Nosy question- but how can you afford it? (Multiple trips/Resort stays?)

[Clover9990]

I love reading everyone's siggies and seeing their countdown timers, but I am wondering, for those of you who make multiple trips down to FL each year to visit Disney, how can you afford it? I always check the location and many of you live at least 3 states away from FL, so it's not like it's a hop, skip, and a jump away. And these same people stay in resorts onsite every time, too. HOW?! Are those of you able to make repeat trips (more than once a year) and stay onsite from a double income family? Or maybe some of you are older and more "established", as far as money goes?

I hope nobody takes this the wrong way, because I am soo happy for all of you who get to experience the magic- especially if you get to experience it multiple times every year- but I know that for us, Disney is affordable simply because we're only 2 hours away and usually just make 1 day trips, returning home at night. BTW- in case anyone is wondering- we are in our mid-20s and are a one income family, but I couldn't imagine being able to afford multiple resort stays, even if I did work FT, if we lived in another state and had to worry about airfare/rental care fees/ticket prices (we get military discounts on both tickets and resort prices).

Thanks for any of you who choose to enlighten me and aren't terribly offended at my nosy question, LOL! :)

[merryweather's twin]

I am in a 1 income family and we go 3 times a year. We buy Ap's with bonus or Tax returns and we sometimes drive and we sometimes stay off site. We both love WDW so it is a big important deal for us, so we make it work.The cost is not too bad for us and we get time alone with our kids....The 2 trips we take after the pass trip cost about 1400-1600 apeace for everything. Thats not to bad for a family of 6.:)

[JillU-DVC]

Simple - we bought into Disney Vacation Club!!

I was so tired of never getting a vacation becuase we just couldn't afford it. Now with DVC we take at least one vacation a year!

DVC takes care of our hotel bill (a LARGE part of our prior vacation dollars); I always shop around for airfare (I refuse to pay more than $200 each). We always stay in a 1 bedroom villa, so we get a full kitchen, and washer and dryer (plus a whirlpool bathtub). The kitchen helps us cut costs on meals. Plus I try to plan our trips to take advantage of Premium Annual passes (two trips in a year so we get the most of our passes).

I took a loan to pay for DVC; it will be paid off in approx. 2 more years (just recently transfered it to our home equity line). I pay approx. $60/month in dues for DVC, and will every month (until 2024).

I've also been able to have my brother and SIL come with us on our last trip, and my parents will be there for a week starting on Saturday.

It's a GREAT way to vacation, and I look forward in the future when we may not ever even go into the parks (we're still somewhat park commandos, but I anticipate that will change the more we go).

We love DVC - Old Key West is like our own personal vacation home!

[travelitis]

I would imagine many people can make the trips because they simply have a bigger income than we do. We live extraordinarily well for our income. We're a military family (enlisted) with one income and 3 kids. My husband is 29, and I'm 39. We don't make multiple trips to WDW, but we do travel. We consider it an investment in our marriage and family, so we don't buy new cars, don't put our kids in a bunch of expensive activities and are careful with our money. The kids do still have scouts, music lessons, baseball, chess, etc. so are in no way deprived. Being military you have to be thrifty. The .number one thing we do that we feel is responsible for our financial well-being is that we give to church/charity before we do anything else. (Read Suzie Orman's Nine Steps to Financial Freedom if you don't agree with me on this point.) Our financial picture has radically changed since we became generous in our offerings.

We did Disney in 2000 and are going this Thanksgiving. The last 3 years we've taken cruises without the kids, and we've done many weekend trips with them. One thing that helped was I worked part time for a charter airline so we had free airfare, but since we got relocated I lost that. Now we'll drive the 20 hrs. We have family who makes more than twice what we do who can't afford a vacation. The difference is that they don't make it a priority. They spend their money in different places: collecting dolls, car payment, big house payment, misc. shopping. The other people on the base my husband works don't travel or live in as nice of a neighborhood as we do either, yet many make more than he does and have double income households. They drive trucks with big payments instead of a car that's paid for. It's all a matter of priorities, and I'm not saying our propensity to spend on travel is the correct way. However, we cannot put a price on the experience we gain. If you lived further away you might find expenses you'd be willing and able to cut to get to Disney.

[PamNC]

when we were first married 8 years ago we couldn't take multiple trips and we could only afford the All Stars Resorts. But, as we progressed in our careers we moved on to Moderate Resorts. Then, since about 4 years ago we've been able to take 2 trips per year. For the last 2 years, we've stayed at Deluxe Resorts but only because of the great codes on Mousesavers and I have a cast member friend who gets me a hefty discount. We always drive because it's only 9 or 9 1/2 hours. That certainly saves money.

I'd say we spend on average about $5,000 - $6,000 per year on Disney vacations. Until this year. We went on our yearly trip in May and it was great. But, I don't think we'll get a multiple trip because we bought a new house and things are tight.

It just depends on, like you said, how established you are. And, if you're willing to plan and look, discounts are available.

PamNC

[kamgen]

We are dinks (double income, no kids), but we are in no way wealthy. We did, however, make a smart financial decision on our honeymoon two years ago, we joined DVC. At that point, we were sure we would want to vacation a great deal, and we were right! :)
DVC has allowed us to travel to Florida more than we ever expected. But to do so, we drive the 18 hours straight through. We also save by driving one car, not having cable tv, always using coupons for groceries, etc. We pack our lunches for work, I don't spend money on getting my nails done or shopping for clothes in expensive stores. Everything we buy is either on sale or has a coupon...or we don't buy it. It is a rule that works for us.

When we do go to WDW, we have had annual passes, so that helped. And DVC takes care of the room part of it.

I can see how some people can't understand how it works. Our own family thinks we must be the "Rockefellers" if we do this. On the contrary, we just prioritize things, and in our marriage, spending time together having fun is a BIG priority. The memories we make on our trips together are priceless. To me, vacations are essential. But that is not true of everyone. It is a matter of what is important to you. ANd in no case is one way better than the other.
Sure, we want a new car, some jet skis :), and I would love to go down to the mall and blow a couple hundred dollars on clothes, but I would rather go to WDW and shop at Target :).
JMHO.

Basically it works out that dh works hard to pay the bills and I work for the "extras".

Kamy :)

[bigsis1970]

i use my tax return just for fun things and in Dec 2001 i bought Ap's and saved all year - adding it to my refund - added in my Bush Rebate too and off we went for 2 full weeks.. this year i will only go for one week but the AP's are saving me $1000.00 on park tickets and i am hoping to use it for a room discount as well

oh by the way i am a single mom of two - and my ex is very mad that i am going twice in a year he swears its his money but i am swearing back it isn't .. its all mine and saved by myself.

ps last year from Oct to just before T-Day i also got a second job just for that reason and we had just a medium not extra huge xmas but the kids new that disney was their big gift from me.

Michelle

[DMRick]

We go at least twice, and this year four times. When Southwest had their special, we booked more than one trip. First we booked two at $39 each way (from NY..two adults), and then we booked two trips at the fly one, bring a friend deal. Since they are still running their rewards special..we will have a free ticket coming after our August trip. We picked dates that I knew in the past they had codes, so we stayed at AllStars first time for $49 and night and second at $5 a night. We wanted to try the mods and got postcards for the last trip and the upcoming trip at $79 and $89 a night (all before taxes).
We joined connections for a month and bought Q & C's. We have eaten a lot of meals at Beaches and Creams. We each get the childs breakfast wach morning in the food courts (bacon, eggs, and instead of the muffin a piece of French toast for $3.75 each.
We get park hoppers through General Electric (employee discount), and get the highest amount we can, and since we only visit parks twicea visit, they last three years. We took advantage of the SeaWorld tix's on line when grands joined us and got good prices and a $20 certificate which we used on food.
Car rentals have really been the biggest expense since 9/11..no more cheap cars..but having a car enables us to site see out of Disney and to eat in less expensive places. We usually eat in DD using DC and American Express discounts and one meal at Cape May a trip. Late lunches usually do for dinner on most days, with a light snack at night. That's how we do it.
PS we looked in DVC, and with codes, and not caring about Deluxes, we do much much better than those payments would be.

