Please Read: How do you guys do it??????

[ROOKIE2WDW]

I was wondering what some of you guys do for a living. This way i can get an idea of how you guys can afford to go to WDW ever so often. Maybe, some it takes years and savings to go, while others it could be a company paying for it, or some of you guys are rich and can take couple of trips ever year and even some like me have no money but just took a trip to WDW anyways. Well, however you guys do it just post your replies. If some of you guys don't mind mention the company you work for too.....thanks CAN"T WAIT TO READ THE REPLIES!!!!!

[caitycaity]

my fiance and i are far from rich! we have a combined annual income (pre-tax) of about $60,000. especially in the area where we live, that's not a whole lot! however, we don't have kids or any major debt, so a lot of that is discretionary income.

actually, if you get discounts through www.mousesavers.com and buy an ap, it's not *that* expensive to go on say a 4-day trip. :)

i doubt we'll be going to disney next year, just b/c in the past 12 months we've been to Disneyland, and WDW and are going to be going to WDW for our wedding/honeymoon in November. We'll also be saving our money to buy a house. :)

[glo]

My DH is currently unemployed, he has been for the last 3 and 1/2 months. Before this he was the Director of Professional Services at a computer CO. I am a Public School teacher, in Boston. We take one trip a year to Disney. This year I am taking 3 and the rest of the family is taking two. We are taking advantage of the Teacher rate at the Swan and Dolphin and are getting AP's.

[BeanoC]

Rookie -

As you might expect, you could get replies from all walks of life here.

We are, simply and humbly, fortunate and thankful people, able to travel to this favorite destination together every year.

Thousands will incur MILLIONS in debt on credit to make their dream trip happen, and this cannot be universally faulted. Life is short. Live it... "Carpe Diem"!!


Still others will scrimp and save and sacrifice, only to settle for the tiniest rooms the All-Stars have to offer...
This is probably the most joyful and appreciated family vacation occurring at WDW!! :)

Simply put, the rich are often clueless. Bless them; they're spoiled. They will stay at the GF in a suite and EXPECT it as the minimum they deserve.In a sense, they can afford to be spoiled, and be miserable about it. True happiness eludes them, because they haven't yet figured out that happiness doesn't come from a bank. Sound harsh?? Sorry, but I grew up with rich parents, and they are the most unhappy people I know. They are still trying to determine why these green pieces of paper don't fulfill them... sad. They stayed at a suite at the GF and hated every solitary moment of it, only because they could. If they were showered in gold, it would be too heavy, and aggrevate them to no end. Kinda makes you long for hardship!

The middle-class work hard, play hard, and enjoy good treatment at WDW, if somewhat worried about the cost.
This we call... normal!! If it's easy, there's no appreciation for it. If it takes discipline, we're thankful for it. Such is the norm of the average family. Got 2 thousand to spend, but vacation costs 5K?? Welcome aboard!!!
Look around at WDW and you'll see yourself all over the place. People looking for an affordable lunch, discount tickets to whatever, etc. This is how we all go to WDW. This is how the game is played. We learn the rules and we make it happen for ourselves. You're not alone. So go for it!!!!!!

Those who have much less ( the non-PC term is still called poor, and it's not a dirty word) will play the game similarly to the middle-class, but by their daily-learned discipline, play it much more shrewdly, and have that same grand time as anyone there. That is, of course, except for the disgustingly rich, whom the poor will outshine in the happiness department 100 fold!!

Ok, I guess this social status dissertation was not what you were asking for huh? :)

Point is, EVERYONE can and does go to WDW, and you can too.
I will take my family there every year until my kids outgrow the joy of it, and then the memories will be worth many times more than the money I could have saved. I could have instead worried about why in Gods' name the interest rates won't go up?! Why are my investments stagnant!? Why, Why, Why??

While these folks save up for their solid gold headstones and bronze caskets, I intend to enjoy life...


Just MHO folks!!!! :)


'Beano'

[disneyberry]

not sure how my reply is useful... i agree w/ BeanoC that there're all types among us Disney Fanatics...

anyway, my bf and i are both young "corporate-slaves", very unhappy w/ our jobs, but together we make a lot of money. we both work in "Corporate America" at Fortune 100 firms, we both have job functions in the IT (Information Technology) field.

whoopee. gee, can you tell i'm not happy w/ my career? our lower-middle-class parents think we're insane for not being happy, 'cause we're doing well, making money, saving it, stable jobs, what more could we ask for. to them, our standard of living is like "luxury". (we actually think we're cheapos :p ) but, really it's not all that.

of course, it all depends on how you view it. many in our position would be so happy (or so they think... :p ).

we're different from the usual "newly-rich" who make crazy money, and spend it like water. at least we save as much as we can, and we have no debt, but we can't help splurging on things like vacation.

we both want to switch to completely different fields, break out of the paths we had chosen for us... you know the deal, parents want their kids to all be doctors, lawyers, consultants, be "successful". and we've done that, and our parents are proud. so, as you can guess, we're not quite ready to make that leap.

(of course, for me, the more unhappy i am w/ my job, the more i drown myself in DIS, what a sad sad thing, huh?)

plus... how will we pay for all our WDW trips? :rolleyes: become CM's i guess.

anyway... sorry for the dose of cynicism *sigh* time for bed.

[Diva of Dragons]

LOL Beano!! I like your interpretation! It's true!
DH & I simply make vacationing a priority!! So many of our friends are living to work instead of working to live!
One of them just went on her first trip in 10 years ( 5 days at Lake Powell)!!:earseek: Now she sees things a little more clearly & plans to do more.:D In the past, we've been criticized for our wanderlust, because we do have debt (which, fortunately, is shrinking). But, we always pay our bills, don't have any kids and we never put trips on credit cards, so we figure it's no one's business. DH works in Specialty Fire Supression (they protect web hosting facilities, power plants, the computer rooms @ Disney Studios:) etc...) & makes good $$, but good is relative. If we lived almost anywhere but So. CA, his $$ would be considered GREAT! Well, that's my explanation in a large nut shell :sunny: And yes, Beano, Wilderness Lodge to All Star Sports~we do appreciate it & have a blast! ;)

[nutz4dzny]

WOW! So many great replies but here is my 2 cents worth!

Life can be snatched away in a minute. I live life to the fullest and REALLY Love life!

I belive a true Disney person who has the "magic" is an eternally optimistic person. We tend to be "happy" people who see the enjoyment in "little" things. We are truly in "awe" when we walk down main street and look up and see the castle!

Anyway, My DH and I have only one child, we planned it that way so we could afford 3 WDW trips each year! We both have very comfortable jobs and we downsized from a house to a condo since our DS is going to go to colege soon for Pre-med. We want to enjoy every minute we have together now, not later!

I unfortunately have seen 2 of my uncles scrimp and save all their lives and finally retire with a LARGE nest egg and pass away from a heart attack less than 1 year afer retirement. It hit me hard and made us reevaluate our lives.

We also are not "hard to please people". We don't demand things and when we get little perks such as upgrades to "concierge" etc.... We are sooooooooo grateful that it shows in our faces!!!

I do feel sorry for the extremely wealthy. They have become jaded to the little things in life. Nothing must impress them and they become more and more demanding. I love the saying that Anne of Green Gables says to her friend Diane's rich Aunt. After seeing her big, beautiful house, Anne exclaims...No Wonder she has so little imagination. She was a very unhappy rich, old lady who had everything so nothing impressed her!


Sorry for rambling but I always told ny DH, I am glad we have to work so hard for our money because it makes us appreciate everything especially our vacations which are a priority for us! When we return from a WDW vacation we have smiles on our faces for weeks to come!

But in the end, you have to have the magic inside of you to have fun!

[minster22]

What a great topic!! I love the way nutz4dzny put it....about us Disney lovers being basically optimistic people! I work as a waitress and my husband sells time share. My son is 23 and still loves Disney too, now more than ever. My DH does not share my passion for the Mouse and although he has gone with me a couple of times, I also go with friends. Sharing the cost definately helps. Because I love going to the World so much I have finally learned how to save money. I make it a game and it is certainly more fun to save for a trip to WDW than lots of others stuff but the saving lesson has spilled over into the rest of my finances. I just discovered the DIS in March and thanks to all of you I have also learned how to cut my expenses and still have a deluxe vacation!!

[LKS]

We used to be FL residents so bought annual passes one year and went to WDW three times. That was enough for us for quite a while and now we are planning our first trip in 4 years. We love to travel though and take trips every year. It is a priority and we have the 1987 vehicle with 210,000 miles to show for it. We also save well over 10% of our income for retirement (401-Ks and Roth IRA) and we have a good income that allows us to do all of this without a terrible struggle. Still, for some travel is a priority and for others it is not. Our best memories are travel with and without our three kids - that new car smell doesn't last nearly as long!

[GailT]

OK, here is my 2 cents worth, may not be much but here goes. I am a divorced single mom (my son is 18 but I am still a single mom) I give it my all to give him the best life whether it be food, shelter or just everyday things like giving him money to go out with his friends. I work part time but that does not stop me from traveling. I take one day at a time, I have seen so much death that I am thankful for all I have in my life and my number one priority is my son. Oh I forgot to add, Thank you AMEX, without you I would be sitting home just reading about Disney but instead I live it.:) :bounce:

[Kristi1357]

Our main priority seems to be vacations, and usually Disney ones. We are middle class, have decent jobs and a house. But, we also drive a 1993 Saturn SL1 with 180,000+ miles and a 1996 Ford Ranger with 90,000+ miles on it. And we have no plans to buy a newer car until we absolutely have to. We use coupons, rebates, etc. We are saving like crazy to buy into DVC so we can continue to afford our many Disney treks once we have kids. We also do save the max in our 401(k) plans and have some stocks - but buy no means are we rich.

On the other hand, I feel very "rich" in being able to vacation with my husband is such a wonderful place. There's no where else I've vacationed that I really forget about everything - work, bills, and any other problems. We've been to WDW so many times now, we don't need directions - we know where everything is. There's no stress from needing to get everything in, or not knowing which bus goes where, etc. Maybe it's corny, but I think our Disney addiction keeps DH & I going strong.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot! I also work at my local Disney Store. I meant to just work there for awhile after college, until I got a "real" job.....well, that was well over eight years ago! I just can't bear to part with my precious Disney discount. It sure comes in handy at WDW! Besides, I egt to talk to guests about Disney - what could be better?

Kristi

[Trekker]

In order to keep the Resort Board on topic I am moving this over to the budget board. You can still get to it from the link on the Resort Board.

By the way - we are just independantly wealthy thats why we can go - not!

[tigger2esq]

in a very blue collar family (my dad worked in a local factory and mom worked part time as a secretary) but we were able to afford SEVERAL trips to WDW growing up.. How? My mom was always very frugal. She cut coupons, sent in rebates, never paid full price for anything, searched for the BEST hotel, airfare deals and SAVED SAVED SAVED. Once we got to WDW we ate breakfast and lunch at the hotel (we always had an efficiency with a fridge and first stop was always a grocery store for cereal, lunch meat etc.) She put juice boxes, fruit and granola bars in her purse for snacks at the park and dinner was always KFC or pizza etc. We never realized we were missing anything fancy--this was how we lived and we loved every minute because we got to go to Disney!!!!!
Today--I am an attorney with one of the largest law firms in the US, and DH is a marketing exec. We have very little debt and no kids. BUT some things are still ingrained in my brain. I cut coupons, do rebates, look for internet deals, I refuse to pay full price for anything, search for the best deals on airfare etc. and refuse to pay $300 a night for a place to sleep!! (there is an atty in my office who will ONLY stay at the GF--I think he is nuts!) I was one of the poor souls who got caught up in the Pop Century fiasco--and ONLY becasue of the great rate given are we staying at the AKL for 2 nights over New years (we are spending the remainder of the trip at ASMo) I am really excited at the opportunity to stay at a Deluxe resort but normally we stick to the moderates and value. But we dont deny ourselves little luxuries either like dinner for our anniversary at Victoria & Alberts. But we also dont go all out just because we can afford it. (I refuse to eat 3 meals a day at the Disney parks/resorts....way too expensive--and we always pack granola bars and water bottles etc.).
because of this we are able to take 2 nice vacations a year (one usually to WDW and one ski vacation). With our high stress jobs we need to make vacations an integral part of our year or risk burnout--so they are always a priority.

[DisneyKidds]

What you do and how you use your resources (however much or little you may have) depends on what your priorities are.

Some background. I work in accounting for a large Architechture and Engineering firm and make a pretty decent income. DW is a teacher, or at least was as we just had our second child and she would like to stay at home with our children full time (we'll see if this happens - but it should if this is one of those PRIORITIES I mentioned). I would put us at mid to upper middle class. We have gone to WDW 1 to 2 times per year since our honeymoon in 1991. Our pretax income since then has ranged from about 45k to slightly over 100k. This may seem like a lot to some, but in the metro NY area it doesn't go very far. Housing, commuting, etc., etc. take a huge bite. We are fairly intelligent about savings, utilizing 401(k) and 403(b) savings plans. However, we know we don't save as much as we should.

