The Opportunity Cost of a Disney Vacation

I don't have cable, drive a 17 year old car and plan to replace it with another used car when the time comes, cut my own hair, don't own a smart phone or other gadgets, and have lucked out with finding a place to live with rent that is way below the going rate for my area. I put all of my monthly expenses on a cc (which I pay off monthly) that gives me great rewards that can be used at Old Navy/Gap/ Banana Republic or Athleta, so I don't pay for most of my clothes. Also, I've rented DVC points for my next WDW trip to save money while still getting to stay in a deluxe resort.
 
I do not think we give up anything so that we can afford Disney, We are very fortunate to live in a nice area and have well paying jobs. We live in Northern CA so it does not cost much for us to get there. But I have said no to other season passes for theme parks near us. I wouldn't say i am frugal but i do try to get the beast deal i can. I use Swagbucks and ebates and Ibotta and others from which i can easily war at least $500 a year which we use to spend either at Disney or whatever vacation we take. We also do not get other season passes for other closer theme parks so we can use that towards Disney. This year we will be there in about two weeks and we decided to not do any Xmas gifts for us or Bday gifts since we have birthdays in early Jan. And I guess it helps that we only have one child.
 
Funny enough, I did the reverse...post-2012, giving up Disney was my opportunity cost for having the ability to take weeklong+ trips to all new sites and experiences:)...I have 1 day tickets sitting for a 2019 return, but for 2017, I gave up 7 days in Disney for a 6 day Pigeon Forge, TN trip (including dinner shows and a waterpark hotel) and a 7 night Bahamaian cruise (with tours in each stop). In 2018, I gave up 7 days in Disney for a 10 day trip to Niagara Falls (Canada), Pittsburgh PA, and Columbus OH (for the Origins Game Convention) and a 7 night cruise to Bermuda and Boston. In 2019, I'll be giving those types of trips up to return to FL:)...
That is so interesting! We aren't going to Disney this year, but are going to Pigeon Forge for 2 or 3 nights. I'm wondering if it will make me miss Disney! Glad to hear that you had a good time.
 
I was raised not to waste anything... so this has been a real help. I always shop the clearance racks, sale and coupons... I was a serious couponer up till the show ruined it. I still coupon but not like I did for almost 20 years.

I have always included Disney as part of my budget... APs being monthly payment... So really not giving up anything to go to Disney... our love of the mouse is included in the necessity column for entertainment.

We also have a boat, which a lot of people think is a waste, but for us its part of our lifestyle, and those who are like why do you need a boat... why would you spend on something like that..... are the first ones ready to spend the day on the water... And since we live in Fl. we can use it year round...
 


I was raised not to waste anything... so this has been a real help. I always shop the clearance racks, sale and coupons... I was a serious couponer up till the show ruined it. I still coupon but not like I did for almost 20 years.

I have always included Disney as part of my budget... APs being monthly payment... So really not giving up anything to go to Disney... our love of the mouse is included in the necessity column for entertainment.

We also have a boat, which a lot of people think is a waste, but for us its part of our lifestyle, and those who are like why do you need a boat... why would you spend on something like that..... are the first ones ready to spend the day on the water... And since we live in Fl. we can use it year round...
Boating is your hobby. Nothing wrong with that. Glad you are able to enjoy your resources.
 
Our opportunity cost is additional savings, that would create more income in retirement. We are pretty good there, but I'm probably giving up some retirement travel to travel to Disney now.
 
By the way, everyone gives up something. If all your money is spare, you are giving up saving it, or donating it to charity. Or leaving it to your children.

Is college saved for? Then you are giving up college savings? Is retirement fully funded - then you are giving up retirement. Do you feel like you donate enough to charity - then your opportunity cost is supporting whatever organizations you'd otherwise support.

And if you truly give up nothing to go to Disney, then send some of your spare money my way....I'd like to spend six months in Europe for my retirement and right now, it looks like I'll be short because I've gone to Disney.
 


Is budgeting giving up money on something else? Planning ahead for the vacation? That's what we do. We have to fly to WDW from northern CA, so it's spendy for us, thus planning ahead and using CC's that give rewards.
 
Is budgeting giving up money on something else? Planning ahead for the vacation? That's what we do. We have to fly to WDW from northern CA, so it's spendy for us, thus planning ahead and using CC's that give rewards.

Yep, opportunity cost is what you would spend the money on if you didn't spend it at Disney. Assuming you wouldn't burn it in the fireplace, what would you spend that money on? What would you use the CC rewards on?

Another thing to thing about is opportunity cost is not only money, but time. You spend time at Disney and in doing so, are not spending time doing something else. What other vacations do you not go on to go to Disney? Or would your vacation time be spent binge watching Netflix?
 
I would update my kitchen and bathroom if I didn't vacation. But they are functional so I'd rather travel.
 
