I have to ask...how do all these people afford...

[Eeyore's Wife]

For years my husband had to travel with work, a lot. We saved all those airline miles and hotel points and then used them to travel together to Disney. Those vacations somewhat made up for all the evenings, meals, games, and conversations that we missed because of his work.

Now, he stays home most of the year with his job. We choose to spend the smallest amount possible on things like vehicles that just loose monetary valule. When we consider vacations, we think of them as not only memories but investments in our mental, emotional, and physical health. Research shows that people really benefit from doing things that are blissful. We find bliss in Disney.

During the year we don't eat out at restaurants very often, I happily buy clothes at Tag Sales, and my kids don't ask for "stuff." All of us would rather take two trips to Disney a year than buy video gaming systems, brand name clothes, or eating out at restaurants.

All in all, we feel like two vacations each year works for our family. Somehow Disney is the place where teenaged angst seems to melt away. It won't be that much longer that they will take vacations with us, so we make funding these trips a priority for our family.

--Eeyore's Wife

 

[CarolA]

Some of us are single with good incomes. Everyone's situation is different so you really don't know.

I also either use my DVC or stay offsite. Disney hotel prices for the most part are not worth the cost. I can get bigger, better rooms for a LOT less offsite!

I also have never needed an extra suitcase for my purchases......

 

[bean]

When we buy an annual pass we tend to go a lot that year. We buy our tickets at Shades of Green so we don't pay taxes. My Dad is retired military so we stay at SOG for about $100 dollars a night. The rooms are huge (2 queens and a pull out queen sofa) so we usually get one or two rooms for my family and my parents who are both terrific grandaprents and free babysitters (yippee!). We drive because we live in SC so that cuts out airfare. We buy souvenirs at the Disney Store/WalMart/Target before hand. Our rooms have a fridge so we eat breakfast in the room except for one or two character meals.

 

[foreverprincess]

I agree that it is all about priorities. I'm a teacher so I earn a comfortable salary but nearly as much as the parents of many of the kids I teach. I went to WDW many times as a child. We always drove from SC and usually stayed at Fort Wilderness in the camper that we pulled down there.

As an adult I have taken maybe 5 trips between 1976 and 2000. In 2002 we celebrated my second daughter's high school graduation and it was my stepson and stepdaughter's first trip ever. They were 7 and 10. We did not go again until Dec 2006. Then I decided to go for my first ever solo trip this past August and I got an annual pass. I will be taking my oldest daughter and son in law for Christmas this year and then going solo or maybe with stepdaughter in June to celebrate my 50th birthday.


The way I am going on multiple trips this year in that I am using the annual pass and with the August 07 trip and Christmas trip I have already not only broken even with the price of MYW tickets but have acutually had a couple free days. My admisson for June 2007 is Free. I stay at Music or Pop. I don't mind the value hotels at all except that the buses are not as nice and always parked in the furthest spot to walk to

My dad went totally blind at 70. I friend of mine that I went to graduate school with, put everything off until she had her PHD. She died within a month of recieving it. I figure I have 20 good years left and I plan to enjoy them.

I don't charge anything. I don't have a credit card. I buy very few new clothes and don't go out to eat often. Two of my four children are grown and on their own. All these things are factors in my multiple trips this year.

 

[Darcy03231]

For us its all about prioritizing our income. DH and I both work and earn decent salaries. We live well below our income. We don't eat out alot, drive expensive cars (out of 4 cars we only have a loan on one and that's up in another 18 months), and buy all the latest gadgets. We don't own a big screen tv or spend a lot of money on brand name clothes (although DD wishes we would). When we bought our home we decided how much we wanted to spend and didn't go over that. We didn't care how much we were approved to borrow, we didn't want to live for our house. Because we economize in other areas we have money to travel with as that's what we really enjoy. We don't go overboard on birthdays or Christmas as the kids would rather travel too. I do purchase every I can on a credit card that earns airline miles, but pay the entire balane off when due. Its amazing how fast that can add up.

 

[DisneyPhD]

DVC, AP's, and Southwest and Magical Express.

That is us.

We don't go into debt, and we aren't mega rich. We do spend most of our entertainment money on WDW, instead of other places.

The more you do WDW, the cheaper it can be. DVC members get $100 per person AP's. We stay in a studio. DME means no car rental, but we have found great deals in the past on line. We get some food of our own, or have an order sent it from Garden Grocer. When you do it a lot you learn many money saving tips.

SW, Spirit or sometimes NWA has good airfare deals. We always pay less then $200 round trip per person and have found it for under $100 round trip per person before (on SWA who now has a non stop from DTW to MCO.)

Also the more you do WDW, the less you feel the need to go all out every trip. We even keep past trips souvenirs and T-shirts and re use them. It looks like my kids are decked out, but they bought those things 3 trips ago. Oh the outlet store helps too!

