How do you afford your WDW trips??

[hokiefan33]

I don't know that we worry in this country, or that anyone worries about what others do. Personally, I do wonder what shape we'll be in say 25-30 years from now.

I found it refreshing that the OP was questioning how so many go all of the time, and like Crisi noted, there's really no way to know what individual's financing are... Seeing fifty hotels listed and corresponding dates that reflect multiply yearly stays at WDW means *nothing*. It could mean that that family indeed "stinks with money", it could mean that all of their extra money goes toward trips to WDW, and it could mean that they're up to their eyeballs in debt.

Exactly! Now, about that poll....

 

[crisi]

Someone here works for a company where she (or he, I don't remember too much) send them on regular business trips to Orlando. Since she gets to pick her hotel, she picks one at Disney. Expenses meals, and her Disney trips at very nice hotels are expensed, except for the annual pass.

On the same note, one of my co-workers is a Notes developer. LotusSphere is at the Swan/Dolphin every year. He isn't a Disney nut, but he has an annual trip on someone else's dime.

Someone here has a generous mother in law who choses to spend her money sending them on very nice annual Disney trips. She said they could never afford ten days at the Grand Floridan, but she is grateful her mother in law can.

Oh, and some posts here do stink of money. I've posted that we afford our Disney trips with money we make in the stock market. The fact that we have enough money to play the stock market (actually, for us its ESPPs, it isn't even "playing the market" - I do buy some stock outside ESPPs, but not much) sort of implies we aren't eating ramen. I've posted that I find character breakfast charges comparable to what we pay for buffets at our club. Belonging to a club (we don't anymore, we dropped the membership) implies having some disposible income. When my kids were little, I paid a housekeeper two days a week, thats a luxury not everyone can afford (now they are old enough to help clean, and I think its important they learn). I don't think we are wealthy, but we are certainly well off compared to that median income, and I'm sure that my posts comparitively stink of money.

 

[dvcgirl]

It is no more of a leap than your conclusions that people who vacation and stay at just the value resorts are charging it, based on nationwide consumer debt. That is a "leap", too. As I have said (repeatedly), you would have to take a poll to know for sure!

Oh, I'm not saying that people who stay at value resorts are the only ones charging vacations....lol....not by a longshot. I know plenty of people who make very healthy six figure incomes and stay at luxurious resorts who are debt as well.

I'm not making this stuff up, these are Commerce Department reports. And whether or not the median income of this board is way above that 47K mark makes no difference. The trend in our nation is ..."make more...spend more". Keep up with the Joneses. Otherwise, as people make more and more money our savings rate would go up, instead of being at the lowest point since the Great Depression.

Don't believe me...here are some quotes from a recent LA Times article citing some of the top economists in the country.


"Americans like to spend," said Andrew Tilton, an economist at Goldman Sachs. "Most consumers spend up to the limit."

"And coming at a time when much of the baby boom generation is in its prime earning and saving years, it raises alarms about its ability to manage retirement."People won't be able to retire, so they won't," said David Kelly, managing director of Putnam Investments in Boston."

"For more than a decade, Americans have been spending more and saving less. In June, people spent virtually everything they earned and saved almost nothing."

"The government reported Tuesday that the nation's savings rate fell to a paltry 0.02%, the second-lowest monthly rate since the Great Depression.
June's rate was eclipsed only by the minus-0.2% rate in October 2001, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when consumers enthusiastically responded to patriotic promotions from auto companies. Economists offered a variety of reasons for June's spending spree, including rising home prices that have provided a source of cash, deep discounts offered by car companies and easy access to credit cards."

 

[susan1]

hi
should have said wondered. the two words are interchangeable here!! i stillcan't see why everybody is geting so het up about who goes on holiday where, how much they spend and if they are rich or poor. people will alwys be rich,poor frugal or feckless and holiday how and when they wish. being a nurse puts a lot of things in perspective. (that i suppose is an open invitation)

 

[crisi]

That .02% is scary, because in order to get there, you have to have a lot of people overspending to balance those of us that do save. A lot of us have 401ks. A lot of us have savings accounts and investments.

In my Econ class we learned that in 2001 the Marginal Propensity to Consume for the United States was 103%. That means that if you give someone a $100 raise, they will spend $103 of that. Its a great sign for consumer confidence, we think tomorrow will be better than today. And it drives the GNP. Those are good things. But it isn't a good sign if tomorrow isn't better than today or if we never catch up. Economists expect it to be about 90% - get a $100 raise, spend $90 and save $10.

 

[dvcgirl]

Exactly! Now, about that poll....

I think that you're misunderstanding me...

