Dvc Members-how Do You Afford More Than 1 Trip Per Year?

[LeahA]

We became DVC members in Feb. 08 and our use year is Aug. 08. We went to Disney in March 08 and stayed at SSR for 3 nts. We are now thinking about another trip to the World over the summer. How do you DVC veterans take more than 1 trip per year, and do you take more than 1 trip per year?

 

[DVC Mike]

Simple, we bought more points. We go to WDW 4 times a year.

 

[vicki_c]

I thought the OP meant how do you afford the transportation, and all the other things that cost money during a Disney vacation beyond your lodgings!

We're new, so I'll have to let you know, but our plan is to drive vs. fly (we don't really like to fly anyway), but with gas prices that might not be a savings. We bought Annual Passes and the DDE card to get some discounts on dining.

Save, save, save - because it's worth it to us!

 

[bobbiwoz]

When we were raising our children, in the '80's we could afford to go to Disney about every 3 years. Now we're empty nesters, but still working, so we can afford to treat the family every year, and this year, it will be twice.

I think budgeting for essentials will be getting harder in the near term. Vacations may be harder to come by, yet here people say, no, they are still going to WDW. I remember the days we had a growing family, and I know we couldn't do it more often!

Best wishes, I hope you get some good tips!

Bobbi

 

[LeahA]

I have points for an additional trip, but, making an additional trip means buying more Disney tickets because we only have 2 ADT AP's and those were given to us as an incentive when we signed up. We still would have to buy 2 child tickets and 1 more adult ticket for my oldest son. We didn't buy them AP's when we went in March (I know, big mistake.) Then we need to decide if we want to do the DDP which we did on our last trip, but to be more economical, do we skip DDP and cook more? We also drive from Illinois and with the price of gas we will be dumping roughly around $500-$600 in my gas tank.

What was I thinking? I'm really excited about the DVC but, I'm not sure we really thought about all the extra expenses. In a normal year we would only take probably 1 family trip for a week and 1 quick trip for my dh and I for a weekend. This year we have incentive points and extra points and our real points, etc, etc, etc....

 

[vicki_c]

Leah, I don't know how many points you purchased, but you can still go just once a year (make it a longer trip or have bigger villas or go when the points are higher) and use up all your points. And if it gets too expensive, bank your points and go on a bigger trip every other year. I think there are a fair amount of DVCers that only go once a year. Sometimes on the boards it does sound like everyone goes 3 or 4 times a year. We're doing that this year, but only because we're using all the incentive points and 2 years worth of regular points that we got with our purchase.

I don't think we'll be doing that in the future (but of course, you never know... )

 

[blossomz]

I bought plenty of points, save all my change in a jug, put money from each paycheck into my "disney" account, use my rapid rewards points, other point programs, and capital one no hassle card! Once I had the annual pass..I couldn't stand not using it!! LOL...

 

[daisyduck123]

In 2007, we took 3 trips:

May 2007: 8 nights SSR
July 2007: 9 nights BCV (actually 3 we stayed at the Dolphin)
Xmas 2007: 6 nights AKV


We're a family of 4 and we stay in a studio.

As of now, for 2008, we have 2 trips planned for a total of 17 nights. For our Thanksgiving 2008 trip though, we have actually rented from another DVC member...we'll be in a 2BR at SSR for 7 nights & we don't have enough points for that.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

I have points for an additional trip, but, making an additional trip means buying more Disney tickets because we only have 2 ADT AP's and those were given to us as an incentive when we signed up. We still would have to buy 2 child tickets and 1 more adult ticket for my oldest son. We didn't buy them AP's when we went in March (I know, big mistake.) Then we need to decide if we want to do the DDP which we did on our last trip, but to be more economical, do we skip DDP and cook more? We also drive from Illinois and with the price of gas we will be dumping roughly around $500-$600 in my gas tank.

What was I thinking? I'm really excited about the DVC but, I'm not sure we really thought about all the extra expenses. In a normal year we would only take probably 1 family trip for a week and 1 quick trip for my dh and I for a weekend. This year we have incentive points and extra points and our real points, etc, etc, etc....

If the costs are going to stress you financially, think about gifting your incentive and/or extra points to family members or friends. Makes a great wedding present. A real opportunity to give a very special gift that you might not otherwise be able to or maybe not again. Just food for thought.

 

[skorpie]

I agree with blossomz. We buy annual passes and I feel that I have to go more than once a year. I constantly search for cheap airfares, but that is beginning to get tough. I did manage to get $59 each way tickets from New York on AirTran for our trip in July. Now the prices on the same flight are $178 each way!!!!!!

Seriously though, I started an atomatic withdrawl from my paycheck into a "Disney/vacation" account. Since January we've stayed at the BWV in Feb, HH at Easter, going in July to OKW and again to WVL in October for the Food and Wiine Festival and the MNSSHP!!!l I think I am a little obsessive!

 

[Buckeye Fan]

We are a family of 4 ( is 12 and is 5). Out of Columbus, we have been lucky enough to get flights via Southwest Airlines for under $800 for all 4 of us, so we've been flying. However, it's only a 16 - 17 hour drive for us if we decide to drive. Anyway...

We don't always go to the parks when we're there. We went down over spring break for 7 days and only went to the parks one day (AK for 1/2 a day and MK for 1/2 a day). Otherwise, we spent time at the pools, hung out at DTD/Boardwalk and played mini-golf. When we fly, we don't rent a car, and use ME to get from the airport to Dis. Once there, we take their transportation everywhere.

Lastly, since it's still a day trip away, it prevents us from taking long weekends. Generally, we will take one long trip or a couple of shorter ones. This year, we went down over spring break and we're going again in August for 6 days. Next year, we'll probably go down and stay at VB for a week or 10 days and finish out at WDW. When we purchased DVC, our habits changed and instead of doing Disney shotgun, we really enjoy long, leisurely stays there and love every minute of it! At least I do!

