Will Wall Street Affect Your Plans?

[oldshovelhead]

I was just wondering... Without getting political, will the current Wall Street big finance problems here in the US affect your plans to visit WDW? Length of stay or not at all...fly or drive (keeping in mind it's tough to get gas down south right now)...buy DVC or not...:veryconfu

Again, I'm not looking to start a political conversation here. I'm just curious if this whole economy thing will affect the crowds. I know personally, listening to soundtracks on LIVE365 just won't cut it for an extended period of time. Now that I think about it...perhaps buying into DVC was a smart thing...at least my stay will be covered.:shrug:

 

[Since1976]

Let's put it this way: it's very possible I will be out of a job in the next couple of months. But I am still going to WDW in December, no matter what!

 

[cblodg]

Let's put it this way: it's very possible I will be out of a job in the next couple of months. But I am still going to WDW in December, no matter what!

Oh my God, it's gonna hit you that fast?! I am so sorry to hear that.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

I was just wondering... Without getting political, will the current Wall Street big finance problems here in the US affect your plans to visit WDW?

No - ours is all paid for. Come hell or high water we're off to WDW on December 25th

 

[JCtheparrothead]

Our stuff is prepaid so we are still heading down.

 

[PanfanAL]

I feel like this whole thing is my fault. I sat on my stimulus check to pay for my October trip, and now look what happened. i never new that one check would mean so much to the economy. But thank goodness in 11 days, I can spend that money and stimulate the economy once more. :ROFLOL:

 

[Unplugged]

Oh my God, it's gonna hit you that fast?!

That fast? Are you serious? The problems we're incurring have been growing for years. The beginning of the housing market collapse was the start of the whole mess. Now the complexities of the mess have been exposed well beyond the real estate situation, and it's more extensive than just the literal "Wall Street".

It can and will be fixed. Not quickly and not easily. However, this is anything but "fast". :brick:

Our colleague ("Since1976") has a good outlook which will keep him in the job market and successful. We all need to keep that frame of mind to get through the difficult times. No one should be denied work due to a financial climate like we have. So let's all work together and help each other out. If you know of a job opening, think about who you may know that needs the work (friend of a friend, etc.). We need to re-establish some economic momentum and it really does start with us.

 

[DisneyPirate85]

In the short term no it will not, But long term I dunno. We are ok for now (I work for 911 Center) but DW is a secretery for a auto repair shop so that does worry us a little. She has decided to accept a part time job at Krogers just to pay off some smaller debt, every little bit helps. But DVC will come in pretty handy if it gets to bad:shrug:

 

[gjpjtj]

Well I'm glad to see this thread. I was feeling guilty, my first thought when the market crashed was, hmmm..how will this affect my upcoming trip to WDW. Glad to see I'm not the only one thinking that way!:lookaroun

 

[mcjaco]

No changes for me. I have no credit card debt, I have a 30 year Fixed Rate mortgage, and my car will be paid off in three months (two years a head of time), and I've got a chunk of cash in the bank, as well as intelligently placed in retirement funds, etc. In the short term, they'll take a hit, but I've got a long way to go before retiring.

I don't need credit from the banks, so I should be fine for now.

 

[Master Yoda]

No changes for me. I have no credit card debt, I have a 30 year Fixed Rate mortgage, and my car will be paid off in three months (two years a head of time), and I've got a chunk of cash in the bank, as well as intelligently placed in retirement funds, etc. In the short term, they'll take a hit, but I've got a long way to go before retiring.

I don't need credit from the banks, so I should be fine for now.

True...but your employer or your customers might.

The sad thing is no matter how much or how well we prepare we can still have the rug pulled out from underneath us. I am sure you have heard of 6 degrees of separation....the same thing works in economics and business.

 

[ljs1691]

Well, since I just returned from WDW and we aren't planning on going back for 2 to 3 years, then no the economy shouldn't make a difference to me (thank goodness). If I had been planning a trip for the next few weeks or months, it still probably wouldn't change my plans. We were so blessed to be able to pay cash for our trip this time. The older I get, the more I live by "if I don't have the cash, I don't need it". Now if they start offering crazy discounts again, I might think about going sooner but would probably go for a shorter length of stay (maybe 4 to 5 days instead of 8).

With the money I spent on our latest trip, I would have figured the economy had been boosted enough for a while but I guess I should have spent a little more. Guess I'll have to call mail order for a few more items.

 

[monothingie]

Just some thoughts to ponder,

• Fewer people able to afford a WDW Vacation = Better deals/incentives to get people in the park?
• A Financial market in the toilet = Cutbacks at WDW (shows, service, development)?
• US downturn and global downturn = less foreign visitors = less $$ ?

