Do your Disney trips stress you out?

[captainkidd]

Not the trip itself, but the planning and paying for it aspect? I've been going through this for the past couple of years. Now please don't misunderstand me, I am VERY lucky to be able even to take a vacation. Many people don't have that luxury. So I'm not looking for pity here. I think this is more a psychological thing with me. I've been lucky enough to take my family on some wonderful Disney/Universal trips over the past few years. However, things just keep getting pricier and pricier. My income, though no complaints at all, has not increased, but like everyone else, is facing ever increasing prices for gas, food, etc. On the one hand, I know I'll be disappointed in myself if I cut one whole part of the vacation out or cut certain things out, but on the other hand, having to come up with all the money (I refuse to charge vacations) is stressing me out big time, and making me feel guilty about spending so much.

Anyone else ever go through something similar?

 

[Justin Doggett]

Well im sort of in the same boat and have been stressing about getting the cheapest deal possible for 5 days in Orlando and 5 days at the beach. This will be like my first time going to wdw since i was a little one and i want everythin to be perfect. I have managed to figure out that staying off site and not in the resort that you can save alot of money i found a nice hotel for 30 a night and its closer then the value resorts. Ive been on here off and on throughout the day trying to get tips and suggestions about plannin my trip etc.

 

[YoungNY]

I totally get it. This trip my friend and I spilt down the middle. I was already worried I wouldn't come up with enough money to pay off the trip by due date, but then a week before she still hadnt sent me her money yet. I really started to freak then, no way could I afford to pay for both of us. 3 days before due date, I finally got hers and my money together and paid the trip in full. After that it was a bit less stressful.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Kidd, you probly already know what I'm gonna say. LOL! When the planning became a dreaded chore I seriously stepped back. Then to see the crazy amounts we were spending (the price increases didn't help) while mostly working our butts off to try to out-fox the herd while there, yeah! I woke up one day and was like, "I don't want to do this. It's not fun anymore." For an insane fan-atic over-planner who used to live for that stuff it can be a shocking moment to find yourself in. There's definitely a psychology to it!

My solution was to step back from WDW planning. There's so much Disney to see & do without going to WDW. So now I'm totally wild for Disney cruising which has also been a shock in itself for a girl who declared long ago that cruising was never gonna happen. I'm also itching to see other Disney destinations. And other places. Adventure is out there! Trips don't have to be 10 days long to make them awesome for me now either. Nope. Hubby & I decided we were just as happy to take 2 1-week trips per year & spread out the fun. The long waits between were so awful!

Think of other things you'd like to try and search for ways to play (aka: overplan) to get there! It's fun!

 

[71dsp]

We've certainly noticed the price increases as well, and this year it looks like we're going to make the WDW trip without any sort of discount (the nights we are staying and where we are staying are not lining up with the offered discounts). My wife and are pretty particular so we don't compromise much on vacations (which generally ends up costing us more money!). Thankfully we're in a position to afford these vacations, but in our particular situation, we both have extremely stressful jobs so the stress from WDW trip planning/paying pales in comparison.

 

[SMS55]

Heck no. It's vacation, I'm going to enjoy it. Perhaps it's not the same for me as others because I live in Florida and have gone to Disney dozens of time. For me a trip to Disney is usually within the 3-4 day range. I try to make 3-4 a year with my seasonals. It's more about getting away for a few days and a little quality family time. We already know how to pack so the wife and I can throw the suitcase together in less than an hour already. We don't plan much other than MK our first full day and ensuring we are at the parks for rope drop. Since we drive we will eat offsite to save some money for future trips and we stay at value resorts for the same reason. I am in real estate so I have irregular income. I just had a closing on one of my properties a few weeks ago, so I paid the hotel in full on the spot. Same thing with our tickets. I'll pay them in full when I get a big check.

 

[Weather_Lady]

I go through the same thing, too! The way I assuage the stress is simply to reduce the cost of our vacation as much as possible (mousesavers is awesome) so I don't feel like we're "overpaying" for anything! We use airline credit card points to travel (we charge EVERYTHING to the card and pay it off in full every month, so we get lots of points without spending anything extra). We bring much of our own food, don't buy expensive souvenirs, and travel during "off" times of the year, when airfare and hotel are half the cost of what my family used to pay to go over Easter break. It still costs a lot, but at least I can rest in the knowledge that I "did what I could."