The most we have done is 3 trips in one AP. Then we often take a year off.

This year it is only going to be 2 trips in an AP. Once in May, then the next year in Jan (or March.) Why??? Not because we don't want to or can't afford it, but because we can't afford to take DD who is now in 1st grade out of school 2 times in one year like we did before (sometimes 3.)

 

[idofabric]

We go down between 2 and 6+ times a year. I go down with my SIL, or friends solo a few times also, this costs sharedgas, and meals...
I do not have a full time job, my DH is a retired USN military member. He is working full time+, and it is the only time he takes off.
We have PAP we got at Shades of Green, the US Military/Disney hotel, across from GF. We have DDE card, also.
We own a timeshare, and usually stay off site, at Cypress Point. It is 4-10 min from DTD, 12min, the back way from MK. We can trade into DVC, and did so 2 times this year, at OKW and WL. We have more points then we can use, and it was very cheap to buy since we got contracts that had been returned to Sunterra Corp. And we can go to a lot of international places, which our DD has....
Since we live about 6-7 hours away we take our Prius down,(3/4 tank of gas under $20 each way, and 1/2 tank max while there), if it is only 2-4 of us going. So gas is under $85 for a week +, and usuall about $60 a trip. And we do mostly weekends-2-4 days. But we do stay at least 7-9 days once a year. This is a trip that we take all the college kids that want to go(3 min, 13 a few years ago...), and they buy there own food, mostly... we get all the milk,fruit,cereal,snacks, and a few home cooked meals at the condo.
We eat breakfast at the condo mostly.
I do a little subbing at school, and I am a costumer and allmost all the money I make goes to the kids, Disney trips...I make under 5K a year.
Ok, all this said, I spend about $15 to $50 a day per person, and the &50 is if we do a sitdown meal...We usually do a sit down 2 out of 3 days. This can be Crystal palace, Boma, Wilderness Campground-Trails End, or the like. Or Ragland Road....

The most expensive trip was this summer, we had 5 of us go down. We all got new PAPs, the meal plan while we stayed DVC ( traded in for $130) and had one off plan meal at the Castle. 3 of us started pin trading... that did cost! We did a 1/2 hour with the water mice, we got every souvei. we ever wanted, and did DTD with drinks.. .it came to around $4500 for 7 days and everything else! That is the most we have ever spent on vacation, even counting a 10day trip for 3 to Scotland to visit our DD at College 2 years ago....

So I also think it is a matter of what is important to you, and how you want to spend money, or what you save up for. I am trying to do enought subbing this year so I can take a friend of our DSs(16) cause he never has a friend go, and the one he would like to take can't afford it. I will get a ticket at SOG for him, since that is legal to do...I asked! We get everyones ticket there! And we prob won't stay but 4-6 days at most. I also save all my change- that really adds up!!

Hope this answered some questions, if we did not have the timeshare we would never go anywhere!!! Since it is "payed for" we use it... and till this year there was allways an opening at WDW off site.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Oh, I forget to add.........

DCL on othe other hand, We did that for the 1st time last year and that really was $$$$$

We can only aford to that once every 3 or 4 years.

Oh I forget to add......

Disney Visa. That one percent can add up and really help! We paid for DH and mine AP that way last year.

 

[Flamingomo]

Well for us, it was very simple..we needed a break. Can we afford our December trip? Absolutely not, but we had a very bad year, I miscarried, and have been having a rough time with that since we are having no luck concieving, and I just needed to get away. We also figured our kids are only young once and we want them to have wonderful memories from childhood. We don't vacation at all during the year. In fact if you look at my siggie, all the trips listed from our honeymoon on have been the only vacations we have taken. They just all happen to be to Disney. We were there two years ago and my youngest was 18 months and he really doesn't remember much, and now he is 3 1/2 and so into everything Disney and my oldest is almost 7 and all he talks about is our last trip. We are lucky enough to have a friend who is a CM who is getting us discounts on hotel and park passes or we more than likely would not be going. Sometimes you just need to say "scr** it" and just do what makes you happy and worry about the bills later. And the joy I will get from seeing my kids faces will be very healing to my heart. Our next vacation more than likely won't be until after we have another baby if we are lucky enough, and not until that one is at least three. We want to go to Disneyland next time

 

[NotUrsula]

Mostly using points acquired via business travel. We fly free or pay Ding fare only, stay at the Swan on points, and use days from our 10 day no expire passes. Our average stay is 3.5 days, so we usually get at least 3 trips out of a 10 day pass.

We're also debt-free; no mortgage and no car loans, those are paid for. We live well below our means so that we can travel when we want to.