How have we afforded WDW? Well, for many years we didn't - but we went anyway. For years we incurred a lot of debt meeting our WDW habit. Was this wise - probably not because debt is a horrible thing. Would I have done things differently? No. WDW is one place where we can go and leave the real world behind. It is a magical place where we are just happy (well, extra happy because despite the hardships my wife and I have endured we are already happy). Planning trips gives us something to look forward to. When we are there all our cares melt away. I wouldn't trade that for anything. Ever since we have discovered WDW we have made vacationing there a PRIORITY (there goes that word again). Going to WDW has come at the expense of foregoing certain other things and saving more money. Some would call this foolish. I would say it is foolish to work like a dog, save a fortune, and not have wonderful experiences like we have had at WDW to look back on. Now that we have kids to enjoy the magic we feel this way even more. Recently, trips have been easier to manage. In my previous job I travelled a LOT (60 to 70%). While I am fortunate to have a lot of frequent traveller points/miles, it was a huge hardship on my family. We have discovered these boards and that is helping as well. There are ways to control the cost of a WDW vacation and we work hard at doing that.

Managing trips to WDW is not an easy thing (at least for us). But if it is imortant to you you find a way to make it happen. We have been fortunate to work out from under the debt we incurred in our earlier years. We are blessed to have good educations and good jobs. I wish all people could be so fortunate. But whatever you do or don't have, life is about determining what is most important to you and finding a way to make it happen.

[JUST4JENNA]

i am one of those people who believes that life is too short and can be taken away at any time. yes, we could be banking all this money we spend on our DISNEY vacations, had we done this, we'd probaly have a hefty bank account by now. i want to enjoy life to its fullest while i have the chance to, and i dont worry about what will be 20 years from now. we r not rich, and we realize that we are very lucky to be able to go to DISNEY as often as we do. my husband is a controller for a doll manufacturer in NEW YORK, and also works a 2nd job during tax season. we look forward to our family vacations in DISNEY, and 20 years from now we will still remember the "MAGIC"!

[Muushka]

I think the major reason that we are able to visit WDW at least 2 times a year is that it is a priority for us. Even 7 years ago when my husband was unemployed and a full time student (for which we paid the school bill at the time of attendance), we went often. We stayed at moderates and watched every penny, but we still went.
We did not have cable, we did not own brand new cars, but we did have a nice vacation!

Currently I am unemployed. My husband is a software engineer (but not grossly overpaid). I drive a car that is 11 years old. I am very careful about spending money. I am conservative with water and electricity (I even hang my clothes out to dry and then fluff them in the dryer!). We owe no money other than our mortgage
(which is pretty low due to large downpayment). We wait for movies to go to the $1.50 theatre (will not spend $6 or $ 7 or whatever it is).

We have purchased into DVC at VWL. I usually eat 1-2 meals a day in our room. My husband really likes to eat out (which we NEVER do at home) so he enjoys the meals at WDW.

I guess the bottom line is that we think about every single purchase that we make. Whether it is 15 cents or $15,000 (which is what we paid for DVC).

[Disney World Mommy]

Ok, can I say that I need some kleenex here? My eyes are literally welling up with tears after reading all these great posts!!

Here's our story, my hubby and I've been married for 10 years, I worked full-time as a legal secretary until I had children almost 5 years ago and then went to part-time (2 days per week now as an insurance associate agent), my hubby is an electrical engineer and makes a pretty good buck, plus does some side work for a friend which again he makes a pretty good buck there. We went to Hawaii on our honeymoon, then proceeded to go to WDW 4 times (once a year for the next four years without children stayed at the Poly, Y&B, PO and PO again....) -- got pregnant and began "cruising". We've since been on 4 cruises (all with our now two children except for the first cruise in which I was pregnant) and just took them to WDW for the first time last September. We have ** no ** credit card debt (just finished paying off the say $1,500 from the cruise we just took in February) -- see, we get those "no percentage on purchases for such and such a time period" and then if we use it on vacation, we just pay it off as soon as possible!! We drive a 95 Grand Am (paid for and not getting a new car until that one literally DIES), and a 98 Dodge Caravan (2 more years to be paid off and then again NO NEW CARS EVER lol). We are very very very adament about saving for our children's college, however as my cruise director friend told me -- part of giving your child a good life is giving them good vacations too -- so bearing that in mind I realize that ALL this money we've spent on vacations (and man is it a lot) -- we definitely could have a ton of money saved -- but aren't the memories great too? I plan on working full time when my kids are in high school and in college so I can again do whatever it takes to send them to college (or at least pay a great deal of it ...) and in the meantime, we are totally happy with the ASMovies and getting the best possible rate ever and hopefully being able to disney at least every other year - if not every year (have to decide if we are going to continue to cruise or not .....) -- and can we "afford" to stay at the moderates or deluxes? Well I guess we "can", but I just can't seem to get over spending the money if you don't have to! Well -- when my kids get older then maybe we will but right now, seeing their faces when they see that giant buzz and woody -- that is a classic!!! :)

Sometimes I get a little frustrated with my hubby because he is so "anti-credit card debt" -- but then again, I guess he is doing the right thing in keeping it at a very very minimum and getting it paid off before anything else gets put on it so hence we don't turn around and are staring at $20k that we can't feasibly pay off anytime soon!!! But I can't help to say -- like others have -- life is too short! ENJOY IT !!!

I really really really am still holding out though to win the lottery! I know I'd enjoy life as a RICH person!!! LOL But I'd still find myself wanting to find bargains!!! (At least I think I would .....) :)

[Disneydenise]

Jeez this is an eye openingdscussion. We have been fortunate to go to DW every year for the last 14. Sometimes we had the $$$ some times we charged it and paid it off for he year. We both come from humbl beginnings. My DH paid for his degree and then we paid for his Graduate . We had our children immediately . I was very good with our money and we had a small cute house. We would drive thr the night to DW. We have so many videos of our family. I have great video of our children from toddlers on. I have all our favorite rides that are now gone. I use to be annoyed with DH for taking so much of the ride and not enough of the children. Now I am so happy to see Horizons and Imagination. Now after years of hard work we are going to be alittle poor again. DD will be in college in fall of 2002. DS will be going in fall of 2004. I will never regret the $$$ money we spent on these vacations. I have learned alot from them and one of the lessons is all the stuff in the world is not a valuable as your memories. My best investment I think has been our video camera.

[mickey7861]

The middle-class work hard, play hard, and enjoy good treatment at WDW, if somewhat worried about the cost

That's us!

We've been doing WDW since 1987 at least once each year with our 2 kids, now 18 & 16. Each trip is between 10 - 21 days. Our WDW trips are our priority. We work hard and like to play. While we did just purchase a 2000 Intrepid last year it replaced an 85 Buick and our other car is a 95 Cavalier so cars are not a priority as long as they run! . WDW is our unanimous choice for vacation. We make about $80K combined, not rich. 2 kids, 1 in private high school, 1 starting college in Sept. With resort prices going up steadily, we stay on site, along with the tuition payments we decided last year to buy into DVC. Now our vacation $$ are stabilized for the next 41 years. YAHOO!!!


I too have the Horizons and Imagination, Mr. Toad videos. Irreplaceable.

[JillU-DVC]

After several years in a row with no vacations because I couldn't afford it, I finally decided to buy into the Disney Vacation Club.

I make monthly payments for 5 years (significantly less than many car payments), plus pay monthly dues of approx. $50, and I get 250 points each year (until 2042) to use for a Disney vacation (or other vacations). Points bought from Disney currently coast $72 (I think). When I bought, the points from Disney were $65/pt; I bought a resale and paid $55 (probably a little less, closer to $53/pt).

Since DVC takes care of the hotel (don't even have to pay the 11% hotel tax), it's a lot easier to find the money for airfare, tickets, food, etc. Plus if we want to save even more money, we always stay in a 1 bedroom at OKW, BWV or WLV, and get a full kitchen, complete with full sized fridge, dishwasher, stove, etc, and a washer dryer in the unit. So we can cook some or all of our meals in the unit, just like at home.

The units are nicer than my house, and our next trip, in Sept, we are taking my brother and SIL with us (we booked a 2 bedroom for that trip).

Since I bought my 250 pts last March, this is our list of Disney trips:

Sept. 2000 - honeymoon, 14 days
Jan 2001 - 10 days
Sept 2001 - 10 days

We bought PAP before our honeymoon, and Seasonal Annual Passes for UA/IOA; we went at the end of Sept last year, and will go at the beginning of Sept this year, so we'll get a total of 34 days out of our passes.

With all of those trips, we did have to borrow from next year's points for our Sept trip, plus the resale DVC I bought had some banked points from last year, so I don't want to imply that my 250 pts would get you 34 days at Disney each year. But I can stay in a 1 bedroom for 2 weeks each year with my 250 pts (we only go in the off season, when the point costs per room are lower).

By the way, we live in MA, so we have a fairly long trip to get to Orlando.

For those of you interested in DVC, I suggest reading the DVC FAQ on these boards:

DVC FAQ (http://www.wdwinfo.com/dvc/faq.shtml)

Hope this helps!!

[Pegg]

Ok you want to hear from poor folks this is how we have done it.

First off been married 15 years husband made anywhere from $15,000 to $29,000. Two years after getting an Assiociate degree I worked but DD decided to come along. Decided to stay home with her till she was old enough for school. Always dreamed of going to WDW but never got to go. Of course no money we live literally from check to check. Still do.
Anyways, I grew up in California and went to Disneyland many times and really wanted to DH to Disneyland. So finally I got the hair to move to california and we did for about three months. We did go to Disneyland one day while we were out there.

Finally DD old enough for school and guess what my back really screws up and finally require surgery on it. So while she was in the first grade I decided to go back to school for a 4 year accounting degree. Started when she started the second grade now that she will be in the forth grade, I will be finishing up in December.

Ok to get back to DW, Last summer, I was offered a student loan. Since rehab pays for all my school tuitiion and books there is no school expense for me. I know shouldn't take a student loan for DW, but I did. Honestly not sorry I did.

Anyways DD, Dh and myself spent a week long trip in magic WDW. Stayed at All Stars sports and loved it. Totally loved it. Never thought about what we could have been missing with the moderates or deluxes. Yes we spent a little more of stuff t-shirts, etc. than most people. Thinking this is once in a lifetime.

Dh and I decided we were going back again. Saving out of our weekly pay. Just as soon as I made reservations in January to go in August again he got laid off. We were really bummed. Oh well we will get back sometime. Two months later he got a better job making a little more about $1.00 I know not much but it helps. Plus working 2 hours overtime everyday.

Well in April DD, got sick , doctor found a lump on her neck and done a biopsy. THANKFULLY THE TEST CAME OUT FINE. Turned out to be a calcuim deposit nothing to worry about.

But let me tell you the two weeks waiting on that test was a total nightmare. Not knowing if my baby girl was going to be really sick or not. Before the test came back DH said to me if the test comes back ok why don't you and DD go to WDW in august while I was on summer break. He can't get off work. So knowing We don't know what life is going to throw at us, we have decided to return to DW in August.

We are saving a little bit each week. One week buying a ticket, next week putting money aside for Tiffany and so forth. We have three weeks to go and still three weeks of savings to be able to make the trip. So hopfully everything will go as planned.

Do I feel bad about taking the money for dw we could put it in a car, school clothes actually lots of things. NO

We will never be able to replace the memories and fun that myself and DD will receive during this vacation.

Would love to go back in DEcember because DH said we can if I can save it but not sure if we will have the extra money for the annual passes this trip.

so all kinds of people goes to DW even the really poor.

[RHONDALEE]

For the last several years I've gone twice a year, once with my boyfriend
and once with one of my sisters and 2 of our niece's. I work full time at
Sears in Hoffman Estates (about 30 miles outside of Chgo) and I also work
part time at Walgreens by my house, averaging 20 hours a week.
My job with Sears pays the bills and
my job with Walgreens buys the frills.

[MJames41]

I was reading some of the posts and I just have to put in my input.

I'm a single parent with 2 children (DD 16, DS 14). My wife died 14 years ago. She never got to play with the kids at Disney. When my wife died, I was unemployed, living with my parents. My mom became the kids "designated mom". I spent a few years working, and then went and got a college degree. At one point I had a decent job, making good money in Florida. I worked for 2 years in that position, working at least 60 hours a week. I took one family vacation in that time frame. Then I lost my job. I headed back to Illinois to search for work. It took me 4 months, and then I had to save to bring my kids up. While I was doing that (2/97) my mom died. In July of 1997 I moved my kids up here. In October my son fell out of a tree and broke his arm. In November, my daughter was hit by a car and had to have surgery to reattach part of her ankle bone.

