Is everyone on here really doing all these trips to the World?

[grimley1968]

Okay so maybe my words made of money were not quite what I meant. I am in my 50's and have not been there since 1974. In todays world I can't see all these people staying at the best and doing all the things they write about. I work two part time jobs and it's still hard to come up with the money for a nice trip. My hubby works full time but it's still hard to try and get one trip to Disney in but some of you are going multiple times and I don't know how you all are doing this. I'm only looking at trying to go for 4 days and it's still going to cost a lot. Plus we'd even be driving down. I wish I knew everyone's secret.

I also see a lot of people posting about staying at value resorts (these are honestly not much more expensive than some of the motels on I-Drive), maybe moderate resorts to splurge, getting further discounts to do this, eating offsite to save $$$, etc. In fact, I personally see more of that than the ones who post only of staying at Deluxes every time.

Otherwise, this is a Disney forum. It's here for people to specifically discuss going to Disney parks and/or staying at Disney resorts. This isn't a random sampling of the overall population. There aren't many people posting on here who aren't major Disney fans. Of course you'll see a lot of people posting about staying at Disney resorts, from the Grand Floridian to the All-Star resorts.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Nope, not made of money. But, in "real life" DH and I both have good jobs and live well within our means. We set a budget for family vacations every year because we do work so hard, its important to have that time together.

We look for good discounts, and NO, we don't use credit cards (at all, ever). We put ample money in our savings every month as well as contribute to retirement, so we are certainly not living irresponsibly as some other PP's indicate has to be the case.

We have a decent home, decent cars and all of our basic needs, but one thing we do (big) is vacation, because it's important to us.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Okay so maybe my words made of money were not quite what I meant. I am in my 50's and have not been there since 1974. In todays world I can't see all these people staying at the best and doing all the things they write about. I work two part time jobs and it's still hard to come up with the money for a nice trip. My hubby works full time but it's still hard to try and get one trip to Disney in but some of you are going multiple times and I don't know how you all are doing this. I'm only looking at trying to go for 4 days and it's still going to cost a lot. Plus we'd even be driving down. I wish I knew everyone's secret.

That's the point of this board, for experienced people to help inexperienced people find the best deal possible and talk about Disney.

My husband and I don't have children and we make at least 2 trips to Disney each year, sometimes, it's just a weekend, sometimes for a week. We are fortunate that he is military and we can get some great deals.

We are supposed to be going with another couple at the beginning of Feb for 1 night and we are not going to spend alot. We're splitting expenses (room, gas) with the other couple, so it won't cost us alot.

 

[stargazertechie]

Okay so maybe my words made of money were not quite what I meant. I am in my 50's and have not been there since 1974. In todays world I can't see all these people staying at the best and doing all the things they write about. I work two part time jobs and it's still hard to come up with the money for a nice trip. My hubby works full time but it's still hard to try and get one trip to Disney in but some of you are going multiple times and I don't know how you all are doing this. I'm only looking at trying to go for 4 days and it's still going to cost a lot. Plus we'd even be driving down. I wish I knew everyone's secret.

Well, I don't know that I have "secrets" but here are some of the things that I do to save money on trips. It does help that for now it's just DH and I- so no worries about paying for kids. That greatly reduces our cost.

1) We grocery shop and cook meals at the resort. That might be as simple as bagels and cream cheese for breakfast, taking snacks to the park, making PB&J sandwiches to have at lunch time. When we stay DVC and have a full kitchen, we do crock pot meals, some of which I prepare at home and pack in our suitcases on ice.

2) We travel at low-cost times of the year. Sure, some rides are down for refurb, but it makes our trip affordable.

3) Split meals! DH and I can normally split 1 CS or TS meal between the two of us and be plenty full. The portions are HUGE. If you DO want to have a sit down meal, Breakfast is the cheapest meal to have at the park, followed by lunch.

4) Book with a discount. We don't stay on property unless we can score a PIN or there is a discount. Paying rack rate is insane.

5) You don't have to go to a park every day. Our upcoming trip we have 2 park days planned, one day at Disney Quest (we have non-expiring tickets with WPF&M on them) and one day relaxing at the resort, exploring the monorail resorts, and shopping at Downtown Disney. If we do stay offsite, it's at a $20 no holler motel. Clean, safe, but "dated" and not exactly a "destination". Those are the trips that we're going either to run a RunDisney race, or that we plan to be in the parks from open to close.

6) We rent DVC points if we want to stay at a deluxe resort. Our honeymoon was in "value" season and we had a savannah view studio at Animal Kingdom Lodge for $90/night. We booked a value studio and requested a room in a section of the resort that is known to have savannah views. It was luck of the draw, but we came out ahead.

7) Don't buy tons of souvenirs. I am a hobby photographer, so our photo book each trip is our big "souvenir". We might buy a few pins, but outside of that, nothing.

I will say that the past two trips we have taken, as well as the upcoming trip we have this summer were compliments of my dying father. He knew we weren't in a position to take multiple long trips, so he paid for everything except our food. Not the way I'd want to score a "free" trip, but the memories we made were fantastic.

 

[scottmel]

Signed up for Southwest Visa - 50k points enough EASILY to fly 3 of us there for free from Pittsburgh.

Use my chase freedom card on EVERYTHING and use the rewards points to pay for my meals at disney . So far I have 625 in free money to eat with at disney.