[MickeyMonstersMom]

We don't go multiple times yet, but I can see that coming. This trip is my children's first and a learning one for me - after reading the tips from this board and some guidebooks, the "once-in-a-lifetime" vacation has been demystified, and I know we could afford to go more often if we make that a priority.

It's just me and my two children, and we do everything together. I used to buy season passes for a local park and we'd go 20-25 times each summer - I can relate to those whose families/friends don't understand why or how they go so often. I drive an older car and rent a duplex: my money is better spent on family fun than on high car payments or house repairs. My ex-husband also gets all bent out of shape over our vacations (I go through that each summer as well, because I'm a teacher). In fact, he quit his job this summer in retaliation for my planning to take the kids to WDW - he says he shouldn't have to pay for me to go on vacation. Talk about a dog-in-the-manger attitude! In fact, I financed the entire vacation from my income tax return and my final paycheck for the school year. Sure, we're eating a lot of spaghetti right now, but it'll be worth it to see DD's face at CRT. Which would I rather have, a nice car or that kind of moment with my kids? No contest!

Lori

[MickeyMonstersMom]

DMRick, where do you fly out of to get those rates? The best I could get was $220 with US Air. We'd definitely go more often with airfare like that!

Lori

[Poohbear123]

Simple: I live 3.5 hours away, my kids are grown and on thier own, and I GO ALONE!;) I save BIG money that way!:o

[DiznEeyore]

Originally posted by kamgen
DVC has allowed us to travel to Florida more than we ever expected. Everything we buy is either on sale or has a coupon...or we don't buy it. It is a rule that works for us.

Sure, we want a new car, some jet skis :), and I would love to go down to the mall and blow a couple hundred dollars on clothes, but I would rather go to WDW and shop at Target :).
JMHO.
What Kamy said!!! ;)

[Disney Talker]

We are budget travelers and not those who go multiple times a year, once each calendar year now. It used to be once every two years, with us driving down 900 miles with our two DS in the 80s. We were a single income military family and many thought us crazy to go, but we loved it and made do, so we could go. Stayed off site, bought discount hoppers from our military post, ate fast food meals and did not buy many souveniers.

When yougest DS went off to college, we thought we could not go for the four years he was in school. However, I returned to work part time, we downsized our house to a smaller house, which was better for just two and we went once a year while he was in college too.

Now DS is out of college, I work full time and instead of driving we now fly down, rent a car, but still stay off site to save money and so we can stay longer. Would much rather take a ten day vacation as opposed to a shorter one on site. Still buy on park admission on the military post and have what most would consider a budget trip, but we love it..works for us

[DMRick]

DMRick, where do you fly out of to get those rates?

Out of Albany. Southwest has a wonderful deal right now..this is copied from thier site:

Orlando, FL
$49 each way, to/from Albany, NY

7-day advance purchase required.
Fares are each way with roundtrip purchase.
Travel August 5 through September 29, 2002.
Purchase through August 1, 2002, midnight Pacific Time.
Fares shown do not include federal excise tax of up to $3.00 for each flight segment.
A flight segment is defined as a takeoff and a landing.
Fares do not include airport-assessed passenger facility charges (PFC) of up to $18 and government-imposed September 11th Security Fee of up to $10 roundtrip.
Purchase tickets within one day of making reservations and at least 7 days before departure. Online reservations must be purchased at time of booking.

[MickeyMonstersMom]

Thanks for that information. We're much closer to Syracuse, but there was recent publicity that the airport there ranks among the most expensive in the northeast. It may be worth the extra drive in the future - I'll be keeping that in mind!

Lori

[batgrr1]

18 days until our next trip...we're paying cash all the way. It's our second trip, we went in March, 2001, ASMO. Here is how we did it. We put money in a savings account each month directly out of our checks. We never touched it. WE never saw it so we never spent it. My husband has since been laid off from his job but we're not dissuaded...Our trips usually run about $5,000. We usually put about $1200 in the savings account. We used our income tax return to buy Universal Studios and Circque du Soleil tickets. We used a credit card to buy our airfare which we have since paid off (used the credit card for convenience, $888 for a family of 4, too bad southwest doesn't fly to orlando from DFW). We get paid twice a month. WHenever our checks had more than 10 days on it (more than 80 hours) we put the equivalent of the extra hours pay in our "cash drawer" (envelope in my husbands dresser). Anytime we were tempted to go eat out when we could have just as easily cooked, we would just cook, and put $20 in the cash drawer (what we would have spent on dinner). Just saving here and there and making our trip a PRIORITY, finding other ways to finance needs, we funded our vacation out of cash. WE paid for everything we could in advance so that's less cash we will carry to the world. Our kids earned what we called "Disney Dollars" by doing chores around the house, it's their spending money. Our budget is as follows:
Rental car: $203
Resort: $418 (POFQ)
Universal Studios hotel: $97
Food & Spending money: $1500
Universal Studios Tix: $371 (5 days)
Park Hoppers: $954
Cirque Du Soleil: $220
Airfare (Vanguard Airlines): 888
We joined Disney Club and saved that way, as well as using a discount code found on Mousesavers for the resort. Searched expedia DAILY for Universal hotel rates (not resort). Searched the internet daily for the cheapest rental car rates. Got the DC discount for LaNouba tix. Kept watching fares, and when I realized expedia is not always the cheapest, watched fares until it dropped into my range. It took SIXTEEN MONTHS of planning for this trip to come together but now, it's only 18 days away!!!WE CAN"T WAIT!!! what we thought was a once in a lifetime vacation has turned into an obsession!! Next year, disney cruise, and 2005--EURODISNEY!! Here we come!!

[Belle5]

This has been a wonderful thread!!!
We used to take our 5 children to WDW about every 6-9 months. DH has been laid off twice in the past four years and consequently our income is quite a lot less than it used to be. It is not possible for us to travel right now. I have booked trips twice in the past couple of months trying to keep our tradtion of going to WDW but I have had to cancel the trips as reality sets in. We just can't afford it! We are planning to sell our house and scale down our lifestyle so that we can once again do what it is that our family enjoys. It's just a priority for us. (Quite worth selling the most beautiful house in the world for it.)

[Minnie's Mate]

We are a two income family with two small children. I am 41 and my wife is
38. We waited to have children until we were in our mid 30's. So we are a
little more established than a lot of families with kids the ages of ours (2
and 5).

We have flown at times, but when the second child came along, it just wasn't
feasible. We live about 7 hours away in the Metro Atlanta area so driving
isn't so bad. We have annual passes and take advantage of every discount we
can find. We also qualify for the teacher/government rate at the Dolphin (I
work for the State of Georgia and my wife is a teacher), so we save on
deluxe accomodations when we don't necessarily want a Disney Deluxe. We
have stayed at the Polynesian, Yatch Club and twice at the Animal Kingdom
Lodge (our favorite so far, Dolphin is a close second).

My parents live about an hour north of Orlando now so we usually combine a
trip to Disney with a few days with may parents. It doesn't save us on
hotel, but it does help justify the expense of the trip...two birds with one
stone kind of thing.

We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for 8 nights this past Christmas in a
pool view room and again in a Savannah view room during Spring break for 5
nights in April. We were at my parent's the week end of May 18th so we
drove down to the Animal Kingdom park for the Annual Passholder's event. We
have arranged for another trip the week following Christmas this year
staying 5 nights at the Dolphin on the gov/teach discount. That totals 4
planned trips this year. The trip this Christmas will be on next year's
AP's so we are getting an average of two trips per year with the AP's.

We had planned a long week end at the beach at the end of July, but when I
checked on hotel rates, the cheapest ocean front room I could find on Tibee
Island was $149.00 per night. The cheapest I could find on Hilton Head was
$159.00 per night. Both of these beaches are approximately 5+ hours away
from our home.

