Monday, October 26, 2009

The big D

Finally. We took our kids to Disneyland. After living in LA for nearly 5 years, we finally took the plunge and paid our mouse tax. But thanks to my talented bro Dan and my lovely sil Kori, that tax was quite bearable. The weather was perfect, the lines were short, the kids were happy and I even steeled myself to ride all the "Mountain" rides. Here's the part I am still baffled about. If not for the courtesy of my Disney-employed brother, our fun day at the amusement park would have cost us $240 more than what we spent for that one day's entertainment. I'm not against entertainment by any means, but within my own reasonable cost parameters, i.e. cheap. A friend of ours recently boasted that he switched satellite TV carriers and was now saving $50 a month. That's great, right? Now he only pays $150 a month to watch TV. Really? Really? What is the value of entertainment for you? How do you decide what is a reasonable cost for fun?

4 comments:

Maxmomma said...

How I understand this query and am so grateful to hear your thoughts on it! Glenn has been saying for a year now- Why don't we take a night out at Catalina Island? After researching it, a night there is literally $600 (getting out and back, hotel, food and activity). I JUST CAN'T DO THAT- a check in after 4, and check out by 10?!

I hit the same issues with Disneyland, etc. I loosen up on it when we are in a place we have worked to get to and won't return to for awhile. Local things, however, I am holding out on until my kids are old enough to make buying the season pass worth it.

I love that the beach is free! ($2 for parking..)

Anonymous said...

It is baffling isn't it? I have a bundle for phone,cable internet and cable tv. $100/mo for it. I hate the tv service, but I can't find a price for satelite that I'm willing to pay. So now I've resorted to reading a lot more since the tv goes out so much.

charlotte said...

free or not at all. My kids have a huge yard and cows to pet. They have squirrels to chase, deer to scare out of the yard a cat to play with. What more do kids need? I read all the time. Mostly I keep myself busy to watch much tv anyway.

Unknown said...

Love it--I'm cheap too. We currently have a ghetto antenna on the side of our house (but it's in the back, so no one can see it, right?) and get about 12 channels, 6 of which are in foreign languages, and of the remaining 6, 3 are PBS. But it's free!
Our recreational activities are usually VERY cheap or free, but I like it that way. We don't have "buyers remorse" afterward, and hopefully we are teaching our kids something in the process (like it doesn't take spending lots of money to have fun).