blacksc400

iTrader: (4)

SW17LS

The best example I have of what I think is so self defeating about this "cheapness".

Good friend of mine, does very well, but he's very "thrifty". He's in Disney World with his wife and son, his youngest son...I guess he was 12? 13 maybe. They were there over the holidays and at the Magic Kingdom they have a special ticket event, its a Christmas party. They close the park, its limited tickets so its not real crowded, they do snow on main st, give you free cookies and cocoa, have a special nighttime Christmas parade, its a lot of fun I've done it a bunch of times.

Anyways, his wife and son want to go, but he balks at the $70 per person cost after they "already spent all that money" and they just went back to the hotel early instead. I mean...WTF? You're in Disney World, and you're with your wife and kid, and how much longer is this 12 year old boy going to want to go to Disney world with you...or go to Mickey's Christmas party and you cant pay $210 to go to the Christmas party?

20 years from now what would he be happier to have? That $210 or that memory and the pictures of a great night at the Christmas party? Guy makes $210 in about 25 minutes. Silly.

mmarshall

I agree on the happy memories, and money isn't everything. But is Disney Park admission now $70? If so, IMO that is ludicrous....IF it is just a basic admission fee, and does not include anything else with it.

mikedozz

family first, I never got that about people, creating special memories with your kids are priceless. Especially if you have the money

FatherTo1

I think that's just for the event ticket. Disney has been increasing park admission tickets every year for the past five years and people still gladly pay up to $119 per day, depending in the time of year. Of course the multi-day and park hoppers reduce your "per day" average price but it is still outrageous. After three years of annual Disney and Disney Cruise vacations, we are officially Disneyed out. The Anaheim resort is especially outdated, especially with bathroom facilities and crowd control. We have decided to take out Disney money and see the rest of the world (for less cost, lol). I get the point though, doing well for yourself and already invested in the trip, might as well go all in for that extra experience and joy with your family. It seems stingy in hindsight, even after plunking down all that money for the trip to begin with, but maybe the friend has a point too...how long is the Christmas event? Would it be $70 for an additional two hours? I can appreciate both sides of it. Maybe he was tired of feeling fleeced by Disney and stopped it on principle. How did the wife and son feel about the decision? What I've learned is it isn't worth "saving the money" unless everyone agrees, otherwise all you do is save some green but create an unforgettable negative memory at the end of a trip or day.

Htony

In my family pecking order is wife >> kids >> our dog 'Walter' >> me. All my life I have done to the best of my ability to provide for family. Been retired almost 20 years and
enjoying the result of hard work and discipline. Rest all I want is keeping reasonably good health taking care of myself.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Fizzboy7

I've not read this entire thread, but I'll pitch my take on it (assuming I have grasped what the OP was referring to).
Mercedes and BMW drivers are known within the community to be jerk drivers. Perhaps the non-jerk drivers, who genuinely like Mercedes cars, do not want to be associated with jerk drivers. That is something I can completely understand and sigh with.

Johnhav430

I used to be I don't know why but too proud to accept freebies. I know that I have made an exception with NHL and NFL tix. I mean for all the hockey games I've seen let's be honest I think I have paid myself only 3 times. Keeping it 100.

I will never know how it works, but, my wife has so many friends that give us free Disney tickets. They get them through work. They are not unlimited so when they give us 3, it's like an odd number, now another friend wanted 4 and it can't be done. My wife I don't know why she does this, she'll say well we'll take 2, and give the other 4 to blah blah blah. So I end up having to pay for 1 ticket the entire duration. I am annoyed with this arrangement lol If a friend offered us free tix, just take them. Don't shoot me in the foot by making me have to buy 1, take the offer of all 3.

My best friend his bro works for ESPN and gets the same.

p.s. if you want to know how my wife thinks, there will be all this awesome food at a gathering and the hosts hand out containers for all to bring home. My wife is too proud to take it. I'm like dang I'd be that college kid that acts like a locust when the swarm is gone nothing is left! but I don't I just think it...

Johnhav430

back to the original topic, I love the X5's with the 315 tires. I find that unique, bad a**, awesome, etc. So why don't I get what I think is awesome?

I am pretty sure that everybody here knows someone who complains about their X5 and has been stranded. And it's common knowledge about a potential $10k coolant leak. Think about it, when a LS owner rolls into a Lexus dealer and has maintained their LS by the book, and are given a $5k+ estimate off of a multi-point inspection, they might just dump the car. My sneaking suspicion is that was why at least 2 yrs. ago, there were so many low mileage LS430's for sale at new car dealers, with maintenance done by the book per carfax. Those things "scare" people into upgrading. They're not like us typically who can recognize that none of that work is needed. Well, admittedly, I was concerned, and did have the indie shop double-check that none of the work was needed.

My point is if a random Lexus dealer told me I needed > $5,000 of work, the previous owner was also told the same.

There may very well be 100% reliable S classes out there, and people who have them are living a dream! It's the perception that it isn't the case which dissuades ownership...the cars are bargains on the used market.

mmarshall

......and, not to get off-topic, but that's probably one reason why Florida gets along without an income tax. Like Nevada, they tap into all of the money spent in the state by tourists LOL.

Johnhav430

My best friend has 2 daughters, and he's a good dad but it always turns out to be 3 against 1.

His daughters think we are square, not hip, but they have no clue what we did growing up, not one. My buddy was mr. all-american soccer, but rest assured there was a secret other side.

Today, a housewife has a double-life, and it's big news?!

SW17LS

Haha! Its WAY more than $70. The $70 was just for the christmas party, your regular ticket doesn't get you in to that. Daily admission is about $100. Tickets for the 4 of us for a week is about $1,600.

UDel

If you are gong to Disney World, be prepared to spend a lot of money and be gouged. Admission is around $100 or more, restaurants/food are really over priced, merchandised is really overpriced, staying on Disney Land at a nice place can cost a fortune and lines for newer popular rides like Avatar themed one are often a hour or more wait. Not only that but they plan to raise the prices in the future too.

Johnhav430

I wouldn't touch the park without at least a couple free tix. Everybody has to know someone who has those free tickets from work. And we're not talking about anything illegal like craig's list or falsifying residency. They are gifted/transferred. My wife would know better than I do but it's just an email and barcode scanned at the entrance that came from her friends. Not doing anything wrong. If it's me personally, and I get 24 tickets per year (really that number represents people, not admissions), that's a lot of people I can help out (18), while keeping 6 for myself.