How hard is it for you to..........

[nluvwithmickey]

Here' s my question, how hard is ti for you to save all the money to go to WDW? I see that many of you go VERY often and I was wondering....

Being canadian and all ( kinda makes me wish I was American....you guys get all the freat stufflike Walmart, Targets,old navy wayyyyyyyyyy before us )
it gets pretty expensive going to WDW we never get the same great deals you guys seem to be getting. For example : they don't sell Disney trips at COSTCO. We get a AAA 10 % discount on lodging but that's about it.

Unless there are some deals out there that I don't know of. Oh and that currency exchange........much better than before but still extra expenses right there.

My inlaws think we are crazy for saving like nuts for something we have already visited. Obviously, they've never been to WDW and it really ticks them off that we just don't stay here and visit with them instead. They're not real Disney fans anyway.

Would anyone like to adopt a nice canadian family????We're not picky a family from sunny florida will do the trick!!!!

I REALLY love this board!!!My DH thinks that I am nuts for reading this board so many times each day. I don't see him complaining when we are in WDW and I give him all of my tips!!!!

 

[dizagain]

I guess I'm one of those nutty Americans who have to SAVE, SAVE, SAVE! We went for the first time in May '03 and are returning this May. I have a set plan for saving and it's hard! Right now there is NOTHING! We'll use part of our tax refund for the two plane tix we need (we have two free), DH's entire "extra" paycheck (I LOVE getting paid every two weeks cause of those two "extras"!) that comes late April for park passes/hotel/some food, and I'll save some more for the rest once February is over. Right now I'm paying out the nose as both DD's have b'days and two other family members do to!!!

We have to work hard to save for WDW and it's worth it, isn't it? Our families think we're strange to want to go again too, but we don't care!! It is special to us and that's what counts. DH even gets into Disney (once he's there ) and compares other places to the quality of WDW. We're hooked! Have fun planning and SAVING!!

 

[kirbsam]

It is all a matter of priorities. How many tvs do people have in their houses, do they have cable, do they smoke, how often do they really go out for lunch or supper or go to convenince stores for last minute purchases. you can save literally thousnads of dollars per year, by bringing sandwiches to work everyday for lunch...people have their x boxes and play stations, they get their snowmobiles and have their cottages and then say they cant afford to go to wdw. It really is a matter of priorities. You get a part time job and that money goes to wdw, now you can afford to go every other year.

 

[paigevz]

because we go so often. Now, though, they finally have stopped saying "again?" and seem to accept it as "of course". We use tax refunds too.........that's why we usually go every other year..........we save up two years of tax refunds to go, or we use one and then credit card the rest and pay it back with the other. Neither of us claim any dependents during the year, so we get a sizeable refund. I'd love to adopt you, but since we're getting a new bigger house in a new bigger neighborhood with new bigger payments, new bigger taxes and a new bigger HOA.........don't think we'll be going back for a few!

 

[dopeyone]

We Also Save, Save, Save. We Go Every Year, We're Always Socking Money Away. Santa Takes Care Of The Park Tickets, So We Don't Go Overboard On X-mas. We Always Rent A Vacation Home From A Place That Takes Monthly Payments, That's Usually Paid Well In Advance. I Also Have A Savings Account That I Put 100$ In Every Pay Period. I Think For Next Year We're Going To Try E-baying Our Way To Disney (we Got A Lot Of Junk!) Good Luck!

 

[Luv2Roam]

When we use to vacation to WDW, I always founbd it easy to save on small ways. Knowing that I was going, when I went into a store, I would think twice if I really Needed something, or it was just impluse buying. I found much of it was impulse buying on "stuff" that was not important and would not miss one way or another.

How about the Canada at Par packages? I have read good about those.

 

[d96j97]

I agree totally with kirbsam....it is all a matter of priority. We rarely eat out, my DH takes a bag lunch everyday to work, we drive cars that are in great shape but are >5yrs old, etc. We work incredibly hard to save money for these things especially since our 2 DSs are getting older and we realize that they won't be with us forever! (darn it!) For us...there is nothing more important and fun than spending time with family. Just discipline yourself and you can do it too!

