sweetpee_1993
Well-Known Member
Long story short, the husband and I got into a conversation this morning about $$ and what've spent thus far this year on travel. Not to be blabbing our business all over the place but it really ended up being a fascinating perspective for me, one I'm inclined to share.
We haven't done a dedicated WDW vacation in a couple years. No big secret there. Mostly I'm just not anxious to be around that many people all the time anymore. Our most expensive dedicated WDW trip that we've ever done was in early December 2007. During that year a lot of things changed for us and we suddenly had the ability to do WDW the way we always dreamed of so we did. Money did not limit us. Final tally for that 9 night trip was in the ballpark of $14k. What did we spend that on??? Let's break it down:
- First class airfare was roughly $900 x 4. Hubby loves to fly. He always wished we could "go big" in the skies so we did. Big splurge. Not entirely sure it was all that worth it to me but to him it was so it's all good.
- 9 nights in a Contemporary Tower MK View room at rack rate. At the time that was $455+tax per night. I tried to get a discount but they weren't available. We also tried the dining plan (when it included appetizer, entre, dessert, beverage, and gratuity). 10 day parkhopper tickets were in the package, too.
- More than a few meals & snacks were out of pocket.
- Souvenirs. If we wanted it, we bought it. That simple.
- Limo transfers to/from the airport. No DME. We were going big. What's a couple hundred bucks at this point?
- MVMCP.
- A segway tour for the hubby & me.
- Photopass CD.
- Private portrait sitting in the MK. ((I added in the sitting fee but not the $$ spent on the actual portraits. The sitting fee was less than $400.))
Sooooo, 9 night dream stay at WDW w/all the bells & whistles. $14k. Haven't spent anywhere near that on any trip since. That was our big one. Note the key word is: ONE. LOL! We feel absolutely blessed beyond words to have had the opportunity to do it and have no regrets. The memories are priceless. Right?
Just priced a MK View room at the Contemporary for roughly the same days this year, kids the same ages they were in 2007, dining plan, parkhoppers, & MVMCP tickets. Without another nickel spent on gratuities, OOP expenses, souvenirs, airfare, etc. etc. I'm seeing a price of $10,089. I'm guessing if we added on first class air and all the other crap we did it'd prob'ly push $20k if not more. First class air alone is insane these days.
This morning we were talking about this year's expenditures on travel. So far we've been on 2 Disney cruises. I'm going on 1 without my family next month then the hubby & I are leaving our teenagers at home while we go on another 7-night Disney Cruise for our anniversary. Let's add up the cost breakdown thru the end of September this year:
January: 8-night Bahamian on DCL Magic out of Galveston in 1-bedroom suite/concierge for our family of 4. Cruise cost including all gratuities, excursions/activities, etc. was roughly $7500. (We live near Galveston so no travel costs.)
May: 7-night Western Caribbean on DCL Fantasy out of Port Canaveral for our family of 4. 2 nights at Pop pre-cruise, day at Typhoon Lagoon, all travel costs, gratuities, parking, excursions, etc. total roughly $8k.
September: 4-night Bahamian DCL Dream out of Port Canaveral for just me (with the WDWMagic girls). Pre-cruise hotel at the Grand Floridian for 1-night (w/3 roommates), transfers, gratuities, excursions/activities, flights, and all additional expenses total about $1500.
September: 7-night Western Caribbean DCL Fantasy out of Port Canaveral for the husband & me. Cruise fare, gratuities, flights, pre-cruise hotel at Kidani Village for 2 nights, transfers, and excursions/activities total about $3500.
Total for all this year's cruising thru the end of September comes up to about $20,500. Granted, any flights that were incorporated this year have been on points. That's a tremendous savings in itself. Also, to note is that the May cruise was significantly more than our "norm" because we traveled during a busier, more expensive time with my brother. We generally seek out less-expensive times to cruise and special rates.
The point to all this is that for about what we'd spend on our 9-night WDW blow-out in today's terms we're sailing with Mickey for 26 nights. 15 of those nights my boys sailed. 22 of those nights my darling husband sailed. 26 nights I will have sailed. That's like almost a flippin' month! It's insane for me to wrap my brain around that!
And, no, we're not made of money or anything. We're oh-so crazy frugal in our everyday lives. Don't eat out much, don't go other places, don't go to movies, shop for bargains, don't get my hair & nails done constantly, etc. etc. We live in an inexpensive, less-than-stellar house. My husband works crazy amounts of hours, often multiple weeks without any days off. It's all relative. None of this comes easy which is why taking breaks and escaping has become more frequent. It's our time. Truly. We get on the ships and the cell phones have to be turned off. There's no connecting unless there's a dire emergency. Don't want folks thinking I'm yeah-yeah'ing about all this money I'm rolling in because I assure you I'm soooooo not! LOL!
Just wanted to show the price comparisons and breakdowns because I thought it was interesting.
$20k for a 9-night dream roll at WDW in Florida living it up.
Or $20k for 15 nights with our sons on the sea, in Key West, swimming with rays in Grand Cayman, paddleboarding off the beach of a fishing village in Mexico, driving xrails thru a jungle & swimming in a subteranean cave in Cozumel, and at Disney's private island in the Bahamas. PLUS, 5-night getaway for Mom with her pals. PLUS, 9-nights of peaceful bliss with my bestest friend snorkeling a shipwreck and a reef, relaxing, and swimming with manatees. That's a whole lot of bang for the Disney buck, really! Wowzers!