Having seen the AP rates for July at a Disney moderate, I knew we could stay
for less at WDW!!! We are staying at the Carribean Beach Resort for $108.00
per night water view. I also knew a WDW moderate would be nicer than the
hotels on Tybee. So Disney is not always more expensive than more typical
vacations. Now that makes 5 planned trips this year...wow, even I'm
impressed with what we can do with the AP's as incentives to go more often.

God has blessed us with good, stable jobs and good incomes, even though we
work for a government and school system. We do not carry any credit card
debt and live within our means. We have a nice home and a single car
payment. We paid off my truck before we bought my wife's Expedition in
1999.

We have found remarkable opportunities for discounts on this board and
through Mousesavers. Our children are our first earthly priority and we
consider our vacations an investment in our family and our children. When
people ask why we go so often (normally 2-3 times a year) I respond that my
wife and I enjoy WDW so much and feel that there are very few places that
you can take a todler and kendigartener for a vacation and everyone (adults
included) has a great time.

[MEM]

As most have said, making travel a priority in the budget is the key and trimming the impulse purchases is a must. Try reading "The Millionaire Next Door" -- its all about living beneath your means, not just within your means. We are a single income family, with Mom(me) the breadwinner and DH the SAHD. My salary is the traditional 60cents on the dollar of my male counterparts but DH, who handles all the money at my request, stretches my paycheck like you would not believe. We budget $150 a month for vacations and I admit it took five years to save for our first trip to WDW but we had saved so much we were able to go twice in one year and spend a week in London. We own a pop-up camper which enables us to take less expensive vacations during the rest of the year.

My siblings all think I must make a fortune when in fact their household incomes are double mine, and in a city far less expensive than the one I live in, Boston. My sister thinks nothing of buying Christopher Radko ornaments at Christmas and paying big bucks for her Country Club membership, yet whines about being broke all the time. My kids' clothes and toys come from yard sales and they want for nothing. We rarely eat out, or go to the movies. Both of our cars are paid for and my 1985 Chevette still runs like a top. I am planning my first foray into the world of Ebay and all proceeds are ear-marked for WDW (I guess that would be a pun). Saving for travel is a game for me otherwise it would feel like deprivation.

We took our first trip to WDW in August 2001 and bought annual passes, justified by the length of our trip (10 days). I did not get good rates on air and hotel because I had a AAA agent who couldn't care less. Now I know how the game is played and I played it well in January 2002, when the airfare from Boston to Orlando dipped to $99 R/T plus fees. We jumped on it and stayed at ASMu for $54 a night, A/P rate. We ate breakfast in our room, lunch and most dinners at the food court, with a few sit-down dinners. Our next trip is in November and although I have budgeted for rack rate at ASMo, I am hoping for codes or A/P discounts.

If I lived in Florida we would have a budget for seasonal passes and off-season rates at the AllStars. It would be impossible to keep me away!

[Clover9990]

Thank you!! Thanks to each and every one of you who took the time out to share how you adjust your budget and plan for Disney vacations! I assumed a lot of people just pay for their vacations on credit cards and carry the debt, but I see that's not the case. (Which is WONDERFUL- what an accomplishment to take a trip and have it all paid for ahead of time!)

I guess that I need to be more patient and realize that, in due time, we will be able to afford longer stays at the resorts. I would say we live within our means, and sometimes a little below, but there are a few things I'd like to trim away in order to save more money for vacations- including things like eating out. Even if it's just fast food, it sure does add up over time! I am sure we'll be able to splurge on longer vacations, too, once I am able to start working again (which might not be until my oldest starts kindergarten).

So thanks for sharing all of your tips with me and letting me know how vacations of this caliber are possible- even several times a year! And thanks for not being offended at my nosiness! :) I know that I am very blessed to have a healthy family, a husband with a stable job, and a home that is close to Disney and that allows us to make one day trips to the park- some people aren't that lucky, and I need to count my blessings.

[Tara8595]

I make a modest income, but my reason is that I tend to go with other people and only pay for myself. Not having kids helps too. But the biggest reason I'm able to go a lot is that this is my hobby. Some people collect things. Some people decorate their homes. Some people buy big cars, tv's, whatever. Disney World is my hobby and it's what I choose to spend my money on. It's a conscious choice. I live in an apartment, I drive an 8 year old Civic. But I take the best vacations ever.

I almost always travel exclusively in value season (October - exception for the Halloween party). I wait til the codes to come out before I book and if I can't book a code rate, I stay at an All-star. I get an annual pass. I exclusively fly Southwest and check their site almost everyday (bookmark the 'hotfares' page), because some of their discounts are only good for short times - I always wait for a big reduction, because one *always* comes up before each trip - it hasn't failed me yet. I periodically check the National Car Rental page and often rebook my car 4 or 5 times before my vacation as their rates change, which they do *constantly*.

But one of the biggest ways to save money is to travel with others. If you travel as a couple, try to get another couple to go with you and split the room cost - this is a huge savings, especially if you're already getting a 40% AP discount on a room. I mean, I just booked Beach Club using the Virginia discount code for September - so a room that in Regular Season is $319. With the discount it's $182 including Tax. That's only $90 per couple. And if it's just a trip for 4 friends, which I do sometimes, then it's only $45/night per person. You can't beat that deal. I would guess if I had a big family, I'd try to go in with another family on a villa, or possibly get a cabin at Fort Wilderness, which seems like an excellent value.

Anyhow - that's my explanation, in a long winded nutshell.

-Tara

Oh - also - I have good credit, and use it. :-) My goal is to die in debt and then all that stuff will have been for free. Heh heh heh.

[Hollymom1229]

I afford it by being single w/o kids. I go to Disney about once a year and have about 4 other mini-vacation (4-5 days) elsewhere. I make a modest living, but I continue to drive a 9 yr. old car, because it's paid off. I eat a lot of spaghetti. I only buy clothes on sale, and Payless has become my haven for shoes. I don't get manicures or pedicures, I go to have my hair cut every 3 months, no perms, highlights or anything. My fiancee and I both live simply and buy few things for ourselves. Instead we save the money to do nice things. I have had more than one person lecture me about how someone my age shouldn't be able to afford 9 nights on site at WDW for 2 people, and that I'm not prioritizing. Yet, I've paid for all of this in cash by being frugal, maybe it's them who's not prioritizing. I think most people with a steady income can afford to travel if they learn to live within or below their means.

[ColetteN]

HollyMom1229 How unbelievably RUDE of someone to "lecture" you on your choice of vacations (which are supposed to be fun & what the person ENJOYS!) and tell you your priorities aren't right! That's none of their business. And your "age" doesn't matter either. I'm still shocked from reading your post. "Shouldn't be able to afford WDW" - says who????

I'm still relatively young (31) and have come to learn that anything is possible if it's a priority. No matter what someone's priority - it's not your place to judge.

That said - thanks to so many who answered this post with genuine and honest ideas/ways to save for WDW vacations.

I hope everyone has wonderful vacations.

Colette:D

[BigWaveDave]

Hollymom,

Don't let anybody presume to tell you what you should spend your $$$ on! As long as you're not breaking the law, your choices are just as good as anybody else's!

Many people spend their money on things I would'nt, and visa versa. I got a kick out of the person who just spent $15K on dining room furniture tell me how it was "such an extravagence" for me to go to WDW twice in one year! Or the person who just bought a Porsche convertable tell me that he didn't see how you could spend more than $500 for a TV (a few years I spent $1,500 for a big screen projection TV).

Point is, everyone has their own priorities. FWIW, yours sound just fine to me!

Have fun,
Dave

[Uncle Albert]

Hey, I agree with you 100%. We all spend money on different things. I have freinds that will spend more than $100.00 on drinks, going out, in one hour. They do it every weekend. I spend my money going to WDW. I'll always find money to go. It's a must for us. Even If I have to get a part-time job.

