How do you afford multiple trips?

[Belle83]

Some of our trips have been paid for by family (we would never pay for Grand Californian on our own). But most of our vacations are just part of our ongoing budget and we don’t really go elsewhere. Vacations are important for our mental health, my job in particular is extremely stressful. We both make pretty decent money so that helps. We live way under our budget in certain areas (housing/furniture/etc.). We get some gift cards with the Target red card (5% off). We often travel in value season (January).

We give Disney gift cards to each other instead of birthday and anniversary gifts. We have some credit card rewards. The kids get birthday money. We’re renting points on our next trip for a DVC room so that helps too. By the next trip, it will be over 2 years since the last one. We save in little other ways too (not buying tickets directly, not buying things like park hoppers, not going crazy on dining options, etc.)

 

[The WDW 3]

It’s all about having more money. Whether you make more money or you inherited money or however more money equals more trips.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

Fellow Canadian here. Not sure if someone mentioned it, but we collect airmiles and optimum points and use those towards tickets, hotels, disney gift cards, etc. Check out the Canadian Board here on the DIS to get pointers on to maximize earning airmiles or points. There is an Airmiles thread and an Optimum thread.

I've got 4 7 day adult tickets, $1500 in Disney GCs and $1000 in cash for our next trip, whenever that may happen, all by using AM or turning my AM Cash or Optimum points into "cash" or "gift cards". Makes it easier to plan a trip when a big chunk of it is free, really. Not sure if you are close to the US, but we find we save a lot driving across the border and flying from the US. Especially with SW, you are allowed 2 free bags, so we pack lots of snacks for the room, etc.

 

[ForceofWill]

Honestly I couldn't afford it on my salary without the discount we get being military for tickets and having access to Shades of Green helps. Plus we're only about 700 miles away so we drive and save a little money while adding flexibility. Also, we basically use the tax return lol.

 

[akk]

Haven't read through the whole thread but don't want to make you feel bad. We joined DVC way back in 1992. At that time the points were $50 (now around $200) and the maintenance under $5 per point. We got free tickets to the parks till December 31, 1999. Even with that we didn't pay the exhorbatant prices for food, drinks and t shirts and toys at the parks. I guess my kids didn't ask for them because we went so often. You could save enough money on food, drinks and junk to go on a second trip. We always made breakfast at the hotel and often lunch and we had a car so went off site for a much cheaper dinner. We went about 3x per year for ten years. Now we don't go nearly as often and friends at work rent my points. They love it (and me) because they get a 70% discount off Disney prices

 

[annadreamsofdisneyworld]

We are very lucky that my husband gets substantial winter and spring bonuses, otherwise we wouldn't be able to afford to go. It is so expensive! We usually stay at a value resort and aim for some kind of discount (free dining, using airline miles to pay, etc.)

 

[FutureMrs.Incredible]

This is a really great question, OP. Now I am an American, so I am sure there are some differences for Canadians, but I can speak to my experience. DH and I do not have children (yet). I am pregnant with our first (due in October), so I am sure that it will change our budgeting. Our income has greatly increased since we first got married, but we do live below our means. We drive an old car that is paid off, I ride the bus to work (pre-COVID), we live in a very simple house, etc. We even waited to have kids, because in addition to some chronic health issues I have, we felt we couldn't afford to give a child the life they deserve. We prioritize a couple of things in our budget: paying down debt and Disney. Its just the choice we've made and what makes us happy.

Here's how we save money on Disney:
- Buy gift cards at Target with our Red Card that saves us 5%. DH is great at organizing them.
- We started renting DVC points through David's DVC Rentals. We were able to stay at AKL on our last trip for maybe $20 more than a Value and about $100 less than a Moderate. Plus we got to see giraffes every morning. I really liked working with them.
- Bring snacks like granola bars to supplement meals and for breakfasts so we can hit rope drop!
- We don't go to the parks on the first and last days anymore, so we save a bit there and instead go to DS and hit the pool.
- Know the cheapest flights in and out of MCO RT.
- We don't travel during the summer or over holidays/spring break. I don't want to deal with those crowds anyway!

Hope this is helpful, and hope your family can get to Disney soon, OP!

 

[crisi]

Our kids (ages 14 & under) don't have phones, so the amount of money we'd spend on the devices and phone plans and apps etc. is probably enough to justify our trips. : )

That would save us....$600 a year. Its $10 a month to put them on the family plan, and they get new phones, not the most recent ones, every four or five years. Which tend to be Christmas or Birthday gifts. Now, car insurance on teens, that will get you to Disney.

 

[tinkerjo]

Well, let me start off by saying we don’t have disposable income. We have good jobs and are what I consider middle or upper middle class.( I think it’s more in the middle but upper middle for where we live) we always drive (13 hour drive) to WDW and even drive to DL when we went there. I do shop discount sites for a hotel for the trip down so we can do the trip in 2 days. (3 if I can talk DH into a day at Daytona) we have stayed in a variety of accommodations, offsite condo was super cheap ($69 a night) but our favorite was tent camping at Fort wilderness. We went in February and had wonderful weather, $79 a night and free parking in the parks (2 years ago, it’s higher now) and we’re able to cook nice meals with our own food. We are camping people anyway so we had all the equipment. We usually eat lunch in the park, just a QS meal or snack and plan 1-2 TS dinners over a week (usually HDDMR and maybe 1 other, maybe). We NEVER buy souvenirs but do allow DS to pin trade. When the kids were small I bought Disney clothes at Gabes or would buy them a new stuffed Disney character at Wal Mart and surprised them at WDW with them to wear. They didn’t know any better. to save for my trips I use a few different things
1. A change jar- roll that extra change
2. Use discount apps for groceries that give you cash back (Ibotta) and put that right into vacation fund
3. Have a yearly yard sale
4. Use any bonus from work
5. Save gas points for some of the expenses anyway
We don’t get to go every year but when we do we can do it pretty reasonably. The tickets are the big expense for us and up until recently, have a wonderful SIL that was in the military and we could use the military salute tickets when we went with them. Still have the SIL, he’s just not in the military

 

[Pianograd99]

We cut every corner we can - discounted gift cards with credit card cash back offers...bonus fuel rewards from gift card purchases...anything we can do to save.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Most of our household budget (outside of bills) is for travel, and not just Disney. We typically take 6-8 trips a year. We visit WDW multiple times a year because four airlines fly nonstop from our city to MCO for cheap (I once flew for $11 one way, and $59 round trip!). Even with prices going up finding round trip for $150 isn’t abnormal. And while we have APs it makes the most sense to take advantage. We do not buy APs every year. We take advantage of discounts or rent points and rarely pay over $300/night for a room. Most of our trips are shorter as well, long weekends vs. weeklong trips. But not going to lie, it still all adds up!

 

[usnuzuloose]

I can't even afford one trip. I am not going into debt for any vacation

 

[hereforthechurros]

Haven't read through the whole thread but don't want to make you feel bad. We joined DVC way back in 1992. At that time the points were $50 (now around $200) and the maintenance under $5 per point. We got free tickets to the parks till December 31, 1999. Even with that we didn't pay the exhorbatant prices for food, drinks and t shirts and toys at the parks. I guess my kids didn't ask for them because we went so often. You could save enough money on food, drinks and junk to go on a second trip. We always made breakfast at the hotel and often lunch and we had a car so went off site for a much cheaper dinner. We went about 3x per year for ten years. Now we don't go nearly as often and friends at work rent my points. They love it (and me) because they get a 70% discount off Disney prices

Need any new friends?

 

[TwoMisfits]

Find great deals?

With Covid, I found great Universal ticket deals and airfare deals. Pretty much, if you see a deal, buy it and save it. Then, I had forgotten May was military month, and with my spouse and I both vets, we got even more attraction discounts. And we cooked a lot in. And we have had a timeshare for 16 years now, so we just pay annual fees (well, since we bought it right out at the beginning, that's all we've done every year, but I considered it "paid" at the 10 year pt, and now it's all at cost). All in all, we have the budget to take a 2nd trip to Vegas in August...here's how our 11 day/10 night Orlando trip worked out...

Food (posted already - actually biggest cost) - $1855
Airfare - 6 tickets on Southwest when it was cheapest - $600
Resort (Worldmark Orlando Kingstown Reef 2 bedroom - perfect Covid resort b/c it's small but still has all awesome facilities and beautiful renovated rooms) - $850 (our yearly timeshare points - we spent our 2020 points for this trip, and are using the 2021 ones for Vegas)
Car Rental (Alamo - booked early - this was a minivan which included a full tank of gas at the end) - $747
Airport Parking - $220
Themepark Parking (4 days Uni, 1 day Seaworld) - $129
Universal tickets 4 day/1 park for 6 people - bought last year in a deal - $1388
Seaworld tickets - FREE (dual vet, so we got 8 tickets, which was good, b/c this park greatly disappointed us on a weekday)
Showcase of Citrus - 4 Groupon and 2 free - plus $10 tip for ride and a slushy - $60
Dezerland - 1 hour of pinball for 4 plus $17 in arcade money (vet discount) - $45
Escapology - private escape room for 6 - Groupon bought in winter - $95
Sleuth's Dinner show for 6 - included in food
Pirate's Dinner adventure for 6 - included in food
Gas - $30
Pet Sitting - $175
Souvenirs (I normally never buy them, but we got the stimulus, so each kid got a $50 budget) - $200
Misc (Locker Rentals, etc) - $20

Total spent for 6 (1 Disney kid, but he ate as an adult anyway) - $6414 for 10 days or a shade over $1Kish per person. That's my normal "expensive" trip budget. I could have kept it under $6K, but my sibs canceled on us, so I booked a dinner show and I let the kids have souvies. I knew I had the money right now, and new Tshirts and stuffies are always nice...

Las Vegas will have the same Orlando $6.5K budget for 6 - we have only 1 week, but airfare starts much higher ($2279), so thus, the same budget.

Airfare $2279
Resort $850 (same 1 year timeshare points fees)
Airport Parking $156
Pet Sitter $120
Rental Car $561 (another minvan for 7, but no tank of gas in this, so gas is below)
Gas/Parking $100 (we are vets, so again, should get out of some parking, but we'll see)
Food $1000 (we are planning 1 meal out/day, like we did in FL - and my kids want to try In and Out burger, so we are only planning 1 splurge meal vs finding good Vegas deals)
Attractions $1500 (ones with prices already bought)
- Go City Attraction passes for 7 attractions (planning Hoover Dam, the Marvel attraction, an Escape Room, the Big Bus Nighttime tour, the Mob Museum, and then probably 2 of the "ride" focused attractions like the 4d movies or the Strat rides) - $600
- Atomic Museum tickets - $60
- Cirque Mystere show tickets - $433
- Still to spend - about $400
- May go to Valley of Fire or other driveable nature attraction - I know vets get one free, so we'll see...

 

[katyjeka]

Everything in life is expensive. I think you have to put into perspective what matters most to your family. We are not big spenders on everyday items. I cook most meals at home as feeding six people out adds up very quickly. My husband takes his lunch to work and we drink ordinary Folgers coffee. I've never stepped foot inside a Starbucks. We are not big drinkers and have never smoked. We have a garden every year and are able to eat salads all season for almost nothing. As a family we spend a lot of time at our state parks. Picnics and bike riding cost nothing. Kids sports are expensive but our groups give parents credit for working at meets so we save a lot of money. I work 12 hours a week behind the desk at a hotel. Hilton gives fantastic employee discounts and we are able to travel for less. We use the money I earn to help pay for vacations. We would never go in debt to vacation and have only one credit card. I use Groupon for a lot of the activities we do around us. I doubt we would go as often as we do if we were unable to drive as my dh HATES to fly.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

Honestly we live beneath our means in general. We opted for a smaller home, a fixer upper, so that we would have the funds to pay for daily conveniences, day to day experiences like eating out, shopping (for me lol) and VACATIONS. We’re just more experience oriented I guess, and we decided to budget and spend our money accordingly. We don’t go to Disney yearly (more like every other year) but when we do, we do it up. To me it’s worth making small cuts and sacrifices in other areas to be able to do that. Granted, I realize that we’re fortunate that we have enough to be able to make a choice between “extra” house and travel spending, but we’re pretty squarely middle class and this is how we make it happen for our family.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

We choose to do one long trip per year (15 days) instead of a few smaller ones. We’re DVC so we stay on points. My parents go with us, they’re also DVC and we split the points for each stay. Even without “paying” for our resort, we still spend a tremendous amount of money on each trip because we’re such a big family. Our tickets to Disney and our universal days alone total almost $6,000. Not to mention Disney food prices for a family of 7 for two weeks! We put a certain amount of money away weekly for spending money on our trips. Otherwise there’s no real secret to affording it, you just have to pay as you can for it. Book your trip well in advance and pay on it weekly.

 

[Piglet99645]

I haven’t read this entire thread but first let me say right after buying a house and having a kid we didn’t go to Disney every year. Our first trip was when my son was 5.

Now I’m a single mom who still takes my kids once a year on average. Usually DL but WDW about every 5th year when their dad will go along.

1. I have a travel fund that my bank auto-transfers $500 to every paycheck. Pay yourself first by putting money in retirement, savings, and travel fund. Live on what is left

2. I have a Visa that gives me a companion ticket on Alaska airlines. ($75 annual fee for the visa. $100 for the companion ticket. That’s a round trip ticket anywhere in the US for under $200).

3. My other kid travels on a miles ticket. I accumulate miles on my Visa and other travel. [Everything goes on my visa and I pay it off monthly. Not carrying cc debt is very important to long-term financial wellness.]

4. We stay in a Harbor hotel at DL and a Vrbo at WDW.

5. We eat in the parks but generally only counter service and often share meals, treating them more like snacks. Only free water in parks. Other beverages are purchased off site if we want them.

6. I buy pins on eBay to trade with cast members. This is fun and also scratches the shopping itch.

7. I periodically buy Disney gift cards at Target (5% off with Red card, which is free) and then when we go I have several hundred $$ in gift cards. The cc bill doesn’t look so bad after. I pay for food and my one souvineer* with these. (*Not sure on that spelling).

8. I live below my means at home. Travel is more important to me than a bigger house or new car.

All that being said, I think it’s important to have a six month emergency fund firmly in place. Then fund your vacation before you go. I make a decent income but am not rolling in extra money.

Decide what is important to you and be thrifty about the other stuff. (I’d rather stay 5 days in cheaper lodging than 2 days at a resort). Good advice for life in general.
Xoxo

 

[MomOTwins]

I think there have been a lot of good tips in this thread. For us, affording Disney is something we accomplish with tradeoffs like many others do. Not buying fancy cars, electronics, home improvements, new clothes every year etc. We bought DVC this year and it was the biggest expense we've ever committed to other than our home purchase!

But I think more fundamentally the elephant in the room is just that Disney is becoming out of reach for a lot of families. It is just very expensive and getting more so with time. We paid double for our 2020 trips than we paid for our 2016 one.

We have some wealthy friends and they just spent over $40,000 on a single Disney cruise vacation to Alaska. It's not even a special occasion, and they didn't have to save up for it. There's absolutely no way I would ever pay that. Granted, they picked an expensive itinerary and are sailing concierge, but that's just to illustrate that there are people out there who are very price insensitive.

 

[StuckInKS]

We choose to do one long trip per year (15 days) instead of a few smaller ones. We’re DVC so we stay on points. My parents go with us, they’re also DVC and we split the points for each stay. Even without “paying” for our resort, we still spend a tremendous amount of money on each trip because we’re such a big family. Our tickets to Disney and our universal days alone total almost $6,000. Not to mention Disney food prices for a family of 7 for two weeks!

We are a family of 8, and opting for one larger trip is definitely cheaper than two short trips. We went for a week last March and spent $12k and have a trip booked for two weeks in late September and it is about the same price even though it is double the days. We aren't DVC, but two rooms at POP is actually the cheapest part of the trip. Tickets are $5k and yes food for two weeks at the parks is very expensive, even when only doing one QS and some snacks each day. I miss the day when we could take a trip for $2,500 (lower prices and less kids).