then in Orlando.

but I don't believe that we have ever actually spend $3000 on a trip. $2400 is much closer to our price range.

food..50 x7 350

car 600

hotels 550

tickets 720

gas 350
_____________________

2500 with misc expenses is about right.

 

[wdwfan100]

you already admitted that YOUR COMPANY pays your health care.. that you are not paying for health care. or maybe a small portion.

so don't give us that "you will pay for health care." that is a bunch a bunk.

It's not bunk. I know what I admitted. I was not trying to hide it. I am willing to pay for my healthcare. I know dozens of independant contractors that pay for their own health care. It is actually fairly common. If you do not believe me, well quite frankly, I can't control that. Paying for health care is expensive but, is not as out of reach as you seem to imply. I have already apologized for agitating you so much. Hopefully you realize I meant nothing personal.

 

[Elonwy]

You're right...I guess I don't know any of that. I guess I'm just assumming that I represent the average guest...stay for a week (give or take a day or two) at a Disney resort and spend money on souveniers and other activities, adding up to a few grand.

Really, what's a few hundred dollars in light of the 3 or 4 thousand that many of us spend on a trip there? I guess I'm looking at it the same way I look at all the sob stories I see each year when the ticket prices go up a few bucks...people who have the money to go to Disney, but trying to say that they aren't going to be able to afford it now because they are going to have to pay an extra 50 bucks or so for their park admission. I know that a dollar or two more a gallon on gas adds up to alot more than a few bucks on park admission, but the principle is the same: people who can afford all the expense of going in the first place, but then saying that they can't afford to go because of this extra cost which is trivial compared to the overall cost. Again, if that's the case, then just trim the budget to offset it.

One thing you may not realize is that a few hundred added on to your trip might be nothing but here's how my trip would look. In March I was able to stay at a modarate resort for 7 nights, had park hoppers, dining included and with flights and a few hundred in souvenirs I paid $2200.

If I wanted to go this year, with the increase in flights (due to fuel costs, for the most part) or driving (in my sunfire...not an SUV) I would be spending almost $5000 for the same trip so it might be a few hundred extra for you but it would be a few thousand extra for me

 

[DisneyGigi]

If you can't afford to pay your own healthcare why are you going to WDW to start with? :shrug:

 

[yankspy]

One thing you may not realize is that a few hundred added on to your trip might be nothing but here's how my trip would look. In March I was able to stay at a modarate resort for 7 nights, had park hoppers, dining included and with flights and a few hundred in souvenirs I paid $2200.

If I wanted to go this year, with the increase in flights (due to fuel costs, for the most part) or driving (in my sunfire...not an SUV) I would be spending almost $5000 for the same trip so it might be a few hundred extra for you but it would be a few thousand extra for me

It seems as if you are saying that a round trip airline ticket would be $2800 for you. That seems a bit much. I am not saying that you are lying or anything I am just confused as to how the rise in Trans. costs has caused an entire trip to double in price.

 

[sbkline]

One thing you may not realize is that a few hundred added on to your trip might be nothing but here's how my trip would look. In March I was able to stay at a modarate resort for 7 nights, had park hoppers, dining included and with flights and a few hundred in souvenirs I paid $2200.

If I wanted to go this year, with the increase in flights (due to fuel costs, for the most part) or driving (in my sunfire...not an SUV) I would be spending almost $5000 for the same trip so it might be a few hundred extra for you but it would be a few thousand extra for me

I'm not understanding the math of how you get a few extra thousand. I've never flown, so I can't comment one way or the other on how gas prices would effect plane ticket prices.

However, we drive when we go, and we're going from Central Illinois to Orlando. Generally, it takes three fillups there, three fillups back, then one or two fillups there, depending on how much driving we do while there. But if we spent two bucks a gallon one year, then it would seem that at four bucks a gallon another year, the gas cost would be double. So if we spent 500 bucks on gas at 2 dollars a gallon, then at four dollars a gallon, then that would be 1000 dollars. So I'm not understanding how 4 dollars a gallon can add up to a few thousand extra for you under any scenario. I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I'm seriously not understanding how you arrive at that figure. If you have the time to explain how you arrive at that figure I'd be very interested to see it.

But, as for our vacations, if the 500 extra dollars on gas is a major problem, then we could cut out all the Table Service meals, except one or two and scrap the dining plan and just eat mostly counter service. That would save us alot of money on tips, as well as the food itself. Then, we could scrap Sea World (or whichever other extra park we may be considering for that particular trip), which would save over 120 bucks right there. Then we could stay at Pop Century instead of POR, and that would easily offset the 500 dollars more that we paid in gas.

By the way, are you sure that your $2,200 amount was accurate? I'm not trying to call you a liar or anything, but when I booked 8 nights at POR for April 2008, with the dining plan and a one day park pass, the amount came up to more than $2,000. I want to say around $2,200, but my memory is a little fuzzy on that. But I know it was over $2,000. That's only for one night longer than you stayed, and one night is only an extra 190 bucks or so. But even if March was in Value season and not regular season like I stayed in, I'm not sure how your entire trip (including transporation there and miscellaneous spending) could have ended up being right about the same price that I paid just for my room and meal plan.

 

[Elonwy]

It seems as if you are saying that a round trip airline ticket would be $2300 for you. That seems a bit much. I am not saying that you are lying or anything I am just confused as to how the rise in Trans. costs has caused an entire trip to double in price.

nope...not lying and yes, $2300 is close. I priced it at $2140 and since they've cut direct flights from Halifax I have to connect now so it takes a couple hours longer too.

In March I was able to get a sale at $319 for the flight.