How often do us budgeteers visit disney/orlando?

[BUSYMAOF4]

So got back 6 days ago from a wonderful vacation, went to magic kingdom, seaworld, aqautica twice, stayed at orange lake resort, all was perfect! Now I am back in boring CT trying to figure out things to do for fun which is pretty hard around here....so thinking of going back in around 6 months. Problem is with 4 kids we always are budgeting...so usually are Orlando trips are 1-2 years apart. Question is how often does everyone go? And I mean the average american family, that is why I am posting on the budget board. Not the very rich lol

 

[pryncess527]

So got back 6 days ago from a wonderful vacation, went to magic kingdom, seaworld, aqautica twice, stayed at orange lake resort, all was perfect! Now I am back in boring CT trying to figure out things to do for fun which is pretty hard around here....so thinking of going back in around 6 months. Problem is with 4 kids we always are budgeting...so usually are Orlando trips are 1-2 years apart. Question is how often does everyone go? And I mean the average american family, that is why I am posting on the budget board. Not the very rich lol

My last trip was in 1997

I'm HOPING we can take a trip in Fall 2014, but depending on how finances play out it might get pushed back to Fall 2015. I am at least now optimistic it won't be 2016

But we have no kids, we are DINKS. Which in theory should mean we have more money to go more often . . . but in reality probably means we don't feel the same need to go because we don't have kids that are getting older by the day, so it's easy for us to always put off vacation in favor of house priorities, etc. But no more!! I haven't been to Disney in way to long, and haven't had a real vacation of any kind since my honeymoon in 2004, so I'm DETERMINED that DH and I are Disney bound for our 10 year anniversary next year. It is my primary driving motivation every time I stop myself from spending money.

ETA -- My more relavant experience for this thread I guess is from my childhood. When I was a kid, we went to Disney just about summer. Maybe every other summer when we got a bit older. My mom was a teacher, so we always went over summer break. My mom also worked at Disney one summer in college, so always loved it. and Disney was probably a lot cheaper back then - we NEVER stayed on site.
The 1997 trip was after I graduated high school, I used most of my graduation present money to go with a friend and a family w/kids we adored. So really, I haven't been yet as an actual (drinking-around-Epcot) adult.

 

[spima3]

So got back 6 days ago from a wonderful vacation, went to magic kingdom, seaworld, aqautica twice, stayed at orange lake resort, all was perfect! Now I am back in boring CT trying to figure out things to do for fun which is pretty hard around here....so thinking of going back in around 6 months. Problem is with 4 kids we always are budgeting...so usually are Orlando trips are 1-2 years apart. Question is how often does everyone go? And I mean the average american family, that is why I am posting on the budget board. Not the very rich lol

Well, our income is just slightly below the median US household income, so would that make us average?

If so, we have been to WDW twice, once in 2005, and once in 2010, so every 5 years? I would like to go back to US to see the expanded Wizarding World, but w/ one kid starting college, and two to follow, that may not happen.

 

[BUSYMAOF4]

97 is a long time but it is so great that you are planning on returning...and if there are only 2 of u then staying in Disney would make sense! We can't since being a family of 6 is way too expensive. are u flying or driving? the flying part is the most expensive part for us...

 

[spima3]

We have taken the autotrain in the past and will IF we go again.

I have never found plane tickets cheaper than taking the autotrain and having our vehicle with us.

 

[crisi]

We have an above average income. We go every other year at most.

We do take other vacations - although this year is pretty cheap vacation wise - my husband is traveling a lot internationally for work and the last thing he wants to do with his time off is get on a plane and stay in a hotel. So we've had a few weekends at a friends vacation home and we are spending time on a houseboat with my family in a few weeks.

 

[pryncess527]

97 is a long time but it is so great that you are planning on returning...and if there are only 2 of u then staying in Disney would make sense! We can't since being a family of 6 is way too expensive. are u flying or driving? the flying part is the most expensive part for us...

We'll probably drive. We live in NC and have family in Georgia, so the current plan is to drive to GA, leave the dogs with my mom and then head to Orlando from her house. The overnight stop will help break up the drive. That's the plan if we visit the week after Thanksgiving. If we go during Food & Wine, we *might* fly, but that adds the extra cost of boarding our dogs

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I grew up in Southern California so I went to Disneyland at least once a year. Mid high school we moved back east and my parents took us to WDW - mostly to see Epcot. After 3 years, my family moved back to Southern California, but I stayed back east for college. As a young adult, I tried to go to Disneyland when I went home to visit my family. Sometimes I got there, sometimes I didn't.

Once I was married and had children we started out strong - took the kids to Disneyland when they were 2 & 4 and again when they were 4 & 6. Then we didn't go again for several years. I wanted to do a WDW trip when they were 7 & 9, had it all planned and everything, but DH would not get on board. We finally took them when they were 11 & 13. After that we started going avery year and a half or two partly because I feel like I skipped a trip with them when they were younger and I'm trying to make up for it...crazy I know. But also because DD14 fell in love with Disney on that first WDW trip.

To make it affordable we usually drive, stay in our timeshare, use 10 day WP & more No Expire tickets and I buy a $50 Disney gift card every month. By the time the trip comes around food is payed for. We also found it budget freindly to stay onsight with free dining.

 

[tinktinktink]

I went last September and have a trip planned for this Nov. It think if you plan it right...try to go at a time when discounts are offered and stick with only doing Disney resorts you can come out pretty good. People comment that we much be rich, but it really isn't anymore than renting a beach house for the week. We drive from NC so there is not airfare to consider which saves us a ton.