We haven't done a dedicated WDW vacation in a couple years. No big secret there. Mostly I'm just not anxious to be around that many people all the time anymore. Our most expensive dedicated WDW trip that we've ever done was in early December 2007. During that year a lot of things changed for us and we suddenly had the ability to do WDW the way we always dreamed of so we did. Money did not limit us. Final tally for that 9 night trip was in the ballpark of $14k. What did we spend that on??? Let's break it down:
- First class airfare was roughly $900 x 4. Hubby loves to fly. He always wished we could "go big" in the skies so we did. Big splurge. Not entirely sure it was all that worth it to me but to him it was so it's all good.
- 9 nights in a Contemporary Tower MK View room at rack rate. At the time that was $455+tax per night. I tried to get a discount but they weren't available. We also tried the dining plan (when it included appetizer, entre, dessert, beverage, and gratuity). 10 day parkhopper tickets were in the package, too.
- More than a few meals & snacks were out of pocket.
- Souvenirs. If we wanted it, we bought it. That simple.
- Limo transfers to/from the airport. No DME. We were going big. What's a couple hundred bucks at this point?
- MVMCP.
- A segway tour for the hubby & me.
- Photopass CD.
- Private portrait sitting in the MK. ((I added in the sitting fee but not the $$ spent on the actual portraits. The sitting fee was less than $400.))
Sooooo, 9 night dream stay at WDW w/all the bells & whistles. $14k. Haven't spent anywhere near that on any trip since. That was our big one. Note the key word is: ONE. LOL! We feel absolutely blessed beyond words to have had the opportunity to do it and have no regrets. The memories are priceless. Right?
Just priced a MK View room at the Contemporary for roughly the same days this year, kids the same ages they were in 2007, dining plan, parkhoppers, & MVMCP tickets. Without another nickel spent on gratuities, OOP expenses, souvenirs, airfare, etc. etc. I'm seeing a price of $10,089. I'm guessing if we added on first class air and all the other crap we did it'd prob'ly push $20k if not more. First class air alone is insane these days.
This morning we were talking about this year's expenditures on travel. So far we've been on 2 Disney cruises. I'm going on 1 without my family next month then the hubby & I are leaving our teenagers at home while we go on another 7-night Disney Cruise for our anniversary. Let's add up the cost breakdown thru the end of September this year:
January: 8-night Bahamian on DCL Magic out of Galveston in 1-bedroom suite/concierge for our family of 4. Cruise cost including all gratuities, excursions/activities, etc. was roughly $7500. (We live near Galveston so no travel costs.)
May: 7-night Western Caribbean on DCL Fantasy out of Port Canaveral for our family of 4. 2 nights at Pop pre-cruise, day at Typhoon Lagoon, all travel costs, gratuities, parking, excursions, etc. total roughly $8k.
September: 4-night Bahamian DCL Dream out of Port Canaveral for just me (with the WDWMagic girls). Pre-cruise hotel at the Grand Floridian for 1-night (w/3 roommates), transfers, gratuities, excursions/activities, flights, and all additional expenses total about $1500.
September: 7-night Western Caribbean DCL Fantasy out of Port Canaveral for the husband & me. Cruise fare, gratuities, flights, pre-cruise hotel at Kidani Village for 2 nights, transfers, and excursions/activities total about $3500.
Total for all this year's cruising thru the end of September comes up to about $20,500. Granted, any flights that were incorporated this year have been on points. That's a tremendous savings in itself. Also, to note is that the May cruise was significantly more than our "norm" because we traveled during a busier, more expensive time with my brother. We generally seek out less-expensive times to cruise and special rates.
The point to all this is that for about what we'd spend on our 9-night WDW blow-out in today's terms we're sailing with Mickey for 26 nights. 15 of those nights my boys sailed. 22 of those nights my darling husband sailed. 26 nights I will have sailed. That's like almost a flippin' month! It's insane for me to wrap my brain around that!
And, no, we're not made of money or anything. We're oh-so crazy frugal in our everyday lives. Don't eat out much, don't go other places, don't go to movies, shop for bargains, don't get my hair & nails done constantly, etc. etc. We live in an inexpensive, less-than-stellar house. My husband works crazy amounts of hours, often multiple weeks without any days off. It's all relative. None of this comes easy which is why taking breaks and escaping has become more frequent. It's our time. Truly. We get on the ships and the cell phones have to be turned off. There's no connecting unless there's a dire emergency. Don't want folks thinking I'm yeah-yeah'ing about all this money I'm rolling in because I assure you I'm soooooo not! LOL!
Just wanted to show the price comparisons and breakdowns because I thought it was interesting.
$20k for a 9-night dream roll at WDW in Florida living it up.
Or $20k for 15 nights with our sons on the sea, in Key West, swimming with rays in Grand Cayman, paddleboarding off the beach of a fishing village in Mexico, driving xrails thru a jungle & swimming in a subteranean cave in Cozumel, and at Disney's private island in the Bahamas. PLUS, 5-night getaway for Mom with her pals. PLUS, 9-nights of peaceful bliss with my bestest friend snorkeling a shipwreck and a reef, relaxing, and swimming with manatees. That's a whole lot of bang for the Disney buck, really! Wowzers!
Long story short...
I had a friend who had ( wait for it ) 122 driving lessons,sat his test 18 times ,and passed on his 19th time..The money he spent I could have had a Disney 14 night vacation.
Can't tell ya how many times the husband has suggested I get a nicer set of wedding rings...but...helloooo!!! That's a week vacation with the family. I'd much rather have the time and memories than a bling-ring set. 
)
..What a waste of Disney vacation money.
Glad he's not a Disney fan as he would read this and know who I am..
