Can't decide what to do...

married2mm

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 15, 2011
Need an outside ie dis perspective please-

Dh & I booked for a week at okw in a 1 bed villa with free dining.
Dd 2 has time off from work then & expressed a very subtle interest in joining us :rolleyes1

We would love her to come with us, especially since she moved away last year and we/mainly me(!) Miss her like crazy..


However; the added costs of her flight and ticket blow out our budget..
Dd2 barely makes enough $ to cover her rent & bills; so that's not happening:charac2:


My current thoughts are to switch to pofq for the beginning of our stay & book offsite for a couple of days...
Is this a crazy idea?!
 
I wonder, though. If she's in your room, adding her to your reservation gives her free dining, too. If you go off site, the cost of her food will be added to your budget, not to mention you and your husband will lose free dining and you'll have to pay OOP for meals for all three of you, so some—if not all—of the savings you'd get from moving to a cheaper resort on or off-site will be totally lost. It sounds like you would have to fly her down and buy her ticket anyway. Not sure changing your reservation makes sense to me. That said, I have two 9 & 12 yr old boys and I know I'd love to have them vacation with us after they're grown and out of the house, so enjoy her while you can and she's game to go!
 
i wouldn't risk losing free dining. i would downgrade to a Mod or value. you will have to budget for transportation and food if you stay off property.
 


Maybe try looking at different flight options -- maybe she doesn't show up on your arrival day if the next day her flight is much cheaper - typically Tuesdays are much cheaper - and if you then end up with extra dining credits maybe you and hubby can splurge on dining. She can have her own magical express pick up so even if arriving on a different day wouldn't complicate things.

Make it work -- it really sounds like you would love to have her there -- you could call and see if you there is a less expensive resort you can stay at and still get the free dining, if not then just let her know this is her Christmas and birthday gift and figure you can save something not spending money on those things.
 
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i wouldn't risk losing free dining. i would downgrade to a Mod or value. you will have to budget for transportation and food if you stay off property.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if OP changes her reservation to another resort, she will lose free dining. The offer is gone; you can't take it with you if you modify and move to another resort.
 


Need an outside ie dis perspective please-

Dh & I booked for a week at okw in a 1 bed villa with free dining.
Dd 2 has time off from work then & expressed a very subtle interest in joining us :rolleyes1

We would love her to come with us, especially since she moved away last year and we/mainly me(!) Miss her like crazy..


However; the added costs of her flight and ticket blow out our budget..
Dd2 barely makes enough $ to cover her rent & bills; so that's not happening:charac2:


My current thoughts are to switch to pofq for the beginning of our stay & book offsite for a couple of days...
Is this a crazy idea?!

I would call to see if you can move to another resort and still keep your dining.
 
Hi
O p here
We would still have free dining for the nights we (possibly) switch to
There is no availability for 7 nights at a mod-only 6;
Which is why I'm considering dropping 2 nights onsite
5/2 split on & off
 
Hi
O p here
We would still have free dining for the nights we (possibly) switch to
There is no availability for 7 nights at a mod-only 6;
Which is why I'm considering dropping 2 nights onsite
5/2 split on & off

Really play with the numbers -- yes you love your kids but if this is a trip you have really wanted you can probably make it work - like others have mentioned -- you drop 2 days - you have to stay off site - you then are left paying for those meals - the savings that you actually realize will be spent with - a rental car, paying for food and paying for parking oh and getting back to the airport - so ultimately what are you saving?

We all love our kids but your daughter (who sounds like she is an adult now) should realize that if she can't contribute something to the trip then maybe she can not afford to go. I hate to be the tough love here but this is kind of the reality of life that she can't just jump in on your plans and also expect you to pay her whole way. Maybe she can pick up some extra work/side job and really diligently save something to help you pay for it.
 
Hi
O p here
We would still have free dining for the nights we (possibly) switch to
There is no availability for 7 nights at a mod-only 6;
Which is why I'm considering dropping 2 nights onsite
5/2 split on & off

I agree with the others who suggest playing with the numbers. Have you booked your air yet? Perhaps simply go down to 6 nights at the mod? Or do 6 nights and only 1 night offsite? At least then you have dining credits until midnight of your mod checkout day and you only have to cover food for the day you leave for the airport. You'll really need to factor in the extra food for the offsite stay plus transportation to the airport if you can't use Magical Express on your check-out day.
 