 

[mrsklamc]

By virtue of the fact that we are on the DIS, I imagine most of us here probably go more likely than the 'average' American.

Since being married, we went on 'just' Disney trips in 2007 and 2011. We've also been on one 4 day Disney cruise when already in the area for something else, and one one-day visit that was 'free' after attending a timeshare, which we won't ever do again!

I am expecting our first and think I'd like to take kids every 4-5 years, but IMO Disney is starting to get too big for its britches price wise. I know people will continue to go at any price point, but we may not be among them!

 

[kkmcan]

WDW about once every 3 years because we live so far away (Az). Disneyland at least once a year, although when we had AP's we went about 3 times a year. We can drive there (7 hours) and stay either really cheap or free, if we stay in the in-laws timeshare. Those were some crazy cheap trips with our APs.

 

[Colleen27]

It depends. Sometimes we have years between trips, sometimes we go more than once in a year. We're far from rich - our income is slightly below the national median - but we make travel a very high priority in our lives and have been blessed with a situation that has allowed us to do so. And Disney is one of our very favorite destinations with young kids.

 

[MEM]

Its really very hard to define "average". We are a one income family - I make a modest salary in a HCOLA (Boston) and DH is a SAHD. I do have great benefits, however. In his single days DH lived like a miser and paid off the house while in his early 40s. After we were married, he also used some of his savings to purchase a few DVC contracts. One of our children is on the autism spectrum and we found out over the years that WDW is an ideal place to vacation with him. We buy annual passes and get a DVC discount on them, plus we have a Southwest credit card and can usually get a few free flights every year. In 2012-2013 we went for Christmas, Spring break and we have a trip coming up in August. Its really all about priorities - we don't eat out at all when we are home, our car is a 1996 mini-van, we are not into expensive clothes or shoes, etc. etc.

 

[DawnM]

We go once per year. We do make more than the average American, but we are pretty frugal/careful with our money.

Dh's work now sends him to Orlando once per year so they pay part of the trip.

We used to go more often than once per year.

When we lived in LA we had APs and would pop down for an afternoon or day and would go at least once per month.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

We couldn't afford to go until the kids were 9and 10 in 2003. We have gone 1-2 times per year since along with trips to other places. However, it looks like those years there were much better deals on airfare hotel car rental and tickets than now. Things have gone up so much I feel like we are being priced out of vacation.

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[eliza61]

By virtue of the fact that we are on the DIS, I imagine most of us here probably go more likely than the 'average' American.

!

Very true.

There are also a lot of other variables that go into in. Truthfully there are some years were we have more disposable cash than other years.

I think I posted one time about I had one summer where every freakin thing in my house broke. a/c, refrigerator, washer, dryer kid needed braces, car broke. It seemed like every time we turned around we were shelling out a 1000 bucks. So that was a year when travel was not possible.

for a while we were going every year. Also remember one man's budget is totally different from some one else.

I bow down to the folks here who can go and split meals and cook in their rooms to save money. I can't do that so my view of "budget" is going to be a bit different.

The one thing I don't agree with you is that there is nothing "fun" to do around Connecticut. Heck the next state over is NY that state alone could keep me entertained for a while.

 

[winterwhite]

we are DINK, late 20s, and we have been once every year for the past four years.

Disney is our "quick" vacation. We will typically do 4-5 days, stay affordably offsite, and go do the outlets/a day in st. augustine. Often this costs us about $600/pp incl airfare, food, and car, so it is a "cheap" getaway.

Then we usually do one bigger trip each year-- this year it was a week in Key West (loved it!) next year it is going to be the caribbean I think.

 

[Happyjen27]

We go once per year. We do make more than the average American, but we are pretty frugal/careful with our money.

I think this describes my household. We make a little more than the average american, but we are careful.

We put off Disney until they kids were 5, because before then would not have been enjoyable for me. I plan to go annually, but I make choices to make that happen.

We were at our friend's home this weekend. It's gorgeous. Not huge, not perfect, but complete. That level of complete I never get to because I can't bear to open my wallet for all the things I want. While we were sitting there I said to my DH "I need a decorating budget" to which he responded "if we went to Disney every other year, you would have one" He is right. I put vacation as a priority over feathering my nest right now.

So, I guess the average family goes as often as their choices allow them to go. Not many of my average American friends go annually. But, I suspect that isn't as much that they don't take a vacation annually, it's just that they go on other vacations because they aren't fanatics like we are.

 

[torinsmom]

I am a teacher(NC so think low pay, LOL) as well as a single mom, and we go every year. We live pretty frugally and do Disney cheaper than most. We stay offsite, drive or fly with points, and don't eat a lot of meals in the parks. After so many trips, small souvenirs are fine(picture frame, magnets, etc). My tax refund and/or local teaching supplement is earmarked for Orlando. We buy APs for Universal every two years and use them for two trips.

We are actually going back to Orlando in September this year to attend a Christian Music festival at Universal.

 

[disneycrazi]

We started going in 2009 and have been 2 or 3 times a year. We are by no means rich and just have decided Disney is what we want to do. We have no credit cards and no debt except out mortgage which will be paid off in a max of 3 years. I am a retail manager and my DH is a vacation timeshare customer service rep. We have DS 8 that goes with us and on occasion DD 20, DD 21, and DSIL 26. We live a pretty calm life and don't vaca much unless its Disney. As DS gets older we will add other locations such as historical places because DS 8 is a history freak! We don't buy a lot of things and drive older paid off vehicles. Our trips to Disney are where we cut loose!