how people afford those disney world vacations

[bettymae1121]

Well, it helps that I fly for free! When you don't have to worry about $200-$300 per person for airfare, that's a chunk of the vacation cost right there that we don't have to worry about.

And this year, we have 3 unused days from a trip in 2005 that we are using, so we only had to buy a 1 day park pass to get the package deal. 5 nights at Pop with DDP is only costing DH and I about $1350 for the package, plus another $200 for tips and misc. expenses. I think that's pretty good!

Anyway, I put the $200 down and then our tax refund will cover the balance (our refund isn't huge, it will just barely cover the final payment). Which isn't to say that the tax refund is the only way we can afford to go, it's just the $ amount of the final balance almost exactly matched our refund check. Must be fate!

 

[malibuconlee]

Not sure if banks still offer it, but just like banks offer Christmas Club Accts when I was younger they also offered Vacation Club Accounts. I think they paid out in June instead of Nov/Dec.

Or you can just do the same thing yourself. Start a vacation bank acct. Transfer $X each paycheck and at the end of the year, voila...vacation money!

 

[dtr_angel]

Saving money ahead of time. We haven't had a vacation since August 2009 but like others have said, we are always putting money away for the next vacation because it is something we really look forward to. We work hard, so we like to play hard. We're also really smart with our money and don't have any debt besides our mortgage. We don't have any children (yet) so we're enjoying the freedom to be able to take these trips before we gladly devote all our time and money to raising a family.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

We pay the fee to book (200.00) and then make payments until the vacation time. Disney is really good about changing your reservation if a promotion comes out so we book and then keep our eye out for promotions. Also get on Disneyworld.com website and sign up there. They send you "PIN" discounts that way which are also discount codes. Now i am off to checkout this quick rewards network thing...hmmmm extra disney money is alway great

 

[smcabee]

We joined DVC just beacuase of this. Annual passes are cheaper as well. If im short on points, I book offsite using Last minute travel, cheapostay, priceline etc. I booked a room at the Hilton DTD for 79/night in March and 64/nigh through last minute travel much cheaper than the disney resorts but with the benefit of emh and bus travel.

 

[crisi]

How to people afford those disney vacations. I never can save enough up to go on the vacation I would like. I wish there was a way you could just put a down payment on your vacation quote and pay it out each month until your trip. That would help alot!!

Keep in mind that there are people here in a wide variety of circumstances. Try not to compare yourself to others, only your own circumstances make a difference.

Some don't have mortgages, imagine how quick you could pay for a vacation without a mortgage.

Some have big incomes - imagine how often you could go with two six figure incomes in a household.

Some live close by - Disney is a lot more affordable if you can drive.

Some get great deals its hard to get unless you have certain circumstances. Like being able to use hotel points, or having one person's trip paid for by a conference. There used to be a woman here who took frequent Disney vacations - but she was flying into Orlando on business and so really only needed to fund her own tickets - everything else was a business expense.

Some have small families. Its cheaper to get two or three people to Disney than seven or nine.

The tricks to paying for a vacation are pretty simple - cut where you can (couponing, get rid of cable, cut your grocery bill), save regularly (Christmas club, change jar), make your vacation as affordable as possible (stay offsite, look for deals).

Try here www.mousesavers.com for the deal part of it.

 

[disneychic2]

You've gotten some great advise, OP and I hope it helps you get to WDW in good time. We have a line for vacation in our budget, so a certain amount gets saved each month. We don't go until we have enough to pay for it. If you don't have a budget in place, I would suggest you go to your local library and check out any books by Dave Ramsey. You will get great advise on setting up a household budget and saving up for emergencies and getting out of debt. Meanwhile, good luck!

 

[angierae]

We are planning on going to Disney in March/April 2012. We are a family of three, and do not make much money - much less than $100k combined income between my husband and I.

This is how we're paying for it:

I budgeted that we'd need $5000 to go to DIsney and take DD16's bff with us.

I get two bonuses a year. After taxes, they work out to about $1650. That leaves us with $3350 to come up with.

