HOW?!

[FutureDisneyEventPlanner]

Can some explain to me how you go to WDW for 2 or 3 weeks?? I would love to do this someday but I don't know how I could ever afford it...how do you do it?!

 

[rg35]

Choosing the right career path lol

I'm sure that credit card debt is a primary means for a lot of people (not just w/ vacations, but with anything). "Paying" for something doesn't necessarily mean that one can "afford" it.

 

[ErinsMommy]

Can some explain to me how you go to WDW for 2 or 3 weeks?? I would love to do this someday but I don't know how I could ever afford it...how do you do it?!

Many are from foreign countries and coming to Disney is that once-in-a-lifetime/or not very often big deal, so they save and save. Personally speaking I can't go anywhere for more than 10 days, I just start to miss home and my routine and by the 10th day when our vacations wrap up, I'm more than ready.

 

[BadPinkTink]

for many Europeans Walt Disney World is a one and done trip. They will book a 14 day vacation with a travel agent in advance and pay off the vacation bit by bit over 2 years or more.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We do 10-11 days. Last trip we did a Labor Day agency exclusive. This trip I rented points at BWV which ended up costing me $189 a night. Ticket prices aren't that different from 7 days to 10 days. You can save by preparing your own meals in your room.

I notice a number of people who do 2-3 week trips stay offsite, have AP's, don't eat on WDW property the entire time and cook/prepare meals in their villa/rental home. Tons of savings right there!

Along with the people visiting from UK who get awesome (or so I hear) deals on the UK site. Different ticket packages, free dining, etc. Since they travel from so far they usually stay 2-4 weeks.

 

[sponica]

Many are from foreign countries and coming to Disney is that once-in-a-lifetime/or not very often big deal, so they save and save. Personally speaking I can't go anywhere for more than 10 days, I just start to miss home and my routine and by the 10th day when our vacations wrap up, I'm more than ready.

Exactly, if I'm going somewhere more than a 3 hour plane ride away, I'm staying as long as I can afford. If I ever get to Hawaii, I'm staying at least 2 weeks....

 

[KenHutch]

I do not go into debt for our vacations and we go for 10 to 14 days each trip. But we only go every 3rd year. And I was older before starting this. I did not become a parent until I was 40, which means I was already on a steady career path and I just don't spend a lot of money day to day. I save to take my daughter to her favorite place on earth.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Im from Europe and I do a 14 day trip to California every year, with 2 or 3 days at Disneyland. For me personally, start putting money aside about 10 months out and I book flights and hotels 6 months in advance. Once you get into the habit of putting money aside every week, it becomes automatic. I also economise, look at my weekly spending and cut down or cut out things. For example, I will spend €30 at the grocery store and buy food for a week instead of going to a restaurant and spending €30 on one meal

 

[ErinsMommy]

Exactly, if I'm going somewhere more than a 3 hour plane ride away, I'm staying as long as I can afford. If I ever get to Hawaii, I'm staying at least 2 weeks....

Hawaii is incredible! We did Oahu and Maui and wish we spent more time in Maui. If your an east coaster though, that time change (at least for me) was brutal and the hardest to adjust to.

 

[Jennasis]

You save for it. You choose wisely. If you can afford to do it every year, great! If you can't then you may have to choose between shorter yearly trips or that long one every couple of years. We all make choices with our money.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We only go every 3 years also. And I'm in NJ and Hawaii is on my bucket list but when we go it'll be for two weeks. Might even do Hawaii for 1 week and California for the second week.

 

[Disneylover99]

We go to DW every summer for at least 2 weeks.

2 weeks at Pop with free dining plus 10 day hopper tickets for my family of four Disney adults costs about $4500.
Still reasonable for us, even with the recent price increases.

 

[FutureDisneyEventPlanner]

We go to DW every summer for at least 2 weeks.

2 weeks at Pop with free dining plus 10 day hopper tickets for my family of four Disney adults costs about $4500.
Still reasonable for us, even with the recent price increases.

Wow that's amazing! So a little over $1000 per person? Teach me your ways! LOL

 

[Disneylover99]

Wow that's amazing! So a little over $1000 per person? Teach me your ways! LOL

Getting the free quick service dining is key. We prefer not to upgrade to Table service dining. Why pay those additional prices? The upgrade would cost us an additional $1400! There are plenty of excellent counter service locations throughout Disney. Lots of variety.