The way I see it, my kids have had it hard enough (and so have I). My dad is still in Florida, so every Disney trip is also a trip to see my dad. As long as he is alive, and as long as I can afford it (even if the bills go on the credit card), I will go every year. Life is fleeting, Death is permanent. We only get 1 chance to do it right, and if I'm doing it wrong by my retirement, savings, etc., I don't care because my kids come first.

My dad used to give me a hard time about this until I asked him one question: Do you wish you had taken more vacations with me and my brother? He hasn't given me a hard time since.

Just my opinion. This and $1.50 will get you a cup of coffee, in some places.

37 days and counting

:bounce: :smooth: :bounce: :cool: :bounce: :smooth: :bounce:

[Cindy B]

Some people would call us poor, in the vein of we dont make a six figure income.

I do our trips like this, I work part time at three different jobs. the part time money I make all goes into savings, and trips come out of that... I only work about 15 hours a week right now, so its not that bad, and each job I have it is family friendly, I can take my children with me, so I have zero, yes zero childcare costs at the moment.

We have a roof over our head, two cars, lots of love. We give a lot to charity as well.

I am the queen of cheap. I will only buy groceries with coupons, do rebates, bag lunches for work, movies wiht the coupons, go to free events in the summer, and Its still fun...

our trips we pay cash as well, we prepay everything, tickets, hotel stay, etc.. and then we we go its just food.

[CapeCod53]

I am also a single parent & have been since my DD was almost 5 & DS 1 1/2. My ex does provide enough money to pay mortgage & utilities. I pay for everything else by working 2 jobs. I have run a child care in my home so that I could be here for my kids, which I feel is almost more important for teenagers. I also have a home based sewing business. We live very frugally from cutting my DD & my hair, to wallpapering ourselves, to doing all landscaping ourselves, shopping for sales & at outlets, when we eat out we bring half home for another meal, etc. Luckily my parents have a cottage on a lake on Cape Cod & MIL lives at the Jersey shore so my kids do get to vacation places. Except for my brother's wedding 11 yrs ago, we have never stayed at a hotel except for wdw. My father is the only member of his family to live to be over 50 & in the last 2 years 3 members of my mother's family have died including 2 cousins barely in their 50's. Who knows what the future holds but I want to have some fun now & saving carefully every 2-3 years for a wdw trip is important to us. Actually I think the planning is almost as important as the trip itself. So we're going this summer for my DS's 16th birthday.

[Muushka]

MJames41, your post made me smile. I was brought up by my dad. He raised 3 young girls by himself (my mother died when we were very young). I have to tell you, you are a very special dad.

[Lucky4me]

Another middle classer here. When I was a kid, the family next door had the good fortune to be able to visit WDW. They went one time, for five days, and were the envy of the neighborhood.. I loved the embroidered Mickey ears they got and vowed I'd get my own one day. That day came fifteen years later. My husband (Now ex) and I turned into 8 yo's that day in the MK. I was hooked. We struggled financially but were able to go a few times after that by driving straight through from NY to FL, staying with relatives, packing lunches, and saving coins. Our only really large expense was park tickets.

My current husband does not share my passion for Disney but I'vel managed to talk him into several trips over the last five years. He is a chemical operator at Eastman Kodak Company. He saves 20% for retirement and that lowers our disposable income considerably. I don't work outside the home due to a chronic illness, but I do collect a small disability check each month. We have four children and own our home. We drive older vehicles, save coins, cut coupons, eat at home, and surf the net (especially this site) for travel deals. I am hooked on Priceline and have taken a few trips to WDW that cost less than a weekend at a local hotel. One thing we will never do is go into debt for a vacation.

Even doing all of that, we are not going this year. :( :( :( We have college tuitions to pay and some much needed house repairs. I am already going through major withdrawl and I was just there in December... I'm hoping for a December 2002 visit, but that's not a definite. In the meantime, I come here for my DIS fix and even plan out "fantasy" trips.

I also believe the harder you work towards a WDW vacation the more you enjoy it! My next trip should be darn near perfect!

;) ;) ;) ;)

[kristikae]

I'm taking my first trip with my kids to WDW in December. I have gone without them (won the trips) and always promised to take them. Now my sons are 15 and 14, my girls are 12 and 7. As I am planning this I really regret that I didn't make this a priority before. I hear about the things people have experienced with their small children and wish that I had done this when they were younger. I have been a single mom for 10 years (my 7 year old was a big surprise) and have really been poor! Now I have made it a priority and it really hasn't been that hard. Saving money everywhere I can while still planning on splurging a little when we are there!

In response to previous posts about people with money vs people without....I dated a millionaire (owned several businesses, racehorses etc). While his money allowed him to do lots, he is truly an unhappy person inside...always searching for something. I have always been poor but I know who I am and all that really matters to me at the end of the day is that my kids know how much I love them. That makes my life complete!

[Robinrs]

I am also a single parent. I have one son who is my entire world.

For the first six years of his life I struggled and made ends meet but never went anywhere on vacation. I just couldn't afford it. Then I got a settlement for a car accident and I read an article about the new park opening at Universal, Islands of Adventure.

My son is a big Dr. Seuss fan and one of the Islands was Seussland! I just had to take him. I got together with a friend of my son's mother and we drove down after purchasing a Universal package.

We stayed for 4 days and it was wonderful but I knew I wanted more. Then I found this site! :bounce:

Since that fateful trip in July 1999, my son and I have been back SIX times.

It's not easy, it's a commitment. I start planning early, get all the best deals from the geniuses on this site, get trade deals with the radio station I work at, it's the GOAL that matters. When Michael and I are in Orlando, we are the same age, have the same interests and are each other's best friends. I heard him tell his barber the other day that he is so blessed because his Mom does this for HIM.

Little does he know I do it for me, too.

Since that day I've obviously, by my post count, spent alot of time here at the DIS, became a moderator not just for the DIS but for MY Magic Kingdom, the Islands of Adventure. It was that park that brought me to Orlando, and will always be my FIRST love!

[Robinrs]

In response to previous posts about people with money vs people without....I dated a millionaire (owned several businesses, racehorses etc). While his money allowed him to do lots, he is truly an unhappy person inside...always searching for something. I have always been poor but I know who I am and all that really matters to me at the end of the day is that my kids know how much I love them. That makes my life complete!

AMEN, kristikae!! I could NOT agree more! Been there, done that, my son SEES the struggle and respects me all the more for it because we share something that does NOT come easy. He doesn't even ask for souvenirs while we're there because he knows that the trip IS the gift! That is a true blessing!

[ceecee]

We are RICH...in blessings from God. We have our health and a beautiful little girl, a nice home in a middle class neighborhood, and two cars that run. We have so much to be thankful for.

Money or how much you make is relative-I know people who make a lot of money and spend none, and people that make little money and overspend.

My 48 year old boss (a dentist) was a vegitarian and very health conscience...Only worked three days a week (tried to elimate some stress) He had a massive heart attack and died last month.

Bottom line.....ENJOY life one day at a time. I'm not suggesting to go in debt to pay for a vacation, but go and do it as cheaply as possible. (Isn't that why we read these boards?) LIFE IS TOO SHORT!!!

[DiznEeyore]

This is a wonderful thread. I, too, wish we'd known how to do Disney on a budget -- we might've gone years ago, instead of waiting 'til our ds was 5 (he's now 8-1/2).

We are very middle-class -- dh is an IT engineer, and I'm a sahm (tho' I do work part-time from home as our church's secretary). We've bought DVC to try to reduce our trip costs, and have two trips scheduled for later this year, which we've already paid for.

It's important that they're paid for, as dh is laid off as of tomorrow. Thankfully, he has clients on the side, and that (and our savings & unemployment) will take care of us 'til he's got another full-time contract. We thought briefly of cancelling our trips, but since they are paid for and we'd actually *lose* money by cancelling (non-refundable airfare, etc.), we're still gonna go for it. Even if we have to eat every meal in our room! ;)

[ROOKIE2WDW]

thanks a lot of guys....i am overwhelmed by how many people responded to this post....i am just amazed by how many people from the budget board repied, this post was actually posted in the disney resort section until it was moved....well thanks again. hmmmm (i wonder how i got so many people to read this post). =)

[pentex]

My hubby and I both work full time but are middle-classers at best. We do go to Disney each year for approximately two weeks and are often asked by others in our position how we do it. It's simple in that Disney is our one luxury in life.

In other areas, I clip coupons and wait for sales (and believe me, I am probably half way to Disney on that alone); we don't eat out often; we save wherever we can. We also do little things like bringing lunch to work every day instead of buying out, etc. My Mom always showed me that every little bit can add up to a lot and she is right. Last year, I calculated that I saved over $3,500 in the grocery store alone by shopping smart.

In 1993, we were lucky enough to buy into DVC so now all we pay is maintenance on that (approximately $1,000 a year). That takes care of accomodations. For airfare, I start checking out early and never have paid more than $179 roundtrip pp. Same thing for car rentals.

We also try to spend money the best way possible while in WDW, i.e. we eat breakfast in the room most days (DVC rooms have kitchens but even if they didn't, we'd rather grab a bagel or cereal in room and head out ready to go). Then, we have extra dollars to spend on whatever we want that's fun..shows, other parks, fun dinners, etc.

Disney is a family tradition that pre-dates our children and will live on after they have left our nest, I'm sure. We love it. It's something to look forward to and is worth the effort of saving every penny.

That being said, we also never would go regularly if it would mean financing it, i.e. putting on credit cards and paying off over the years. After seeing a woman at work regularly doing this and then facing an premature death of her husband, I see how credit can destroy someone's life.

So, after all the bills are paid, and money can be saved by being smart, we have always found a way. Just put a budget down on paper, and you will do it before you know it. You'd be surprised at how little you can live on once you try!

[TinkerbellRules]

MJames41: You made me cry. You're right, life is too short. You are a special dad, I'm sure :)

Pegg: I know what you mean about worrying about your child. My 9 yr old DD had to have an MRI a few weeks ago. It was right before the holiday and I thought I'd have to wait til after the 4th. Luckily, the results came and the doc called around 6:30pm on the 3rd. Everything was fine, thank God. She still is going to a peds neurologist in a few weeks, but I think everything will be fine. We think she may have had her first migraine although I think it was caused by some new meds that triggered it. She had numbing and tingling of her hand, arm, leg and mouth on right side. My sis used to go totally numb on one side as well, so I'm not extremely worried about it, but I am, if you know what I mean. It really scared me though.

We're also not "rich" with money as well. We're trying to plan a trip in Oct, but my DD's school is trying to stop family vacations during school time. My DH is going down for a convention so his expenses will be covered. Only makes sense to go at that time. We'll see.

[danacara]

This thread has been so interesting to me because I'm 21, in college, and learning some lessons from it.
When I was born, we were very rich. My father was a physician, my mom knew how to make every dollar count.
My parents divorced when I was 6. My father had a nervous breakdown when I was 10, not real sure where he is now or what he's doing, but he's years in arrears in child support and I think his medical license is suspended. So we went from very rich to zero income with no warning at all. We would have been welfare candidates (literally) except that my mother had managed to squirrel away some money during the end of the marriage, and that got us through until she finished her degree and became a teacher. We sold the house and moved to a townhome, and got by on $35,000/yr (for a family of 4 in Northern NJ - that's not much).
My sister and I got scholarships to private high school (she's one year younger than I am), our younger brother was just fine in public school.
When it came time to apply to college, I applied for every single scholarship offer I could find. I was valedictorian of my class so I got really lucky, and actually started winning some scholarship contests. I think almost every Veterans Post in Northern NJ is throwing some money toward my college education. (hee hee) The state of NJ offered to toss in $6,000 per year if I stayed in NJ for college. Two anonymous donors are contributing $1000/yr each (don't know who they are, wish I did, I really appreciate what they've done for me). I won a National Merit Scholarship and a bunch of essay contests. Also Coca Cola and Loreal.
So when I got into colleges, it was all about the money. I took Princeton because they calculate aid packages before they include private scholarships, and then for every scholarship they deduct half from aid and let you save the other half. When all was said and done, I pay less to go to Princeton than I would have to go to my local community college, which was good, because my family literally had about $2,000 a year to contribute to my education. I'd been to Disney World once when I was 10 years old. I held out hope for the next 8 years that I'd get to go again.
My mom's boyfriend passed away of cancer last year (52 years old) and left her quite a lot of money (which means that my family's financial problems have been basically wiped away for the next 10 years or so). Any money I earn during the school year (my part-time job) goes to pay my part of my tuition. Anything I earn during the summers goes to Disney World. This summer, I'm interning at Merrill Lynch in Private Client Group. It pays incredibly well (I am officially making more than my mother at 21 years old) and every penny goes to my Disney Fund, food, and housing. I scrimp on housing. It leaves me with about $4G in my Disney fund every year. So I have one big trip a year where I bring my whole family, we stay at the All Stars and have a great time. My mother loves Florida and Disney and if this is the one thing I can give her to make her life easier and more fun, it is my privilege and my pleasure. Then, I have another trip with my boyfriend, who is from another planet financially. His parents are plastic surgeons in NYC, he works for JP Morgan. When we go together, he upgrades us to a deluxe hotel (usually the BC, my favorite place on the planet) and takes me out for every single meal. He says he likes the look on my face when I'm in luxury. "Anything you want, honey." I love him, and I like it too.
So that's my story. Thank you all for being so honest, I feel like I've learned a lot in this thread.