Twice a year I get three checks in a month (I get paid 26 times a year). After taking out money for the week (groceries, etc) the bulk of that "extra" check goes into the Disney fund. (Let's say I put about $600 of that check into the fund - it's probably not that exactly, but whatever.)

That brings us down to $2150 to come up with.

We started saving in December of 2010 for our March 2012 vacation. That gives us 1 month + 12 in 2011 + 3 in 2012 (not leaving until the very tail end of March) so 16 months. $2150/16 = $134 a month.

That's ... a lot for us.

So, how am I coming up with $134 (give or take) a month?
I quit eating out lunch at work - now I take food or bring leftovers from last night's dinner.
I started couponing - the $10 or so a week I save in coupons is $40 into my Disney Fund.
I started selling stuff on Amazon Marketplace.
In Michigan we have bottle refunds - now the $10 or so a month I get in bottle refunds goes directly into my Disney fund. I throw any spare change or singles or "found money" into the Disney fund.
I quit buying "stuff" - no cds, no dvds, no new music, and only clothes if I absolutely need it.
I started stocking up on groceries when things were on sale so that I could cut my grocery bills down.

That's about it. I get about $50 a month in savings from not buying lunch, I get about $40 a month in coupons and $10 in bottle refunds. That leaves me with $30-ish dollars to drop into my fund, which is easily done since I'm not dropping $30 to go to the movies or on a shirt I don't need or whatever.

 

[candielips]

We are a single income family and have a limited budget, but going on vacations is a priority for us.
We do a lot of the things already mentioned on here plus another. I do online banking every week, so when I am done paying for everything, I round the dollar down and put the extra money in a seperate account set aside for vacations only. For example, if there is $157.93 in the account I would put $57.93 in the other account. Although if there really was only $157.93 in my account, we def would not be going on ANY vacations.
This has helped to save a lot of money. I also sell my kids clothes and toys as they outgrow them and that money is also set aside for vacations.
If you dream it, it will come.

 

[RoundtownGirl]

I buy a Disney giftcard each week at the grocery store. The giftcard purchase helps us with earning points toward getting a discount at the fuel pumps (as much as 50 cents off a gallon). I can even make my payments online using the giftcards. I've also been known to cut my spending budget by $25 each week and that allows me to get an extra $100 giftcard once a month. You can almost pay off your trip in 6 months and not charge a thing to your credit card but the deposit.

 

[dntd]

So far we can afford to go because of a large tax return. Also just me and 3 kids 9 and under on the play and stay deal,also we don't go on vacations often. 5000+ vacationsa seem nuts.us

 

[mousiemom]

like others we have to go to disney every yr, have to. we've done the packages usually with free dining but we have done the room only ressies and we love those cause you have longer to save and pay off @ ck in. the best is the AP passes but they cost so much but it was so worth it when we went 6 times that yr. tickets cost so much. i've never tried staying off site before but might have to look into it and doing the YES program w/our dd. we will do whatever it takes to gets us to disney.

 

[SunnieRN]

I heard about a bank on a budgeting/debt site. It is called Perksreet.com

I am going to change my account to this bank on Monday. It is recommended by Dave Ramsey, which only means to me that they do what their claims state they do.

For every truncation you make, using your debit card as a credit card, you earn cash back on your purchase. You can cash out these rewards, for several different choices and change your rewards whenever you choose.

There rewards include cards for coffee (ie Starbucks), Music (ie iTunes), or Moola! There is a choice of Visa, Target, Ticketmaster, etc.

So, you can link your present, non rewards bank, to this bank. You can deposit money backhand forth as needed AND anything you can use a debit card as a credit card qualifies for cash back! You choose the reward and viola, you get $$$$$!!

Sounds like a great deal to me, free money. Even if I use it JUST for my mortgage and groceries, that would be $31+ a month, if I am frugal with groceries, like I am trying to be! That is $360+ per year for paying my mortgage and buying groceries. Add to this any entertainment you can charge, any gifts you buy, double dip with ebates for rewards on gifts, online clothing purchases, etc and it could really add up!

