Help! Financially strapped,but addicted to WDW!

[sters]

I'm not sure if the POP comes with a refrigerator, but that has helped us eat a quick breakfast in our room and we always take a water bottle and some quick snacks with us (peanut butter crackers, fruit snacks, peanuts, poptarts, whatever) in our fanny packs and just don't buy snacks at the theme parks. That allows us to conserve the food budget for actual meals. If you go on the dining plan, I think you can save quite a bit and have the knowledge that at least you'll eat, since you've paid for it up front.

 

[loriandmatt]

crazyj4488 - thank you so much for your last post. it is nice to hear that someone in adulthood now can appreciate the effort it took for the adults in your life to take you to such a special place. it is also nice to have some validation that those trips made lifelong good memories for you.

It is every parents wish to have their kids feel this way when they grow up.

- lori (confident that my DS, now 10, will grow up to have great memories of the family time we spent at WDW and other trips we have struggled to make happen.)

 

[ForTheLoveofDisney]

I have to second what crazyj4488 said. My mom was a single mom w/ 3 small girls. Every year my mom would work overtime to pay for our trips down. She would take my grandmom because my grandmom paid for half of the trip. We always stayed offsite (they didn't have the moderates, let alone values at the time). We always thought my Grandmom went along for the fun of it. I never realized that Grandmom helped pay for it so we girls could have the opportunity to get to go.

Trust me, those memories stay with you forever. I don't remember the toys my mom got us as gifts. I don't even remember the scoldings but I definately remember the memories of WDW!! They are priceless.

In 2002 DH and I bought points into the DVC. In December of 2003 we took my two sisters and mom to WDW and we stayed in a 2BR at Old Key West. Grandmom is in a nursing home now so we were unable to take her. It had always been my mom's dream to stay onsite. I was glad I was able to give back a little of what she had given us so many years ago.

Trips to WDW with your children are not wasted on them.

Kudos to you for trying to take your children even as single parents.

 

[shann106]

Single mom here also. I book the vacation as early as I can and then send them $20-$75 a pay period, whatever I can afford and then if I get any extra money like bday or xmas I send that. The trip we are taking in Ocotber includes a Disney cruise and 8 days at Disney. I also bought the meal plan for our time at Disney. It took almost 2 years to pay for the trip but it was not a strain on my budget. By adding the meals in there should be no big expense suprises once on the trip. We paln to eat breakfast in the room, split a snack in the morning eat counter meal for lunch, split snack in the afternoon, and a character meal each night. That's right a charactermeal every night of the land portion of the trip. THat is a great reason to include the meal paln in the tirp.

 

[hanncam]

A site that we use is lastminutetravel
Sometimes they have hotels for as little as $25 a night....

Sometimes mind you. I always call the hotel directly and check out their website to make sure they are not roach motels. And after 10 years of going to Disney two and three times a year I have never been dissappointed.

I stay at home with the kids and we budget on one income. And I mean we budget everything and keep the income tax return and use all of it when we go down. Every little bit helps....

 

[safaulk]

I know exactly how you feel. I hope things work out for you so that you can start planning a trip.

Shel

 

[liveforthemagic]

We fell in love with Disney in 2003 and it took us 2 years to save up to get back. I think for alot of folks, going once a year is just too expensive.

I have a large in - law family out of state and we rarely see them for Christmas. Now, rather than have them spend the time and money buying toys or clothes and mailing them out, my kids just ask for Disney dollars (or I guess they are gift cards now.) They are easy to mail, easy to get, and everybody is happy. My DH and I also ask for them from whoever got our name in the gift exchange...

After our 2nd trip, DH wants to take a break from Disney for a while. So I am scrimping and saving to take DD back in Dec, 2006. My little trick is that at the beginning of the month, I go to the Disney store and buy a gift card--maybe $30 or so. This way, I am saving money for my trip, I know I won't use it for something else, and I alwyas get it before I have spent my monthly budget on other stuff. I think I will probably book the vacation about a year out, and then make monthly payments like someone else posted so that the trip is all paid for before we go.