[CarolA]

I found this thread very interesting. I am very lucky in that I have a very good job and since I have don't have kids or a spouse I have more disposable income then a lot of people do. However, I do know that travel is more important to me then some other things. For example, there were several women at my last job with the same position I had (so we all made about the same) and they all kept buying bigger houses while I have stayed at the same small house so that I can go to Disney, Europe and other places. I realize that a bigger house might be a better "financial" investment, but travel is something I love to do. I figure when I am rocking on the nursing home porch I can amuse myself looking through my photo albums trying to remember if I really did ride Tower of Terror!

[patsal]

We do have a double income, we own DVC, we carry our lunches to work and I still cook all but two nights per month (both are pizza nights). We consider our vacation time a priority for reconnecting as a unit and we like to share our time with relatives in a way that is more magical than a family picnic. For us it is a priority of where the money goes. I do not have expensive collections of things, I do my own nails and pedicures, I clip coupons to pay for everyday groceries, save up my change and do point reward programs on-line to take the edge off of food cost, etc. With DVC I don't have to eat out unless I want to (which I do because I cook all year so I can enjoy my vacations). We do not buy souvineers, we'll be back next year anyway. We also buy PAP's and try to fit two vacations into a 366 day period.
Our vacations are at least 10 days each, sometimes more. The kids save their allowance and switch it to Disney Dollars at the end of every month. For birthday gifts they often receive Disney Dollars and when relatives don't know what to get us for a gift they often give us Disney Dollars for Birthdays, etc. For many years we were a one income family that vacationed big every five years. We decided we wanted more quality vacations and made an investment in what was right for us. I would not trade my years as a stay at home Mom for anything, but now that the kids are in school I couldn't stay home anyway, I bore way too easily! LOL Until we bought the DVC I did not make a commitment from my income at all. I used it to pay off old stuff. I guess the short of it is vacation time is special to us, and no other vacation destination has ever been more magical for us. BTW your question was not too nosey--better to get the real scoop.:D

[perdidobay]

In our mid 20's DH and I had very little money so we took camping vacations and never ate out or spent money on anything beside gas and camping fees:D We went to WDW for the first time when we were 33 and 34 and stayed offsite and ate fast food.
As our income has increased over the years, we can spend more on travel (and do) because it is our favorite thing. We are now 45 & 46 and we go to WDW 2-3 times a year, because of DVC, as of 2001. We also go on other vacations (we spend 6-7 weeks a year on vacation)
and spend around 15k a year on travel. I think it all depends on your priorities in life, mine is to enjoy it while I'm living:D I think expensive clothes and cars are a waste of good money that could instead buy a good trip:)

[PatriciaH]

Travel is a priorty for us as well. We are double income no kids so this helps. We have always driven older cars, love to cook at home and do not mind bringing lunch to work. I am not a big spender when it comes to clothes. I love Marshalls and TJ Maxx and would never buy full price:) The quality clothes and shoes are there if you look. I have worked in retail and know how much things are marked up! I feel saving for an early retirement and travel are my two priorities. Friends say they are envious of all the trips we take but we think Americans get jipped on vacation time and wish we could take MORE vacation time every year.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Mark Twain

[chrisn]

We are a double income family with 2 kids ages 14 and 4.

We go to WDW every year but don't stay onsite because my dad owns a timeshare condo at Westgate Lakes so that saves us the cost of accomodations. Basically, I work so that we can go on these expensive vacations. Every month I put $500 in savings and every November the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, my boss whom I love gives me a big FAT bonus. That goes directly into savings also. Our WDW trips usually run us about $6000-$7000 for about 1 1/2 -2 weeks. We do own a nice home but drive older, cheaper cars (Dodge Neon). I do feel like we sacrifice other nice things to be able to do this but it's so worth it. Back in February, we went on two 7 day back to back Eastern/Western Caribbean cruises. One on Disney and one on RCCL's mega ship Voyager of the Seas and that trip was double the cost of our WDW trips so after saving for that one, this next upcoming seems like a breeze. I must confess, I have been driving hubby crazy about buying me a Dogde Durango or a Jeep Grand Cherokee but I keep thinking that the Disney trips may suffer if he gives in. Well one more year and DS's Daycare costs will be over so I guess I can wait until then for my SUV. I would like to add that the first trip we planned was a dream come true and a once in a lifetime trip never thinking that we would be able to do it every year. I feel very fortunate to be able to have these special trips and memories with my babies and it's just amazing how the power of wanting something bad enough works. Wonders!

[christianweecare]

We are not a wealthy family. We are a family with two incomes and now two grown kids. During their growing up years, we tried to visit WDW every couple years or so (especially at Christmas time). In hind-sight this was money well spent. These trips are some of our fondest family memories. It gave us time to spend with each other and just play!

Now that kids have grown up, DH & I are trying to find time for each other. We both work long hours each week, so we make a point to make our yearly week long trip to WDW. Sometimes we include the kids in a long weekend trip. DH & I save all year for our trips. We buy AP's for the two of us and budget our trips so that they are paid for in full. We feel that it is important to give each other "get away time". Plus we love WDW. We have been going back since 1975--our honeymoon!

[ceecee]

Yes, a lot of it is priority. We put off new carpet for two years, but we've had GREAT WDW vacations and TONS of family memories. Thinking back to when I was a kid, I don't even remember our carpet, but I do still remember our family vacations.

My girlfriend whines all the time about not being able to go to WDW because she's a single mom (who does get a nice child support ck). She gets manicures and pedicures every 2 wks, goes to the movies every week. And gets her hair colored, hightlighted etc at the salon every 4 wks. And they eat out at nicer places at lunch and dinner time... PRIORITY!

[Bob D194]

We are a two income family with an adult son. We travel to WDW twice a year and spend 18-22 days at DVC/OKW. The cost of our on property stay at OKW is only the dues/taxes we pay which is about $80. month. Airfare from Hartford, CT on Delta is about $160. each. Our AP's are about $380. each. Rental car is about $300. and we allow $700 - $800 for food and misc. Total for each trip is about $2,100 - $2,300 for two adults.

Buying DVC is one of the best things we ever did. We have added points and we are looking to add another 100. We are in our 50's and we still look forward to our trip to WDW.

We budget carefully and we look for travel bargins.

Bob D

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says...................................... I just had to skip all the replies, send mine and then go back and read them.
I will bet some of them are doing pretty well, and some are empty nesters. You will probably find some like us who are doing ok, but drive a 10 and 12 year old car, and spend less for clothes in a year than some do in a month. I could buy a Lexxus, pay cash for it, but in 10 years I have a beat up old car. Or I can buy a almost new Prism and drive it for ten years and have a beat up old car, and pay for 7 trips to WDW!! Guess I have to plan three more trips!
I will guess you will find just ordinary folk here who have decided to spend a higher percentage of their money on vacation than most people do.
Back to the original post, if you got a part time job, even one that is only one day a week, you could turn the day trip into an overnighter, and explore the various resorts one by one, and do two park days on every trip, and could go every month!!! Working one day a week! And everyone will read and say how can they go 12 times in one year!!!!!!!! LOL

[GeorgeG]

Like so many have already said, it's a matter of priorities.

We both work and my salary is good, but far from outrageous. The kids are all grown and on their own (3 grandchildren), so that makes a difference. Both cars are new, but practical (VW Beetle & Safari van).

We figure we both work hard and my job has a fair amount of stress. Vacations are very important to us and nothing works better than WDW. My wife has told me she can see the stress leaving me in stages as we get closer to WDW with the last disappearing as we walk into Epcot the first day. There's just something special about the atmosphere of Epcot that really suits me.

Some years ago, my brother made the statement that he wished they could afford to go to WDW every year like we do. After sitting and talking about it, I showed him he could, but had different priorities. They're both heavy smokers and enjoy their daily ration of beer, which easily amounted to the same we spend on going to WDW.

It's a matter of priorities... and working you butt off, too!

[JulesMom]

OVERTIME!!!! I work extra shifts to pay for it!

We watch to get the best deals, get AP's, & do reward programs

[wannagodis]

This has been a FANTASTIC thread! I've been wondering for so long how people manage to do multiple trips to WDW. Thanks to everyone who responded! I'd like to ask a "piggyback" question (not sure this should be a separate thread--but its related). To those of you who responded here...did you also manage to save for retirement/education/home improvement WHILE taking the multiple trips, or did you just put those things on hold for a while? THANKS!