 

[WeRblam]

I am a travel agent, so I get a big discount on the rooms. I also have a JetBlue American Express card which I use for all my monthly bills, supermarkets, drug store, etc and then pay it off at the end of the month. The points I acquire earn me enough quite a few R/T tickets. DH is a civilian/military so we get our passes through Shades of Green.

I coupon heavily, cut corners so we can go. I love to travel and its up there on my priority list!

 

[jsmla]

For the most part we do it on the cheap. I always drive, gas runs around $140 round trip. We picnic on the road and eat most of our meals "in". I have a premium annual pass that is renewed every year as a Christmas present from my FIL. When DD Liz and I travel together we always share meals and snacks since neither of us is a big eater. We never spend all day in the parks and usually have at least two no-parks days each trip. Here's a very loose breakdown for a year's worth of Disney.

For Mardi Gras I drove down alone and met up with a friend. I stayed in a SkyAuction condo for 7 nights (around $250) and only had one meal out (lunch at Chefs de France, $30). I spend around $50 on drinks and snacks in the parks but brought most of my food from home (frozen leftovers, pasta, etc.)

In June DD and I drove down, stayed in a SkyAuction condo for 7 nights and ate in. We had tea at the Grand Floridian (around $40) and probably spent around $100 on snacks/drinks in the parks. She used 4 days left on a 10 day ticket leftover from her senior trip. (She paid for this back in 2006.) She also used two leftover plusses on water parks.

In August DD, my mom and I went for 4 nights for free dining. Mom and I drove. Liz's airfare was around $120 (Southwest Ding). Mom and I stayed 2 extra nights on DVC rentals ($240). The MYW package was around $1100 plus an extra $200 to upgrade Liz's ticket. (I'll use my 1 day ticket when I renew my PAP.) We really didn't have any extra expenses unless you count a trip to the outlet mall . So my costs were around $925 for Liz and myself. Mom paid her way, including gas.

In January hubby and I will be at Ft. Wilderness. He'll use 5 days leftover from a 10 day nonexp. ticket w/waterparks and more. We bought this a while ago before the current prices went into effect so I'm guessing that the cost of his 5 days would be around $240. My PAP will be still be good. We'll be camping 7 nights at Ft. Wilderness ($433) and eating most of our meals at "home". We have plans for dinner at the Plaza, breakfast at Boma and Planet Hollywood (to use voucher from the August Free Dining package, lets say $150 and probably another $200 in drinks and snacks. I'll haul meals from my freezer and stuff I already have in the pantry. I don't count this since we'd eat it at home if we weren't at Disney.

So, to sum it up:
PAP (renewal) $550 (I'm guessing here I don't remember the exact cost)
5 days of a non expiry premium 10 day MYW ticket for hubby. I'm guessing around $240
Gas $520 (I added extra for a small amount of driving around in Orlando)
Airfair for Liz $120
2 weeks SkyAuction condos $500
2 nights DVC $120 ($240 split with Mom)
4 night MYW Free Dining package for Liz and myself $925 (-70 which will go to my PAP renewal in 2008, so $925).
7 nights Ft. Wilderness campground $430 (This will go down if an AP discount comes out.)
Dining for the four trips (excluding stuff from home) $220
Drinks and snacks for four trips $350

I came up with $3975 for a total of 27 days spread over 4 trips, three of which include expensess for two people. I think that's about right, I don't save receipts so none of my figures are exact but it's probably pretty close. For us the main money saving factors are watching our lodging and food costs and careful use of our tickets.

Jennifer

 

[bizeemom4]

We average $6,000 per trip. Here's how. We live well below our means and We're still in our 'starter' house after 14 years. Our mortgage is below $600/month! We buy used cars and pay them off quickly so we have no car loans. I never buy anything (clothes, shoes, purses, etc.) unless it's on sale. Period. I shape our grocery spending on what's on sale and what coupons I have. That saves tons of money with four kids!

All of our trips are with cash. Never credit. My husband worked so much o/t two years ago that we were able to fund our two week vacation (including 2 tower rooms in the Contemporary) with cash.

In two years when the oldest goes off to college, we'll only need one room....can't wait to be able to book ONE room! No more values for us.

 

[SanFranciscan]

My husband and I have taken exactly four vacations together in the 22 years that we have been married. We went to Disneyland in 1990, Universal Studios in California in 1991, Disneyland in 2006, and Disney World in 2007. In 1990 we spent one day at Disneyland. In 1991 we spent one day at Universal Studios. That was it during these vacations to southern California from San Francisco. We spent three days in Anaheim last year and one week in Orlando three weeks ago.