You're so right about the price increases, though -- no matter how frugal one is and how well a trip is planned, it's to the point where park tickets for my family for 5 days cost more than our monthly mortgage payment! This doesn't mean we'll stop going to Disney World -- only that we won't go as often.

The smartest thing one can possibly do to reduce that financial-planning-vacation-stress is the thing you're already doing -- you say you pay cash for the trip. By doing that, you're ensuring that you're living within your means, and that you won't spend a second of your vacation wondering how you're going to pay for it later. I think if everyone did that, they'd all enjoy their vacations a lot more!

 

[real mad hatter]

Well we save up for two years for the WDW vacation.The year in between we do a cheap holiday abroad.If I ain't got the money then I wouldn't stress myself.As far as planning goes,this is one of my favourite things about a trip to WDW.A beach holiday in the Greek islands I plan in one week.As far as stress is concerned.The magic of Disney takes care of that for me.

 

[WDWmazprty]

No stress at all. Like most people here, we're Disney veterans and know how to plan our trips there. Its more anticipation and excitement!

 

[OswaldTheRabbit]

Maybe it is just the financial shape everyone is in right now in the us. We definitely feel it this year. The price increase between airline tickets and Wdw package was pretty substantial this year.

My girlfriend wanted to take our families for the 10k in January and I had to say no. We just can't afford it!

We may be taking a year off although I will be sad it may just be the best financial decision.... Sigh.... Being an adult stinks

 

[wiigirl]

The only stress I feel is like I am forgetting something critical.

 

[Poofiesdream]

I feel stressed with spending the money. We live in Florida and go a few times a year. With the passholder or Fl resident discount its cheaper to go to Disney than staying at the beach or any place around here! We just go off season since it is now just the two of us, we can go any time. I keep the food costs down with Tables of Wonderland and eat mostly quick service meals. My husband just turned 60 and we feel like we need to take trips now and make memories while we are still healthy enough to do that. We save our money all year, not eating out or going to the movies to save the money to go. So I do worry about spending the money but then remember the memories we are making for the future when we can no longer travel.

 

[flynnibus]

I would separate the two.. the money and the planning.

The money thing I diffuse by looking objectively and say 'is this gonna hurt me?' 'who am I spending this for? really because WE want to, or because its some expectation?' and make what I hope are realistic decisions. I tend to err on the side of 'vacation' over thrift. I am thrifty every other day of the year, so that when I do want something.. I can have it.

When I vacation, I want to be free.. so I will spend while on vacation. As long as things are reasonable.. I know I can always pay things off after the fact too. So I ensure I have the savings up front to pay for the trip itself, and I tend to have to pay for incidentals a bit after the trip. At least.. it takes some time for my accounts to normalize again

As for the planning.. if it's getting worrisome.. step back. My father is a non-stop planner - well beyond commando. He will keep analyzing over and over just to ensure he gets maximum yield, for best return on his dollar or time. So it doesn't matter if it's where we sit, what line we are in, or what we order.. he's constantly crunching. It drove my sister insane.. I could just roll with it. But it does drive people batty. I mix in the vacation mentality and say 'good enough..' and if he is with us, I force him to stand down and just accept 'defeat' and that its ok that the other line actually finished before us

For planning I've realized running to a schedule really does take away from things. It just makes things seem more like work. And when your kids get old enough to have their own desires and want to be able to make decisions on the fly.. its far more rewarding to be able to accommodate, then say 'sorry charlie, we need to be over at EPCOT in 20mins, so no we can't go and do that'. I like to think of planning as 'always having something we CAN do' instead of saying 'always having something we HAVE to do'. The kids have their best time being able to pick exactly what they want to do... even if its all over the property. I tend to tour by location first.. and then have suggestions and let the family decide from the SUGGESTIONS on what to do. Empowerment.. and less conflict. Plus, you don't need to micromanage it

I plan out things that are inflexible (hard ADRs, shows, special events), and then keep the rest flexible with a loose plan (say at the park level, or major 'to-dos'). That isn't stressful. And it gives you space.. so when you stress over having to pick between two things... often you'll find you can always come back to the 'loser' in the choice later.

 

[Tomi-Rocket]

The only thing that stresses me out is paying it off in time. Once that's done I'm good. Although I'm not 100% relaxed until we arrive meaning no illnesses or emergencies that have kept us from being able to go.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Planning the trip is a breeze. We know what we want to do and see and accomplish on the trip. The money part isnt stressful either, with careful planning, saving and managing our money we have the funds to make the trip without worries. We spend and enjoy within our means. For us the stress comes in the travel part of the trip. Because we have experienced some problems with the airlines on several trips, ( serious damage to my wifes wheelchair, her only means of transportation) we are seriously considering driving from now on. This would mean taking 4 days out of our time just to travel back and forth, time that otherwise could be spent at Disney. Oh how I wish the airlines were more customer friendly.

