For those who have gone more then 1 time to WDW

[F4disneyfan]

All we do is sock money away in our US account from each pay I also have an investment that comes off my pay that is an after tax investment so I can take it out whenever I want we use those 2 ways and it makes for an easy way to save for our annual trip. We also purchased DVC it was the best investment for our family of now 6 people.

 

[trivial]

Some good pointers here; I hope I don't repeat any.

1) Go in the off-season. Lower prices, less crowded, nicer weather.
2) Rent DVC points, or if you're looking for maximum savings, stay at a value resort.
3) Book everything separately. Check discount codes at Mouse Savers.
4) If feasible, fly out of Buffalo.
5) Make coffee at home, and put the savings in a jar. Also, gather all quarters, loonies, and toonies each week, and add them to the jar.
6) While at WDW, make breakfast in your room.
7) Don't stay off property or cook dinner in your room. While these may appear to save some money, in my opinion, the extra time they take away from your vacation isn't worth it. At Disney, time really is money.
8) Take one long trip rather than a few short ones. This will save money flying or driving, and save money on tickets (cheaper to buy a 10-day pass than two 5-day passes).

 

[mommylo]

How do you guys do it? This is our 1st trip ever to WDW and I know I am going to love it YEAH YEAH so will my kids

SO I was wondering those Canadians how can you afford to go every year or even 2 tims a year, etc? Is there something that makes it easier to afford to go??

I know people WORK hard out there BUT I see there are people on budgets but they get to go time after time and stupid question I know but just curious as after this time I know I will probably have WDW Withdrawl so how do people do it??

Any advice is greatly appreciated

Hi Myasmum,
We are going at exactly the same time as you are!! This is our first trip but it's a Grand Gathering (we are a group of 12 people ) My mother and in-laws have enough airmiles so we get to fly for free I am sure we will go back next year. Here's my plan:
1) Drive but hesitant because DS8 and DS5. Driving 20 hours does not appeal to me, but can bring more stuff than flying
2) Fly from Buffalo. It's half the money
3) Use my Airmiles points to get 1 or 2 tickets and purchase the rest
We are staying at Value resort this time, with Disney Dining. I just purchased a Disney Vacation Club property, so at least we will have a studio next year. It might be a large chunk of money now, but in the long run it make sense and really good time now with strong Canadian dollars, especially if we want to travel DCL down the road.
Have fun at the resort!!

 

[Saratoga Souris]

I go often..... like 2 or 3 times a year.

I made the investment in DVC. Worth every penny

D

 

[Douglas Bray]

A couple more suggestions:

1. We do all of our grocery shopping at Safeway and always keep an eye out for the AIRMILES deals that they have. You can get a seven day park pass with your points and once you arrive in Disney World you can pay the difference (arround 100.00) to upgrade the pass to an annual pass. Using the West Jet Gold Mastercard the most that you pay for a flight to Orlando is 1600 miles each. We collect well over 8000 miles every year with almost all of them from Safeway.

2. When we do need to pay for our airfare we drive to Seattle and park near the airport instead of getting our flights out of Vancouver. The parking costs around $50.00 per week, but we only pay around $400.00 each instead of over $700.00 each and we are able to get direct flights.

3. For the last three years we have travelled in September and have been able to take advantage of the FREE DINING promotion. This lets you eat at some great restaurants without paying a cent. One dinnner for two addults and two teenagers at LeCellier came out to almost $300.00 US and we didn't have to pay anything and the food was great. They may do this again next year, keep an eye on the webste and mousesavers.com

4. I took on a secondary contract from my employeer and I put 1/2 of everyting that I earn from it in a holiday account, 1/4 of it I pay as extra income tax so that I don't have to pay at the end of the year, and the other 1/4 I put into an RRSP account. This has worked great for me and allows me to put aside $6500.00 a year for holidays.

5. When my wife and I get to take our date nights once a week, (which we budget $100.00 for) if we don't spend it all or if we go to the Casino and win some money that also goes into the holiday account.

Once you go once you will want to return as much as possible, with all of the advise you can get from this website it should be easy to save for your second trip to Disney World.

Have a great holiday

 

[debbiet1]

We are on a one income family as I am a stay at home mom but dont look at the kids ages cause there's no reason for it now. But the kids like me home when they get home from school. We had a new house in the city which we sold and moved to the country. (40 minutes from the grocery store) and restaurants so that has saved us a lot right there.
I knit ski sweaters and afghans and sell them for extra money for the extras and/or holidays. We usually stay at a condo on the gulf coast side so this year Disney is an extra. We figured the kids should see Disney at least once during their lives at Christmast time... when we get home on Jan. 1st i'll probably ask someone to shoot me from the long line ups lol.
We find that airfare is ridiculous right now to go anywhere, so we drive .. Which in the long run is much cheaper. When we went down in April, there and back was under 300.00 in gas. Then 2 nights accomodation, one each way. We pack a cooler with ice water, veggies, sandwiches n snacks so we dont have to keep stopping along the way to buy things.
Also we stay at the Value resorts. We figure for just having a place to shower and sleep we dont need to spend a lot more.
Enjoy your holiday!!