Also--our Visa and Am Exp cards each give you one frequent flyer mile for each dollar tht you charge. So by the time we are ready to go, we should be able to fly Southwest for free. Not sure if you have to fly or not, but that is something to consider. We charge everything (and then pay off at the end of the month) just for those air miles. Just be careful about charging too much each month--we keep a running tally sort of like a check book balance sheet--to make sure we stay on budget.

I think some hotels give discounts for teachers, don't they?

Also, ask around. It turns out that one of the parents on our son's baseball team has a family member that works in Fl and he says can get us one day tickets through his hotel. I'm not sure if they are free or discounted, but every little bit helps.

Good luck!

 

[DisFlan]

Someone mentinoed on here, not too long ago, just purchasing one CHILD annual pass and still being able to get all the discounts.

Now, that's a goooood deal. Something to think about if you are looking to stay on-site for a deal.

The AP discount now requires an adult AP.


DisFlan

 

[TDC Nala]

Someone mentinoed on here, not too long ago, just purchasing one CHILD annual pass and still being able to get all the discounts.

Don't try this now. All AP discounted resort reservations must be made online in the passholder's name, and you must be an adult to do this. Also, the one night room deposit for AP discounts is now nonrefundable. If you cancel, you lose the cost of one night's stay.

It's generally cautioned NOT to buy an AP just for room discounts. They are not always offered. One year there were none for the entire month of September, which oddly enough is a "slow" month. This year, if you booked in mid-October you were not able to use AP discounts. If you are using AP room discounts, you cannot take advantage of package discounts like free dining.

If you are going to spend more than a week in the Disney parks in a one-year period, you may want to look into buying an AP.

 

[WDW LOVR]

Another top to consider is if you go once a year an annual pass may save you $$. It can be good for 2 annual trips as long as the 2nd trip ends less than 365 days after the first one begins. Plus, you can get Annual Passholder rates on WDW resorts which will dave you money .

We still do this. It started that way when we were young and money was tight and now that we're DVC members, we plan trips the same way. Buying AP's for our Oct 19 trip to the F+W Festival and are planning on going a week earlier next Oct to take advantage of the AP.

 

[safaulk]

I thought about purchasing AP's, but they are just so much money to have to fork out at one time.

Shel

 

[jann1033]

when our kids were young we camped at FW and ate cheap..we only went every few yrs but had fun...we still do wdw on a "shoe string" ( ok we live on a shoe string too as i am disabled ( 18 yrs and can' t get disability..a 'hole 'nother story) and husband's job has been slow since 9/11 but we save till we can go then go.

 

[Eeyore2003]

I haven't read allot of the others, but renting points from a DVC owner is wonderful. You can get a studio at OKW (deluxe) for about 80.00 - 90.00 and it has a mini kitchen, a microwave, fridge, little kitchen sink, toaster, coffee pot, dishes etc. Is there anyone else that you might enjoy going with??? Another Mom and daughter??? When you split the $80.00 in half, it REALLY becomes a good deal and you can have whatever you need for breakfast, snacks and any meals you want in the room. OKW has large rooms and two double beds in the studio. We stayed there one time and DH would like to stay there again in May. The price is right and OKW is really nice!!! We are not really "strapped" for money, but I certainly don't like wasting and only spend extra for "special" trips. I used to literally spend thousands on a Disney trip and now I try to keep it as low as possible and look for all the deals so that we can afford to go more often.

 

[Momerath]

My DH and I bought 2 10-day Magic Your Way Park Hoppers that don't expire for about $700. Seems like a lot now, but they are paid off in cash and we still have 7 days left. Can squeeze at least one, maybe 2 short trips out of them and knowing ticket prices go up every year we are saving money in the long run. Plus, one of the major expenses is already paid off. Also, we put everything on the Disney credit card (groceries, gasoline, clothing, entertainment, etc.) and I pay it off in full every 2 weeks so we get the free reward dollars and don't pay interest.

I agree children will appreciate most the time spent with family in the long run. My mom was a single mom and I still remember and cherish a Disneyland trip in 1989 that mom scrimped and saved for a long time for.