 

[sunny04]

We saved more this year because we bought APs....now that also meant we spent MORE because we went 3 times, but we saved so much on each trip! Originally, I had a part time job(in addition to my regular job) that paid very little, it was more for the experience, than the money. I used to save every bit of that money towards disney, and my husband works a lot of overtime (being in the computer world) and we put his overtime money towards our trips. Anytime we felt we had a little extra, we'd put some aside for Disney. We were saving for our last trip to Dec. when we started, but we ended up with enough to use towards all 3 of our trips, and our Dec. one was completely paid for...and we still have quite a bit left that is going to our next trip in March! APs give you major deals on hotels, etc.....the rest is just planning and saving.

 

[jtdl]

I've often wondered how some people afford to go to WDW as much as they do and with Deluxe accommodations too. I'm lucky to be able to stay in a Value resort! This will be my 3rd trip in 10 years. I don't think it would be hard taking a vacation to Florida every year or two, it's the theme parks that kill you. Our passes (WDW 5 day basic, SeaWorld) are the top expense for our whole two week vacation. One good thing about it this year is the exchange rate - much better than it has been in a long time. But, like others have said, it takes discipline and prioritizing.

 

[nluvwithmickey]

i'm glad to hear from all of you...I guess we're all in the same boat :thewave:
We too try to save on the tax refunds and on the extras....evena piggy bank that goes towards our disney souvenirs....We don't go to fancy restaurants and also have a 5 yr old car....Would like to get a job eventually in order to help finance more WDW trips....As dr phil says: " I'm feeding my disease!!!"

We are also in the same state of mind that the kids are growing up fast and eventually we won't be able to take them with us anymore( DD13 & DD8 )..

The kids keep asking how come we don't have this or that...I sy take a poll in your class and ask how many of your classmates have gone at least once to WDW?.....Well they get their answers right there... Eventually DD 13 will get a summer job and we won't feel comfortable leaving her to go to WDW. So I say live NOW and enjoy the times you're all together...

Thanks for all your great responses....looking forward to hearing from more of you.

Nope...the Disney at PAr offer is no longer offered to Canadians...it must not be worth it with the currency exchange.

 

[debbiedoo]

I agree. . . .priorty. . . .do you really need it?? Stopped eating out one night a week. . . .buy 100 dollars in disney dollars every month just like a bill to fund our food cost.

We drive down. . .no air fare issue

Bought DVC!! Best thing we ever done. Income tax returns goes to savings for the monthly payments. Not to bad 160.42 a month--can not beat that!!

most importantly--watch the budget and have to very self--displicine. As for Dr. Phil-- I have to have my vacations every year to keep my sanity--it is necessary!!!!! Ok enough said. . .


Her we come again!! May 28-June6

 

[Sandyincanada]

nluvwithMickey, I hear what your saying. For us, airfare from Manitoba is our killer. 700.00 per person. Most people seem to be able to get their flights dirt cheap or can drive, its saves tons of money right there.

There are some deals to be found, I hope you are checking out and posting on the Canadian Board here at Dis. They are a great help and any new deals or promotions are always there.

 

[tinkerbee]

When we use to vacation to WDW, I always founbd it easy to save on small ways. Knowing that I was going, when I went into a store, I would think twice if I really Needed something, or it was just impluse buying. I found much of it was impulse buying on "stuff" that was not important and would not miss one way or another.

How about the Canada at Par packages? I have read good about those.

I was like this yesterday. Do I really need this. $5.00 for this, $3.00 for that, do I really need that. Most of the time it is no. And that stuff really adds up. We don't eat out as much. Any extra money we make we set aside, overtime, bonuses, and tax returns. We don't go to the movies we always rent them now that saves alot. We use to go almost once a week that was around $30 a week now thats $120 a month towards Disney.