Lisa

[bigsis1970]

I have done some home improvements like re-painting , getting a new furnace and some Yard work.. I will say that my tax refund next year will be for major stuff like carpeting and a new deck - however i think i will still be able to manage to save some for our trip in early 2004 ( think i will not be able to save enough for 2003 and do the big repairs.) Michelle

[Minnie's Mate]

We save a set amount each month through our credit union. We budget for retirement, home repairs, our kids education, auto insurance and our "dream house". It isn't easy, but it is worth it.

[dcfromva]

When we first started going to WDW in 1991, we only went once a year--always pre-paying everything.

Then in 1998, I got this wild idea of going to WDW 4 times in one year--(a week each time). That is a total of 1 month of WDW out of the year! What gave me the idea was the example of someone else on a BB. They said they went to WDW and stayed at the Contemporary Resort for the month of DEC every year. They detailed how they saved all year long and other money saving techniques they used at WDW. That was amazing to me!
That made me understand that probably the most important way to realizing such things was to have a goal and then outline steps for achieving the goal.

These days, I would like to say I am a really good money manager and that's why we can go to WDW a lot--but that really isn't true. WDW is just a top priority to us. And, over the years, it has become a formula and I can usually predict pretty closely what we will spend on a trip because we have done it so many times.

Last year, we went to DL twice and WDW 3times (mostly over long weekends for WDW).

This year, we finally decided to buy into DVC and as a result we received a free 3 night stay plus a free 7 night stay at one of several WDW resorts-- in addition to the DVC points that we received for the year. We already had AP vouchers (been saving them for the right time :) ). We took our 3 night stay back in May (found airfare 94.00RT per person on SWA!). We had travel coupons for our airfare for our trip to WDW in November (incentives from a credit card company) and we will drive the other two times. Our additional out of pocket expenses will be for food and souvenirs and any shows we may wish to see, and one rental car our Nov trip and 2nights at the Contemp (not covered by points or free stays).

On our next visit, I'm going to try those connections vouchers for some of our meals and see how they work out, I've already purchased a bunch of them.

Disney has not lost any of it's shine to me--I still love it as much as the first time we ever went!

-DC

[perdidobay]

In response to Lisa (wannagodis),
DH and I had managed to start saving for retirement 12 years ago, we traveled alot but did not spend the money on vacations we do now. We are putting DD#2 thru college right now, (DD#1 graduated in 2001) and we are putting aside 20% of our after tax income into savings for retirement. We also have 15 year mortgages on our home and rental property, and look at that as a forced savings account of sorts. When we retire, we will sell House #1 and live in the rental property ( condo on the beach).
We have always lived below our income and have no debts other than our mortgages, we budget every penney every month. In fact our travel money is actually the rental income from our rental property, so you could say other peoples vacations fund our vacations:D

[Pat_Elliott]

My wife and I used to wonder how people could afford multiple trips, and that's coming from a two-income family with no kids. The answer: Listen, learn, research, plan. If you're going multiple trips, an AP is a must. At $349 per AP, if you're going say three times, that's a little over a hundred bucks per trip, per person, for unlimited park access. The other two big expenses involve hotel and air (for us, anyway). Airfare is getting to be a commodity. We live in Central PA, but rather than fly out of our local airport, we drive to Baltimore (about 4 hours drive, and about $50 for long-term parking for a week), where we can get unbelievable fares. We're flying on September 20, round-trip, both of us, all fees & taxes included, for $253, or $126.50 per.

For Hotel, if we've had a good quarter and want to treat ourselves, we use a multitude of Internet sources to get the best rates. But normally, I use Priceline, 2.5* in the LBV area, and have never paid more than $35 for a room and never been displeased. We're staying this time in the BW LBV Resort in DD, which I understand lacks the magic of a Disney Resort, but for a couple that will spend most of their time at EPCOT and Pleasure island, it's convenienct and quite the bargain at $30 per night. Amazing bargains are out there if you're willing to hunt for them. I pity the person that pays list, because you never have to.

Once you get past the air, tickets, and hotel, it's up to you what you spend. There a couple dozen good net sites (you're on one of the best). FYI, my wife and I figure the trip in September will cost us about $800 for the whole trip. This includes other tricks, like eating Breakfast in the room, etc. And if you don't have kids, being able to go in the September/October range gives you major financial freedom.

PE

[Poohnatic]

My family has been three times in the past 14 months, with another trip scheduled for January. Like everyone else here, the vacation is a priority. Until this week, I was the income earner, and my husband was a SAHD.

I'm an employee of Disney Store, so we get some fantastic breaks, making it impossible to take a vacation anywhere else for less. When I book our room, I pay it in full--it's so much easier to not have that expense to worry about when you get there. They now take Visa for reservations (I only have a debit Visa and carry no other cards), so I'm able to put it on the card.

Yeah, there's things we'd like to do to our house, but we plan on being here for a long time, so we'll get the deck someday, and finish the basement eventually. My husband's fairly good with carpentry, so he's decided that he'll do the basement himself and get the contractors to sign off on the work-better to pay a few hundred for an inspectin than several thousand for the whole job!

Other things we do:
I have $25 a week direct deposited into savings from my paycheck. This gives us about $500-$700 to play with when we go (roughly every 6-8 months). Any overtime I earn gets converted into Disney Dollars.

All loose change goes into a mason jar at the end of the day. You'd be surprised how much that adds up. This last trip, we only did it for about a month (forgot to do it) and we still rolled $100 bucks.

The rooms are usually paid for with tax refund. We stay at the All Stars, since we don't spend that much time in the room, anyway.

We invested in a refrigerated cooler, rather than renting a fridge in the room. It gets stocked with yogurts, water, gatorade, cheese and fruit. It saves lots of $$ on the drive (15 hours) and when we get to WDW.

We do eat on property, but usually do breakfast in the room, a large lunch at a resort and light meal for dinner. The most recent trip was an exception-the first time we spent more on food than the hotel!

As soon as we knew we were getting W's 'rebate' last year, we said "We're going to Disney World"! With working full time, it's hard for us to do a lot as a family, so this is important for all involved-we get a week of just us, no phones ringing and no errand running. 100% quality time.

Suzanne

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says............................ I have finally read every post on this message, and am amazed at how many frugal people we have out their, that turn their frugality into something "lavish" like a WDW vacation! I figured some did, but we are the vast majority of these posts.
Perdidobay, I 'm pretty good with cash, but 20% toward retirement? You are the bomb!! We do 10%, and also have two rentals, that force us to save $500 in principal each month! Never bought a rental, just kept our house when we bought another one.
I'm surprized by the number of old cars out there!! Over 20 years ago, I decided to allow $500 a year depreciation on my car. Back then it was easy! In 1992 got a 1990 Geo Prism for 5k, it is 10 years later so I made it! In 1994 got a 1992 Toyota truck for 7k, so it has to last four more years! Now that we are older, and with inflation, we will reset the the depreciation to $1000 a year from now on.

[trustknoone]

Pat_Elliott You might want to recheck your SWA flight, I just rechecked mine out of BWI for Sept and the price had dropped $20 and when I called to ask they gave me the $20 as credit toward a future flight.

As for the posted topic, we have no CC debt but drive new cars that are paid for, we always use a code or AP discount and stay at either the FW cabins or AS's. We just bought DVC and plan to use that for 2 short and 1 long trip a year. I am currently in the process of analyzing our outgo and trying to cut that.
For the retirement question
DH has 35% taken out of his paycheck pretax for retirement. I'm a SAHM who will be going back to work in fall 2004 after DD goes to school.
Reading everyones posts has been great, It really inspired me to start trying harder to live below our means instead of just at our means. If all of you can do it I just know I can. :-)

Angela

[Tay N Evie's Mom]

Sorry, but I gotta brag because I'm so proud of DH and all of his hard work and effort has earned him a 6 figure income!!! Because of him I stay home with our twins and we've been on 3 DCL in 14 months. Love ya much, honey!!! You make me and the kids so proud!!!!!!!!!!!!

