To be stressed to the hills over a surprise holiday

[Alfiemoon1]

My sister has paid for us to go to Florida in August as a Christmas present the flights Vila and car hire are all paid for. I am stressed as I am really struggling to save up for park tickets etc which is almost as much as the holiday on top of that I have my son moving to high school his uniform is over £300 bus pass £100 dd is doing duke of ed which is £250 ds trip £155 so this year we probably wouldn't have gone abroad. I am stressed I keep bursting into tears rowing with the hubby who refuses to make any cut backs so we can save money. To top it off my mum and sister are calling me ungrateful as I have mentioned I am worried about the money. Iam not but I am resentful of being put under this stress if she insisted on being elaborate and paying for a holiday why not a cheaper all inclusive instead of something that is going to cost me a fortune or ask me first instead of surprising me in front of the kids so I couldn't say no. Anyway any get rich quick schemes or free things to do in Florida so she hasn't wasted thousands on the flights and villa lol

" Op didn't pay for the pony or the holiday"

No, & she doesn't have to get involved in the madness & pay anything towards them at all now.

Okay, I thought your sister might be in the position to help considering her standard of gifts.

People calling the sister a bully are ridiculous. She worked very hard to take you and your whole family on a once in a lifetime trip. Once you get there I hope you enjoy yourself - I'm sure your kids will remember this forever. She probably assumed 7 months would be enough to save up spending money. I doubt their was any maliciousness in this at all.

*there.
Had to correct that - pet hate!

Get your Estas sorted asap.
Then look at attraction tickets and at all the different deals they do for park days. You could decide to just have 3 days at parks instead of every day.
Often there are deals which include water parks too. Then you can spend some time at the villa, in the pool and relaxing and some time at the parks too.
Your sister is very inconsiderate not discussing this with you before hand. Have a stern word with her before any more surprise presents come your way this Christmas.

could you speak to the travel agent about postponing the trip to next year?

You can do Disney and the parks on a budget but I wouldn't want to. You could then ask for dollars for presents for Christmas and birthdays until you go.

I'm assuming by visa the op meant ESTA, lots of people refer to it as the visa. Its only $14 per person but that's still all adding on to the total cost of the holiday.

Or I would explore taking out a loan or a new credit card with a low rate on it. Not ideal and not really a sensible option, but if you can pay it off and this will be the only chance you will get to go, best to make it the trip of a lifetime rather than having to constantly say no and watch the pennies.

I never said she was being malicious I said I am stressed over paying for it all. She should realise that saving that much money is difficult for me as she is usually stoney broke herself but got a new job where she can earn a lot of money in overtime which is how she has funded this. i just wish she had asked me first so I could have said thanks but it's not possible this year or booked a cheap all inclusive for us if she insisted on treating us to a holiday. Or had a holiday herself as she has worked hard for it and she isn't even going. Maybe I am being unreasonable to feel pressured into this and stressed over it but I can't help how I feel even though I know she has done it with the best of intentions

I don't think you are being unreasonable OP. Florida, especially Orlando, is an expensive holiday.

I paid for our holiday (14 nights, 2 centre room only car hire) which cost just under £4K and I spent at least another £4K on renewing passports, ESTAs, insurance, park tickets, food and drink etc. while we were there.

We were lucky enough to not be tied to s tight budget but the way things have turned out for you, this isn't really a "holiday", it's a millstone round you neck.

Well, I understand where you're coming from. My grandmother bought me a car when I was 18. She thought she was being very helpful and I had to act extremely grateful. In reality, the car was an old banger that I just couldn't afford. I didn't even want a car at that age, I was a student and would have been fine with public transport. The running costs of it caused me so much stress. Instead I had a car that overheated at the drop of a hat so I always had to carry litres of water in the footwell. It was constantly breaking down and cost hundreds to get through every MOT, not to mention the cost of tax and insurance. However, you didn't say no to my grandmother especially when she was being so 'generous and kind'.

It's pretty thoughtless to give someone a gift that is going to cost them a lot of money to accept.

The holiday would annoy me so much but the pony would really give me the rage. They cost a small fortune in time and money.

Go to florida avoid the parks you have amazing time!