 

[mhingher]

Once I booked this trip I did a lot of saving! I've only been buying essentials at the grocery store, and watching sales closely. I've been planning out what bills have to be paid at each paycheck, and make sure atleast $50 goes into savings for the trip, I opened another savings account specifically for vacations. I started doing this back in November, and I have $700 saved so far, I'm leaving in March. I plan on saving another $300 before we go, and that will be our spending $$. I don't think we'll even need all of that, we'll be eating most breakfasts in the room, and bringing sandwiches in for lunch some days. I have also been bringing my lunch 3-4 times/week, that's saving me a min of $75/month.. We still will end up keeping the plane tickets and hotel on the charge card... but hey, you only live once, everyone has credit card debt, right??
\

 

[Minerva]

We've just had the Disney bug bite recently but already we've got a trip planned for this year and another trip and a cruise planned in the near future. I just recently went back to work part time and that's our Disney money. I get paid twice a month and I take $100 out of the check and the rest goes into a savings account we opened for the trip. In order to get a higher interest rate we opened an account that only allows us to withdraw money the first 10 days of each quarter without incurring a penalty. That's been wonderful because it keeps us from dipping into it for other things. When we get closer to our trip date I'll change it to a regular savings account so I can take out what we need to pay everything off right before we go and buy our plane tickets. I save all my change, even if something is $4.01 I give them $5 and keep the change. When I go to the bank with my check I deposit all the change I've saved over the two weeks and it really adds up. I'm averaging close to $40 a month. When a movie comes out we want to see we decide if it's important enough to go right away or can we wait another month or so until it goes to the second run theater. If we opt for wating when we go to the second run theater I take the money I've saved on tickets and put it in the savings account, that's around $8 unless we get lucky and can go at a time when the second run theater has 2 for 1 then it's over $10. Same thing for going out to eat. If we go to Taco Bell instead of the Rosita's, the locally owned Mexican restaurant, we take the $15 we saved and it goes right into savings. Any time we opt to something less expensive over something more expensive I just put the difference into the savings account. It's nice to have my paycheck but I never knew how quickly the little things would add up until I started to do them. If I had just done things like save change and save the difference between less expensive meals and the more expensive ones we could have gone years ago even without my paycheck.

 

[MazdaUK]

Its even more expensive from the UK! But we've saved and saved for this one. Its our first really expensive holiday since our honeymoon 15 years ago (when we spent 2 days in Disneyland) and we always said we'd got back for our 15th anniversary - but the kids voted for Florida instead!

I agree its all down to priorities - when one friend of ours moans how lucky we are, I point out he's had a least one 2-week holiday abroad since we've known him AND he went to WDW for Christmas 2003!

That said we'll be saving as hard as we can to go back, but it has to tie in with school and eldest DS is starting secondary school in September.

 

[TDC Nala]

I don't find it difficult at all, because I do not have many expenses and don't spend much on anything else.

Actually this year I am going to Disneyland twice from the east coast - the first trip I am comped for park tickets and the second is on frequent flyer miles and DVC points, so I will pay only for tickets and food.

 

[MinnieM3]

Easy....we go into debt! LOL!

 

[iluvwesties]

My 2cents worth on this subject..........

I use my AMEX Airmiles credit card to buy groceries, gas things that you HAVE to buy.

I get bonus Airmiles at the stores that are sponsers and usually by doing this have enough airmiles to buy 4 round trip tickets from Toronto to Orlando every other year. On the "Off" years we drive down.

I purchase my WDW tickets from reputable online ticket brokers such as:
Mapleleaf tickets, Ticketmania, Florida Orlando Tickets and do a comparisson of their prices to make sure I am getting the "best" deal.
(Right now, floridaorlandotickets.com has the 10day premium, no expiry, park hopper ticket for $362.00)

I have previously bought the Quick & Casual vouchers for meals from money earned from ebay. This prepays for a lot of meals.

I own timeshare in Kissimmee (bought a long time ago at a reasonable cost) but you can always rent timeshare as there are plenty in Orlando/Kissimmee at a reasonable rate.

This year is the first year that I have EVER stayed at a WDW resort.

The reason being is that our original flight was changed to a very late night flight and the airline offered me the option of going down on a flight one or two days earlier that was a daytime flight, so I jumped at the chance and managed to book 2 nights at ASMo.

I am going to use the Disney transportation for these 2 days to get around and then rent a car for the following week when I go to my timeshare. I booked my rental car WAY in advance and got a good rate for it. Since I have booked, the rental car rates have doubled!!!!!!

Hope this info helps. I am already thinking about my next trip!!
I am turning 50 this year and would like to Celebrate in WDW (October maybe doing the MNSSHP)
iluvwesties (AKA Carol)