[addictedtoWDW]

I just started taking multiple trips the last 2 years or so. I am a single Mom and I make it a priority to take vacation. I love to travel. :) Since it's just my daughter and myself one of our favorite places to go is WDW. I get paid bi-weekly which usually means I have 2 "free" checks a year and I use those to take my vacations. I have managed to not only take my daughter 4 times in the last 2 years, but have also taken my younger sisters with me twice.

I guess where there's a will there's a way. ;)

[ceecee]

Yes, we save for retirement and DD's college fund. We really worked making extra principal payments on our house for the first 10 years - that was #1 priority - to have no mortgage. My Oldsmobile was 12 years old when I traded it for a new van. My husband's car is 5 years old. We have no CC debt either. I guess if things were different that way, our vacation priority would be too. We had planned on a Jamacian honeymoon 13 years ago, but opted to buy a house and honeymoon in Gatlinburg, TN (a 6 hour drive). Yes you do need to be realistic in your priorities.

[Kimkimba]

We are a 2 income - 2 kid (4 and 13) family - I'm 36 and dh is 33. I carry our benefits and make a decent salary as a peon professional, and dh is a self employed contractor, always working his buns off . I've always worked - was a single Mom for years to my dd (now almost 14). Years ago I lucked into an awesome job, and was making twice as much but as a result got myself into twice as much debt. It is true that you adjust your living to your income. I had a convertible Sebring, traveled, and bought everyone everything - HUGE mistakes. I am almost debt free now excluding dh's work van (1 more year to go) and our mortgage. I've stayed in the same house for almost 15 years (selling this month - an overdue upgrade), and drive a used Dodge Caravan (95) with 160,000 miles on it, which was a gift. When I married my dh a little over 5 years ago, I was in severe debt and he didn't have anything. We survived and have grown, and took our first mini-vacation as a family last year. Dh has no idea how magical Disney is, but dd and I do.

[momx2]

We just started last year taking multiple trips. Went last Sept., DH, 4DD, me and now a 16mon. DD. Went again in May with both DDs and my parents. Planned on a Sept. trip, but we are moving to Dec. because we are buying a new house. I think it must be priorities. My parents think we are crazy. We should spend our $ on the things they would of course. I work and make a good income and so does my DH. We were in terrible debt a few years ago, but have since paid all off but mortgage and my student loan. I really want to spend that time with my family. It seems all we do is work. We save about $100 a month to help. Used a tax refund this year to buy AP and scrape together the rest. Never put anything on credit. We have also stayed at the ASMo both times (going to try the WL this time I hope). We also eat breakfast in the room and some lunch and dinners. We eat one good sit down meal a day and that is fine with us. My DH and I do not buy souveniors (never liked them), older DD uses money from her grandparents or now we give her $4 a week allowance and it is like a mini disney savings account for her. We also do save for retirement and college. PRIORITIES! Disney is a priority to us.

[FINFAN]

GREAT QUESTION! We are SITCOM'S (SINGLE INCOME TWO KIDS OUTRAGEOUS MORTGAGE-the mortgage isn't due to a big house either...just miserable taxes and normal downpayment) and have managed to go to WDW in 1984, 90,95,01, and had plans to do 2 days there over the 4th but DD was really ill on our trip and we were unable to visit the parks. I was sort of disappointed as I was to celebrate my 40th there.....but the poor child was so out of it...anyway.....we are generally a 1 vacation a year family and my parents live in Southern Fl. so we had always just done the family visit....not WDW...Cost of park tix was a bit steeper then lying around on the beach;) but then we thought lets take them and noe we are hooked! I know it is not too much more for us to go to WDW now than any other trip because DH likes a nicely kept resort and where we live in the midwest those generally run up to $250 a night and that more than covers the cost of airfare if we get a good rate. This year we paid a little over $400 for the 4 of us RT on ATA( best we've EVER done!) however, we do struggle with wanting to see other parts of the country. When you can do 1 vacation a year due to $ and vacation time and you LOVE Disney...it is hard to choose a trip of unknown origins over one you know you will love. Abig problem for us is the family thing....parents are unable to make the 5 hour drive to Orlando and we usually only have 6 days or so, and like to have all of that for the parks...so now we feel we need to alternate between family one year, WDW the next and a new place the next! I would drive and eat tuna all week to be able to have 2 trips a year but DH isn't willing and as much as he enjoys WDW he has his limits of sacrifice!:D I agree in that it is all about choices,,,we chose to visit USO first this summer(5 day tickets for 4 people $385---5 day hopper at WDW would've been double) and then DD became ill...so I guess that counts as doing something new....but all I can say is we do our best, like everyone else and when we do get to go it's worth every penny!

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says....................................Tay N Evie's Mom, good for you, I really expected more posts like this. Did you know that 99% of the people earning a six figure income actually deserve it?! Too many people have an envy, or disdian for the upper class,when they should be trying to duplicate "the big guys". I can't buy an apartment complex, but I can have two rentals. I don't have tax shelters, but I have 401k, that only lost 15% in the last two years of bear markets. So you go and have fun and spend your money, and have a good time, and wait, if you spend you will create jobs, and thats the part that no one gets. Oh, before I turn this political, I just have to say... Good For YOu!!

[cindala]

We've been fortunate enough to be able to go to WDW once each year, but even going that often, draws looks from friends and family as to how we could afford it.

We don't smoke, drink, play the lottery or go to Atlantic City. Those expenses alone would pay for the trip! But most people don't get it!! We also brown bag it (DH works FT, me PT), and only see about 3-4 movies a year. I drive a 10 year old car, and up to last week, DD drove a 13 year old car. Fortunately, our #1DD earned a full 4 yr academic college scholarship, or our trip this year might have been derailed!:rolleyes:

We own a home in a town with a high tax rate, so that cuts into our disposable income as well as the high auto insurance rates in our state!!!! We just plan way ahead and cut corners in other areas. I would love to go more than once a year, but I know our limits, and that's out of reach. :):D:)




:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[tonilea]

We spent years driving new cars, pouring thousands into new vehicles. Now we drive vehicles that are paid for and take fab vacations! We found we enjoy our vacations far more than driving a new car. For us new cars are a poor investment. We view our vacations as a investment in our marriage.

BTW, we are DINKS (dual income no kids).

[Crichton]

Well - for us it's been a wonderful opportunity. We were fortunate to come out of the University into wonderful opportunities and are able to be the kids we never were.

We're both mid-20s and are now going to WDW 2 - 3 times annually. I'm currently working while DW is going to school for her PhD - but she makes a good income doing research and getting stipends, etc.

Anyway - budgets are usually the normal level (at least that I've seen in this thread).

[skiwee1]

We are making 2-3 trips a year to WDW. I drive from MD as I hate flying. I am married but DH doesn't like WDW so I leave him home. I travel with my toddler and mother. Since neither of us work, we are able to take our time and drive down. My mother and I also share a room so I only pay half of the room cost. So a room at a deluxe is not bad when you split the cost. We split the cost of everything. It makes it easier and a lot more affordable. Also having APs is a good deal. My DH has a great income and that is how I am able to go so much. As long as he doesn't mind, then I'm not complaining! LOL!:)

[Teri Zolman]

We are one of those families that have made several trips to Disneyworld this year. My husband is active military (enlisted) also. We are a one income family and we have live in Central Texas. The way we have made several trips have depended on several different factors. The first trip was May 2001 it was just my daughter and I with her girl scout troop. That trip we only needed spending money. The next trip was the following December 24thru31. This trip was supose to be the whole family, but my husband could not go. The kids and I reluctantly went and had a great time. The way we did it though is by figuring out what it would cost and divide it by the months till we go and save that much each month. Our next trip was spring break, we drove and stayed at All Star. This trip was possible because of Disney's All American Salute. Our last trip was the end of June. We drove again and got a great rate at Fort Wilderness. Our intentions were to camp but due to the weather and some other reasons we ended up at All-Star Sports. This was our budget trip we only went to two parks. But we had a great time. Next trip is Disney Magic Cruise in 2004. Sorry this is so long.

