To think going to Disney is a ridiculous indulgence?

[thoroughlymodernmummy]

Now, maybe i would feel differently if I could afford to go without completely skunk ring myself but as it stands, we can't and I can't help but think that spending such huge amounts on one holiday is crazy!

We watch Disney and enjoy it, and I'm well aware that it's people's money to spend how they like but I just can't help but think it's a silly wage of money? Anyone agree?

Why do so many of the posts suggest that anyone taking a holiday other than at Disney must be lying on a beach?

Its the prices that make it more indulgent than any other holiday - we could have 6 of our usual 10 day holidays (including travel and a couple of theme parks) for the prices quoted here for 2 weeks at an American Disney park.

I also went to Disney Florida at 13 and was thoroughly miserable, so can't imagine it woukd be better as an adult!

I intend to take the DC to Paris in a couple of years and will tack a day at Disneyland Paris on if thry want, but only as a local theme park not some big must do wonder of the world.

If you can afford it why not! We've had a really horrible year and decided to splash out, normally just go on a caravan style holiday. The dc loved it and it didn't break the bank as much as we thought it would.

Of course YABU. Going on a holiday you can afford or choosing to be foolish enough to put yourself in debt to go on a holiday you can't afford has got nothing to do with whether it's Disney or not. There are cheaper holidays than Disney and more expensive ones. Plus what is expensive and indulgent depends on how much money you have.
We like Disney films, but I took dd to Disneyland Paris when she was little and I thought it was ghastly. Just so tacky, in-your-face merchandising, endless queues. Bleurgh.

I will be honest i dont see how some posters got their holiday so cheap

We really shopped around for flights and it came to 1k each

I dont know how people are going away for 9k including first class ....unless that was just for flights

Off to google virgin again

I agree Rufus, really struggle to see how that's possible

Rufus, try sky scanner for flights. This year my friend flew to JFK then onto Orlando for £465pp then their villa was about £800. They didn't do the parks this year.

It's all about timing, literally a day or two either side could cost hundreds more.

Flydrive only is 8k

Holiday with all 5 of us in the room for 3weeks (which would result in murder) is the same price

Could the poster who got £2400 for flights please pm me with the details, we would love to go back

The thing about ridiculous indulgences is that they are great fun

It's indulgent, but no more indulgent than any expensive holiday. We're off to Orlando at Easter and won't be spending all our time in the parks. This is our third year visiting and we've generally paid very little more than a naice package holiday in Europe.

We love Florida and our kids really dislike Disney. On a recent trip, we only used 3 days of the six Disney days we'd paid for as our kids felt they were wasting their holiday among the crowds. We tend to do universal, which is much cheaper , less crowded and work really hard to keep on attracting customers.

Other than that, we go to lots of nature reserves and state parks. We love the wildlife. Raccoons, armadillos, snakes, alligators, buzzards, eagles, cranes, herons, pelicans, dolphins, manatees. Go off the beaten track and it's breathtakingly beautiful.
We know there are other wonderful places in the world to explore, but with young children , this is just easy and we know we'll all enjoy it.
We could easily spend a month there and do something different every day and not miss the theme parks.

Rufus - Have you looked at flying indirect? Next year, we're flying via Philadelphia and it cut the cost of the flights by about £1000. We paid £550 each, during peak school holidays.

People say "we don't just do the parks" as if to justify themselves -

We just went for two weeks and did parks every day. It's perfect for our family - two teens and a child with SN - something we can all enjoy.

DD is minions and Frozen bonkers. She has SN and will be 18 this year. We will be taking her to Disneyland Paris. Personally, it is my idea of hell, but I have to accept that her idea of fun is very different to mine.

She happily joins in on all of our walking/swimming/kayaking holidays, so I reckon we owe her this much.

But still... £1500 for 4 people, for 2 days, doing something I'll really dislike, makes me want to cry.

delicious

We have flown indirect for two years now. It saves about £500 on indirect flights which is worth it as it pays for one of the weeks at the villa

Will deffo look at philly, who are you flying with?

We did Disney last year and afforded it as well as not spending a fortune but I can think of so many better holidays to do. It annoyed me a bit that we spent so much money on going to a funfair

Come on people who have been, what in total did it cost?

I guestimate £8/£10k.

For july or august that is.

We went at Easter 2008 and it cost £7,000 for the animal kingdom hotel, 2 rooms, 3 adults, 3 kids. £2000 for tickets and I would say £2000 in food and spends with no meal plan. From what I can see it's not gone up much since

If you book yourself no travel agent much much cheaper. I pay max £500 a flight in school hols. If you want Disney the free dining deal is good value - the best deal is launched April for the following year then book flights when they are released 11 months out. Disney will move dates free of charge to tie in with flights. This years will come in around £5000 for 3 of us 2 weeks at Disney deluxe resort with all food/snacks inc character meals and fine dining (dining plan is very much like all inclusive) we also like universal but don't do both same trip. Come on over to the dibb uk planning forum website if anyone is wanting to go - lots of info. I'm on there as dixonsontour.

Orlando is my absolute favourite place. But not in August (I went in 2000 when I was 15 and have never seen so many people). You don't have to stay in or near Disney - we went 6 years ago for honeymoon in June and in November of last year and we stayed on International Drive, using the I-Trolley to get to Universal and malls, and the hotel shuttles to get to Disney.

A week in November in a 3 star hotel with Virgin was £670 each for 2 of us. Unlimited Universal tickets were £200 each and a couple of days at Disney had we done it would have been about 200 dollars each.

If you can try and avoid July and August and do 10 days over a half term (May or Oct) it cuts the cost by a lot.

Depends how switched on you are. Lots of people I know from the forum got bargain £300 end August flights to Tampa which isn't far from Disney. Other people could easily have paid £1000 each by just booking with virgin travel agent. So one family spends £4000 to get there other spends £1200.
Again those in the know go late August - this is value season at Disney as us kids are back at school. Parks are predicted to be very quiet this week. Go July and it is 9/10 busy this week 2/10. U.K. Travel agents are not Disney specialists you are much better booking yourself.

October is fab if you can - this will be our 6th October in a row. Dec gets a 2 week half term.

We went in February with a family of 4 for just over 4K staying in Disney accommodation. This included all tickets and food including dining 4 times with characters. It can be done!