[bigsis1970]

Hi All, Here is my outlook on this..As a single mom working full-time i have been on my own for the last 2 1/2 years gave up my house, minivan and thousand of other things that 2 income families have...but not the trip to DISNEY.. our last trip was 1997 kids at that point were 3ys and 5months-Son(5 mo) was in hospital most of trip and it was awful.. I figure that i owe them a nice trip and have been saving and scrimping since Jan 2001. We will be there in Dec 2001 for two whole weeks... I am asking that for their birthday people give them disney $$ to spend on our trip and i will draw a small amount out of there saving to equal $10.00 a day for spending on whatever they wish.. It will be My mom , my sister,(mom and sister only one week ) myself and kids we are staying off property (HIFS) due to funds- all stars won't let 5 of us be in same room i called and was told due to fire codes!! we will rent a car as we will be doing seaworld 2 days, we have 7 day hopper plus and will also go to the Very Mickey Christmas Party and they will go on the Pirates Cruise.. we have 3 Character dinings reserved and have a few days just for relaxing and shopping! I feel that I ,as much as them, deserve this and have made the sacrafices for it.. There is going to be nothing as priceless as when i tell them- 10/28 at their birthday party-its a surprise trip and they will have to hunt for it.. Then i say let the count down begin to the MAGIC. They are only little once and someday they won't believe in fairy-tales... I want it to last long as it can.. Thanks Michelle

[bigsis1970]

to tell that i am doing the trip for $3250.00 and that includes Hotel.Air,Car, All Food Inc. charater dining and extra side trip and tickets.. i am expecting to have about $25 a day just
extra spending $$ .. Thanks Michelle

[beansmom]

You people are amazing! It's wonderful to read your inspiring stories.

I, too, was raised by a widowed father from the time I was 11 and my dad worked very hard to provide a home for us. If we traveled it was alway to relatives' homes. My wonderful dad died 5 years ago only six weeks after learning he had inoperable colon cancer. Before he became ill, all he talked about was how he and his wife were going to Disneyworld the next summer. He had made deliveries there as a truck driver but had never been a guest. He died in October.

Having both parents die way before their time (IMO, anyway) and losing a brother when he was only 7 has made me aware that life IS truly never guaranteed. No 50,000 mile warranties here. I am not going to sit around when I'm too old to do anything else and bemoan the fact that I never did what I wanted to...after my next WDW trip, I'm going to Hawaii...I want to visit paradise one time.

DH and I are both (what's not poor but not really middle class) full time workers--I work for a telecommunications corporation and he works for a small business. We have made taking a great vacation every couple of years a priority and try to be careful about whatever else we spend to be able to do that.

I agree, your priorities are what sets you apart from the rest of the world and I make sure mine are what makes life worth living.:wave:

[catwho]

We are a one income family of 5 (three kids ages 8,5,3) and there was such a long time when we were so poor that a family vacation was a 3-day weekend at home when dh didn't get called in for some crisis. Our first trip to WDW with the kids (then just 2 of them) was a one day trip where his boss (oh let me get down on my knees and bow before him NOT) "let" him take us to Orlando on a business trip and since he had Labor day off we could go to Disney. We had $300 in the bank (which really should have gone to fix the car) and fell in love with WDW with children. 18 months later we went back with my dh holding a new job with a new company and a higher salary. We still had to scrimp to do it for three days, but we swore we wouldn't let a year go by without going. Then I got pregnant again and had to wait a few extra months, so 18 months later we went for 5 days and bought annual passes and are going back again in January.

It isn't easy financing the trips and we don't go more than once a year (alhtough we would love it if we could) But we intend to do one trip RIGHT each year. Our rule is that we deposit any money left over at the end of a pay period into our vacation fund. Some weeks that is $10 other weeks that is $400. We put all birthday and anniversary and Christmas money into that fund and we use our tax return (oh let me get down on my knees and bow before the great and generous IRS - NOT) to buffer that money. We also will deposit money ($15-$25) into our account everytime we talk about going out to eat and then decide instead to stay home. We figure that is the cost of a meal out or at Disney (counter service LOL!) and we would prefer to eat at Disney!

I think the biggest reason dh and I scrimp so hard to make these trips as wonderful as we can is because we both grew up with parents that said, "WDW is too expensive/not worth it/waste of money, etc." We went twice as kids (me not dh) and my only souvenir was a Mickey balloon one year and sea shell from Pirates the next time. I remember my kid brother asking for everything (actually anything) and my dad grousing about "cheap crap, too much money, nickel and dime ya to death." and not daring to ask for anything for myself as I knew the answer would be no. :-( So we work hard so that we don't have to say no (much) And our children somehow realize that we work hard for these trips and truly do appreciate them.

We strive for minimalism in our lives except when it comes to our Disney trips!

:earsgirl:

[imgointoDis]

Danacara!!! Where do you come from and how do I clone you??!!! You have got to be the neatest 21 year old I have ever encountered. You should be very proud of yourself!!!!

[dmfuru]

It's simple for us. Work hard and save.....

[ChisJo]

So, I decided in 99 to go, even though we had 0 money in the account, owed the government back taxes (for filing incorrectly) and had 5 maxed credit cards. Were we dumb to go?? NO. It was such a relief to go. It was relaxing and the thought of money never crossed my mind. We had to save, es, but we were not making the bucks at all. In fact, we were comsidered poor. To boot, we live in Canada, so after exchange, the dollar really hit us. But, after that experience, we vowed to go every 3 years. We save all our change and deposit it every 6 months into an interest bearing account, plus we save minimum $15 a week. In 3 months, I have saved over $600 just in change ~ not bad. I am a full time college student, I even take classes in spring and summer, and fiance is laborer, not making much. But as long as we don't touch our change and disney accounts, we'll be fine. It's our holiday, our time to escape and our time to be with each other. It is truly magical there, no words to describe it. It is worth every penny. If you are worried about money, this site offers plenty of help as to how to save ~ that is how we will be doing our trips, saving money, getting good deals, and learning how to adjust a budget to suit our needs.

Joline

[ROOKIE2WDW]

These stories that you have all told are all inspiring, it makes me realize things you have can be gone in a heart beat, all that wealth and everything you own. I am suprised to read how some are a single parent raising kids and also going to WDW with their single parent budget. I think now i am gonna be cutting up coupons and learning how to save my money. YOU ALL DESERVE A PAT IN THE BACK!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for replying to the post is very inspiring.

[Disneybound2002]

Originally posted by JUST4JENNA
i am one of those people who believes that life is too short and can be taken away at any time. yes, we could be banking all this money we spend on our DISNEY vacations, had we done this, we'd probaly have a hefty bank account by now. i want to enjoy life to its fullest while i have the chance to, and i dont worry about what will be 20 years from now. we r not rich, and we realize that we are very lucky to be able to go to DISNEY as often as we do. my husband is a controller for a doll manufacturer in NEW YORK, and also works a 2nd job during tax season. we look forward to our family vacations in DISNEY, and 20 years from now we will still remember the "MAGIC"!

[Pegg]

All the prayers and PD for your DD.

Tell the school you are taking her and she can make up the work.

Tell them they have no choice.

Luckliy we are going in August due to the fact
I am out of school too.


Sometimes the kids needs a break to fantasy land, too
not just us.

[SandraC]

We are basically a one income family. dh works full time in the printing industry, he's been there about 24 years and he's only 42 yo. Blue collar type of guy. I work part time as a fitness/yoga instructor. I work a couple nights a week (two classes per night). I work about 10 classes when dd is in school. I also teach Kingergym and art classes. I do workshops that pay very well too. My income goes straight into the DISNEY ACCOUNT. I put about $200.00 to $800.00 a month away in the DISNEY ACCOUNT depending on the time of year and number of classes I teach (sometime I use DISNEY ACCT $$$ for other vacation stuff). It helps that our house is paid off. We bought a big townhouse at a great price 15 years ago, so we are lucky there. We don't drive the greatest new cars, as a matter of fact, I'll be needed a new car soon. I try to subcribe to a few rewards programs, Club Z (Zeller's in Canada) and Air Miles. We have enough Air Miles for about $200.00 of groceries so I'll be cashing them in, buy $200.00 of groceries for FREE. Since that's $200.00 free money, I'll take about $100.00 of grocery money and put that into the DISNEY ACCT. So we'll be $100.00 UP! I also keep track of coupons that I use. If I have about $20.00 of coupons for groceries and diapers in a week, I put half that $10.00 from the grocery account to the DISNEY ACCT.

I saved three years for our April 2001 trip. Because I saved more than we needed I was thinking about buying AP's and taking two trips this year. But instead, I'll put most of the money towards a car and take one WDW trip.

All the little things add up fast!

[ducklite]

DH is a Java programmer, and I am a web designer who also handles a lot of web strategy for a certain segment of my company. We both work for Fortune 500 corps. We both made the decision to stay slow but steady and not do the dot.com or Y2K thing, ie take a job for a fabulous amount of money that likely wouldn't be there in a couple years.

I work a p/t job as well, and every penny goes direct deposit right into a special savings account for vacations.

We live in one of the most expensive areas of the US, but have chosen to live in a townhome rather than a $400,000 house so we can afford to take a lot of vacations :-) We also drive Saturns rather than BMW's.

We bought in to DVC a few years back, that has afforded us to take a few trips we never would have been able to otherwise.

Anne

[*Flower*]

You all have really inspired me!
We used to go on vacation and "hang the expenses". Of course DH had a lot of fun spending like crazy on EVERYTHING!
I don't mean just on Disney, but anything!
We went down the road of "I must be within my budget if my credit card isn't maxxed out yet". He'd do the debt consolidation loans, pay off the cards and get so excited about zero balances that he'd charge them up again.
Now he's finally listening to me, and I've been digging us out of debt. Of course I took his cards away except for two, and he checks with me before he uses them. We only have three cards left that have balances, and two of those will be paid off in a couple of months.

When I think about how buried in debt we were, I'm amazed that we qualified for a mortgage! And didn't go the bankruptcy route either.

He's on his second career now- retired military and working for a company who will help to keep his WDW trips alive.

Thanks for this thread!
(BTW, we've cancelled over $xx,xxx worth of credit cards. Isn't that obscene?)

[mhopset]

Well, Here are my 2 cents: I work for Discover Card and my wife is a LPN on the maternity ward at a local hospital. We have 1 son that is 5 years old. We have been to WDW several times. Basically we save a little and charge a little. Only charge on DISCOVER CARD!!!!!
We have a change jar for my son that he saves his money in for his souviners. We stay at ASMo, which in my opinion is fantastic. Yes, one day I want to stay at GF, but I think once I do that there will be nothing to shoot for. I have like so many people read reports where people think that staying at one of the All Stars is low-grade hotel. We had a total BLAST!!!!!!!! We may go back in December of this year who knows. Vacations are our thing and always have been. We get teased a lot at work for going on so many. Some people save for houses and lands we save for WDW, Myrtle Beach, Gatlinburg, Lake Erie, Kings Island, Cedar Pointe, and Longaberger Baskets LOL. That last one belongs to my wife. When you save you will appreceiate it a lot more and like most people say planning is half the fun.

[MommaluvsDis]

After reading some of these wonderful post, I don't really know if I can add anything of value. But, here's my side of the story.

DH and I are living on one income, his. He's a locomotive engineer and God has blessed us by allowing me to be able to stay at home. DH is diabetic and it's important for me to cook him the proper meals. I also never wanted anyone else to raise my 2 DSs. I realize that sometimes you just have to have the 2 incomes to make it. Each situation is different. So, we make our sacrafices. One of them IS NOT vacations, however. My father would never work enough for us to be able to take vacations and when DH and I married, we both decided that we would go somewhere every year on vacation, big or small.

We save a little throughout the year for next year's vacation. I also us the tax refund that we get each April, which is usually almost enough to pay for vacation. This year we're taking a little vacation so that next year, we can take the Disney Cruise and then go back to WDW in October for 4 nights at the WL. This will probably be our last time to go since DH IS NOT a Disney lover. That's ok. His opinion is valuable to me and vacation without him isn't the same.

I refuse to go on vacation and use the credit cards. I just couldn't enjoy it. Once again, it amounts to sacrafice!