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

Not the trip itself, but the planning and paying for it aspect? I've been going through this for the past couple of years. Now please don't misunderstand me, I am VERY lucky to be able even to take a vacation. Many people don't have that luxury. So I'm not looking for pity here. I think this is more a psychological thing with me. I've been lucky enough to take my family on some wonderful Disney/Universal trips over the past few years. However, things just keep getting pricier and pricier. My income, though no complaints at all, has not increased, but like everyone else, is facing ever increasing prices for gas, food, etc. On the one hand, I know I'll be disappointed in myself if I cut one whole part of the vacation out or cut certain things out, but on the other hand, having to come up with all the money (I refuse to charge vacations) is stressing me out big time, and making me feel guilty about spending so much.

Anyone else ever go through something similar?

There have been a few times, where instead of going to Disney every year, I skipped a year or two, and saved for a future trip. I could always go a cheaper route, and go every year, but that made no sense to me. Why would I go, and the entire trip, wish I had waited a year and do our Disney trip the way we want. You are 100% right ... sometimes it seems the prices go up for vacation faster than most people's annual income does. We do the same thing, regarding paying for our trip. We wait til money is in hand, then we are determined to pay the trip off, months ahead of schedule. The remaining months, we save for spending money. This is the only drawback of going so close to the holidays. You are definately not alone in feeling stress from time to time.

 

[maryszhi]

i never let myself get to that point. i remind myself i am on vacation

 

[DisneyGirl3820]

The planning is half the fun! (As long as I get all my ADR's ) The paying part is another story.....

 

[sweetpee_1993]

You're so right about the price increases, though -- no matter how frugal one is and how well a trip is planned, it's to the point where park tickets for my family for 5 days cost more than our monthly mortgage payment! This doesn't mean we'll stop going to Disney World -- only that we won't go as often.

When I read this I almost fell out of my chair. If tickets got that high for us I'd prob'ly have a kitten...then laugh at the absurdity at the thought of going at all. I don't think our house (which we currently have rented out because we don't live in that area anymore) is extravagant or pricey, either. Escrows are almost half the payment, actually. (windstorm & property tax eats us up)

The smartest thing one can possibly do to reduce that financial-planning-vacation-stress is the thing you're already doing -- you say you pay cash for the trip. By doing that, you're ensuring that you're living within your means, and that you won't spend a second of your vacation wondering how you're going to pay for it later. I think if everyone did that, they'd all enjoy their vacations a lot more!

I agree 100% with this bit. I've never thought charging a vacation on a credit card when you can't pay it right back off was a good idea. However, as many of the "big" trips as we've taken in the past and paid for without carrying the cost on credit cards, I don't think that alleviated the stress of the cost. I was especially conscious of every nickel after the hubby was out of work for 4 months in 2010 (first time in 17 years!). During that time we lived super-frugal on unemployment (barely enough to buy groceries), working for gracious family doing handyman work (we would've done for nothing but they insisted on paying us), and our savings (ouch!). Even being blessed and not having to worry with how I'll pay for it, it pains me to see the money go. I guess I also got to a point where I didn't feel like we were getting enough bang for the buck and that was with maximizing discounts. When you start looking at at every little thing in terms of how long the hubby had to work, the weeks/months when he was out of state, and the kids & me home missing him there's definitely something more going on. Ya know? So ((raising hand)) definitely I'm one who didn't worry about how I was paying for a trip but still wasn't able to totally enjoy myself watching the money flow outward from the bank account(s). You definitely have a point, tho, and I agree whole-heartedly. I'm not sure that I ever could've enjoyed any of our many trips had there been an ounce of uncertainty as to how I'd pay for it after the fact.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Maybe it is just the financial shape everyone is in right now in the us. We definitely feel it this year. The price increase between airline tickets and Wdw package was pretty substantial this year.

My girlfriend wanted to take our families for the 10k in January and I had to say no. We just can't afford it!

We may be taking a year off although I will be sad it may just be the best financial decision.... Sigh.... Being an adult stinks

Agreed. But then I go out to a nice restaurant, order a great big adult-drink, and my perspective shifts again... LOL!