Anyone cancelling trips due to economy?

[elabron]

Just curious......my mom called today asking me to consider cancelling our trip in 5 wks. She's panicked over the current market crisis.

The wife and I will still take the kids and go, even if she and dad decide to stay home.

Just wondering if the recent weeks have caused anyone to rethink plans.

 

[yankspy]

How much do you "pay" per point???:shrug:

It depends on which resort you choose as your "Home resort". The point prices range from about $85.00-115.00 per point. Although I believe the new Contemporary is considerably higher. Your home resort is where you buy into. What this basically means is that you can reserve a room at this resort 11 months prior. If you wish to stay at other DVC resorts, you have to wait until 7 months prior and you may have trouble getting in. To give you some perspective, a typical studio room is about 12-18 points per night on a weeknight. Fridays and Saturdays are generally double that. There is a lot more to it, this is a very basic description. Check out the DVC thread if you want to know more.

As others have said, it comes in handy because while you pay maintenance fees, they are generally already in your normal budget. This makes planning a trip a lot less of a burden on the wallet.

 

[lbrad]

It depends on which resort you choose as your "Home resort". The point prices range from about $85.00-115.00 per point. Although I believe the new Contemporary is considerably higher. Your home resort is where you buy into. What this basically means is that you can reserve a room at this resort 11 months prior. If you wish to stay at other DVC resorts, you have to wait until 7 months prior and you may have trouble getting in. To give you some perspective, a typical studio room is about 12-18 points per night on a weeknight. Fridays and Saturdays are generally double that. There is a lot more to it, this is a very basic description. Check out the DVC thread if you want to know more.

As others have said, it comes in handy because while you pay maintenance fees, they are generally already in your normal budget. This makes planning a trip a lot less of a burden on the wallet.

Thank you for the advice I will check out the DVC thread

 

[lbrad]

For those of you asking about DVC there's a really great site that gives you tons of info. It's mouseowners.com (I hope its ok to post a link).

thank you for the advice I will check out this website

 

[wdwmomof3]

We are planning a trip for next Oct unless I can move it up, but that's not likely. Anyway, I have not booked yet but I am still planning on going. If things get really bad, I will not book it. My family comes first and having money in the bank is more important than a one week trip to Disney.


On the other hand, my sister is there right now. Her husband is in Real estate and it is dead, but they still went. Sometimes you just gotta get away from all of the stress of everyday life and do something for yourself. :animwink:

So, I am all messed up.... just go already! Maybe the government will bail us all out. :lol:

just kidding:lookaroun

 

[Missing20K]

The gf and I were planning on going in January, but we are most likely going to push it to May, to give us a few more months of saving. Granted, I do have a fair bit tied up in the market, but I'm super long (I'm in my twenties and have bought companies I believe will be around for the next 5 or 6 decades, in fact I own some shares in Disney) so I'm not too worried about that, but just in general we have a bit less money than we may have had, more due to increases in our gas, food, electric bills, etc. Certainly, if the market was doing better we could afford the trip (like last year) without any worry, but if we were to go in January, it would certainly be tight for a few months. So instead, we have contemplated saving for those few months and going later.

Oh, and a friendly tip, anyone who is not matching their employers 401k benefits, is literally leaving money on the table. Your employer is literally giving you money. Yes it's not instant money, but it's money nonetheless. It compounds over the years, so I would highly suggest putting money from the paycheck aside up to the maximum in which they will match, as you will see many multiples of that money when you really need it, retirement!!:ROFLOL: It's the best way to either, "stick it to the company":fork: as they are obligated to match any money you put up, i.e. the more you put up, the more money you are taking from the company, OR, "take advantage of a great company":king: depending on your point of view of your employer. Just a friendly tip. :wave:

And I might get flamed for this, but I would venture to guess those who can afford and keep DVC are not in quite the same financial boat as the majority of Disney guests. It's one of the selling points of DVC even, always knowing you have a room paid for, right?:shrug: Or am I mistaken? So I guess I would be quite surprised if those who own DVC would cancel because they most likely can afford a trip easier anyway, but more so because so much of their trip is usually paid for in advance. Am I even close DVC-owners?

So, I can honestly say that while we haven't cancelled a trip, we are strongly considering pushing our currently planned (not booked) trip back a few months. In hopes this will give us a bit more time to save, as well as giving the economy, and in turn our particular money making schemes, a bit more time to recover. But as another post said, we might have to go in January just to keep sane from these strange economic times.