[Kaa]

Okay - enough. MikeP and DisneyFix please make a point of going to the posting guidelines and reading them. You will find that we ask that you not attack people on these boards. If you wish to continue this discussion between yourselves, do so in email.

[KELLY]

I try to go to Disney Every Year and it does happen. I think I'm very lucky to be able to go once a year. My husband and I gross before taxes is 43,000 we have no kids. Two dogs they are expensive between shots and getting sick every so often. My husband will go to disney every year if he didn't have to fly. He hates flying and he is in a rock band and dosn't have the time to take off. So I usually go with my mother and a friend we split the hotel and the rental car three ways. I love Disney and I'm 26 My parents took us once evey year and it was great. I didn't start going to Disney Until I was 10 and my brothers 5, and 2 months. But we went every year. I didn't go a couple of years in high school teenage years had a boyfriend that kind of thing. But I truly appreciate everything my parents did by bringing us to Disney. It is just a magical place and if I had kids I would make sure they went. Disney is a truly magical place.
I will be going April 2002 for & night we are booked at the All Star MOvies that split three ways is 284.82 a person. Renatl car about 75.00 a person. I had so much fun on the last all girls trip. We went to the hoop dee doo reuve at 900. They gave the friend a wash board it was just to funny. People on are bus on the way back had to go up on stage and I think the whole bus was laughing about something we just never figured out what. I actually had tears from laughing so hard. Adults wearing funny hats only in Disney What a wonderful place. My point being I do use a credit card to go but always pay it off asap. Never do I not have it paid off before the next rip. This is my luxry and I love it. My husband has his guitars and I have Disney. KELLY

[RAMWDWFAN]

Dear Rookie,

I'm an attorney who works primarily with children in juvenile court. I represent them in cases where they have been neglected, abused and ignored by their parents and other adults. I also represent them in cases where they have broken the law.

In the past I have used credit cards to pay for my vacations, but since my practice is getting more profitable, I can save a little each month to pay for them. I will begin saving soon to buy into DVC again (had to sell last year).

One thing I have learned over the years is the importance of taking vacations. As a kid, we never went anywhere. I envied my friends who went on vacation every summer, even if it was to Grandma's house in the next town!

I make it a priority to vacation as much as possible, within my budget. Although debt repayment is at the top of my list for now (please watch out for credit cards), saving for vacations comes a close second.

[nurse metal]

I had to add my two cents... live while you can. we live in a rural area and with a combined income of just under 50,000 and two kids 8 and 4 we have little to spare in extras. we have house payments, car payments lots of bills to pay and its easy to say ' lets wait untill next year or untill this or that is paid off ' ... but we may not have next year
I watched my father work hard and save for someday untill he was dx with cancer at 52 yrs. The first thing he did was spend some of that saved money to buy a camper so he could spent the rest of his time relaxing with his family, he never even got to use it. he died just weeks later.....dont wait to make memories, I wish I had more of daddy but he was always working and never took the time to play.
We are going to wdw this year for the first time and will have to put some on the card but we will save what we can and then after the balence is paid well go again. I may not work for everyone but I will for us. 54 days to go.... L

[nancycels]

like many of u, my husband and i are far from rich... he's an area mgr in retail, and i'm a medical researcher, neither of them the most lucrative jobs in the world! <G> but some things are just worth saving for! i use coupons and comparison shop all yr and put whatever i save from that in the vacation acct(DH has NO CLUE how much vacation costs). I also bought a timeshare which allows us to go more often than we might otherwise. Since we go in the summer, right after our birthdays, our birthday gifts from our parents cover our passes(almost) and now my kids are older, they get to pay for part of theirs.(they're 19 and 24 and both work, one still in school as well) my kids are handicapped, so it will be a long time before we ever vacation w/o them, but it doesn' t mean they don't need to learn to budget themselves. Our tax return goes to pay for plane fare. And I pay for the rest. Why do we do this instead of waiting yrs and yrs for a 'big' fancy vacation in a deluxe hotel? Well, when i was growing up, I used to wonder why my dad always insisted on going on expensive vacations..we spent winters in the caribbean or the keys for a few weeks every year, and lived yr round on a lake, so yes, we were spoiled. But the reason he did that was he knew he had a bad heart... and every vacation might be the last he could take w/us. I was lucky, he lived until i was almost 17, and we all have great memories w/him. But i'm so glad he took time out of his job as a VP to spend those uninterrupted weeks with us. So, I guess my motto is, try to live every day as fully as possible and work on creating opportunities for quality one on one time with your families! We tend to do 2 yrs at DIS for 2 wks each yr, then one yr off(this allows us to buy annual passes and maximize their use) so, we think its worth it... the girls are getting older now, and we frequently take along a few of their friends as well. (WE don't pay for their park passes/expenses/etc. just provide lodging and transportation in Orlando) but its nice for them to have some time to go off on their own, then the 2nd week we are just family. The best thing about being there 2 wks is u can leisurely enjoy your stay, not just race from ride to ride! So, yes, its worth it, u can make it too... it just takes a lot of planning, and these boards are great for that! So happy traveling!

[Disney Doll]

Well I'm a nurse and DH is a realtor...read he doesn't get paid unless he sells a house, and then he doesn't get paid what peole think realtors make!

We have no kids. For several years we incurred some fairly steep medical bills, but that's over now. We save, use coupons,bought into the DVC, and live fairly simple lives per se. We're not into a lot of "stuff", have an average house, 2 average cars.

We both
think it's very important to go on vacation. It's one thing I've always done since I was little. My family went on a big vacation every year.DH wasn't as much of a traveller when he was younger...his family had 4 kids, so things were a little different. As a young adult, I travelled a lot with friends.DH didn't do much travelling. When we met, one of the things I made clear was very important to me was travelling. I gave DH the bug, and now we love it.

[crazyforpooh]

It's so good to see so many people feel the same way about family and the importance of making memories.

This Christmas will be out 3rd trip to Disney as a family and our daughters 5th (she was lucky enough that an aunt took her and we let her go on a special Eco Quest trip with school this past march). I am looking forward to this trip more than any other vacation we have taken. You are all right life is just to short and we don't realize until something happens the little things we all take for granted.

Our last trip was in August 1999 our first big vacation since buying our home in the country in 1992. We had a wonderful time, then in Oct my DH had a near fatal accident and was hospitized for 4 months during many family holidays. Thank God he is alive. He was burned from his waist down and lost one of his legs.

Now we don't have alot of $$ either but, making family memories are important to both DH and I for our daughter. I am a office manager for a small construction co. and DH works as much as he can, but I don't really care if he ever works he is alive.

This will most likely be out last vacation to Disney for awhile but I'm sure it will be Christmas we will never forget for the rest of our lives.

We are saving with a coin jar, coupon clipping, and mostly the help of these boards.

Thank you everyone for sharing your stories. And my hat goes off to all the single parents out there after my short experience of it for four months God Bless you all.


Laura

[TinkerbellRules]

Thanks for your reply. DD starts school Wednesday and I plan on asking the principal then. Also, the peds neurologist feels she had her first migraine as well. He said its unlikely the meds caused it, but you never know. We may go ahead with an EEG anyway. He said it was up to us, but at this point, the MRI was completely normal. DD is scared of getting numb again and throwing up (I think more so of the last part ;) Since our conversation, I received a postcard rate of $84/night at moderates! That's hard to resist.

[disneymom28]

I am from a family that always had six kids , my parents were foster parents now there are only five kids we adopted the last foster child at birth he is handicaped . My father worked so hard all our lives and took us camping every summer my mom was a homeaker so my dad being the only one working ( gas company )I guess you could say we were poor but we were rich with love and togetherness . My youngest brother is now 16 I am married with my own children they are 6 and 17months and I still vacation with my family we go in a group of 13 every other year to WDW since the about 89. My 6 yo and my baby were both there even in the womb this is my 6yo 3rd trip we are going next saturday. We us our taxes when we go and save what we can my dd has $155 of here own money.I am not working and my husband works his butt off, he just got a new, better job at a steel plant about 6 months ago so he cant go. He always complains about going to disney and spending money we dont have but now that he cant go he is very upset. It will be our babies first time I JUST WANT MY CHILDREN TO EXPERIENCE THE MAGIC I did. I will continue to vist every two yrs because we all love disney, need a vaction and most of all we are all together as a family my parents my kids and my sister and brothers and niece and nephews and they are memories to last a life time . We are by no means wealthy we don t even own a home yet but we dont live forever so we need to enjoy life and each other while we can!

[s&k'smom]

What a fabulous topic and I have to add my two cents. Next Oct when we go to WDW it will have been four years. We had gone back in 96 and my husband said not again for a while. No sooner had he said that that our friends called and were getting married there in 97 so back we went. Two months after that our son was diagnosed as mildly autistic. So we have not been able to go but have continued our Disney dream and are madly saving to go next year. Like the others we could have saved the $$$$ we have spent to go and stay but we want our memories. Life is absolutely too short. My sis and bro in law have more money than God and they are the cheapest two I have ever met. They don't go anywhere. Money is so important to them. We prefer to fill our lives with wonderful memories and Disney trips are a part of that. I so agree with everyone who said life is to short you have to live for today. Vacations are a wonderful way to enrich your life and children will remember these trips with mom and dad forever.

[idontknow]

When I was a kid, our family took 2 vacations. 1 to Seaworld in Ohio and 1 to a timeshare in Tenn. We did camp a few times when I was a small child, though. I always thought it was "neat" that the kids in my class went on vacation every year. Now that we have a DS, I want him to experience as much as possible. (you now the old addage about wanting more for your kids that you had) We have, amazingly, gone to WDW 10 times since 1996. I never thought that would be possible. I do as much bargain shopping as possible. Our grocery bill averages $30 a week because I use coupons and stockpile when things go on sale. DS knows if it is not on sale and we don't have a coupon, we don't get it. (there are exceptions like everything in life. LOL) By far we are not rich. But our housepayment is less than $300 a month for a nice house. (I didn't want a morgage that was $700 a month. If something happened to DH or myself, we would not be able to pay it. As it stands, if we needed to, we could collect cans from the side of the road and be able to make our house payment.) DH is a kitchen manager, so when DS and I eat out, we eat there for free. DH works 10 -12 hour days, 6 days a week. Any time off he gets I want to make as relaxing as possible. We take one long vacation at the begining of the year, and then if there are air sales, we go back once or twice during the rest of the year. DH's job has given him high blood pressure. He loves his job and hates it at the same time. He has pondered quitting, but he has taken a kitchen that was horrible and loosing a lot of money and turned it around. He has been offered other management possitions in the company, but the kitchen he is in is his "baby" and he doesn't want anyone to run it into the ground like it was before. He is friends with all of his kitchen help which makes it easier....sometimes. LOL I just want our family to get as much joy out of life before we are too old to enjoy it.

[Tigger's Friend]

This topic is wonderful and the replies are great. Here's my 2-cents worth (a bit long, so maybe more than 2-cents...sorry)

I look at my WDW trips as precious time to spend with my Mom. Making memories to last us a lifetime. My father left when I was 2, my Mom was left to raise two children on her own. For several years we were on the welfare roles until Mom was able to find a job and work her way off the roles. Even then, the money she made was barely enough to meet the essentials so WDW trips (or anything else for that matter) were out of the question. In second grade I was surprised to find that my Aunt & Uncle were taking me to WDW as a Christmas gift. From that point on I fell in love with WDW. However, I knew that I might not ever get to see it again during my childhood. For my 16th birthday, and then again for graduation, my Mom and my Stepdad (at the time her boyfriend) sent me to Florida to visit my Aunt & Uncle (living in Fl by now). While there, my Aunt & Uncle took me to WDW again. Each time I would return from WDW and tell Mom about my vacation and show her the pictures her face would light up and I would wish she could have been there with us, but I knew financially that was not an option. So, I decided that some day she would get there. So, after I started working I made sure that no matter how much I was making I always put a little aside each paycheck into a savings account for a trip to WDW. I never told Mom. For WDW's 25th celebration I surprised my Mom with a Mother's day trip to WDW. It was just the 2 of us (Stepdad has no desire to visit WDW) We went for 15 days. The look on her face the first time she saw the castle was worth every cent. She was transformed into a child (like every other visitor to WDW). We stayed at the ASMu so this way I could spend the money on Mom for character meals, momentos, pictures, etc.. We had such a great time. I took her again for the Millennium celebration for 15 days. It is just so much fun spending some quality time with her without the distractions of every day life. She has become so addicted that we are going again in May 2002 (15 days) and Dec 2002 (16 days). Plus, we got one of those very elusive postcards this week and she has "begged" me to go Dec 2001, so we have a 7 day trip planned.

