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

[Elonwy]

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.

The few thousand extra is mostly for flights, all direct flights were stopped so now I have to connect and prices are much higher. As for gas I would be driving from Nova Scotia which is obviously not going to be cheap for gas especially since gas is more expensive in Canada so if I were to compare driving costs it may only be $500-$600 more but it would take a few days and therefore the food/lodging costs would add up.

As for the $2000 for my last trip there were 5 of us in a room so my share for the room may have been smaller than yours.

 

[LoriMistress]

Wow, this thread is starting to get nasty!

 

[yankspy]

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.

Sorry to hear that. Ever consider a Job with an Airline.:animwink:

 

[I'mtheonlyone]

I just got back!!

4 of us went from Charlotte to WDW for $160 in gas... (Yup... $40 per person)

Much better than the plane tickets that we were looking at (and we didn't have to rent a car!).

What was amazing is that gas was cheaper everywhere else than it was back home (for example, I paid $3.87 in Orlando and $3.77 in SC - gas was $3.97 - $3.99 in Charlotte)!

 

[Elonwy]

Sorry to hear that. Ever consider a Job with an Airline.:animwink:

Actually I have but i figured I'd be too jealous to be taking other people to Disney World :lol:

 

[Disney05]

Let's see this Oct... 8 nights BCV $1600. Park tix for 4 $850ish. Plane tix, $800. DP for 4 $900ish. Might be time to start staying off property.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

. Might be time to start staying off property.

Indeed. Surely if things are tight the first option would be by staying off site and cutting accomodation charges drastically. :shrug: If your driving youll have a car

 

[bjlc57]

we have made five trips..

we have made five trips and have never stayed on property. its what we can afford.

we used to stay at a almost new hotel by the Florida mall. and when we first went it was $29 per night for a four room suite. But the place didn't put money back into the hotel. I don't even know if the place is still open. ( Days Inn just off the Bee Line at Florida mall). it was so good that we booked a reporter from our home town there. and on other occasions my brother in law stayed there.

but that neighborhood really went into the dumpster. There was some one killed at the corner gas station while we were staying there. it was our last time to stay at that place.

but 20 years ago, the place was PACKED. and very, very nice. They had like 6 or 8 people on phones just for reservations.

We need to do Disney on the cheap. Thats what we can afford. and I try to live within my own means.

Like I said, I am not going to go into debt just to go to Disney. but I am sure that others are not like me. and they have to live with their own bills.

 

[sbkline]

we have made five trips and have never stayed on property. its what we can afford.

we used to stay at a almost new hotel by the Florida mall. and when we first went it was $29 per night for a four room suite. But the place didn't put money back into the hotel. I don't even know if the place is still open. ( Days Inn just off the Bee Line at Florida mall). it was so good that we booked a reporter from our home town there. and on other occasions my brother in law stayed there.

but that neighborhood really went into the dumpster. There was some one killed at the corner gas station while we were staying there. it was our last time to stay at that place.

but 20 years ago, the place was PACKED. and very, very nice. They had like 6 or 8 people on phones just for reservations.

We need to do Disney on the cheap. Thats what we can afford. and I try to live within my own means.

Like I said, I am not going to go into debt just to go to Disney. but I am sure that others are not like me. and they have to live with their own bills.

It's a wise decision not to go into debt to go to Disney. Like the other poster reminded me, I don't know about your situation, other than what you share here. If you are cutting alot of costs to go to WDW as it is, and truly can't afford to go with the high gas prices, then yes, it is wiser to stay home rather than go into debt to go. We've been blessed with being able to go all the times that we have without going into debt. Now, some family members still think we're being foolish, as they think we should be hoarding up money to pass onto our kids when we die, or for retirement, instead of enjoying life now. But that's our business and not there's. But for those who aren't so fortunate as to be able to go as often as we, without going into debt, they have to make the decisions that are financially wisest for them.