I'm not debating that there are people here who can absolutely afford their trips to WDW. I was saying to the OP that just because a poster has fifty previous WDW vacations listed under their name doesn't necessary mean that they should have been taking those vacations. Does that matter to me in the slightest that they did....absolutely not. But it is true that many here who are probably taking vacations that they can't afford to take. And so for the OP to be wondering how so many do it...many are doing it the right way, but some are most certainly going into debt or not saving for the future in order to do so. That's all I'm saying....

 

[3DisneyKids]

Best tip: we put EVERYTHING on our Disney Visa Card...way pay for grocs., gas (ouch!), phone bill, electric, and even our mortgage payment goes on the card, so we get lots of reward dollars every month...and over the course of a year, we really have earned enough rewards dollars to make a noticeable difference in the total cost of our vacation.

DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU PAY YOUR BALANCE OFF IN FULL EVERY MONTH.

First, of course, there is the issue of interest. But, as another member posted, this country is so mired in credit card debt that it is scary. Most people's debt-to-income ratio is frightening.

But just remember, if you can't go as often you would like, there are so many cheap/easy ways to keep the magic alive until your next trip. My favorite: I leave Disney chocolate "coins" on my kids' pillows every once in a while with a note from Tink saying that she is thinking about us and can't wait until we visit again. (The very first time we went to WDW with the kids, this was done at our resort, so we have kept it alive ever since.)

Whether you go frequently or once every few years, just enjoy it and don't worry about the vacation other people are having.

 

[dvcgirl]

That .02% is scary, because in order to get there, you have to have a lot of people overspending to balance those of us that do save. A lot of us have 401ks. A lot of us have savings accounts and investments.

In my Econ class we learned that in 2001 the Marginal Propensity to Consume for the United States was 103%. That means that if you give someone a $100 raise, they will spend $103 of that. Its a great sign for consumer confidence, we think tomorrow will be better than today. And it drives the GNP. Those are good things. But it isn't a good sign if tomorrow isn't better than today or if we never catch up. Economists expect it to be about 90% - get a $100 raise, spend $90 and save $10.

That's exactly right Crisi...the 401K comment. That's where the home equity loans are coming in. And really, when you think about all of this equity we all built up....so what? I mean, yes, I'm not complaining overall, but unless I'm poised to sell and downsize or move to a cheaper area, what are we cheering about. All of these folks pulling out equity or doing the old cash-out refi game....well, there's some more debt for you. People are feeling mighty wealthy, but all of that wealth won't help them unless they sell and downsize.

And yes, I don't think we will catch up. Consumer spending is what is fueling the economy. The housing market (home equity loans) is fueling consumer spending. But with rising gas prices, inflation numbers on the rise and the Fed constantly bumping up the Fed Rate.... it's got "economic slowdown" written all over it.

 

[Chicago526]

To answer the OP's original question, for us it's a combo of two things. My travel agent discount and DFi's overtime pay. We dont' "live" on his OT, we use it for vacations and big ticket items that aren't nessesary (like DFi wants a big screen tv, welll, okay so do I! Or we want to remodle the upstairs bathroom).

Even if we didn't get my agency discount, we'd still go to WDW, we'd just stay at moderate resorts instead of deluxe.

Actually, we won't be going once a year anymore. DFi will be "Disney'd out" after our honeymoon, we won't be back until we have kids. Our next couple of vacations will be a cruise and a trip to Vegas.

 

[thelionqueen]

I am a SAHM, my husband is self-employed (no company, just him). We live a moderate existence. Nice but older home, 1995 SUV (running like a top, will drive it til' it don't drive no more!) Only $700 in credit card debt that will be paid off in 5 weeks.

The biggest thing that allows us to go at least once (this year twice ) a year is my penny pinching! I literally have a chart on the fridge with my "saving" goal. Every day I try to save $20.00 wherever and however I can. I shop at large discount retailers, buy all our clothes off season and many others.

Whenever and however I can save ANY money at all, I will fight to get it! I can honestly say, I hit that target a vast majority of the time. I'd say on average I save our family $200-250 per month. This money is deducted from our primary account and put into a vacation club account. This is how we pay for our vacations, and it honestly almost takes no effort. It is a labor of love for me, and I am really good at it!

I also look for super deals on airfare and such. Like the free dining w/Disney was just too good to pass up, and will save us around $700!

Disney is my inspiration and I can do anything with going there as my goal!!

 

[MandM-Mom]

We usually go and use our tax refund for our once a year family vacation. And then throughout the year take just 1 or 2 day side trips, nothing extravagant. Bit we don't always go to Disney.... I usually have a couple different places in mind and decide where to go based on $$$$$ This May was the first time we went to Disney as a Family, we got Southwest for 49.00 each way so that was also a bonus. In the past we have done a few cruises, Las Vegas, and me and DH went to Jamaica. I shop for vacations like I do everything else we go where its ON SALE! We are not extravagant people but we do like to travel, so we cut corners where we can, an example is we stay at value resorts instead of something better, but we also love the value resorts. When we cruise we pick an older still beautiful boat instead of the brand new ones with most of the same ammentities.... Its good enough for us, its what we can afford..