I am single with no children and now earn about $48,000 gross. For all those years Mom struggled to make ends meet I am determined that as long as I can afford it, whenever she or I get an urge to go to WDW, I will make sure we do it. Mom is getting up there in years (she would probably biff me off my head if she heard me say that :D ) so I want to cherish the moments I have with her. I can't think of anyplace better to do that than at WDW where you check your everyday life at the airport. :cool:

[Dancind]

Tigger's Friend, I've got tears in my eyes. Your story is so SWEET! Your Mom did a good job raising you, she deserves Disney! My DD, now 10 1/2, has been twice to DL, once to WDW right after she turned 8, next trip in two weeks. I saved for two years for the first WDW trip, and have been saving for 2 1/2 years for this one. We're paying cash, but something sort of happened in the middle here. I got to thinking about our last trip, and the Magic that happened. Not only Disney Magic, but family magic. Memories, fun, closeness. And I decided that vacations need to be moved up in priority for us, at least one good one a year! I make a decent salary, nothing spectacular, my DH makes much less, and we're pretty much budgeted out all the time. And looking at private school for our especially smart DD. But we loved our Disney trip, so we're buying AP's on this trip, just made arrangements to buy into the DVC, and got incredible airfare - so we're going again at the end of Dec., and I'm looking at the end of May too! We may skip the year after and try for two trips the following year. And this is from New Mexico! It can be done, and it's so very worth it.

[zurgswife]

I go to Disney at least once a year. Hopefully twice if I'm really lucky. Except the past 12 months where I have been extremely luck and my DH and I are about to take our third trip.

I don't make excuses for what I want because I enjoy Disney and I enjoy being at Disney with my family. We don't take any other vacations it's strickly Disney for the past few years. About 3 years ago we purchase DVC; which makes the cost of room dramatically less because of what we have put out is a spread out in payments over the course of many years. Our room is a deluxe and large then anything we could afford if we were to get reservations at a hotel. At least two rooms are needed for our family of six. The DVC room we get has a full kitchen so we eat 90% of our meals in our room. We purchase AP's most years so we go to the parks at least some part of every day we are on any given vacation. By the time our current twelve month AP will end in Oct 2001 DH and will have 23 days used on our passes.

Yes we have to much credit card debt but I realize it is my choice to take these vacations and I realize that some day I will have a full time job instead of a part-time one. And I will pay down lots of my debt. But it is my choice and I wouldn't do it any other way.

I live life to the fullest and have a blast at disney......

[Poohbear123]

I am 43 and my Dad died when I was 3. My Mom had to raise 3 kids, 3, 8 and 17 years of age by herself! There was NO Public assistance back than. She had part-time jobs cleaning Houses and worked in a Church. We took a weekend now and again, but NOT till I was about 16. My Brother had a girlfreind who's Mom had a camper/truck. We would pile in and ride to WDW and sleep in the back of the truck, or only go for a day. When I was 19 my Mom and I would take Bus trips to WDW. It was 50.00 a person, and that included a 2 day pass and the Hotel room for ONE night! It was great, we did that till I met the "man of my Dreams" and we got Married. (it was MORE of a nightmare)! I was 23 and 24 when I had my DD and DS! Flash forward to 1989 and my "New" Man. (who I am still with today!):) This was my kids first trip, but my DH(I call him that, even though we are NOT married) did NOT really like standing in long lines in the HOT FL. Sun!:mad: (This was BEFORE the Internet)!:rolleyes: Anyway, I was working at Publix Supermarket (still am after 14 years) and I have gone to WDW since 1996. (the year my Mom died).:( I would take my Income Tax money and "do something Special" with it and this is what it is.......I GO TO WDW WITH IT!:D My DH DOES NOT go to WDW but he goes along sometimes and hits the Flea Markets and Yard Sales in Orlando! (He is a heavy-duty antique buyer/seller)! I am a Heavy Duty WDW LOVER!:D We kind of meet in the middle, I tolerate his expensive Habit, and he tolerates my "foolish" one!:rolleyes: We are a Match made in heaven! LOL!

[Robin]

I have been to WDW twice as a child.
The first time was when my mother and stepfather got married (I was 5 years old) between the two of them they had 5 children and decided that they would take us on their honeymoon. Dad was in the service so money was tight but we had a great vacation. Dennis my stepfather was at least 100 times the father my bio-dad ever thought of being.

The next time we went I was 14, Dennis had been in the hospital for over 4 months due to cancer. When we asked what he wanted for Christmas his answer was simple "I want to take my family to Mickey Mouse's house" Mom and I put everything into this trip...I babysat, mowed lawns, delivered phone books, cleaned office buildings, sold flowers on street corners...you name it we did it. One of the nurses on Dads floor had a brother that worked for Disney so we were able to get free passes. We drove from Dallas to Orlando in an old Winnebago motorhome and stayed at Fort Wilderness. I flew in his 2 DD's from LA to join us on the trip....Dad could not have been happier. I have great memories of that trip...his cancer went into remission and we thought everything was ok... We were wrong..he died 4 years later and we never were able to take another family trip.


We have 2 trips booked in the next year. I have been diagnosed with MS and want to take DD while I have energy.

I made roughly 65k last year....but due to my health and the fact that I want to be home moe with my DD I have stepped down and changed directions. I now only make about 30k. I clip coupons, only buy what is on sale, love clearance racks, cringe at the thought of paying full price for ANYTHING. I drive a yucky 93 minivan that makes a weird noise when ever I drive in any direction but to the left ( I love my car...it's ummm PAID for)

My wonderful SO works 60+ hours a week as a network design engineer and makes 100k+. This will be his first trip to WDW..you should have seen his face the day the plane tickets came in...he was SO excited. Dan never gives the cost a second thought. He orders stupid gadgets off sharperimage.com (who really needs tie organizer???), only shops at Whole Foods, uses $28 bottles of conditioner, and other wasteful things. He drives a brand new Cadillac Seville with all the add on options.

It is in my mindset to cut corners and skimp on the things that really dont make or break a trip. Dan said that this is my vacation...to book the best and he would cover it. I just simply can not do that. I have booked the CSR at 99 a night for 7 nights in Dec and am just tickeled pink not to have to sleep in a motorhome (I have no problems with nice ones but the Winnebago was a fire hazard to say the least). I am going to MVMCP and havinga couple sit down meals...but will still watch what I spend. This trip is very imprtant to me...I think it will be very healing to remember Daddy when he wasn't so sick...all the memories I pull up now are after he was diagnosed.

[3boys]

When my two oldest sons (now 16 & 14) were very young, they always wanted to go to WDW. I used to jokingly say that we'd get there before my oldest went to college. That was before I became a single mom 7-1/2 years ago. After being out of the work force for a couple of years, I was suddenly in a position to have to provide for my 3 boys (who at the time were ages 9, 7 and 9 months). It has been a constant struggle, but I've been able to purchase a home and provide them with the essentials. We've been able to take small vacations (3-4 days) the past three years to the mountains or beach. But they've still dreamed of going to WDW...and those college days for my oldest are not too far away! So I decided earlier this year that we are going to do it - I've got reservations @ ASMu for 10/17-10/21. It's not for very long, but we are all excited and I know it will be wonderful. I've been trying to figure out how to cut every corner, pinch every penny, and have enough to make the trip something we'll always remember. My boys have been very good about knowing that we have to be on a budget and have done their best not to complain. We live in an area surrounded by huge, beautiful homes where the children/teens have every luxury they could hope for. We live modestly, in a very small home, but I hope they have learned that 'things' will never make us happy. Still....this trip means a lot to me, I suppose b/c of what it represents. To me, it is just another reminder of how God has blessed us in the midst of a heartbreaking divorce. After years of abuse, it has taken me a while to rediscover myself -and I'm looking forward to the chance to become a kid again, if only for a few days.
Well, I hope I didn't get too far off topic, but thanks for letting me share my little story. :earsgirl:

[BrerMom]

bumping this wonderful thread.
Also made me sad to read Robin's post.

[Muziqal]

l

[Alice28]

I decided to be a stay at home mom this last year...my DH makes about $55-60 thousand a year. We have only gone to WDW 3 times, but plan on taking a trip in 2005. How do we do it? Part responsibly, part reckless!

Responsible part- we are able to stay at Shades of Green due to my DH's military status. We're talking only $70 to be in a great hotel, right smack dab in between the Poly and the GF. We were able to stay at the CONTEMPORARY twice last year with this same rate as they were rehabbing Shades. NICE! I also was diligant with the Southwest Airlines website- I hit the jackpot with $164 R/T from Oregon to Orlando 6 months in advance of our trip and I jumped on it. We also ate every single breakfast in our room for our 10 day trip and I bought a case of bottled water at a grocery store in Orlando. We had about $1000 budgeted for food and $300 ($200 of this was in Disney Dollars we saved for for 6 months- we saved change, put $5 in the jar every now and then, etc.....this was the kid's fun money for toys, sweatshirts, treats) for souveniers. Let's just say we "kinda" (HAHA) went over that amount and put about $1,000 on our credit card. But we didn't care! IT was great and I would do it again in a heartbeat. At the end of the trip I would say we were about $2,000 in debt, but it truly was a trip of a lifetime and it was paid off in 4-5 months. I was able to go back in the fall with my mom and she paid for a lot of it (my airfare, 3 of the 5 nights at Shades and the rental car), and they had the $99 military 5 day passes which were TOO good to pass up!

For our next trip I am sure we will go the Shades route again and the Southwest airlines route as well....gotta have my Disney fixes!

[GailT]

When I was married we went every other yr., my ex hated it but due to me we went. When I got divoced I started going every yr. I make peanuts, less then 20 grand a yr but I go. $ yrs ago I found out I had MS so that made me even more strong willed to go once a yr to a place that I love cause I don't know what tomorrow brings. I have bills up the ying yang but I look foward to my vacations and getting away to ease my mind on my health issues and such. :D

[Tiggerlover91]

DH and I aren't blessed enough to go every year or even every other year. However, when we do go it is a blessing that I have a job where I can save and have the trip paid for in no time. I'm a waitress and those dollars and loose change add up quite quickly. ::yes:: :teeth: Our last trip was in 2001 and our next won't be til 2006 but I'm just happy to be able to go. I know so many who have never been to Disney or have not been as often as I have. A close friend of mine hasn't been since 1986!!!! :faint: :headache: WOW! Her and her DF are going to try and go with DH and I when we visit again for our 15th anniversary celebration. :hyper: :happy1:
I figure that whenever DH and I can afford to go to Disney it is a blessing. I don't own charge cards so I'm not like others that will charge their whole trip and pay it off later. I know me...I wouldn't pay the bill off immediately upon arrival back home, and would only regret it later. :( :worried:
DH and I have been blessed to do a lot of traveling over the last year, Nashville, New Orleans, and now Columbia South Carolina! It's quite exciting to always have someplace to go every year! :cool1: :cool1: Hmmm, I have to figure out where we're going in 2005. Nothing planned yet, and we can't have that now can we? That would break my tradition I just spoke of. :p

[cocowum]

Disney is magic pure and simple. I grew up in the Bronx (NYC)poor. My family never went on vacation, stayed at a hotel or flew on a plane. When I was 18 I joined the Army. Fast forward 15 years. I have a wonderful life. Great DH and DD. DH works 2nd shift and I work 3rd shift so our DD always has someone home. We both forgo sleep more often than not so we can spend time together. Needless to say niether one of us likes our job. But were happy. Two years ago we decide DD is old enough 7yo for Disney world. I had always loved disney movies and the disney store but never even thought about disney world. Always thought it was for rich people. Well DH went when he was a kid and wanted to take us. We called Disney booked a 5 day stay CBR. rack rates. did not know anything about all these great sites :rolleyes: We had The time of our lives. It was worth every penny!! and took six months to pay for!!! well I've learned a thing or two and we are going again in april this time for two weeks POFQ and the best part is for all my planning It's going to cost us the same price as our 5 day stay 2 years ago. the point of this long drawn out post is if you plan it right you can cut the cost way down. BTW mousesavers.com is a jewel. My DH laughs at me because I'm constantly saying oh Mary says... We have so much fun planning and talking and remembering. So i don't care that I drive a 1994 saturn w/ 123,456 miles on it because we're going to disney!!

[tidoublegger]

We are bound and determined to pay for our March 2005 trip with cash. We're renting a 4 bdrm. house for $600 for the week and will be paying it off over the next year so it'll be paid for prior to us leaving. We also have a huge change jar to roll towards passes. I will be buying one every other month (4 day park hoppers) starting in April and will tuck them away. I plan on watching SW airlines for good fares from Providence to Orlando for the 5 of us and will use our tax refund for the rental car/spending money/meals while we're there. NOTHING will be charged!! I am a part-time EMT and nursing student so I make about $5000/yr and DH makes around $60000. I am just getting out of credit card debt now so refuse to charge a trip!!! I finish nursing school in December and this is my REWARD/GRADUATION gift to ME!!!!!!!!!!!:)

[floridagirrl2]

We live in Florida and were just sprinkled with pixie dust last year (we'd been to Disney before, but it was never magical until last year). For plenty of inexpensive Disney vacations, move to Florida and purchase Florida Residents Seasonal Passes.;)

[BelleBeautyandtheBeast]

Oddly enough (or maybe not) this post has inspired me to buy a smaller house and take more vacations.