I guess I do hope that there are alot who choose not to go because of the gas prices, though, because maybe if it starts to hurt WDW's business, they'll be forced to lower their prices to entice more guests to come down.

 

[sublimesting]

Sept. 20th, the DW and I are flying down. The roundtrip tickets were about $160 apiece. Staying at Pop Century for 8 nights and a Park Hopper 9 day pass for 2 was $1,300.00. So it came out to about $1,700. We got free dining too so that's a nice bonus we were not expecting. For a family of four, you could spend about $3,400.00 to fly. You have to look at discrecionary spending such as: staying at value instead of moderate or deluxe (we spend only about 1 waking hour in our room each day). Take some food for yourself. Skip a few meals, etc.

 

[WDW-LUVR]

Like I said, I am not going to go into debt just to go to Disney. but I am sure that others are not like me. and they have to live with their own bills.

Disney is one of our bills. We buget for it just as we do the light bill or the grocery bill.

 

[abbeysmom]

Hubby and I just got back yesterday from a 4 day trip to the world.... From the looks of the lines and the people piling in the AKL no one there was letting the price of anything bother them. We were at the parks for 3 days and each day by noon the fast passes were gone for the day. There was a 120 minute wait for the TSM at HS. We got a FP for Soarin' the first day we were there but there was constantly a 70-90 minute wait for it otherwise. We did take advantage of EMH hours at MK on Friday night. We only had to wait 10-15 minute for anything that we wanted to ride. As usual there were tons of tour groups from SA and Europe. I'm sure that alot of the people probably had this trip planned and booked before gas prices went crazy. It ended up costing us maybe $100.00 more for gas. We would have had to have as to get to and from work anyway. :shrug:

 

[wdwfan100]

We are still going to Disney. In fact we just planned a long weekend in December ( I can't wait) Which by the way I had trouble finding a room for. I think we will look to get a trip in the first quarter of 2009 also. With being away for long periods of time caring for my father, my wife and I could use some quality time together. What better place than Disney?

 

[Swoosh477]

Its Silly not to go somewhere because gas is $4

How much more in gas costs are you actually talking about if you had a trip planned to WDW. If you were driving 1000 miles to get there and had a car that averaged 20 mpg that means you would need 50 gallons to get there.

At $3 a gallon that is $150 one way...At $4 a gallon that is $200 one way.

So round trip it is $300 vs. $400...So you sacrifice a nice dinner for a pizza one night to make up the difference

When it comes down to it you are talking about an extra $50.

All this assumes you are driving 1000 miles which is the distance from Chicago and only get 20 miles to the gallon which is about what a minivan gets.

A nice sedan will get at least 25 mpg and need 40 gallons which is $120 vs. $160

 

[Elonwy]

How much more in gas costs are you actually talking about if you had a trip planned to WDW. If you were driving 1000 miles to get there and had a car that averaged 20 mpg that means you would need 50 gallons to get there.

At $3 a gallon that is $150 one way...At $4 a gallon that is $200 one way.

So round trip it is $300 vs. $400...So you sacrifice a nice dinner for a pizza one night to make up the difference

When it comes down to it you are talking about an extra $50.

All this assumes you are driving 1000 miles which is the distance from Chicago and only get 20 miles to the gallon which is about what a minivan gets.

A nice sedan will get at least 25 mpg and need 40 gallons which is $120 vs. $160

Personally I don't find the gas prices in the US that bad at all. I'm not sure how long ago gas was $3.00 for you but in Canada our gas price has almost doubled in the last 7 years so depending on how often you get to go to Disney you might be paying twice as much for gas since your last trip.

Also, as other posters mentioned it's not necessarily the cost of the gas just for the actual trip that is a deciding factor but the cost of gas in their day to day lives which eats into their vacation spending.

So if you commute to work and paid $100 a week for gas a few years ago and now pay $200, your pay presumably hasn't doubled with the gas prices so now you pay an extra $5000 a year in gas. There's your Disney trip.