As pp's have said, do your esta's right now. You don't need to visit theme parks. There is lots to do for a lot less money. Don't visit Disney, the Universal parks are much cheaper and nicer. You have a car and fuel is cheap, the Busch Gardens/Adventure Island tickets ae cheaper still. Go to the beach, chill by the pool, fill the freezer with frozen cocktails.

Yes captain it is an expensive holiday we have been before. We saved for ages and had a share save mature which paid for it. In my opinion and in my budget it's not something that can be done easily with 7 months notice especially this year with my son changing schools and my daughter doing duke of ed. was only planning on spending a few hundred on a holiday this year not thousands and we were going to save up to go abroad next year

Thanks Captain, great price, just looking at two different policies to make a choice. Much appreciated.

OP, the ESTA isn't a visa. The whole point is that it allows you to travel without a visa, under the visa waiver programme. As PP have said you need to apply it for NOW.

There are companies that let you pay a deposit for your park tickets.

They are expensive.

What about PayPal and paying off your tickets bit by bit?

It costs about £100 a day for Disney each.

You don't need 6 months on your passport

Glad to help PressRed. I use Moneysupermarket for just about everything. I can barely make a decision without it .

How can u pay off bit by bit with PayPal I get pay after delivery sometimes but it is always taken in one go

I have already renewed the passports as told needed 6 months and they expired before we return home. Am waiting for them to arrive do I need them to do the esta

The Glazier museum down at Tampa is free and definitely worth a visit. You could have some time at the beach down there too. Wandering around Downtown Disney (now called Disney Springs I think) is really nice - and free. The Parks will cost you but when you're in there you can save money by eating in the cheaper food places (the food is all great anyway). Another tip, if the kids like dressing up - take your own costumes from Asda etc as Disney's are $$$$!

The kids are a bit old for dressing up thankfully dd is nearly 15 and ds is 11. Last time we went we did the whole breakfast with princesses and buying the costumes which costs a fortune as well

Yes you need your passports to do the ESTA, the passport numbers are crucial. As soon as you get them, apply online. It works out about £10 each. It's usually sorted out right away but I remember the last time I did it, DH and DS got the thumbs up immediately but me and DD had to wait 24 hours. No idea why but it stressed me out a bit at the time! For any other sort of visa you need to go to the US Embassy in London or Belfast. DD recently got hers for Camp America. They don't make it easy to get in!!

My DH and I have been looking to return to Disney this autumn, but we have been put off by the fact that the Disney tickets are so expensive, particularly as I am pregnant at the mo and so won't be able to go on all of the rides.

I was having a look the other day at what our other options could be.
Attraction tickets direct (www.attraction-tickets-direct.co.uk/orlando-attraction-tickets/tickets) offer some really good combo tickets which seem reasonably priced compared to the cost of Disney tickets.

E.g. they have a ticket which gives you unlimited entry to legoland, busch gardens, sea world, and aquatica (water park) for 14 days, which is £115 per ticket. That could keep you entertained for the whole trip. You could add on a one day ticket to one park if you can't go all that way and not go and see the Mouse. That would be about $90pp when you're out there.

The other thing you could do is sign up for the mouse savers newsletter (www.mousesavers.com/), they are linked with a ticket selling company called undercover tourist, and if you go through the newsletter they have exclusive lower prices. They sell tickets at the American ticket structure which can work out cheaper if you only want a shorter amount of time and only want to go to one park on one day.

Alternatively, to experience a bit of Disney for free, Disney Springs is a big shopping and restaurant resort with some of the biggest Disney Stores in the world, and anyone can make reservations at the Disney hotel restaurants and go to the resort.

Sorry that's been such a long post, but hopefully you will find some of the ideas helpful. You could also go onto the message boards of Mouseplanet and the DIBB who might have other ideas.

Either way, have a fantastic holiday and try not to stress to much

Disney Celebration is also a great free place to spend some time at.

We've actually just cancelled our trip to Orlando in November 2017 as the price of the parks is staggering. You can get flights for £350 return and my parents wanted to pay for the villa but Disney and Universal combined multi-use tickets was going to be almost £600pp! And my DH hates theme park rides so would be paying that to walk around all day, plus parking and food on top of that.

(I should mention, we don't have kids so wouldn't even be going for their sake! DH and I would be 27 at the time of the holiday, DBro would be 21 and his GF 20).

Thanks witch will have a look at those links

Why is the D of E £250? My son has done this and it hasn't cost anywhere near that.