So many of you have such touching stories that you shared!

I only visited MK once, for a day, as a child. I was hooked and dreamed about going back. Unfortunately my family had very little money. We did drive to Florida every year, but we stayed with realtives and spent our time at the beach. I have wonderful memories of those vacations.

When I was 24 I flew to Florida with my two oldest kids who were 24 & 6 months at the time. We stayed with my relatives and drove to the MK for a one day visit. My oldest never stopped talking about Disney!!!

When the oldest two were 32 and 14 months old I decided to forget everything and take a spontaneous trip to Disney. The 3 of us enjoyed our little 3 night 4 day adventure. 2 months after we returned from the trip I decided DH needed to visit Florida & Disney World, he had never been! We took a 2nd honeymoon and left the kids behind with their grandparents. DH loved Disney World, but is not as obsessed with it as I am. And the kids had a great time spending 4 days with their grandparents.

I haven't seen Disney World in four long years. We have fallen on some very tough financial times and are happy to have a place to live and food to feed our 3 kids. We drive old used cars, live in a cheap mobile home that is paid off and do almost anything to save a few bucks.

I CAN"T WAIT ANYMORE! I am taking my 3 adorable kids to Disney World this summer, they will be 6, 4 & 2 years old.

My DH was recently blessed with a nice new job (which pays less than most of you make $30k/yr), but this is more than he has made in the past. I am a SAHM & full-time college student. I will graduate in December and we plan on buying a house next summer. We have been looking at houses near the top of our budget but I now see that it isn't a house that is all that important. It is family and sharing memories. I talked to my DH today about buying a slightly cheaper fixer-upper, and he agrees it is a good idea. We would have plenty of money left over to save for DISNEY!! (and other vacations LOL).

[Misty89]

my DH is a roofer, i test car for emissions, and i also run a custom wedding cake shop, and i also teach cake decorating classes-
we are lower middle class
...we made 35k last year.
we going to WDW in either dec 04' or jan 05' and we have been trying to save and earn money for out trip since we decided to go in october last year....so almost 16 mths of saving and planning.
I save 1/2 of my paycheck every week and all if not most of my profits from my cake business are put into a special savings accct for vacations.....we are hoping to stay at WDW for 6 days....and have a good time while we are there, we have chosen a FW cabin becasue we can make some meals there if we want to to save some $$ for teh parks. we have only been to WDW MK 1 time, and only that park....so this time and probly the ONLY time we will get there so we are going with the mindset of that( we will vacation like we are rich LOL) by working hard and saving big all year.
we take other vacations...but driving vacations like WI dells a few times a year, etc. but never anything like WDW where we actually need thousands of dollars before we go!
i sell on ebay and have a change jar.....my children are not informed about our trip because it is going to be a surprize for them when ST NICK brings thier stockings on december 5th.....so they are not earning WDW dollars.

[PamNC]

Disney is expensive. My husband and I are both self-employed. He is an opera singer (doing quite well) and I am a freelancer in the advertising industry. When we were first married...we were quite poor. That was 10 years ago. We are so blessed and fortunate now. We're not tehcnically "rich" but we sure feel that way. I think it's all about priorities. Disney fanatics make Disney excursions a priority. When we were first married, I doubt we made about $37,000 between the two of us. Now we make about $100,000 - and I can tell you that even when we made the lower amount we still went to Disney. We went for our honeymoon and we were hooked. We stayed in a value resort and went to Disney on a shoestring budget. My husband worked 4 jobs one summer just so we could go. For the past two years we've only gone once a year - but in the past we've gone twice a year. We're hoping to go 2-3 times this year (already been once and planning to go back in July). We're also like to visit different Florida beaches.

It can be done. No matter what you make.

PamNC

[frannn]

I have not been able to read all the replies yet, but I will, and I'll enjoy it! I went to WDW as a young child, and don't remember the trip. DH and I honeymooned there in 1999, and since then, I have been hooked (DH, not so much). I have always been frugal (taught by my mom)-won't ever pay full price, stretch meals, never buy the most expensive anything, deny myself a lot of "wants"-until I found WDW. All of a sudden, I live like a rich person in WDW (and in DS and ebay). I "pack" lunch for work (now I work from home, so it's not so hard), food shop by the sale circular, buy most things of ebay and from the dollar store. DH is a police officer, and I am an accountant, and we have 3 kids (2 from my prior marriage, 1 of our own). We bought a house in late 2000, and even though it is worth a lot more today than when we bought it, the bills (NY) are still very high. The only time we booked a pkg for WDW was for our honeymoon. Once I found these boards, I saved $$ by booking everything myself. We go off season, only stay at the AS, the only sit down meals are character meals, eat counter service, off site, shop at outlets, and buy AP due to the amount of days we stay. We only average 1 trip/year, but try to time them so we can get two uses out of the APs. That saves a LOT. We have also been lucky enough to go the last few times without the kids, which saved a lot of $. I was thrilled about not having to buy passes for this coming trip, plus we had airline credit from a previous trip (fares decreased, plus we got additional credit for them losing our luggage twice), so we would have only had to pay for hotel and 1 plane ticket....but DD11 may go this time, so it will probably tack on almost an extra 1000. Not so bad in relation to the many years of memories it will create. I guess I feel a bit guilty for all the $ we spend on and at WDW, but.....then I realize saving it forever, I will deprive myself & my family of necessary "us" time. Also, we do save, have a 401K and an IRA. At the very least, I am racking up reward dollars on my Disney Visa. The memories we create are priceless.

[vhoffman]

Well, several have mentioned how life is too short and you need to grab your enjoyment as you can. Makes me think of the phone bills I used to have talking to my mother. That was before the flat rate plans they now have where you can talk as long as you wish. Well, we talked as long as we wished, sometimes running up phone bills of $200-$400 per month. Mom died several years ago. Should I have saved that money rather than spending it on phone calls? I'd be quite well off by now with all that. However, I can't buy another call from my mother now. There are some things that are worth more than money. We all make our choices in life. I chose talking to my mother as opposed to stashing money away. Some here will chose Disney trips over stashing money away. You just have to strike a balance and do remember what's important in life. Also, most of us here have families, kids, etc., that we share our Disney trips with. There are many lonely people out there who don't have families to share living with. They'd love to have what we take for granted. I guess they have more money, but who has the true riches?

[Lebjwb]

My wife and I have one child, a seven year old daughter. The way I figure it, I have ONE shot at giving her a great childhood. Disney is a time that we can enjoy the "Magic" of good, wholesome, family fun. Just the way I think Walt intended it to be. Didn't he say something like" I wanted to build a place where a daddy could take his little girl for some good clean fun"?

When I was a child my Mom would take me every year to the Jersey Shore and I still go. Mom's been gone 4 years now but I still have those great memories of our summer trips. I can give the gift of Disney to my daughter and build new memories with her. What price can you possibly put on that? I'd pay ten times what I pay when I go to Disney just to see her face light up the way it does and hear her say to me;"Oh Papa, this is the best day of my life"!

[funnygarcia]

Haven't been to WDW yet but plan to when DH graduates wiht his Elem Ed degree two yrs fomr now.. however we do go to DisneyLAND each year.
We found that CA was a bit cheaper for airfare plus we go for shorter trip so verall it is less $$.. My family thinks we are crazy to spend our tax return each year on a trip when we are so very poor ( I earn $10K a yr as a preschool teacher, DH is a student earning only $6K a year plus disability payments of $14K yr).

But we have a reason to go...

For 4 hard years my DH was very ill- nearly died twice.
He suffered thru grueling three hr dialysis sessions, three times per week.
Two needles the size of crochet hooks in his arm- his blood circulated thru a machine to wash all the toxins out - toxins that his non functioning kidneys could not handle. Can't move while having dialysis.. sets off the alarms and needles will move. Special diet - less fluids- medications- anything to protect the body from build up of toxins.
The days he didn't have dialysis, he was weak with fatigue and battling insomnia, arthritis, beginnings of osteoporosis, severe anemia.. and severely /chronically depressed.


All that changed three years ago..

On December 5, 2000

my DH got a new kidney..

and I.....
got one less kidney
and a scar that I wear with pride.

That spring we went on our first family vacation- no worries about where to have dialysis, no holding back on anything for fear of fatigue.. we were like every other family.. Very NORMAL - enjoying a great time together healthy and happy at a place we have grown to love..

Disneyland!

[daniluvsdisney]

funnygarcia -
what a perfectly happy and deserved ending to such a trying time... we have a saying in our family "we are living today because we are living today" We so our best within reason to make our memories with the folks we love today because it is what we have...
God bless you and yours:angel: :goodvibes

[nrsldy]

I HAVE BEEN READING SOME OF THE POSTS. I GUESS IT GETS RIGHT DOWN TO PRIORITIES.
WHEN MY DAUGHTER DIED FROM COLON CA AT THE AGE OF 19 AND LEFT US HER SON (1 1/2 YRS) TO RAISE. WE MADE UP OUR MINDS THAT WE WOULD TAKE MORE FAMILY VACATIONS. THEN WE TOOK ALL OF OUR FAMILY TO WDW,1998. WE WERE HOOKED!!!!
NOW WE GO EVERY 2 YEARS AND STAY AT SHADES OF GREEN.

I SAVE CHANGE AND DISNEY POINTS. SHOP AT DISCOUNT PLACES,SAVINGS FROM MY JOB. THE TRIP IS PAID FOR BEFORE WE LEAVE. WE HAVE FOUND WAYS AT THE PARKS TO EAT AND STILL NOT BREAK THE BANK. WE WILL CONTINUE TO GO TO WDW WORLD AS LONG AS WE CAN.

I WISH THAT WE HAD BEEN ABLE TO TAKE MORE TRIPS WHEN OUR CHILDREN WERE LITTLE. NOW IS THE TIME TO CREATE MORE MEMORIES AND FEWER REGRETS.

WDW RULES!!!:::MickeyMo ::MinnieMo ::MickeyMo

[Trvlnlite]

I started to read the replies from the beginning and then skipped to the end because people were still responding. Some of the responses brought tears to my eyes. So I just wanted to add my 2cents as well.

I am an Accountant and I work for a goverment contractor outside of Washington DC. My salary with ot is about 50,000. I am a fulltime student finally going for my degree so that I can apply for better positions that require a degree. Although I have 24 yrs of experience, living in this particular part of the US it is almost mandatory that you have completed college before they will even interview you. All I can say is that I have been very blessed to find decent paying positions.

We talked about it about 4 years ago, but it didn't work out due to finances at the time. So we went for a few days down to Cape Cod and stayed at a hotel near the beach. My grandchildren loved it. My daughter and grandchildren live in Boston and I live in Maryland. I only get to see them maybe twice a year sometimes. My daughter has five children and does not work. My youngest grandson has a disability where he will need care for the rest of his life. My grandchildren range from 7-17yrs. They first flew to see me about 5 yrs ago and stayed for a week and did the DC thing (tours, sightseeing). They had their first plane ride then. I gave each of them a camera and they took the craziest pictures, but it gave them joy to have a camera and create their own photo album. I have 4 grandsons and 1 granddaughter.

My granddaughter is 12 but she loves to travel. She wrote the best praise of me when she had to write a short story about who she admired most. When my daughter showed me the story I almost cried. She said that she admired me because I try to teach them about the good things in life. About how to be honest and disciplined and that I take them on trips and do fun things. She said the most important thing is not that I do those things but that I am alive and that she loves me. I travel quite a bit on my own but this is the first big trip we have gone on as a family. I am looking forward to watching their faces. I have planned some big surprises for them.

I have been planning a Disney trip for my grandchildren for 18 months now. I have wanted to do this for them because my daughter is not married now and she cannot afford to take the children on vacations. I want my grandchildren to see that there is life and a world outside of Boston. I want them to see that they can reach for the good things in life but they must be disciplined and persevere towards their goals. We have talked and planned for a year and a half. They have saved their money doing extra chores and when they get monetary gifts for christmas and birthdays. My daughter had also been putting away some extra as she will be responsible for the food. I will be paying for everything else. I have been having direct deposit go into my credit union. I don't touch that money now matter what happens. Case in point I blew my engine coming from Boston this past Christmas. Between the travel back and forth and the repairs it cost just over $2000. I also planned to go on a small trip to Trinidad in February just to get away from the cold, but I cancelled because I didn't want anything to get in the way of Disney. I have money going into two different accounts at two different locations to pay for this trip and I am just about there. I think I will keep the money going there even after we get back.


We will be going to Disney for the first time for all of us in May. I picked this time because I will be celebrating a milestone birthday and although most people have big parties and invite all their friends, I just want my grandchildren to celebrate with me. So I decided to take them and me to Disney.