Funny enough, I did the reverse...post-2012, giving up Disney was my opportunity cost for having the ability to take weeklong+ trips to all new sites and experiences:)...I have 1 day tickets sitting for a 2019 return, but for 2017, I gave up 7 days in Disney for a 6 day Pigeon Forge, TN trip (including dinner shows and a waterpark hotel) and a 7 night Bahamaian cruise (with tours in each stop). In 2018, I gave up 7 days in Disney for a 10 day trip to Niagara Falls (Canada), Pittsburgh PA, and Columbus OH (for the Origins Game Convention) and a 7 night cruise to Bermuda and Boston. In 2019, I'll be giving those types of trips up to return to FL:)...
This is us . Our dollar has just tanked in the last few years as well. By giving up Disney/Universal this year, we will be able to do a three week driving/camping trip to the Canadian Rockies with a ton of really cool experiences like white water rafting. We will also be able to put a thousand out of the 2018 vacation budget toward a cruise for early 2019.
I did many of the things mentioned in this thread to afford to go to Disney once or twice a year when the kids were younger. Now it's just second nature to save for travel.
 
By the way, everyone gives up something. If all your money is spare, you are giving up saving it, or donating it to charity. Or leaving it to your children.

Is college saved for? Then you are giving up college savings? Is retirement fully funded - then you are giving up retirement. Do you feel like you donate enough to charity - then your opportunity cost is supporting whatever organizations you'd otherwise support.

And if you truly give up nothing to go to Disney, then send some of your spare money my way....I'd like to spend six months in Europe for my retirement and right now, it looks like I'll be short because I've gone to Disney.

As a matter of fact, our kids are through college and all supporting themselves. DH is retired and we have enough saved. We give a lot to charity. However, I would not consider sending some to a stranger on the internet a good use of my money, sorry! :flower:

The first 11 years of our marriage when our kids were the young, we didn't have the money and we didn't go to Disney. No regrets on that, we took less expensive vacations, like camping and visiting grandparents.
 
It's not that we cut stuff out it's that I quit doing stuff and now we have more money. I quit drinking alcohol 10 years ago and the amount of money spent on alcohol the previous 10 years that I saved in the last 10 definitely helped pay to go to Disney from Canada 4 times now.

Now that's something I would never give up, although we drink more at home than when out because it is less expensive!
 
As a matter of fact, our kids are through college and all supporting themselves. DH is retired and we have enough saved. We give a lot to charity. However, I would not consider sending some to a stranger on the internet a good use of my money, sorry! :flower:

The first 11 years of our marriage when our kids were the young, we didn't have the money and we didn't go to Disney. No regrets on that, we took less expensive vacations, like camping and visiting grandparents.

So you are spending their inheritance! Good for you.

The point is that opportunity cost is merely the awareness that you give up something to do something else. No one can have it all. And that making the decision to go to Disney instead of spending the money to remodel you kitchen or eat out - or spending your time to binge The West Wing - just means that you value Disney more than granite countertops or eating out or binging The West Wing. It isn't a value judgement.
 
We will be giving up our traditional Christmas spending next year for a WDW vacation! I've always wanted to do that, as we spend so much during the holiday season, and I'd rather enjoy an experience than a ton of gifts. We'll do a few gifts that relate to vacation: Disney luggage, Ear Hats, Disney GC, etc.
 
Never really thought about it until you (OP) brought it up...

Just a few weeks ago i was thinking that it was almost time to start planning for our next trip.. either summer 2018, Dec 2018 or early 2019. Plus I needed to earmark about 5k... then i thought, hum.. i had that earmarked for a down payment on a new truck.. my current car is about 10 years old and then i started rationalizing driving the old car another year or year and a half.. i never really thought of it in terms of putting off a new truck for a Disney trip but there it was... almost as if it were second nature..
 
We live in a smaller house that isn't renovated, we drive older cars, I don't wear expensive clothes, I don't spend on makeup and hair, we don't have a landscaper.
 
Thanks to all respondents so far... I would like to clarify that "opportunity cost" can apply to things that you wouldn't buy or spend money on even if you weren't saving money for Disney World. (Perhaps this was a hole in this particular economists philosophy) For instance another example for myself would be cable television (I have no interest in 300 channels that I would never watch plus commercials) but that is still something that I am giving up in favor of WDW as a form of opportunity cost.

My opportunity cost is a car. If we didn’t vacation, then that money could be funneled into a newer van. But we are so rough on our current van (I have firewood currently in the cargo bay), and I want to drive it until it dies. But it’s a Honda so that should be in five years minimum (14 years old, 204k miles).
 
I put off buying new appliances, but finally got those this year.

My husband and I both drive 15 year old vehicles.

We only have local channels on tv.
 
The big thing I did was that I'd been anticipating a promotion and raise shortly after the point where I hit the one year mark on my budgeting efforts and could really analyze how much everything in my day to day life was costing me. When I built my new budget (which has been holding strong for four months now) I based it on my previous income, and when I got my raise, I simply didn't change my budget to reflect it apart from a few small adjustments to make go-to categories like groceries a little less lean. It creates the illusion of the additional money I now make being "extra" funds and makes it easy to direct it straight into my vacation fund.

If I weren't set on diverting as much of that money to vacations as possible, I'd be saving up faster to replace my bedroom furniture, and I'd probably go out to dinner more often. And, too, if money weren't an object I might give more serious consideration to getting a second dog or a second pet snake. None of that is anything I'm really aching to spend money on, though.

The big one I actually feel is that I do give up other vacation opportunities, both because I'm budgeting my actual funds and because I have to budget my limited pto. I have a few short trips I do annually to see friends, but my vacation schedule is pretty rigid and only allows for one real trip outside those couple of long weekends.
 

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