Hopefully this helps someone!! You do have to have a minimum balance of $5K, if your balance is below $5K, you still earn cash back, just 1% vs 2% with the $5K balance. Sounds like free money to me!

 

[american_mommy]

We decided this past Jan we wanted to go next Jan. The only way we can do it(we have 5 children and one income) is for dh to take less vacations throughout this year. We will save up all of his vacation pay throughout the year and he is only taking 1 week off, versus 4-5 normally. It will be hard but we know what we are saving for. We will also be saving $ every month. It is really the only way we can do it. We aren't going to stay onsite because it is too expensive with our large family and we will also only get 2 maybe 3 days at DW, 2 days at SW and hopefully a day at Legoland since they are opening this fall.

 

[jacdolfin]

This is a great question. Like most of all the other people who replied it depends on your station in life and how bad you really want to go. The hardest part is not finding a cheap place to stay but tickets. Most will recomend buying tickets direct from Disney. But there are sights like www.ticketmomma.com and others you can google to save a bit on tickets. We are a family of 4 with two kids DS 7 and DD5. We are planning a trip for Christmas this year, but have done Disney the last two years this will be our third.

This is how we did it. First off we live in Texas so its a long trip but we DRIVE to the world. If its feasable driving safes money over flights unless you cand find those $59 fares with SWest, Jetblue etc. We saved up money a year before we left for our March 2009 trip and bought 10 day NonExpiring tickets. The second step was to find places to stay. The last two times we went we did not stay onsight we worked it out where it was going to be better for us to eat our own food most of the time, have a place with washer/dryer, and pay to park. Two places we have staid and loved were: Windsor Hills and Liki Tiki Village. There are also a ton of Days Inn and all variety of hotels close to the world for $50 or less a night. A great sight I have used is www.bookit.com you might want to check that out. There is a bill me later program you can use if you qualify where you can pay it off in installments if you like if you dont have the upfront cash.

I reccomend buying a Disney guide that can help you with alot of questions tickets, hotels eating etc. The "Unofficial Guide to Disney" or "Disney World with kids" those type of books

This trip we are staying onsight. We booked a room only rate for 5 nights Dec 18-23 for $480. You have up to 7 days to put your deposit down and if you are booking only the room you are only required to pay the first nights stay. You can either pay the balance when you get there or pay it out in payments by calling in to Disney. And some are lucky to get PIN offers from Disney to help with prices. Others use the dining plan but with nonexpo tickets we are not able to use Free Dining if it comes out. We will have a mini fridge in the room to have cereal in the morns and make sandwhiches for snacks. That helps alot on food costs.

My best advice is tp pick a general time you are interested in get an estimated cost and start putting alittle money aside and safe up for your trip if you really want to go. Triple AAA has some good deals at times to. And no matter what onsite offsite drive fly whatever option is best for your family is best for your family and you will have a great time. This place is a wealth of knowledge just by asking your on the right track. Good Luck

 

[vicki_c]

Re: the PP's mention of ticketmomma -

I had never heard of them as an authorized ticket reseller, so went over to their website. On their main page, they are advertisting Disney "Touch of Magic" tickets. Those are timeshare presentation tickets that are not upgradeable. So just be aware (or beware) before ordering tickets that seem like a good deal so you know what you are getting into. It is actually difficult to save much on tickets at all, outside the YES program. Most of the authorized resellers are only saving you a few percent per ticket- maybe 3 or 4%.

Ticketmomma's regular 10 day adult ticket price is $278, with shipping & tax added saves you only $1 over Disney's prices (I only checked one random ticket type from their list). By comparison, Undercover Tourist with the extra Mousesavers discount is $267 for the same ticket - and that's one of the best legit prices out there.