[suevee]

Clover9990 -

I am just curious, but haven't you ever considered using the Shades of Green resort? Their restaurants are very reasonable when it is open. Buffet breakfast was only $5.99 for an adult and less for children in June 2001. At this time an E-5 can get a standard room for $64 plus 11% tax at the Contempory Resort. It is a very large room that can easily sleep 5. It gets progressively higher depending on rate. Sometimes you can even get in at the last minute because of no-shows. If you bring food from home for breakfast, get connection vouchers for meals, and use either Florida or military ticket discounts - maybe you would be better able to afford to sped a night or two at WDW.

[montessori]

I guess I'm the only one who can't afford it but just does it anyway! http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/family/128.gif

[Jane E.]

When our children were small we couldn't afford multiple WDW visits either. We would usually go for three or four days. (WE would actually pack lunches & snacks to take with us.)Sometimes we did timeshare deals, sometimes we got hotel deals. Also with small children we didn't want to be on the go all the time. We would usually spend one day at MK (off season - my kids didn't know MK had fireworks until they hit their teens!) We would get their first thing in the morning & leave around 4 or 5pm.
The next day we'd sleep in, relax, & spend the morning at the pool. Some of the cheaper things we did included sightseeing at Downtown Disney, visiting Old Town on a weekend night to see the old cars, visiting the Orlando Science Center, visiting local parks, once we were able to get a discount family pass for Water Mania which the kids loved. I felt when the kids were small we had to scrimp & save for every penny just to go for a few days. ONce my kids got school age, their class visited Epcot almost every other year, so they never wanted to go there on family trips.

Now that they're older we're able to do more. Last year we got seasonal passes & we actually stayed one night onsite at AKL which we all loved. Also, we do sitdown dinners at the parks. Now we use Priceline, stay at condos or if WDW is having a discount at one of their hotels we try that too. The imporant thing about any vacation is enjoying the time with your children.

[Clover9990]

Originally posted by suevee
Clover9990 -

I am just curious, but haven't you ever considered using the Shades of Green resort? Their restaurants are very reasonable when it is open. Buffet breakfast was only $5.99 for an adult and less for children in June 2001. At this time an E-5 can get a standard room for $64 plus 11% tax at the Contempory Resort. It is a very large room that can easily sleep 5. It gets progressively higher depending on rate. Sometimes you can even get in at the last minute because of no-shows. If you bring food from home for breakfast, get connection vouchers for meals, and use either Florida or military ticket discounts - maybe you would be better able to afford to sped a night or two at WDW.

Yes, as a matter of fact, we have stayed at the CR through Shades of Green! We did that this year a couple of months after our tax refund was here, and that's pretty much how we could afford it. We use most of our tax refund to pay for bills and any necessities we may need- for example, for 2002, we had to buy our son a new bedroom set, since he'd outgrown his toddler bed. My DH also always needs new contacts each year, so that's $200 a pop- you know how all that "little stuff" really adds up. It was *really* nice, though, when we stayed at the CR. We had the Play 4 Days park hoppers we got for $99, so the tickets weren't too terribly expensive, and for breakfast we ate at the counter service restaurant that's next to the arcade- we just got bagels for us and cereal for the kids (one of the few breakfast foods my picky eaters will eat! ;)) It was pretty cool when I made the reservations, because we were just planning on going on a 1 day trip, when I came here to the DIS and learned about Shades of Green. I went to their website and saw they were putting everyone up in the Contemporary, so I called them that day and got a reservation for the very next day, no problem! It was a wonderful impromptu 2 day trip!

The biggest thing for us going to Disney is the cost of the food! My kids don't really need any souvenirs, other than the pressed pennies we get for them, so the bulk of our cost is actually the food. Normally, when we make our 1 day trips, we get a bagel/couple of donuts on the way at Dunkin Donuts, and get french toast sticks for the kids or bring fruit bars from home. We usually bring sandwiches for the kids to eat for lunch, so that saves us money, too. I would LOVE to be able to take them to character meals at least once each time we go, but when we're already on a tight budget, it's hard to justify spending over $40 just for breakfast, KWIM?

Again, I am sure that as we get older, and my DH gets more established with his job, we'll be able to afford to spend more time in the resorts and not have to worry so much about money for food while we're at WDW, etc. It's not too much of a budgeting problem with us- it's a matter of not having much leftover money every month to dedicate to "play money" or "vacation money". I am greatful that we can even afford to go to Disney at least once a year, even if we don't have the spare money to stay on-site- I know we are much luckier than others!

[Pat_Elliott]

To Clover 9990:

My wife and I are the cheapest people to ever go to Disney. This year, by using several methods at our disposal, we're getting there and having plenty of fun for around $800 a trip. This includes plenty of fun. I believe if we tucked it in, we could do it cheaper. We have the advantage of no kids, plus we're playing out a pair of Annual Passes.

None-the-less, I couldn't help but notice you mentioned the cost of breakfast, whcih is the easiest meal on which to cut cost, since you don't have to take it to the park. We TRY for a room with refrigerator and microwave. If we can't get that, we bring a cooler and beat up the ice machine.

Go to a grocery store, get some cereal, milk, OJ, and bagels. Get some luncheon meat and bread. Then go to Walmart and get some bulk "treats." If anything, the first year we went (we'd just bought a house and were bust), food was the ONE place we were able to save a bundle. I think we fed ourselves seven days for about twenty bucks. We took sandwiches into the parks (no one says a thing, just don't mix mayo with 90 degree heat) along with Pop Tarts and other, unfortunately, sugar-laden non-spoil food. Kept a water bottle around to save on soda. Basically, we equipped our hotel room like a small, concentrated kitchen, ate breakfast in the room or by the pool, and packed lunches and dinners for the park.

Mix that with buying tickets at SOG (my wife's a DOD biologist), and you've got yourself a mighty inexpensive holiday, relatively speaking.

Hope this repetative info helps!


Pat

[suevee]

Clover -

Once Shades of Green is back in operation I think you will find your food costs go down considerably! We really enjoyed the breakfast buffets for $5.99 per adult and the Evergreen Grill provided good cheap sandwiches, appetizers, and pizzas. It was one thing I really missed at CR.

[Clover9990]

Thanks, Pat and Suevee, for your advice! Pat~we usually DO cut costs on meals and pack our own snacks/lunches, and eat breakfast on the road on the way to Orlando, but what I was talking about when mentioning expensive breakfasts and whatnot was the whole character meal thing. My kids are at a perfect age for it, but I can't justify the cost just yet- I'm sure I could if we had extra spending money, but that won't be the case until about late Feb. of 2003, LOL! Thanks for the tips, though- they are good reminders.

And Suevee- $5.99 for a breakfast buffet sounds awesome! I didn't realize that SoG had different restaurant choices like the other resorts do (and less expensive, as well!) Since I've never seen the real SoG, I think in my mind I had something pictured like the hotels on post at Fort Bragg, LOL! I keep forgetting that it's an actual resort! The CR is great for the monorail access, but I think SoG will also be a great choice for our family once it reopens!

[ducklite]

We go at least two, somethimes three, four, or even five times a year.

We plan the trips well in advance, and I keep my eye peeled for airfare. We own DVC, and stay there on points for at least one of the trips.

We have AP's, so no need to buy admission each time.

We don't scrimp on WDW trips, and somehow the cash is always there :)

Now on to the other questions...

DH and I both work. I actually have both a f/t job that I hate, and a p/t job that I love--it's my "fun" job, plus gets me out of making dinner a couple of times a week :) . DH and I are both in I/T, but opted for slow steady career climbs with an old, established Fortune 500 who has a long history of not laying off employees rather than the short term more lucrative consultant positions that offer little security in the long run.

