Painful Canadian Dollar

Carolynleanne

Canadian Disney mom
Joined
Mar 17, 2012
Is the dollar holding anyone else back from heading to Disney this year? We've gone yearly since we had kids, but this year we're opting for different vacations as the exchange rate is just too painful. We'd like to go back next year but i'm not feeling too hopeful that our dollar will be any better.
 
Let's just say I've started praying harder for the dollar to increase. It hasn't stopped me, but I might have a deep gasp once I get my bill. I'm in denial right now, though.
 
We have a trip upcoming on January 29, so it's certainly too late for us to make any decisions based on the current rate. Having said that, throughout the year I keep a running spreadsheet of our current trip budget, which includes the exchange rate. I watch it carefully and adjust savings as necessary. I was a little concerned just prior to Christmas and set myself a threshold for when I was just going to buy all of my US cash at that time and accept the rate. The rate stabilized and came down, so I held off and will use my credit card to gain the extra points.

Just to put it in perspective though, the current rate that I am using in my spreadsheet is the MasterCard rate of 1.3616220. Our total trip cost in Canadian dollars with that rate is $32,276.54 (A lot, I know, but it's 2 weeks, 7 people, 2-Bedroom Deluxe Resort, includes everything - flights, accommodation, meals, groceries, generous spending, hotels, a few evening magic events, 5 nights in St. Pete at a 2-Bedroom deluxe resort, etc). If I drop the rate down to say 1.20 (just to give a wide swing), the Canadian Total comes to $28,843.94. So the difference is $3,432.60. Granted that is a lot of money, but in the grand scheme of things, and in the context of the overall price, it's not that much. If we use last January's rate of around 1.266096, the difference is only $2,028.82 from last year, all else being equal. So really, our trip is only costing around $2,000 more than last year where the rate was lower - not enough to stop us.

Just for interest sake - if I put the exchange rate at 1.0, the total Canadian cost comes out at $24,596.26....now wouldn't that be nice for an all expenses paid trip for 2 weeks to Disney World/St. Pete :-)
 


I am worried some what about the American dollar. Its not changing my plan, staying off-site to save some money. Booked my flight through Frontier, even with the exchange, its still cheaper then most other airlines.
 


Once you are afflicted with the disease, even a Canadian dollar in the dumper won't stop you from going. We went to DLR and WDW last year, and our next trip is already booked. It was nice having the Canadian ticket discount the last couple of years. We want to see Star Wars:GE so there will be no discount this year. It sure would be nice if Disney gave us loyal Canucks a bit of a break on pricing though.
 
Not stopping us either. This year is our 20th wedding anniversary and since we honeymooned at Disneyland, there was no where else I wanted to go.

I rented points for a 1 bedroom dvc at the Grand California back in September which had to be paid in full so that is all paid for. I also decided to bite the bullet and grab our parkhoppers before any more price increases happen so that is done as well. The only thing left to buy are our flights and I am waiting a bit for better prices. Other than that, we will have food costs but I am not scrimping for this anniversary!

We are heading to Mexico in March and everything for that is already paid for: flights, transportation to the hotel which is an all inclusive and I have even paid for our activities already. I only mention Mexico because everything was done in US $.
 
We're going to Hawaii and the free airfare was nice, but the rest of it is killing me when I see what my credit card is being charged for our condo rentals and what any excursion will cost us in Canadian $$. :crazy2: . But there's no going back now, and I'm justifying it by the fact I received 2 incomes for a few months (severance and termination package) as I was offered a job the day after I lost my other one. So, instead of enjoying having all last summer off while I still got paid, I chose to work. So I deserve it!! lol Plus it's my daughter's last year of high school so family trips will be very limited in the future.
 
Our first couple trips we flew out of Portland and Boston, but then when we looked at it and by the time we drove down, spent a night on each end for a hotel and meals, it worked out to be about the same to fly out of Canada. It does hurt though to see the exchange come through on your credit card. The rate from last year to this year isn't a huge swing and the Canadian ticket discount with a room discount really helps, but that 93 cent dollar the first year we went sure would look nice now.
 
I try not to think about it. I love going and it is what it is. Look for deals and move on basically. The CAD isn't forecasting to get any better in the near future and I don't want to put life on hold while I wait for the optimal circumstances, my kids are growing and memories are priceless.
 
We didn’t even think of it when booking our upcoming March break trip to WDW/first visit to UO/IOA. We looked at what we could afford/want to spend and booked accordingly, saving wherever possible - ie. using air miles for park tickets and car rental.
 
I try to budget the trip for a crappy rate, then if I can afford that I'll book it. If I save after that it's great! And if not, well it is what I expected. But I don't want to stop going... it applies to my cruises and Disney. Since I favour cruising on Carnival and it's harder to book in CAD with them (you can but you have to call and I'm not sure what exchange rate they use).
 
I'm trying not to worry too much about exchange rates. We aren't doing WDW, but my oldest DS and I are going to London, Normandy and Berlin in May, and the cost of Europe is crazy. I'm trying not to worry too much about it, because in the long run, it's only a few hundred dollars overall on the trip.
 
My folks just booked 10 nights at Cabana Bay and purchased the "2 days, get 2 days free" for USF/IOA. To save money, they are only doing 2 parks, 1 park per day. They also are going to the Kennedy Space Center via bus tour and likely the World Golf Hall of Fame. I think my dad had sticker shock at the cost based on last year's trip, which had a slightly better exchange rate.

I told them to start saving their air miles hardcore as we are going back for 2 weeks November 2021! LOL
 
It's not the dollar for us. I don't really think about what the US dollar is worth when planning. I look at what the vacation costs me in C$, and I go if it is the best vacation dollar. For example, those cheap US restaurant meals (offsite) are still cheaper than restaurant meals here Canada even after exchange - still better value to vacation down there. My US$142/nt villa is still cheaper than a C$200/nt villa up here. It's really all relative to affordability and value.

However, what is holding us back is we are not going back until the trade war officially ends, that is our family's line-in-the-sand.
 
Once you are afflicted with the disease, even a Canadian dollar in the dumper won't stop you from going. We went to DLR and WDW last year, and our next trip is already booked. It was nice having the Canadian ticket discount the last couple of years. We want to see Star Wars:GE so there will be no discount this year. It sure would be nice if Disney gave us loyal Canucks a bit of a break on pricing though.

SO true ;) I keep telling my husband I'm mad at Disney for raising prices and changing things like Memory Maker photographers, yet here I am... looking at going back. When it's your happy place, you do whatever you gotta do to make it work!
 

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