I agree with the others who suggest playing with the numbers. Have you booked your air yet? Perhaps simply go down to 6 nights at the mod? Or do 6 nights and only 1 night offsite? At least then you have dining credits until midnight of your mod checkout day and you only have to cover food for the day you leave for the airport. You'll really need to factor in the extra food for the offsite stay plus transportation to the airport if you can't use Magical Express on your check-out day.


Sorry-I should have mentioned:

as others have stated and you too regarding magical express; that's not a factor-we have a hire car booked
And yes; mine & dh s flights are booked-we are in the uk..
 
I agree with the others who suggest playing with the numbers. Have you booked your air yet? Perhaps simply go down to 6 nights at the mod? Or do 6 nights and only 1 night offsite? At least then you have dining credits until midnight of your mod checkout day and you only have to cover food for the day you leave for the airport. You'll really need to factor in the extra food for the offsite stay plus transportation to the airport if you can't use Magical Express on your check-out day.

I would monkey around with the numbers. Look at the least expensive value for the last two nights and see if yuo can make it work, maybe by skipping the dining plan on those nights, using credits from your checkout day on that dinner, and eating at the restaurants that allow either portions for sharing or less expensive cs meals.

Also, do you need the rental car? We never use one, and find that if we have a time crunch we take a cab. You may be able to save enough to just stay where you are if you drop the car.
 
Need an outside ie dis perspective please-

Dh & I booked for a week at okw in a 1 bed villa with free dining.
Dd 2 has time off from work then & expressed a very subtle interest in joining us :rolleyes1

We would love her to come with us, especially since she moved away last year and we/mainly me(!) Miss her like crazy..


However; the added costs of her flight and ticket blow out our budget..
Dd2 barely makes enough $ to cover her rent & bills; so that's not happening:charac2:


My current thoughts are to switch to pofq for the beginning of our stay & book offsite for a couple of days...
Is this a crazy idea?!

Would it help your budget if you made her flight and ticket her birthday and Christmas gifts??
 
Sorry-I should have mentioned:

as others have stated and you too regarding magical express; that's not a factor-we have a hire car booked
And yes; mine & dh s flights are booked-we are in the uk..

Maybe you can save some $ by dropping car rental? Use WDW transportation. Can your daughter pay for her park ticket? I have been in the same boat! My 27 yr old daughter wanted to come on one of the trips 3 yrs ago when we did a split stay between Universal and WDW. I did pay for most of it, hotel didn't cost much more, and I bought her airfare. She bought her own park ticket. We used WDW transportation and to transfer from Universal to WDW we hired a car service.
We flew into Ft Lauderdale first to visit family, and had a week beach vacay, had rental car which we used there and to drive up to Orlando. Returned rental after we arrived at Universal hotel.

It was totally worth it having her with us. We still talk about some of the funny moments we had together.
 
Maybe you can save some $ by dropping car rental? Use WDW transportation. Can your daughter pay for her park ticket? I have been in the same boat! My 27 yr old daughter wanted to come on one of the trips 3 yrs ago when we did a split stay between Universal and WDW. I did pay for most of it, hotel didn't cost much more, and I bought her airfare. She bought her own park ticket. We used WDW transportation and to transfer from Universal to WDW we hired a car service.
We flew into Ft Lauderdale first to visit family, and had a week beach vacay, had rental car which we used there and to drive up to Orlando. Returned rental after we arrived at Universal hotel.

It was totally worth it having her with us. We still talk about some of the funny moments we had together.

The rental and the associated parking fees with the rental may add up to some serious savings. I would totally ditch the car, change resorts and bring my DD if at all possible.
 
Like you, I would really make it work.

Run the numbers and do what you have to do.

Just keep in mind what you have to replace if you move off site, without the dining plan.
 
I agree with the others. If you are planning on staying WDW property the whole time, I would ditch the rental car. You can utilize Magical Express, Disney transportation and uber to get where you need to go. Even if you end up offsite, you can still use uber. We used uber on one trip to get from WDW to downtown Orlando and to MCO and it is far, far cheaper than renting a car.
 

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