 

[jjbeck]

We have been visiting Disney World for 29 years with our 7 children and 5 grandchildren. We started with a travel trailer behind a station wagon in 1976 and 6 children. We moved to a motorhome and did that for 15 years until we started renting houses. In 2002, we had a 6 bedroom house for two weeks with the adults paying about $30 per night per person. everyone had a ball. Call me at 1-866-895-9596 for any additional info you may need on renting houses in the Disney area and saving a bundle of money while providing tremendous facilities and options while in the Disney area.

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

We (two adults, one 2yo) take several SHORT vacations a year -- generally 3-5 days. That cuts down the cost of things considerably. We fly Southwest generally, but this time are going Vacation Express on that awesome $56/RT fare last month. Usually, we go to WDW once a year, but last year we went THREE times ––*once DH had a conference, once I had to go for work and then the vacation we had originally scheduled and paid for was a $500 Hotwire package that included 5 nights at the Doubletree PLUS airfare and car.

I also think a lot of it has to depend on your tastes. We have champagne tastes on a beer budget –– that means Priceline-ing to upgrade our hotel choices and NOT staying on property. We rent a car and eat off property as well.

 

[bdcp]

We have a six figure income, and where we live that's not unusual, (cost of living is pretty high) but we've only been twice to WDW and our 2 kids are now in college which eats up a lot of our disposable income. We take a vacation pretty much every year. Mostly to the beach. The reality is, it's cheaper to go to WDW for a week than to the beach for a week. When our kids were small and we didn't have two incomes, we spent less on vacations and for shorter times. I think you'll find quite a few people on here scrape every penney together and have yard sales, etc to save for a trip to WDW. Not necessarily charging everything or borrowing. I think a lot of people have the idea that no way can their neighbor afford to do something if they can't. Not necessarily true. I also know a few people who have inherited cash and use it for fun. We're getting ready to go for a week to WDW in Nov and then on a four day cruise right after. I've been saving some every pay period to pay the credit card as deposits are charged for the hotel, cruise, etc. Why is the assumption that everyone is spending all their equity on vacations? Some do, but most do not. Like a lot of people do, we put plenty into 401K's and investments and have for years, even when money was tight.

The fact is, everyone has different priorities where their money is concerned. We drive older cars, but have a new large house. I don't use coupons, or have the time or inclination to search out all the "best" deals. Other's spend hours poring over the internet and paper coupons. It's all choices.

 

[alabamagirl]

Geez.........and I thought I was doing a good job with our finances. However, it really surprises me how many people say they are "debt-free" and don't use credit cards. We don't have a lot of credit card debt, but we are not credit card debt free. We have two car payments (both are low however) and we are looking for a house, which will put us in even more debt when we find one. Plus all of the usual bills (cell phone, cable, internet, water, power, etc.)

But.........I am still going to Disney in June. How? Save, save, save. I just got a raise, that $$ is going straight to savings. Having a yard sale soon, keeping change, deducting $50 out of our checking and putting it straight into savings NO MATTER WHAT every two weeks. To me it boils down to how bad you want it. Well I want a Disney vacation BAD!!!

 

[3DisneyKids]

Hokiefan...if you want the poll, you can go first...LOL

Such sensitive and private information...I wonder if people will be willing to post it even though we are anonymous.

 

[drakethib]

Ok, forgive me if this has been discussed previously, but I read so many great threads about folks who go to WDW at least once every year. HOW do you all do it?! I can't imagine there are that many "wealthy" people out there, so there has to be something to it. We don't use plastic much (I'm sure some folks rack up big bills going to Disney that way). I would love to get there once a year but it seems to take us at least a couple years to be able to save the money. We are a family of 5, and because the rooms that are large enough for us are much too expensive, we will tent camp at FW and drive down (airfare for 5 is out of the question, and besides I hate to fly!).

I'd just love to know how you all do it. TIA!

Here is my 2 cents.

We are a married couple who both have been blessed with good jobs but we live on a budget as we weren’t always as lucky as we are now. When we first got married we owed a great deal of money and it was kind of tight for us.

I am certainly not one qualified to give out financial advice but if I can say one thing, pay yourself a certain $ amount (whatever it may be) to your savings account from every paycheck before you pay any other bill. Trust me, you will find a way to make your bills one way or the other.

We live in a nice house in a golf community that I bought for an extremely great deal as it was a relocation property. (Savings $$$$) My neighbor paid about $50K more for his house then mine and they are almost the exact same sq. ft.