With the help of all you good people I have planned and planned and planned. I have purchased the passporter and the Unofficial guide 2004. I have gotten a good discount rate at POP Century for a couple of nights and rented a villa for the rest of the time we are there. The children have looked through the book WDW for kids by kids and have picked out the activities they want to do. We will also visit Universal. All I can say is that grandma will be spending a day to herself at the Epcot flower show!

With God's blessing this will be a trip of a lifetime! I want to thank all of you for all the helped you have given a stranger and didn't even know it. :wave2: My family enjoying their childhood is important for me. And all the money in the world will never buy that!!!

If all goes well on this trip, we may do a cruise in 2006.:Pinkbounc :

[carone0318]

We go to Disney every year. The only reason that we can afford it is because we bought DVC. If we didn't own DVC, we probably couldn't afford to go. Last yr we went in May even though we knew that dh was going to be laid off a month later. Who know what the future would hold and dh said we are going. It ended up being about 6 months before he found a new job, but we always had our chin's up. We make a little over 100k, but the news at my work has just be annouced that about 30-40 people are being let go. I am hoping and praying that I am not one of them, but I could very well be. My only true concern about that is my Disney vacations. We have a trip planned for the end of Aug, and regardless we will be going. I didn't take true vacations as a child, our family always would visit relatives (that was our vacations.) I swore to my dh that we will vacation every year, it is very important. Now don't fret, I know how to prioritize and if it came down to a roof over our head or a vacation, I know which to choose. But on the other hand I also know if it is a choice over a new car or a vacation, which is the right answer. The struggle is part of the appreciation....

[Del]

I got chills reading your post---God Bless you and your family. Have a great Trip!

Del:sunny:

[lentesta]

Hey Trvlnlite, thanks for reading the Unofficial Guide. Drop me a line if there's anything we can help with for your trip.

Sincerely,

Len Testa

[crisi]

Some people here may want to check out the poll on the DVC boards that talks about how much DVCers make.

[vhoffman]

To the poster who said their family vacations consisted of visits to relatives, well, she could be my cousin! That's just about all we did as a kid was take long car trips to visit a bunch of relatives so old they had one foot in the grave! That was supposed to be a marvelous experience for me--I'd get to see the country (we lived in Chicago) and connect with my roots. And that was back in the days when they didn't even have cable in rural areas, let alone internet, etc. Needless to say, I was bored S*******!!!!!!
I vowed when I had a family we would have fun vacations, not drive around visiting old fossils. Oh, we do the family thing, too, but short trips, maybe a weekend. They are NOT the highlight of our vacations. That's one of the reasons we've latched onto Disney--its great for kids of all ages. And, we really don't spend much more than my parents did, if as much, on those "visit the old people in the country" vacations. I want fun on my vacations!

[disneyberry]

<font face="times" size="+0">wow, this is a really old post! interesting that it got bumped up.

btw, so much for the "stable jobs" that dbf and i had. *nervous grin* we both lost our jobs after 9-11 due to company cutbacks, and have spent the past 3 years struggling with long stretches of unemployment in between consulting gigs.

we've cut a lot of things in our budget, but vacation is the one thing that is the last to be cut.

we bought DVC a little over a year ago, and that should help us continue to afford WDW vacations in the future.

in the meantime, we're just working hard to try to get back into stable jobs! anyway, just had to reply 'cause i found what i'd written a few years back to be amusing... </font>

[Jailen's Gma]

How do I do it? Because I have to. When my children were young we couldn't afford to take such vacations. They are both grown now, but we take vacations together. Some I pay for, some we all pay for. I have learned that we need to do this to sane.

I work in local government, one son is in the service and the other one customer service. After dealing with public all day in and day out, we need the mental release of a vacation.

I try to tell my family that we all need to take a vacation every year. They don't have to be long or expensive, just some time away from work and home.

I just do it.

[NvrBnToWDW]

I am a stay-at-home (homeschooling) mom and my husband works at a warehouse. We have two wonderful sons (9&11). We make less than $29000 a year. And this will be our first vacation that leaves the state of Texas. We spend $500 a year on vacations within the state. We spend $50 a week on groceries (don't feel bad, we do eat steak). We live in the home I grew up in. We own 1 car. And we never have lack. We always have more than enough. And there is always still money left in our wallets by the next payday. We are frugal, but we don't suffer. We go to movies, eat out, give kids allowance, tithe to our church, by name-brand cereal, wear new Nikes & Reeboks. Another words, we are blessed! The only way we can have all this is by the Grace of God! He is the one that not only provides our needs but our hearts desires also. We set our hearts on an "impossibility" (a week long trip to WDW) and "with God all things are possible". This dream is already coming to pass. We have paid our hotel deposit and booked our room (ASM) and have souvenir and food money saved. All this from a thought that entered my mind only 2 months ago! PRAISE GOD! HE IS GOOD!!

[Misty89]

surprized to see this thread still running!

[BethR]

Originally posted by Misty89
surprized to see this thread still running!

Yes, I think that it is a little odd. :confused:

And it seems as if it COULD take a political turn.

We are all for the freedom to support one's candidate here on the DIS, but we have avoided things getting political and heated on THIS board. There is enough of THAT stuff going on on the Community!!!

It would be nice if we could keep it that way. ::yes::

(This is not to say that people should not have political messages in their signatures, etc. But it would be nice if we could keep the discussion of the election to the Community Board. )

Thanks! :)

[grlpwrd]

Yes, this is a wonderful topic ... minus the political interjections, of course.

My story - short version (lol)... I come from a working class struggling family where we continually lived in survival mode. My parents couldn't afford to take vacations, but one year in 1977 my father managed to muster up money for a trip to Disneyland. That changed my life.

I am a WAHM with an ebay business and blossoming design business while my dh makes a great living as an engineer. We plan and are we are able to do more things.

We don't go to WDW often, but we experience Mouse Magic when we can. Really, though, I don't have to visit WDW - I am a Disney fan for life with a collection of Disney items.

I always have a Disney day. ::MinnieMo ::MickeyMo

[rockin_rep]

PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE don't make this a political thread!!

This is possibly the BEST thread on this board, and DESERVES to stay at the top!!!!!! It totally reinforces my believe in this: "Some people know the price of everything, and the value of nothing." - Oscar Wilde

*Things*, material possessions are meaningless in the grand scheme of life. However *TIME* spent together creating memories is absolutely PRICELESS. Life goes so fast, and no one knows what a day will bring.....

DH and i have been blessed, growing up in traveling families and now our careers (i'm flex-part time) have allowed us to make travel our top family priority (after God). Our trips and vacations as a family are a major part of the *glue* that have made us so very close as a family.

While we've saved, sacrificed and scrimped, our vacations together have been a huge blessing for which we'll always be grateful. *THINGS* are very low on our priority list, altho God has blessed us with much in that area, also.

Again, pleeeeze don't allow this to become political so others may continue to contribute and we can keep it at the top!

[ksoehrlein]

What a fun thread!

MY DH and I started "going" to Walt Disney World when I was a Cast Member there. We started dating when he came to visit me in FL on his spring break from podiatry school, so we consider the day we spent at Magic Kingdom to be our first real date. Anyway, at the time I made very little money and ate my share of Ramen noodles for dinner, but was able to spend a day at the park whenever I wished. How ironic that my "salad days" spoiled me -- at least in that regard.

I remained a CM (Disney Stores) after moving up North to join DH in Philadelphia. He proposed to me on our first low-budget trip back to Magic Kingdom.

After such grand beginnings, how could we NOT go back often? We joined DVC while I was still a DS CM (yes, I'm the infamous one who charged the membership on her credit card). But the CM discount and the fact that prices only continue to go up inspired us to take action at the time. Our DD is now 4 years old and has been to WDW 7 times. Our DS is 17 months old and has been 3 times. Yes, we're still paying for our DVC membership. Yes, we have other debt as well (podiatry school and opening up one's own practice isn't cheap). But the memories? Priceless!

[tinaluis]

You're not intruding "on a world of make believe" but many of us visited WDW before George Bush and the tax cuts and will continue to do so no matter who is in office.

As others have said, our family makes some "sacrifices" in order to visit WDW as often as possible. We don't got out to eat very often, usually rent movies/watch cable as opposed to going to the movies (we can never seem to get a sitter anyway) and don't have to have the latest "gadgets". Instead, we focus on spending time together (at WDW and at home) and trying to enjoy the many free things that Chicago has to offer.

[Strings]

My husband works in the computer industry, and I am a RN. I work 24 hours every weekend, and satay at home with my 4yo DD. We are able to go to WDW every 2 years. When katie is in 1st grade, I'll go full time, and that wextra money will go towards our vacations. Time is short, so our memories of family vacations are precious. WDW happens to be our destination of choice at the moment.

[mamalle]

my husband is a firefighter/medic and Im a RN. we work flexible hours, I work for a higher rate of pay and take my benefits thru my husband. I will work a extra shift if need be for our trips. we usually take our trips on dh's 5 day off week that he gets every three weeks. so no vacation time is needed. we live in fla and thats the biggest perk of all. we only go when their are fla resident rates. we will usually go for 3-5 days tops. we have been able to go 3 times this year and will go in dec for a short 3 day trip. right now our kids are young and our vacations consist of road travel and the two places that we go are either WDW or the Fla keys. three hour drives are our limit right now. If it wasnt for being able to drive and the discounts- Im sure we would not go as much as we do.

[HenDuck]

My DH and I are attorneys. I work for the government so I don't make much as far as attorneys go. My DH has his own practice so his income varies.

Our property values in Hawaii are high so our mortgage is too.

Other than the mortgage we only have one other debt - a car payment. Our other car is paid off and hanging by a (tire) thread.:rolleyes:

We pay for DS to go to private preschool.

We also have a college fund for DS, I have retirement accounts, and we have a modest savings.

We do not live luxuriously. We think out every major purchase we make.

When we go on vacation, my mom and I search high and low for values. We use our frequent flier miles when we can. We scrutinize every aspect of our itinerary and often make changes when we find better deals.

Even though we talk about staying at a Deluxe resort or even just any Disney resort, when I look at the values I can get off-site, I just can't get myself to spend the money to go on-site. When we can get a suite with free full breakfast for less than the price of a moderate or the DL hotel, we take it and are more than happy there.

I have other friends who live off their credit cards. I'd rather drive a Toyota rather than a Lexus and stay at an off-site hotel rather than the Grand Californian than have tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt. (JMHO)

This is a great thread. I am glad it was revived!

Thanks!:wave2:

[MinnieMouse51]

I think the person who originally started this thread was inquiring as to the people who were going to places like Grand Floridian and Polynesian and those who go very frequently. I think you must be very well healed indeed to go to those two places or to go frequently, because it is very very expensive no matter what you save.......but this is a nice thread to hear from people all over....I agree....have a magical day::MinnieMo

[BethR]

PLEASE, I have asked once, let's not turn this interesting thread into a political debate!!!

I would hate to close this thread because it is getting off topic...

[Took]

This is a truly inspiring thread!

My DH and I are professors at small IL colleges. We earn a good income now and have only one DD. We have a mortgage and two Saturns we are paying for, but we're pretty comfortable. We take two trips a year to WDW and always stay at moderate or deluxe hotels on-site (though we budget and save to get these).

But even when we were struggling grad students, working as adjunct profs part time and making very little money, we found ways to make a few WDW trips happen (extra teaching in summer, value resorts only, short trips, asking for Disney tickets for Xmas, whatever!). One reason: DH's closest friend and mentor (a 40ish prof.) died suddenly when DH was working on his PhD; he was devastated and vowed to enjoy time with his family while we were together and healthy. And that's just what we've done. Those who say "live now" are so right! Of course, I believe in planning for the future and not going too far in debt. But, as a couple of characters say in the film, _Risky Business_, "Sometimes you just got to say 'What the h%*l!" So true.

Took

[floridagirrl2]

DH and I live in Florida and have Florida Resident Seasonal Passes (only $200 each for a year of park-hopping! There are black-out periods, though), so we have gone 5 times in the last year --will be 6 times when we go again 2 weeks from now.

I'm a healthcare professional and DH is self-employed as a computer tech. We are not rich but we don't have any kids and have a solidly middle-class income. We live small--no big house or expensive cars--and consider Disney a financial priority, right up there with saving for retirement and saving for new siding/painting our house and remodeling our bathrooms.:)

I do think the key to going to Disney a lot is living so close!

[Lucky4me]

It's funny reading what I wrote over 3 years ago. Especially since I did manage to squeeze in a trip that year and a couple more since. ;) My husband also has come around. I think he loves WDW as much as I do. Really, what choice did he have? It was that or get left behind. ;) He can't get over how cheap this years trip cost and loves to tell everyone just how much money I saved us. Now that's the way to think about it! :)

Oh yeah, I don't care if Bugs Bunny gets elected, I'LL STILL BE GOING TO WDW!! :tongue: