How do YOU fund your Disney trips?

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Just curious to see how most people fund their disney trips. Think about everything you spend for or on your trip- Travel, clothes, tickets, hotel, food, spending money, etc....

Edit to ask: Also, how often do you go to Disney? How many days do you usually stay?

 

[HFC1969]

We use our Disney Visa for everything all year long.. WE usually net about $200 Disney dollars per trip... Its not much but it something..

We also use our AP discount.. Tables in Wonderland for dining... and then Disney Visa discount on top of that..


Also we both work..

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

We have gone twice so far and use my hubby's end of the year bonus for the trips. I am now wondering after this next trip if we should try our hardest to put a little aside each month so that we can use half his bonus on other things.

 

[smitch425]

We just pay for it from our normal checking account. We don't set aside any particular amount. We just pick when we want to go and pay it off when the money is due. We also have a Disney Visa that we use for everything possible, and while we charge our trip to the card, we never take 6 months to pay. We just pay it off at the end of the month that we charged it. We average about 500 reward dollars between trips and we go once a year for an usually 8 days. This October we will be there for 9 nights and 9 days in the parks. Woohoo!

 

[mpls_mm]

We try to put a little aside, we don't charge vacations. We own a business and need our cards in case a business expense comes up that we need to cover. But we never seem to put enough away but something usually comes through in time, a big order, a tax refund, something, so we can go!

 

[Belle1969]

We cash in our Discover and Disney Visa points and put our loose change in a big jug thru the year for spending money. We use our tax return for the trip. We usually go for 7-9 nights every other year.

 

[Karenj2]

I voted combo - here's what we usually do. (We've been going almost annually since 2006, for 8-10 days.)

- We use our Disney Visa for EVERYTHING (all purchases and any bills we can put on the CC) and pay it off every month - that usually nets us anywhere between $300-600. (We're probably not going Aug '12, and we've already got close to $500.)

- DH gets awarded points for things throughout the year, and the points can be used to purchase things, so he'd save up the points and use them towards Disney GCs - the last two years that's been at least $500.

- The remaining amount (if there is any) we've saved up over the months, so we charge it to our CC, then pay it off ASAP.

 

[Arielle22]

We put $75 every week into an ING savings account. We go every other year (except for our 20th and 25th anniversary trips) for 9-10 days. It costs us $1200 for airfare so try to stay as many days as we can afford.

 

[mousiemom]

for my 15yr bonus at work we took our 1st disneyland/southern california vacation for 8 nights which was perfect! so, in 2013 i will have my 20yr bonus and we will be going on a disney cruise for 7 nights. but every yr we use some of our income tax return, etc. to go on our wdw vacations which will be two next yr, this once a yr didn't work for us this yr, major withdrawals.

 

[ssawka]

1) Lodgining covered by DVC. Financed the purchase of DVC for one year. (Now paid off!) Maintenance Fees automatically come out of our account monthly.

2) Airfare - CC when there is a good deal. Pay off at the end of that month to avoid interest.

3) Tickets - Reward points from AAA CC. Balance paid on CC (paid off at the end of the month). Get 10 Day NE tickets.

4) Expenses during trip CC, paid off at the end of month.

oh ya, we do at least one Disney trip a year. This year, we went on a cruise in Jan and going to WDW in Oct.

 

[barbeml]

1. We use our Disney VISA for everything we can and pay balance in full monthly.

2. I have a giant plastic crayon bank for all of our loose change, dollar bills, "found" money, etc.

3. I do a number of survey and rewards programs, take payouts as PayPal deposits and add them to vacation savings.

4. I do have a dedicated vacation savings account (initially funded with a pay raise years ago) and I add birthday checks, rebate checks, etc. Probably will leave that untouched as we are thinking about Hawaii in a few years and that will be $$$$.

We go to WDW every year, usually 8 days.

 

[bpesch]

I'm a major planner. I plan things way ahead of time and use the time leading up to a vacation to get it all paid off before I go. I think the anticipation is the best part of any vacation and I enjoy saving for Disney. I don't agree with going into debt for something I consider a luxury, like a vacation, so it's save and pay off ahead of time or don't go at all.

 

[jenny105]

For our trip next year, we're going for 7 nights. We also have a 2 night DCL cruise planned.

I made the $200 deposits straight out of my checking account and I make a small payment ($20 minimum or whatever I can afford) each week from that same account to chip away at the balance.

I'm a TA and I receive quarterly commission. Part of those checks go toward the trip, another to savings. I have a general savings account and one dedicated strictly to Disney, my Disney fund. That's what will be used for spending money, tips, souvenirs, etc. I also have one of those yard long margarita glasses that I put singles and spare change into and cash each month to put toward our trip & fund.