We cut coupons and look for sales.

I am not shy about asking for a discount no matter what I buy no matter if it is at Sears, Wal-mart, Best Buy or wherever.

We currently have no kids (but one due here in about a month!!! ).

We charge everything we can to the Disney Visa and pay it off at the end of the month. Credit cards are a nice thing, but the can be very evil very quickly. Never carry a balance on a credit card unless it is one of those 0% for one year or whatever. Just make sure you pay them off before the interest rate kicks in.

We have done both extravagant trips as well as budget trips and had a blast on both so you don’t always have to spend a ton of money to have fun.

We bought DVC resale (saved some $$$) and paid cash for it. It was a hard check to write but we didn’t want to finance. If we would have had to finance it, I doubt we would have bought it.

On one trip, after a week of eating out for every meal we found that we got sick from all of the rich food so we began eating at least one meal in our room per day. Saved a bunch there alone.

Bought MYW tickets with no expiration date.

My last thought and many may laugh at it but I believe in this.

Never take advantage of someone who is down on their luck. (Joe Blow got a divorce and is selling his PC for $25 because he needs money). Never “stiff” a waiter or waitress when they are working their butt off just because you are trying to save money. Doing stuff like this just isn’t right. Karma is real and what goes around comes around.

 

[montblanc]

A few things help...

1. No credit cards
2. Put money aside every month
3. Use Annual Pass for discounts
4. Use Dining Card for discounts

My next stay would cost around $2,800.00 for parks, meals and restaurants without the discounts, with discounts it is... $1,500.00. So I now stay in the deluxe resorts exclusively although I still want to try the Coronado after failing in 2003 and this year (overbooked, they cancelled my 1 year old ressie).

 

[drakethib]

I agree with Rockyroad and Muffycat....it all depends what area of the country you come from.

I live in Northern NJ and it might as well be Manhatten. My taxes for a small 3 bedroom cape are almost $10K. My house is probably worth about $525K My good friend who lives on 6 acres in north Ga with a 5 bedroom SPRAWLING ranch her taxes are $1200, she just bought her house for $225K. She can't figure out how we do it up her in north. We are both in the same profession and both make about the same amount of money.

It's a constant struggle keeping up with taxes and the very high cost housing. So when I go to WDW it seems that it is pretty reasonable. Unless you order room service for pizza and they bring you a $40 pizza that at home you would pay may $12. So when I bought DVC is was very reasonable and it seemed ecnomical to me.

I still hunt for the best airfare, best car rental prices, and figure ways to save on Dinning and tickets.

10k in property taxes. Oh I would cry !!!!

 

[drakethib]

I'm not trying to say that there are many here at the poverty level...or that the median income is 43K, but rather that there are plenty of people here who are not "dripping in money", as an earlier poster said. I do agree that it's impossible to ascertain by the number of trips that a family makes what they are worth.

I do think this though, that we have become an "instant gratification" nation. We want it...and we want it now. Think back 25-30 years ago when many of us here were children. Did you all go to Walt Disney World every year? Did our families spend thousands of dollars on vacations? Mine sure didn't. Credit cards were around back then, but they sure weren't as easy to get. Perhaps that has something to do with it?

Same thing with automobiles. Do you remember seeing so many luxury vehicles on the road back then? I sure don't remember that. Back then, leasing didn't exist. Conicidence? I don't think so. I guess my point is that while just about every person, kid or otherwise I know has been to Disney World at least once...it still remains true that a vacation to Walt Disney World ranges from moderately expensive to *very* expensive. And yet the parks are just jam packed with people. And consumer credit card debt is at an all-time high in this country...again...coincidence? I don't think so.

So I find it admirable that the OP is sort of scratching her head saying..."man...how do you all do it?" The answer sure isn't that this board is dripping with money.

You see it here all the time...the posts that start with, "Well, money is kind of tight right now, but I just couldn't pass up the Free Dining Offer and little Jimmy will only be 2 once..." That kind of thing is pervasive here. And I can see how it can lead someone like the OP to think..."hmmm...what are we doing wrong here..." The answer...nothing. She's asking the right questions, ones that we should all ask ourselves.

The other one is..."we invested in DVC". Now, I'm not knockind DVC. We owned for several years ourselves. But it's not an investment. It's not a way to save money. It's a way to save money on a Deluxe Walt Disney World vacation. And owning DVC means that you not only have the original cost to deal with, but also dues, and tickets and transportation to get here. People who are struggling to save for one WDW trip probably shouldn't be thinking about buying into the DVC. If you normally vacation at WDW every other year in a deluxe hotel and can afford it....great! But it's not an investment. It's a pre-paid deluxe vacation plan that will require a great deal of future spending.

100% agree with the assesment of DVC. I feel the exact same way and I am an owner.