 

[C&D]

So....................And this message is for the original poster: Well, have we convinced you yet that you still need to come on down; we'll be waiting for ya.

 

[potatoheadman]

If it wasnt for the free dining promotion, we would not be going either. Even with the changes and having to pay for tip, It saves us money and made the trip affordable.

It's obviouse SOME people are already cutting back on travel because of the price of gas. Disney knows this, and they know that the prices will continue to rise, and the economy is tanking. Yeah, the parks are packed now as one poster pointed out, but it's the summer vacation season. Come off season, will crowds drop below the norm? Disney has to be wondering this.
Wouldn't it be wise of them next year to again use the dining plan in 2009 to entice families in spite of gas prices. They should beef up the plan or offer more free dining months to off set the travel cost.

What do you think? Any chance this scenerio could pan out?

 

[mickeymouse090]

Wouldn't it be wise of them next year to again use the dining plan in 2009 to entice families in spite of gas prices. They should beef up the plan or offer more free dining months to off set the travel cost.

What do you think? Any chance this scenerio could pan out?


I wish they would offer the free dining in January when I go down. They always seem to offer it at the same times every year. I’m sure they don’t pick January because it is a value season, but so what, why can’t everyone benefit from the free dining offer just once. We have not had the opportunity to catch that deal for our trip because we go in the off seasons usually. With the economy & gas prices the way they are it would be nice to catch a break once & a while.

 

[Ausdaddy]

Sept. 20th, the DW and I are flying down. The roundtrip tickets were about $160 apiece. Staying at Pop Century for 8 nights and a Park Hopper 9 day pass for 2 was $1,300.00. So it came out to about $1,700. We got free dining too so that's a nice bonus we were not expecting. For a family of four, you could spend about $3,400.00 to fly. You have to look at discrecionary spending such as: staying at value instead of moderate or deluxe (we spend only about 1 waking hour in our room each day). Take some food for yourself. Skip a few meals, etc.

:wave: My family is taking almost the exact same trip! We'll be at Pop starting on the 20th.

 

[bjlc57]

hit it on the head

It's a wise decision not to go into debt to go to Disney. Like the other poster reminded me, I don't know about your situation, other than what you share here. If you are cutting alot of costs to go to WDW as it is, and truly can't afford to go with the high gas prices, then yes, it is wiser to stay home rather than go into debt to go. We've been blessed with being able to go all the times that we have without going into debt. Now, some family members still think we're being foolish, as they think we should be hoarding up money to pass onto our kids when we die, or for retirement, instead of enjoying life now. But that's our business and not there's. But for those who aren't so fortunate as to be able to go as often as we, without going into debt, they have to make the decisions that are financially wisest for them.

I guess I do hope that there are alot who choose not to go because of the gas prices, though, because maybe if it starts to hurt WDW's business, they'll be forced to lower their prices to entice more guests to come down.

This post hits the nail on the head. Its not just the gas for the week, its the price of gas for the year. its WDW raising rates while the price of gas has been going up. its a major combination of things.

Would I like to go? YOU BET. I have been reading the nostalgia photo post and have been brought to tears many times. But I have to look at the whole picture. and right now, its too much money. and it will be until the price of gas drops by a dollar and a half , if not more.

its easy to justify if you live within a days drive. But its two days drive, meaning hotel costs of two days just to get there. and meals on the road..

Its much easier to say, hey come on down when you live in South Carolina or Georgia, Alabama or Florida.

even the poster from Chicago. Chicago is FIVE HOURS by car from my house and its all interstate. for some of you, or even a good portion of you, that's your drive to WDW. Some of you can get right there, stay for three days and then be home the night that you leave. making it a long weekend.

that's out of the question for a guy like me. and I am not mad that its like that, that's just the way it is.

So do I want to come. If I had the green light, today, I could leave Friday morning with no problem. I could leave tonight at 3am, if I put my mind to it.

but right now, its not going to happen.