But then again this whole line of reasoning can be cut and paste into discussions of rising gas prices affecting vacations and visitors at/to the world.

 

[mickeymaniacs]

Our trip is paid for already so it won't hurt us as far as that goes but the county that I live in is considered the Rv capital of the world and I know that thousands here have lost their jobs because the gas prices and market are so bad right now. My husband works for a company that supplies RV manufacturers with the frames for their units and he said that they got several calls yesterday from companys that are possibly going to cancel their orders.So things are real bad in our neck of the woods. He has some job security so that helps us alittle bit but right now I'm not sure anybody is safe from this mess.

 

[mcjaco]

True...but your employer or your customers might.

They might. But that's out of my hands. I'm at least prepared as best I can be.

I am very fortunate that I work fora company that did not put most of their investments into sub prime mortgage mess. We're doing quite well, but one never knows. All I can say, is one of our insurance competitors did not do so well. But their problems were going on long before they got bailed out.

 

[Master Yoda]

They might. But that's out of my hands. I'm at least prepared as best I can be.

I am very fortunate that I work fora company that did not put most of their investments into sub prime mortgage mess. We're doing quite well, but one never knows. All I can say, is one of our insurance competitors did not do so well. But their problems were going on long before they got bailed out.

So very true. You are better prepared than I and far better prepared than most.

I am in residential and commercial construction so we have been weathering the storm for some time now. Like you I am fortunate that the company that I work for was wiser than the competition. The owner owns all of his property....nothing is on credit which makes operating costs much lower. We did not base our business around track builders. While they are easy to produce and they can really inflate your production numbers they are the first to drop off in a recession. Quite a few other plants in my area were not as forward thinking and have either gone out of business or are close to doing so.

 

[ewensell3]

I was just wondering... Without getting political, will the current Wall Street big finance problems here in the US affect your plans to visit WDW?

Well, last weekend I made reservations for PoR for March 2009 and am in the process of setting up my ADRs. This will be our first stay at a moderate, having stayed offsite or at All-Stars in the past. I'm optimistic the trip will happen, but if anything goes seriously wrong between now and February I can cancel my resort reservations and get my deposit refunded.

I am waiting to buy my park tickets for a few months. I can get discounted tickets through work, but it means paying for them up front. The longer I can wait the less likely I will get stuck with tickets I can't use.

We normally drive to Florida, so no change there.

So, while Wall Street isn't directly affecting my plans, I am making sure I have a backout plan.

 

[silverboyd]

our trip is paid for and we're still putting back some $$ for spending cash. I think we'll be ok. I work in the structural engineering business and we're slow, but I think everything will be fine. I'm still going to WDW in 40 days. Not looking forward to paying gas prices in Florida, but they cant be much higher than the prices here in South Carolina. But who knows. At least the other couple that's goign with us will be splitting gas costs with us.

 

[sbkline]

It is a factor in our overall decision whether or not to go next year, but certainly not the only thing. We are currently now strongly leaning towards not going next year, and the current economic fears have their part in that leaning, but there are other things shaping it as well. First, the goal has always been for my wife to get pregnant sometime this year and to therefore use all the money that would otherwise be used for a vacation towards covering the loss of her paycheck for the time she is off work (beyond the paid time off, since she plans to take a total of 3 months off). Even if she doesn't get pregnant until Jan or Feb, that would still have the baby being born later next year.

However, I keep wanting to consider a WDW trip as a plan B if the above plan doesn't pan out. But the current economic fears are discouraging me from even considering that. But beyond that, there's the fact that, pregnant or not, we are going to have to put child #1 in preschool next year, and that will cost some dough. And, we really want to do Ft Wilderness, but I can't imagine any scenario (assumming we are being fiscally responsible) where we can stay there for a week, so it would be a value resort. And we think that perhaps we should wait another year and have more money saved up to stay at the resort we really want, rather than getting in too much of a hurry and "settleing" for a lesser resort.

So, to make a long story short...are the current fiscal woes figuring into our plans whether or not to go? Yes. But by no means is it the only factor going into the decision.

 

[LoriMistress]

Just some thoughts to ponder,

• Fewer people able to afford a WDW Vacation = Better deals/incentives to get people in the park?
• A Financial market in the toilet = Cutbacks at WDW (shows, service, development)?
• US downturn and global downturn = less foreign visitors = less $$ ?

But then again this whole line of reasoning can be cut and paste into discussions of rising gas prices affecting vacations and visitors at/to the world.

I hope the Disney parks does reduce the pricing a bit so it brings more incentive to visit the world more often.