 

[dianeschlicht]

We originally bought 230 points and after just 1 trip and a LOT of pre-planning for several other trips, we decided it wasn't enough, so we added on 150 points. Those 380 have served us well over the past 11 years giving us anywhere from 1-3 trips a year from a week to 12 days in length each. Now that we are nearing retirement, we just added on another 69 points at a new resort last year so we can have two different "homes" to vacation at.

 

[DVC Grandpa]

Our basic plan is to take only one trip a year. Driving some 1,300 miles each way and the cold winters in Wisconsin has helped make this decision. Fortunately we are able to stay a month or so before making that trip back home.

 

[Desnik]

Last year we went 3 times, this year we will go twice. This past trip in April we bought AP's for all of us. Trust me that hurt because DD is now an adult at 10 years old, so even with the great DVC discount, it still cost us $1500!! But we got a great deal on airfare, around $600 round trip for the 4 of us. I always look out for cheap air fare and try to grab it as soon as I see it. That helps with the costs. Also after we buy the AP's the next trips seem free except for airfare and food(at least that's how we justify it!LOL) With the changes to the DDP this year it no longer works for our family and we do breakfast for the kids in the room and have snacks and extra drinks in our room. Every little bit helps. Before our trips I am always buying things that we need as I see them every week, like sunscreen, toiletries, etc. This helps spread out the cost too. We also save all our change in a "Disney Jar". The kids really love doing this. They save their allowance for spending money at Disney too. We really don't buy too many souvenirs anymore. I set aside money every week a few months before our trips. We just make our family Disney trips a priority and vacations in general a priority too.

 

[bluenosemickey]

Just a thought, but you could also consider renting the "extra" points and bank the money for future trips.

I also like the idea of gifting the points to family members. We are considering a xmas vacation and inviting my brother and sister along with the idea that we not buy gifts for each other or their kids in lieu of this trip to disney.

We also do the "Disney account" payment right at payday time because it is a priority for us. We drive from Nova Scotia (36 driving hours) but flights would cost around 4k so even with increase gas prices, it is still cheaper to drive. Unless we get a real deal on fllights (which I would think are going to be few and far between).

Cooking in the room, I know it doesn't sound like that mixes well with a vacation, but for our crew it saves a ton of $$. I have also found it to be quite a bit more relaxing, much to my surprise. We still do a few dinners or lunches out at our favorite places, but it is more of a big deal when we go out now.

We get 10d no exp/WP tickets and stretch them out over as many trips as possible. Would like the luxury of having AP but it's not going to get us as many trips covered. But we may reconsider, would really like to come and go as we please instead of cramming everything into one day.

Right now we do 1 trip every 9 mos or so, but would like to go more often.

 

[KELLY]

We do once a year just for all at one time. We can stay at a studio for 3 weeks or a 1 bedroom for 10 nights. We tend to go with the 1 bedroom.

 

[dgaston]

We tend to make 3 to 4 trips over the life of our APs. I fly SW out of PVD, and I try to stay under $200 round trip. Sometimes we stay off site like at Christmas when my CA brother and family joined us at Windsor Hills. After Jan 1 we spent 3 nights in an AKV 2 br
DH and I are doing a split stay in VWL and AKV concierge in July. Then in October we're at BWV for F&W. Our APs expire in Dec, and I think we might do a long weekend for my Feb birthday over at Universal and see Blue Man group.

I'm giving thought to getting a 10 day NE with WP after the AP runs out, but need to think it through.

I use extra money I earn teaching college courses to finance the Disney addiction.

 

[starbox]

The extra expenses of a Disney vacation do really add up. We've been going three times - but that's with annual passes that are still a huge amount of money - but we also live in GA and drive a teeny tiny little gas sipper - so we can make it the 400 miles to Disney on one 10 gallon tank.

One thing you could do is check your kids spring break.

If you purchase APs one year and go late summer (like late July/earl August) - you could do Christmas, Spring Break and early summer (May) on the same passes. You could also try breaking it up with a beach location. We do two Disney trips per summer - but both of them have a 3-4 night stay at VB in the middle (we spend far less $$ per day at Vero)

OR - you could try to arrange two 5-7 night trips in one year but purchase non-expiration hoppers with plus visits - which will give you something like 7 additional days at water parks or Disneyquest. They are pricey - but it's pretty easy to stretch those tickets out over three, four, or five vacations.

We don't cook in the villa - but we use DDE and eat late lunches at TS rather than dinner as much as possible.

One nice thing is that, by this point, we're pretty much over buying souvineers. Maybe a pin or two.

 

[tink4ever]

We buy the AP with DVC discount, DDE card for discounts, look for the cheapest airfare and then save inbetween. This past year and a half We were lucky enough to go.......
Jan 2007, July 2007, Sept 2007, November 2007 and are going June 2008, October 2008 and November 2008 but only because of DVC are we able to splurge so much on vacation.

 

[Merilyn]

We usually go to WDW once each year and do a trade for another week. I know not a good use of points, but that is what we like. We try to stay at the nicer resorts on trades so most of the time it is a good deal. We stay in a GV at OKW and take the whole family, usually in May. Then in Sept or so we trade out. This next year we are going to Las Vegas in May and then trade into a Marriott at MB in Sept, no Disney next year! We hope to rent out some of our points for the LV trip. It can get expensive to vacation at WDW but we save through the year for that trip. At some point, we may not go to the parks as much but as for now, we do. We have used the DDP plan for several years now but next time we won't. My grandson will be 3 and he doesn't eat enough to warrent the kids DDP expense. We eat breakfast in the room and TS in the park. Dinner is usually at PepperMarket, great place!