We own a townhome rather than a house. so our housing costs are much lower than most in our income bracket, although the $300+ monthly taxes are killer!! We refinanced into a 15 year loan a couple years ago, and don't have PMI on the loan due to good equity position in the house. We pay additional principal every month as well. We drive Saturns, so no high car payments, although both cars are new. We put a substantial d/p on the one, and one carries a 1.9% APR while the other has a 3.9%APR, so no rush to pay them off. We have one child, he's 16 and will not be going on to college, he has chosen to persue a career path which requires no college degree. We do have savings if he should change his mind.

We use our credit cards to our advantage--charging everything possible on cards that give airmiles, but not carrying balances.

We don't live off the stock market, these investments are long term for retirement, and we have other long term retirement savings as well.

When we wre in our 20's a trip to WDW was unobtainable. As we've gotten into our careers, and aged by about double ( ;) ) we've found that our income has gone up, debt has gone down, and we have a tremendous amount of disposable income.

Anne

[kityrussell]

Someone mentioned getting looks from co-workers and friends about going to Disney so much. Glad to know it's not just us! :)

My DH & I are DINKS as well and while I occasionally feel pangs of guilt for not saving more money we just love going so much! we have no credit card debt, no car notes and very little left on student loans. I guess my point is while we still have the extra income to do it, why not? Life is too short. Besides, the AP passes really make it too easy. Just find some cheap airfare which has been easy lately (God Bless SWA) and get the discount room rates and we're set! But you are correct about food. We hit the grocery store for bkfast, snacks and wine.

So it boils down to, it's a priority in our life to travel and we are blessed enough to be able to do it.

[suevee]

Clover -

You are in for a pleasant surprise when Shades reopens. It was originally the first deluxe hotel on property. It was the golf course resort. The rooms are huge, staff great, pools very nice, and now it will have 2 or 3 restaurants to choose from as well as the Evergreen Grill. It is also only a 10 minute walk from the Poly and it's monorail. Closest thing to being on a monorail resort without paying monorail prices.

[Disneylvr]

Good question! First of all DH and I are childless (not by choice but it is the way it worked out for us) and we both have full-time jobs. Not high paying jobs, in fact kinda of on the low paying side but we do okay. We bought a very small house (850 sq. feet) but big enough for the two of us so our mortgage payments are allot lower than most people. We both drive small, compact cars that get excellent gas mileage. We limit our local fun (going out to dinner, movies, theater, sporting events etc...) and save our entertainment money for Disney trips! We buy AP's and the Disney Club cards and take advantage of every discount that we can. We are very flexible with our travel dates so that we can get the cheapest airfare as possible.

Not everyone would choose to live this way but we love Walt Disney World so much that it is worth it to us.

[Maleficent2]

Come visit us on the rewards board.We will help you make all your Disney Dreams come true.


Maybe alittle slower than befor 9-11.


Our family is a single income family we own a small business (antiques restorations and resell)there are 3 of us-DH,DS(5) and myself.

We go to WDW at least once a year and sometimes more.This year(our WDW year is from May-May)we plan on visiting probably 3 times.We went in June.We are returning in Oct.Then again in Feb.


Several of our trips have been fully funded by Rewards programs.This last trip was more than half paid for by rewards.

We Always stay onsite usually a moderate and we never penney pinch.




Mal

[stephaniebatesjones]

Thank you so much for asking that question. There are a bunch of us that are just as nosey as you are, but were afraid to ask the question. My family and I love Disney, but usually only can afford to go once every other year. Now that I have found dis, I"m putting all the good info I've found here to use. We are going Aug. 2002 and Aug. 2003. Thanks to mousesavers, We are staying at the Hotel Royal Plaza at DTD this trip. They have great mousesaver rates which were even better than the entertainment card rates. When I called they told me that they were having a managers special, so I got it even cheaper...Plus kids eat free there under 12, and you still get transportation. We have extra days left over from our old PHP that we were going to use, but now I think we'll buy AP's since we will use them this Aug and next Aug. Plus I just looked at the new discount codes for AP holders and they are great. We are disney club members so I think we get a discount on AP purchases. All That will be worth the price of the tickets. When we go next year I plan to use the AP discounts for rooms at Disney moderates or deluxe resorts. We buy all our stuff in advance( fans from the dollar store, water bottles, glasses, fanny pacs, etc.) and store them in our "Disney Box when we get home. So we don't have to re-buy necessities each time. We buy souvaniers before we go and buy few while we're there. Buy refillable mugs at the resort, and pack powder gatorade.

Our friends also think that we have money growing on trees, but it's not true. My DH works full time and I part time 15-20 hours a week. We have a new car (only cause the old one is such a clunker). My DH drives the old one. My DD had a heart transplant and is sick alot, so I have to be off work for her alot. But because of her condition, we try and make vacation a priority. We see how much the next trip will cost and save up enough each month to pay for it. We save all of our change and my DD saves all her birthday money,etc. to take with her on the trip. No cable tv ( or pay for it a year in advance with tax return). We think it's worth it because, THE MEMORIES ARE WHAT WILL LAST FOREVER.

Thank you guys for all your insight. It has helped me alot

Steph

[stephaniebatesjones]

Maleficent 2 : I'm interested in the rewards. What is it and how can I find the board. I could not find it. Can you give me a hand with that?

Thanks

Clover9990 : Since you have kids and food is your biggest expense, maybe you could eat breakfast in the room, and go off site for lunch and dinner. Kids love McDonalds, pizza, Denny's etc. I know my DD wants chicken nuggets every meal. When my DH and I went on our Honeymoon, we ate at Burger King everyday. He is not pickey, and if I can get chicken nuggets for my DD then I can get me something really great to eat for myself. We may stop at several places, but everyone is happy. Also you can buy a small microwave ate wal-mart now for $30 bucks. You can re-use it every trip. You save money in the end this way. Buy a disposable cooler and gallon size zip-lock bags( from wal-greens for a couple of bucks).Fill the bags with ice to keep your stuff cold.
And that way you can heat and cool food when needed. That's what we're gonna do.

Good Luck.

Steph

[babybelle]

Originally posted by DMRick


Out of Albany. Southwest has a wonderful deal right now..this is copied from thier site:

Orlando, FL
$49 each way, to/from Albany, NY



Wow, need to keep a note of this! My brother is awaiting the third and final stage of his green card to come thro'. He is going to work on the restoration of the cathedral in Albany, NY. We would love for him SIL and DN to come down to visit us next year when we are in Orlando!!!

All you folk living in the states are so lucky, with cheap internal flights and the ability to drive (albeit for hours) to WDW. Our average trip (for a family of 5) costs £5000 before spending money - we can only afford to do it every few years, despite being a double income family!!!

[Maleficent2]

it is here on the DIS!

sorry I should have linked.

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=35


there you go and if you need any help just PM me.


Mal;)

[bprincess]

:D :D :D
Hi Clover,

I know what you mean, I've been in early stages of family life myself, and it does limit certain things.....but time flies, freedoms come and funds open up...one of the perks of mid-life!

[stephaniebatesjones]

THANKS MALEFICENT 2

[macs4us]

Once you have an AP you kinda get sucked in ;) We just have three kitties (our new family as of late May), and I stay at home (working on a novel, which will probably take years). One of my husband's clients is Universal, so we have been able to expense part of our trips to Orlando - the first two trips he won through a contest at work.

That said, we visited 38 states last year - we love to road trip, and have been to at least 30 National Parks/Monuments/Historic Sites this year. We are going to DC and NYC in September (unless business gets in the way). We may not make it to Disney again this year, because I will miss the kitties - Disney is not too fun for them!!!

I am a shopper - rarely buy anything not on sale, never pay rack rate, love those Connections vouchers!!! When we do go to WDW, we try to stay at home away from home so I can cook (I love to cook, but not clean up!!!), and/or use vouchers. I guess it is all about priorities - I love to travel well, but get bargains, so I budget accordingly. My sister loves clothes - she spends accordingly!!! It's all good :cool:

[Maleficent2]

stephaniebatesjones

you are welcome


Mal;)