Per Cheshire Figment's ticket sticky on the Theme Parks board:
There are "Touch of Magic" tickets which are available through some time share promoters in the Orlando area. These are two, three or four day, one park per day or hopping, plus one entry to a water park, Disney Quest or the Oak Trail Golf Course. At the time the voucher is purchased or received hopping may be added Normally the time share promoter will issue a voucher for these tickets which can be redeemed at any park (including water parks or TTC) ticket booth. These tickets may not be upgraded once the voucher is issued. If hopping is desired, it must be done at the off-site purchase.

Sorry to hijack, but I just felt the need to post that.

 

[mcever4]

We are going to WDW in May 2012. I "priced" our trip for this year to give me an idea of what it would cost. I have divided that amount by the number of months until April (since it has to be paid for in full by the 45 day mark), and that gives me the minimum I have to deposit into the bank each month. I opened a seperate checking account in my son's name for this purpose. Once he turns 16, he will already have an account established!! I always put more than the minimum in the account each month. I use my savings at the grocery store using coupons to help with the DISNEY FUND! If I end up saving $10, I get that amount back as cash back and it goes into the account. Any spare change goes in a jar and at the end of the month, that goes into the fund. If I sell anything on ebay, it goes there too. All of these are ways to save and not "miss" the money!! Basically, any "found" money that is not in our budget goes for our trip. My husband is amazed how I have saved for our trip and is thrilled that NO money from our regular accounts will have to be used for our trip! It's almost like a FREE vacation in our eyes! Hope these ideas help! There are lots of ideas here on the DIS to help you with your Dream Disney Vacation!!!

Robin

 

[ilovediznee2]

I usually stay off-site, as one can save a lot of $$ by cooking their own meals. This will be the first time I'm staying on-site. To save for these trips, I take $4 directly out of my paycheck, I use some of my income tax return, and I put all of my change each day into a big bank. When it's time to go, I cash in that change.
Trust me, I'm a single mom. It's tough, but it can be done. We do without going on several trips a year to do one big trip. The rest of the year, we do day trips.
Good luck!!!

 

[sam3996]

I have wanted to see Disney World since I was in the third grade and some classmates came back telling me all about it.

Well, here we are 40 and still have never been. He doesn't really care about it, but it's just something I need to do. Just never could afford it. So I took the leap.

I got a quote for the resort, dining and park tickets for 5 days between Christmas and New Year for 1700.00 which to my surprise was unbelievable! I was expecting it to be way more than that. So paying the $200 to book it not a problem.

But now I've got to figure out how I'm going to come up with the rest of it by November. PLUS: I've got to do something with my dogs. I'm estimating the doggy kennel there will probably be around $ 200 - 300 for two chihuahuas. So I've got to sell blood or something. hahaha
Just kidding. Thanks for all of the ideas on how to raise the money. Cause I really really really want to go really BAD!

 

[american_mommy]

I have wanted to see Disney World since I was in the third grade and some classmates came back telling me all about it.

Well, here we are 40 and still have never been. He doesn't really care about it, but it's just something I need to do. Just never could afford it. So I took the leap.

I got a quote for the resort, dining and park tickets for 5 days between Christmas and New Year for 1700.00 which to my surprise was unbelievable! I was expecting it to be way more than that. So paying the $200 to book it not a problem.

But now I've got to figure out how I'm going to come up with the rest of it by November. PLUS: I've got to do something with my dogs. I'm estimating the doggy kennel there will probably be around $ 200 - 300 for two chihuahuas. So I've got to sell blood or something. hahaha
Just kidding. Thanks for all of the ideas on how to raise the money. Cause I really really really want to go really BAD!

I wanted to go all my life then my hubby took me while we were dating in 98. He had been many times as a child but I was too poor. We have only gone twice(once then & then once with 3 of our kids). Now that we have 5 kids it will be very expensive because we will have 2 pay for 4 of them to get in the parks(versus 2 last time!). But he knows how i love DW and Sea World too so we will figure it out.
Hope you enjoy your trip! We went at Christmas last time, personally I didn't enjoy it as much as May(even though May was hot). It was just too crowded. And going in Jan helps us lower the cost a bit for a place to stay