Another thing I do is MyPoints and MySurvey. You can cash in points for PayPal deposits and gift cards. I also shop through ebates and get money back on my purchases.

We have also been selling our things at flea markets. We've been twice and have made over $100 both times. All of that went toward the trips.

I plan on using part of my tax refund next year to purchase airfare.

I try not to use credit for anything unless I absolutely have to!

 

[jumpropemom]

It is very funny that I saw this today. We have gone to WDW two times as a family and both times we charged it on our Disney Visa and paid it off within the 6 month time period. Our last trip was in January 2011, and if I suggest to my husband planning another trip he may bite my head off. He likes to go, just not to pay for it!!! I would like to go in November 2012. Would I be a horrible wife if I started putting some money aside every month and then in say 8 months I suggest the trip? By that time I could/should have 1/2 of the money saved. How would you feel if your spouse did this?

 

[kydisneyfans]

We make an 8 day, 7 night trip once a year.

How we afford it:
-Charge everything on Chase Freedom, redeem points. This nets well over $500 toward the trips.
-We get paid every 2 weeks, if each bill is monthly, we each have 2 "extra" pays a year. We use one of my "extra" checks for Disney.
-Couponing, and lots of it.
-Build points at Kroger/Speedway for gas discounts.
-Garage sale money.
-OT and bonus money if needed.

Doing the above usually allows us to do 3-1 week vacations somewhere per year. This year was CMA Fest in Nashville for a week, Disney 2 weeks ago, and Disney again over Christmas.

 

[amylevan]

We just pay for it from our normal checking account. We don't set aside any particular amount. We just pick when we want to go and pay it off when the money is due. We also have a Disney Visa that we use for everything possible, and while we charge our trip to the card, we never take 6 months to pay.

This.

The only difference is that I wait to pay off the trip from our checking account at the 6 month mark. Might as well let the money sit and earn interest in those 6 months.

We usually go for a week, but not set amount of time between trips. We are going in February 2012 for 8 nights.

 

[bookworm75]

We try to go every other year, usually 5-7 nights but our next trip will be 12 nights total.

We charge everything to Disney Visa, and pay it off monthly. Nine months to go and we already have 500 reward dollars saved.

I have a certain amount of $ set up to automatically transfer to our Disney savings fund every pay day.

We rent DVC points for lodging. When we pay our DVC person we use Paypal and charge it to the Disney Visa, then turn around and pay if off the next day using the Disney savings account. This helps bump up our reward dollars. We do the same thing for park tix via Undercover Tourist.

I get project bonuses at work and my husband gets coaching pay in a lump sum. A large chunk of these checks are added to the Disney savings account (the rest goes to other savings).

We try not to count on our tax refund to pay for Disney, but will use it to cushion the Disney budget if we are short.

Once we're in Disney, we'll use the Disney Visa for everything and then pay it off from the savings account when we get home. That's how we get a good start to saving for the next trip!

 

[angierae]

Our next trip is a combo of about a dozen things, I swear!

Right now I'm having $45/week put into my ING account. That's going to be doubled in October after I pay off another bill.

Also, when I have a "three check month" twice a year I put the bulk of that "extra" check into the vacation fund.

I get a small summer bonus and a bigger EOY bonus, those go into the Disney fund.

I throw all my change into a disney popcorn bucket (and occasionally singles and fives if I have it to spare!)

Any "found" money goes into the vacation fund - I sold my cell phone to a coworker when I replaced it and put that $50 into the fund.

 

[Colleen27]

A combo of things. DH has an annual contract that is a dependable large sum and that goes straight to the vacation fund, but we also add to it during the year out of our regular income. Basically any "found" money (garage sale proceeds, my writing and crafting income, etc) and anything left over in the regular budget at the end of the month gets split between long term savings and fun money, and vacations are where we spend most of our fun money.

How often we go and for how long varies depending on our schedules and other travel plans for the year - our shortest trip was 3 nights, our longest was 11, and we go every year or two depending on what all is going on in our lives and what other travels we might have planned. Disney trips will be further between as the kids get older and we branch out into other destinations, but it is so toddler-friendly that it is our vacation of choice for this stage of life.

 

[Thumper_Man]

DW and I also use a combo of things as well. It's usually more than just a Disney Trip. We like to do all the theme parks. Yes, including those other ones that some people don't like. We just happen to like those ones also.

We own a timeshare that we pay monthly, so we stay there when we go. I have a SW Credit Card. I use that for just about everything and get enough points for our flights.

Tickets and everything else is usually paid for with our tax refund. Or we'll buy them a little at a time until we have everything we need. I'll use my credit card and pay off the balance right away.