Rack rate at Pop is roughly $159 per night in a standard room for the last two weeks of August. Tickets are regular priced.

 

[LiveToTravelNicely]

A lot of this comes down to financial prioritization as well as personal income situation.
But talking savings in general: Perhaps the 2 weeker only goes one place per year and pools their money together (I see that OP has a banner for going to both DL and WDW within a years' time---which isn't being judgmental. I, too, enjoy multiple trips per year. However, this would be a way to pool more money into the longer WDW trip by cutting the DL trip.) Perhaps they cut unnecessary expenses back home-example I don't have cable in my house and that saves me over $1000 per year. For actual WDW savings to stretch those dollars....go in a "value season" when rack rates and tickets are cheaper before they even apply the best deals of the year. Instead of doing the dining plan research the best deal restaurants like Plaza at MK. Use a grocery delivery service (like Garden Grocer) to have groceries delivered to your room to save more money on food.
Also, another we save up is collecting airline miles through our CC and then flying for free when we go to WDW. This brings the total cost of the trip way down.

 

[DizzyStitch]

We stay for 13 nights and I bought DVC at the right time. Each year it costs me about 1,100 for the room and then what I want to spend in tickets and food and transportation. I don't wait for discounts and my investment in DVC can be recovered. So it really comes down to planning for what you want to do. For now this is what I want. When I am done (really can this ever happen) I can sell and move on and only have paid a value price for deluxe rooms. Of course now we have to pay to board dogs and that is a huge cost in itself. No they are not coming to Disney!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Many are from foreign countries and coming to Disney is that once-in-a-lifetime/or not very often big deal, so they save and save. Personally speaking I can't go anywhere for more than 10 days, I just start to miss home and my routine and by the 10th day when our vacations wrap up, I'm more than ready.

Yes, this! We have never done a 3 week trip to Orlando (I would get bored, frankly!), but when we travel overseas, we routinely do 3-week trips and try to cross as much off our bucket lists as we possibly can. We figure we are saving some on airfare by taking one round-trip flight over three weeks as opposed to three round-trip flights for three, one week trips. Plus, these are places that are, most likely, one and done for us (because we want to see so much of the world), so we want to be able to see as much as we can while we are there. We done this now with Scandanavia and Iceland (still just scratched the surface), French Polynesia and will do 3 weeks in Greece this summer (and still won't see it all!)

For WDW, you could rent a house or even a campsite (and rent an RV) to help keep costs down. When we did a carriage ride at Ft. W in December, the CM who drove the sleigh said many "snowbirds" book campsites for extended stays and are there most of the winter!

 

[Hopefully]

Saving all year long. We don’t eat out. We don’t go to movies or sporting events. Etc

 

[h&D3]

Well, I'll let you know come this fall. We are going for 18 days this time. This is the most time we have ever spent on a vacation.
Now, we haven't been on vacation in 5 years, so we are long overdue for a family vacation. We always joke that we need a vacation from our vacation when we plan a WDW trip. We come home and we're exhausted. But it's a good kind of exhaustion. Relaxing but a lot jammed in.
Seriously though, we used FF miles for airline this time, and that saved us a bundle. I've been over 40 times in my life so I've had a few tips and tricks passed down to me over the years just from trial and error. This board and a few others help with ideas
Now I will admit, it is expensive to go for 18 days. No doubt about that. BUT... like I said, we don't go on vacation every year, so we just save that money from year to year and use it towards a HUGE vacation every so many years.

Now I really wish we could go every year again, but we might only be able to go for so many days. I'd rather go for 2 weeks and skip a few years in between so we can stay longer.

~D

 

[LiveToTravelNicely]

Saving all year long. We don’t eat out. We don’t go to movies or sporting events. Etc

Exactly! Us, too. The price of tickets for a few hours at a concert or sporting event is not our priority. A major league NBA team down the road will run hundreds of $ per seat, and a fairly famous singer that's coming to my town this fall is charging $189+ per seat. Both of those examples would eat away at our travel budget in a hurry, and each are far more expensive, especially per hour!, than a multi-day ticket at WDW.