Aibu to not want to go to Disney, Florida??

[Gallymum1]

My husband runs his own business, works really hard putting in long hours etc. We’ve had a fairly good year and he s decided he wants to take us all (5 of us) to Disney. I’ve worked out it’s going to cost £10k without spending money. To me this is a ridiculous amount of money for a holiday and I can’t reconcile it. I’d rather do a nice, fully inclusive, sunny holiday for half the cost. We do have the money if we want to blow all our profits but I feel this leaves us with no financial cushion going forwards. He says you can’t put a price on memories. I think he’s not actually in the real world! Aibu?

[Quartz2208]

We go at Christmas it can be difficult to get it that cheap simply due to the flights - so I would start there.

I would also look at the hotels on Lake Buena Vista

Christmas at Disney is busy but manageable until Christmas Eve - Universal is much better from there on in in terms of crowds.

I love Christmas at Disney

[Sparrowlegs248]

Any Disney location would be my idea of hell so no yanbu!

[Skowvegas]

If I had £10k and kids the OP's age I'd go to Costa Rica - stay in the nicest hotels, do lots of guided tours, and finish up with a few days at the beach. And have some money leftover.

[44PumpLane]

£10k is ridiculous and it can be done much much cheaper- and I say that as someone who has lost count of how many times I've been to Florida including during the height of summer.

As another poster has said get yourself ok The Dibb and get some DIY advice!

[kittensinmydinner1]

With the whole world to chose from I can honestly say that having been tonDisney Florida, I can think of at least a hundred more beautiful fun places to go that children your age would adore far more than the artificial commercial nonsense that is Disney.

[SugarRush123]

I personally wouldn't bother with Florida, and certainly not Disney. You'd get so much more for your money elsewhere! If your DC are set on "entertainment" why not book 2 weeks in a Club Med resort (Cancun, Mauritius, Maldives, Thailand)? Or just book a holiday yourselves - safari in Tanzania/beach holiday in Zanzibar etc etc.

[Yvest]

oldraver why do you think the only options are AI beach holidays or Orlando. The world Is a big place. I don’t love beach holidays but we’ve been to Thailand and spent time in an elephant rescue, we’ve taken a cruise through vietnam and learnt to cook there, we’ve done Safari in Africa. The world is massive and opportunities are endless and there’s so much to do besides theme parks or beaches.

[PotteryLady]

We did 3 weeks in Florida 3 years ago and it was amazing, loved it so much did the same last year - worth every penny. Amazing memories.

[battenbergbutterfly]

Each to their own but I didn't think it was worth the money we paid but I didn't want to go from the offset so knew I wouldn't think it was value for money. Kids have preferred weekends away with friends so we could have saved ourself a lot of cash.

[HermioneWeasley]

I love Orlando and would always go back, but DO NOT GO AT CHRISTMAS. It’s so crowded and expensive. If you can only go away at Christmas then pick another location.

[fadingfast]

£10k??! Blimey. You could probably get a whole week at Centerparks for that

[Oldraver]

Personally I would rather do Florida than sitting around an AI pool, but then I dont like pool/beach holidays. As a kid I was bored to tears with sunny beach holidays were my folks would fall asleep and sunbathe for HOURS

[goose1964]

My idea of hell. I'd rather spend the money where there's more to do than theme parks. I think I would enjoy Cape Canaveral and the Everglades, but that's about it. Would rather go all inclusive to the Caribbean as there's more culture there

[Rejoiner]

Have you got yourself over to thedibb.co.uk yet?
Book indirect flights if BA and Virgin are high for your dates or look for a flydrive package
Get a villa or stay somewhere like Staybridge Suites for space
Shop around for your park tickets but always get them in the UK before you go.

I love Disney :)

[hellokittymania]

I grew up in Florida so Disney to me is nothing special. I went twice in a week when I was 18 {I won a Disney award and we had Grad night} but other than that I went for 2 other days in 14 years. There are so many great places to visit and things to do other than Disney Florida.

[Rufustherenegadereindeer1]

Love orlando and disney

But it is 5k for flights alone for the 5 of us

Tickets and accommodation can be 3k plus

We spend a lot more than that but its the flights that are crippling...especially as they are not fun

I wish someone would invent a machine that just transferred you there

[cassgate]

Hi,

I have just booked for 6 of us to go late July early August for 3 weeks. for just over £11k. This includes 6 adult flights, 5 Bedroom villa with private pool (10 min drive to Animal Kingdom) plus car hire for 3 weeks. It works out at just over £600 per person per week. I booked everything separately. We needed a 5 bed villa though and I did go for a more expensive one at that. If you can get away with a 3 bed condo then its much cheaper and I have just looked and going for 2 weeks late July early August you can easily do it for £7k. (flights, condo and car hire). This is in a resort less than 10 mins from Disney. If you are willing to stay further out and travel in every day then you would easily do it for around £6k.

[Ohyesiam]

To me the whole Disney thing has ajay's v sounded like a nightmare, doesn't soak at all. Plus Florida is one of the most dismal bits of the US.
So no YANBU at all.

[Chrisinthemorning]

You can definitely do Florida cheaper than that. We go in May and are staying in Orlando for 11nights, Anna Maria for 7, luxury villas with hot tubs, premium economy flights, car hire and park tickets and it’s costing just over 10k for 4 adults and a 5 year old. It’s expensive but I don’t think 2k per head is too bad for an 18 night sunshine holiday.
We love Florida but I do think everyone has different priorities and I wouldn’t spend that on a holiday if I had no savings.

[Angrybird345]

You can do it for under £10k. They should soon start announcing their free dining, which is amazing value - literacy no need to buy food for the holiday! So very definitely absolutely worth it!

[Yvest]

celebelly my kids were totally indifferent to Disney. They quite liked the rollercoasters but found spending more than a day or two in parks tedious and in the end we just didn’t bother or only stayed an hour or so. They have never even mentioned the Orlando part of the holiday again. We went elsewhere in Florida afterwards and if you ever ask them what the best part of the holiday was, they all say it was going on Segways in a small seaside resort. Glad we bothered

[caoraich]

The other thing you can do if you hire a car is the Kennedy space centre
One of the best days out I've had - genuinely educational and you can meet an astronaut! We are total space geeks though.

[hellsbellsmelons]

Harry Potter World is also in California.
Could you do there instead of Florida?

[restbiterepeat]

I agree with you op. It's a ridiculous amount of money. You don't need to make 10ks worth of memories in a land of over-egged theme parks.

[Celebelly]

Definitely opt for a self-catering place near Epcot rather than a hotel. You will save a fortune and have way more space and flexibility. Definitely price everything up separately - sometimes you can save by doing packages, but sometimes it can cost more and actually give you less.

As for whether it's worth the money, I went to Disney when I was 10 years old and I still remember that holiday now. I loved it. I'm not sure I'd find it as great now as a parent, but I think most children will have a whale of a time.