When my local grocer has double fuel perks, I end up getting disney gifts for 12% off. So I purchased 3000 at once and this netted me over 300 in savings.

----

So so far I have flown for free, eating for free and already have my version of 12% pin before disney has yet to release a special.....Add that onto the 30% off I usually get, I have gotten 42% then off room rate...plus flown free plus eaten for free.

I know I know - it takes money to make money and this is true in this example. I needed the money to buy the gift cards and I needed the purchases I make all year to fund the version of free dining I get...


Point is though - disney costs me a lot less b/c of it.

 

[tinkermommyof3]

Okay so maybe my words made of money were not quite what I meant. I am in my 50's and have not been there since 1974. In todays world I can't see all these people staying at the best and doing all the things they write about. I work two part time jobs and it's still hard to come up with the money for a nice trip. My hubby works full time but it's still hard to try and get one trip to Disney in but some of you are going multiple times and I don't know how you all are doing this. I'm only looking at trying to go for 4 days and it's still going to cost a lot. Plus we'd even be driving down. I wish I knew everyone's secret.

You asked a reasonable question. The reality is simple. Everyone has different income levels--some larger some smaller, no matter how hard they work. What is expensive for or out of reach for one family may be budget friendly for another. Did you consider staying offsite? This may be an option that may be more feasible. Check Mousesavers.com. They show lots of options for affordable vactions. HTH!

 

[rebeccaariel]

I'm a university student, and by not binge drinking and/or smoking like so many of my peers, I save a ton of money that I can put towards things I actually enjoy. That's fun for them, and that's fine, but I'd rather travel. It's all about priorities.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

This is kind of long but here goes:

I go to Disney solo usually - my family doesn't want to go.

In order to do that I clip coupons, shop at Aldi and the dollar store. I don't spend any one dollar bills or change that I get - that money goes into the travel fund.

I also have a certain amount of fun spending each week and I normally put most of that away for my solo trip to Disney fund.

I sell things on Craigs List and Ebay to fund my trips. We have plenty of stuff just lying around at my house and I'm in the process of trying to reduce the amount of stuff we have.

For the past couple of years, I have had an AP and the Tables in Wonderland Card. I don't eat Table Service meals every day but when I do, I can get a discount. I eat breakfast in the room. - Just something quick like a bagel, cream cheese and fruit cup. I bring those with me in my suitcase usually.
Since it's just me that's not much space and gives me some room for the few souveniers I buy.

I keep an eye on the discounts that Disney offers for rooms and book my room for a timeframe when the discount is offered to save money. If there are no discounts, I will actually drive to Disney (which I don't like because I'm usually stuck with my husbands horribly uncomfortable car) and stay off site. I haven't had to do that in awhile though so I'm spoiled.
I don't stay Deluxe anymore. It's just too darn expensive for me to pay those prices solo.

This year the whole family is going so I will be redoubling my efforts to make money. Four people cost way more than 1 but I do have my AP that will still be good for that trip so I'll only need to buy tickets for 3 people.

It's tricky to save up money for a Disney trip but worth the effort. Good Luck!

 

[princessap]

Agreed. I also donate blood plasma (as does my husband). We both did it in college and were in the routine after graduation that now, even though we no longer *need* the blood money to survive, it is so much a part of our routine that it is our "blow money" for fun. The majority of that money goes toward our vacation fund. That results in close to $5,000 every year.

totally off topic but I cannot believe you get paid to donate blood in the US

 

[CanadianGuy]

And we're off the rails on page two.

This thread isn't particularly helpful about vacation planning ... it seems setup from the first post to generate heat and honestly, if I were a younger mod with more free time I'd let it go longer.

Honestly, I have better things to do with my time on here that play referree. So this thread is closed.

 

[Lynne M]

Okay so maybe my words made of money were not quite what I meant. I am in my 50's and have not been there since 1974. In todays world I can't see all these people staying at the best and doing all the things they write about. I work two part time jobs and it's still hard to come up with the money for a nice trip. My hubby works full time but it's still hard to try and get one trip to Disney in but some of you are going multiple times and I don't know how you all are doing this. I'm only looking at trying to go for 4 days and it's still going to cost a lot. Plus we'd even be driving down. I wish I knew everyone's secret.

I don't think there's any secret to it; the simple answer is that some people have more money than others. Some people have jobs that pay $20K a year, some have jobs that pay $450,000 a year. Everyone's financial situation is different. Some families have medical or educational or housing expenses that take up every dime of disposable income, other families don't. Some people have to scrape for years to afford a single trip to a value resort, others can pay cash for a suite at the Grand Floridian three times a year without a second thought. There's nothing magical about it.

One thing to remember is that on this board, you're only seeing posts from the people who can afford a WDW trip with a stay at a Disney resort, and that can make it seem like everyone but you has boatloads of money to spend on vacations. You're not hearing from the millions of people in this country for whom a trip to WDW would be an impossible expense.

Do pay a visit to our Budget Board. The good folks over there know all sorts of ways to stretch your vacation dollar.

Also, check out our Orlando Hotels and Attractions board for lots of information and reviews for the offsite hotels.....you can find some really amazing deals offsite.

Right here under the Resorts board is our Discount Codes and Rates board, where you'll find the latest scoop on Disney resort discounts.

You can also check out Mousesavers for a ton of information on hotel, dining, and transportation discounts and deals in the Central Florida area.