We need our escape from reality!

 

[DVC Mike]

It's one of the selling points of DVC even, always knowing you have a room paid for, right?:shrug: Or am I mistaken? So I guess I would be quite surprised if those who own DVC would cancel because they most likely can afford a trip easier anyway, but more so because so much of their trip is usually paid for in advance. Am I even close DVC-owners?

DVC owners are less likely to cancel a WDW stay because their room/accomodations are already paid for. All we need to worry about is transportation to WDW, food cost, and perhaps Park Tickets.

 

[nicnic]

We are booked to go september 2009, it sbeen booked since april this year, I was so excited about going but i had second thoughts about postponing it as we have no savings yet and have only paid our deposit, we need about £5000 all in with our spending and park tickets, the more i thought the more worried i got in thinking how will we pay. i suggested to my DH we leave it next year but he said dont worry we will pay for it and the more i come on these sites the more i am thinking 'to hell with it' if we cant live now, when will we, were not out of pocket with the economy it will just take alot of will power and budgeting, so were still going and i cant wait.

 

[Phonedave]

or even JFK, LGA, or White Plains?

All good options, but I live 20 minutes for EWR.

Many times JFK and LGA are just about the same in price. White Plains can be cheaper at times, but it still has not been cheap enough to make it worth my while to drive up there.

However, at times, Atlantic City has had some really good deals on Spirit Air that have tempted me. Not enough to make a 2 hour drive vs a 20 minute drive, but still I have been tempted.

-dave

 

[Phonedave]

And I might get flamed for this, but I would venture to guess those who can afford and keep DVC are not in quite the same financial boat as the majority of Disney guests. It's one of the selling points of DVC even, always knowing you have a room paid for, right?:shrug: Or am I mistaken? So I guess I would be quite surprised if those who own DVC would cancel because they most likely can afford a trip easier anyway, but more so because so much of their trip is usually paid for in advance. Am I even close DVC-owners?

Its more a matter of choices for me. I won't say I am not comfortable, but I don't have money pouring out of my ears either. I rent a two bedroom condo, I drive a 2001 car, I have hobbies that are not overly expensive.

I don't know what boat most WDW guest are in. I am not living paycheck to paycheck, but I also don't drop $1,000 on a whim. The DVC was a thought out decision for me. It was not cheap to buy in ($16,000 or so). My DVC dues are $49.07 per month. That gets me about 7+ days in a studio at a deluxe resort - give or take. I guess for a person just getting by, $50 a month is a big deal.

So I guess you could say your are close, sort of. I do have disposable income to the point where if a trip with my kids ended up costing an extra $250 more than usual, I would not cancel. But get up in the extra $500 range and thats a different story.

-dave

 

[tkldisney]

Dh & I are still going in Nov. I did change our resort ressies this week to 5 nights offsite (Courtyard within 1/2 mile DD for 89.00 night and includes full breakfast daily) and 2 nights at BC with AP rate. We have two F&W events our last two nights so want to walk to/from Epcot or would probably stay offsite the entire time.

My sister & I are also still going for our 3 night/4days in Dec. Also switched & staying offsite.

 

[LuxeMama]

I made our reservations for next year while still at WDW this past week. My husband and I were talking about how we are going to approach our investments, savings and paying some things off in the near future, and he stated "No more big vacations for a while"....

Nevertheless, it's booked and I'm going. LOL The rate is 1K less than what we paid last year and I thought we couldn't pass that up especially at a time when we don't have to pay for our son. Luckily, he's in an industry that pays very well and is much needed; I'm in an industry that could see a decline in buying from clients, but since I work in a "once in a lifetime" type industry, I still see many people splurging-- so c'est la vie!

 

[Ashitaka]

In one week, my girlfriend and I will be headed to WDW. It's a trip we booked six months ago. We're going all out this time: 6 nights of AKL concierge, a couple of expensive tours and meals, and so on.

So two weeks ago, while we were discussing the economy, the bail-out, and all that, I said to her, "Boy, am I glad we booked a really expensive trip for right now." She gave me a confused look, as I didn't sound as sarcastic as I normally am or that this statement should seem to indicate.

I then had to explain to her I wasn't being at all sacarcastic or facetious(surprising, I know). I meant it literally. I'm glad we are going now while can still (barely) afford it and that all the plans were made before things started to look so bad. Who knows what shape we'll be in next year? There's the real possibility such a splurge will just not be in the cards. I can't even be sure if my job will still be around in six months. So I'm happy we are taking this trip while we still can.

 

[shoppingnut]

All good options, but I live 20 minutes for EWR.

Many times JFK and LGA are just about the same in price. White Plains can be cheaper at times, but it still has not been cheap enough to make it worth my while to drive up there.

However, at times, Atlantic City has had some really good deals on Spirit Air that have tempted me. Not enough to make a 2 hour drive vs a 20 minute drive, but still I have been tempted.

-dave

I live 25 mins from EWR, but at times have found deals to make it worthwhile for the drive. Like for this December we found $131 r/t on Delta with one checked piece of luggage for free from LGA and EWR has been about $250 +bag fees. In July when I flew out of Philly I paid $169 r/t on Southwest and EWR was $300 or more, so figure when I buy two tickets, that's almost a $300 savings.

It just depends, there has to be a certain amount of savings before I'm willing to make the drive, generally close to $100 per person.

 

[Todd L]

I work at Walmart and we have a company funded 401K besides what you can contribute out of your paycheck. I've always been of the mindset that "I need my money now", so I've never put anything aside for 401K...just what the company contributes. One of the assistant managers there is the same way and he was saying a couple weeks ago, that it's the irresponsible people, like us, who don't invest in a 401K, who are going to come out ahead from this crisis. :lol: I don't know how correct he is in that statement, but I find it kind of amusing, anyway.

As far as whether or not this economy will cause me to cancel my Disney trip...we have no trip planned for next year (and not because of this), so it's a moot point for me.

I can honestly tell you that While at the moment my 401k is in the dumps It is all on paper.
In other words that money is not a liquid asset.
I tied it up so that when I retire I will have a nice little nest egg to go and enjoy.
Selling now is just plain old stupid. Thats when you Lose. I am in for the long haul and have my Funds tied up in companys that have been around for ever and generally gain 8 or 10 percent anually. So in 10 or 12 years when I can actually consider retiring it will hopefully be worth quite a bit more than ive invested.

The days of dumping 10k in the nasdaq for 10 weeks and doubling your money are long gone.
Its not the time to roll the dice. Unless of course you willing to lose a ton of money.

I can tell you that my dw's dopey friend is always giving her a hard time because we dont charge anything.

They constatly go on spending sprees and cant understand why anyone would be a little economically minded.

This Girl and her hubby Charge everthing utilities, Trips, Gas , grocerys and dine out 3 or 4 nights a week.

Well we have come to find out that they have refinanced their mortgage 4 or 5 times to pay off credit card debt.
So with the housing downturn these people are in a house for 500k thats worth at the moment maybe 350k.

Im not being smug and dont find any of this funny but can you believe that this Girl still has the nerve to give us a hard time because we refuse to go out to eat unless we have the cash to pay for it?

Its people like that who are getting hurt the most. Short sighted, live for today attitudes are fine just not for me.

 

[Todd L]

I live 25 mins from EWR, but at times have found deals to make it worthwhile for the drive. Like for this December we found $131 r/t on Delta with one checked piece of luggage for free from LGA and EWR has been about $250 +bag fees. In July when I flew out of Philly I paid $169 r/t on Southwest and EWR was $300 or more, so figure when I buy two tickets, that's almost a $300 savings.

It just depends, there has to be a certain amount of savings before I'm willing to make the drive, generally close to $100 per person.

I got round trip from Jfk to orlando on Jet blue Saturday after Thanksgiving for 4 people $800.00 thought that was a fair price.
I drove 1 time to orlando and let me tell you its a drag to do in a 1 week time period.

 

[TinkerChelli]

Cancel

Just curious......my mom called today asking me to consider cancelling our trip in 5 wks. She's panicked over the current market crisis.

The wife and I will still take the kids and go, even if she and dad decide to stay home.

Just wondering if the recent weeks have caused anyone to rethink plans.

I would never ever cancel my plans to disney unless someone were to pass away......Disney is supposed to be the most Magical Place anywhere and make you feel better when you are down. I would never cancel, money comes and goes, go have fun!!!!!!!! Enjoy Life :wave:

 

[shoppingnut]

I got round trip from Jfk to orlando on Jet blue Saturday after Thanksgiving for 4 people $800.00 thought that was a fair price.
I drove 1 time to orlando and let me tell you its a drag to do in a 1 week time period.

That's a great price. I've driven to Orlando twice and all I can say is that the next time I drive it's going to be a one-way trip!!

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

i too am fortunate to have a stable in demand job. i've already gone twice this year from VA. If i had to, i'd rather cut back on other expenses than cancelling a vacation. this year we went in March and Sept(for the free dining). we spent less money on gifts and stupid things, refilled our water bottles instead of buying new ones...

I agree. I'd rather cut cable, landline phones, trips out to eat, and unnecessary e-bay splurges than go without a vacation whether it be WDW or somewhere else.

 

[ConstanceIrene]

No cancellations for me. Since I'm a DVC Member, our rooms are already paid for. I already bought our Annual Passes, so all we need to worry about is the food we'll eat and the cost of gas to drive down and back.

We're in the same boat. Next summer's vacation will only cost us airline tickets and food/spending money. We have our DVC rooms booked already, our annual passes and our DDE card. Without DVC, I honestly don't know how often we'd get to WDW.

 

[sbkline]

I can honestly tell you that While at the moment my 401k is in the dumps It is all on paper.
In other words that money is not a liquid asset.
I tied it up so that when I retire I will have a nice little nest egg to go and enjoy.
Selling now is just plain old stupid. Thats when you Lose. I am in for the long haul and have my Funds tied up in companys that have been around for ever and generally gain 8 or 10 percent anually. So in 10 or 12 years when I can actually consider retiring it will hopefully be worth quite a bit more than ive invested.

The days of dumping 10k in the nasdaq for 10 weeks and doubling your money are long gone.
Its not the time to roll the dice. Unless of course you willing to lose a ton of money.

I can tell you that my dw's dopey friend is always giving her a hard time because we dont charge anything.

They constatly go on spending sprees and cant understand why anyone would be a little economically minded.

This Girl and her hubby Charge everthing utilities, Trips, Gas , grocerys and dine out 3 or 4 nights a week.

Well we have come to find out that they have refinanced their mortgage 4 or 5 times to pay off credit card debt.
So with the housing downturn these people are in a house for 500k thats worth at the moment maybe 350k.

Im not being smug and dont find any of this funny but can you believe that this Girl still has the nerve to give us a hard time because we refuse to go out to eat unless we have the cash to pay for it?

Its people like that who are getting hurt the most. Short sighted, live for today attitudes are fine just not for me.

$350K house??? Where do y'alls live? Beverly Hills? I'm only in a 50K house! :lol: Of course, I realize that we're in a much cheaper part of the country where house prices and cost of living are concerned. The house that we have, here in Central Illinois, would probably cost twice or three times as much in certain other parts of the country, so I consider ourselves very fortunate in that regard. The fact that we just work at Walmart seems to be somewhat balanced out by the fact that our cost of living is so much smaller than many posters here who have much better paying jobs than we do.

My Dad and brother think we're foolish for going on as many trips as we have gone on, rather than hoarding that money back for retirement. I'm certainly not against being economically minded and planning for the future, but on the other hand, I don't want to waste all my best years away chasing after wealth just to stash in retirement accounts and not touch. Then, one day, I wake up an old man with all this money but all my best years behind me and no memories to show for it. On the other hand, we're not like your wife's friend, either. We live within our means, we seldom go out to eat, and have never gone into debt for a vacation. The only thing we are in debt for is the house. We also have a credit card that we use periodically but we don't tend to charge up huge amounts on it. Right now, I think we only owe 120 bucks or so on it. Both cars are paid in full and we have a good chunk in the savings account (granted, part of that is from money my Dad gave us from selling some property and from my deceased mother's leftover sick time that they cashed out after her death). My wife puts a little back into a 401K and I put 60 bucks a month into the savings account, in addition to the extra withholding we have in order to give us a good tax refund...but that's about it as far as what we save back per month. Ya, my Dad and my brother are right in that we could be putting that annual tax refund into a retirement account or a savings account instead of financing a trip, but again, while saving money is a good thing, it, like anything else, can be a bad thing if you focus so much on that that you can't enjoy life a little now. I'm not saying that you are guily of that, but oftentimes when I mention to my brother about going to WDW someday, he acts open to it on the one hand, but on the other hand, he always says "there are so many other things I could do with that money...I'm all about saving money, not spending it". That's fine...it's his money and his business if that's what he wants to do. But, while his concern for me is that I may want to retire someday but can't because I don't have a large enough fund, my concern for him is that he's gonna waste his life gathering up money, then be too old to enjoy it when he does retire...or if he does enjoy it, he's gonna realize that he has more time behind him than he does ahead of him and that he's wasted his best years chasing after money when he could have been enjoying life a little.