I did not come from a wealthy family, and my husband and I were homeless in the 1980's. This one-bedroom apartment is the only one we have ever had and have never owned or rented a house. So what I am about to say does not come from someone from a privileged background. It does, however, come from the heart when I say that we are all entitled to ANYTHING we want and did not exploit someone else to get as long as we realize the difference between getting anything we want and getting everything we want. If I get a yearly vacation or multiple vacations per year by stiffing hard-working waitresses or demanding lodging so cheap that the maid must work with teeth rotting in her mouth for lack of pay and health benefits, I didn't pay for my vacation. I stole it.

We saved for our WDW vacation for over a year. We walk or ride county transit. We don't drive. We don't drink. We don't smoke. We don't go out at night. We rarely buy new clothes. We buy new shoes only when we are wearing out the soles in our old ones. We don't go out to movies. That is how we paid for WDW.

 

[jsmla]

So what I am about to say does not come from someone from a privileged background. It does, however, come from the heart when I say that we are all entitled to ANYTHING we want and did not exploit someone else to get as long as we realize the difference between getting anything we want and getting everything we want. If I get a yearly vacation or multiple vacations per year by stiffing hard-working waitresses or demanding lodging so cheap that the maid must work with teeth rotting in her mouth for lack of pay and health benefits, I didn't pay for my vacation. I stole it.

That's a bit harsh! I don't think anyone here demands cheap lodging and I certainly don't stiff anyone. We simply make the most out of what is available. The only maid service at a SkyAuction condo or our own tent at Ft. Wilderness is provided by me. We tip a full 20% at restaurants, more if DD and I are sharing an entree. For you to imply that we are somehow responsible for the lack of dental care of any company's employees or are "stealing" our vacation because we did our homework and found a legal way to vacation that works for us financially is IMHO ridiculous!

BTW: I forgot to add the $30 in tips I left for the maids at CSR and BCV into my total, sorry!

Jennifer

 

[MrsPete]

I expect every frequent-visitor family has a different answer to that question, but these are some of the common answers:

- Some people have made travel a priority; they skimp in other areas so that they can spend on travel -- and this answer's usually combined with a good salary.
- Some people strive to spend as little as possible on each trip so that they can visit more often; this might mean finding an off-site condo, buying an annual pass, or some other savings technique.
- Some people live close enough to drive, so transportation isn't the big expense that it is for others; or some people rack up frequent flyer miles at work so that the travel cost is essentially "free".

And I suspect the truthful answer for a good number of people is less worthy of bragging:

- Some figure that debt is just part of life, so they just spend. They aren't thinking about tomorrow.


Us? It's kind of a combination of things. When we were married 17 years ago, we decided that it was smart to live frugally from the beginning -- our goals from the beginning were to pay off our house and build up savings. We worked very, very hard at it when we were first married, and now that our children are old enough to enjoy/remember traveling with us, we are fortunate enough to be at a point in our careers that we make good salaries AND we're debt-free. Now we travel frequently, but we also make sure that our dollars stretch as far as possible.

 

[DawnM]

How does one demand cheap lodging? I have no idea really about what you are saying. None of us is looking to exploit anyone. Why are you being so accusatory?

Dawn

My husband and I have taken exactly four vacations together in the 22 years that we have been married. We went to Disneyland in 1990, Universal Studios in California in 1991, Disneyland in 2006, and Disney World in 2007. In 1990 we spent one day at Disneyland. In 1991 we spent one day at Universal Studios. That was it during these vacations to southern California from San Francisco. We spent three days in Anaheim last year and one week in Orlando three weeks ago.

I did not come from a wealthy family, and my husband and I were homeless in the 1980's. This one-bedroom apartment is the only one we have ever had and have never owned or rented a house. So what I am about to say does not come from someone from a privileged background. It does, however, come from the heart when I say that we are all entitled to ANYTHING we want and did not exploit someone else to get as long as we realize the difference between getting anything we want and getting everything we want. If I get a yearly vacation or multiple vacations per year by stiffing hard-working waitresses or demanding lodging so cheap that the maid must work with teeth rotting in her mouth for lack of pay and health benefits, I didn't pay for my vacation. I stole it.

We saved for our WDW vacation for over a year. We walk or ride county transit. We don't drive. We don't drink. We don't smoke. We don't go out at night. We rarely buy new clothes. We buy new shoes only when we are wearing out the soles in our old ones. We don't go out to movies. That is how we paid for WDW.

 

[DawnM]

I do what many here have talked about. I stay off-site at a condo through SkyAuction. We eat most meals IN, taking groceries or stopping at a store. We buy annual passes and make the most of them for the year and then take a break for a year or so. We drive down each time.

We actually have only done this one year. Before this we lived 45 min. from Disneyland and went every month just for a day. I miss it.

Dawn

 

[MiniGirl]

That's a bit harsh! I don't think anyone here demands cheap lodging and I certainly don't stiff anyone. We simply make the most out of what is available. The only maid service at a SkyAuction condo or our own tent at Ft. Wilderness is provided by me. We tip a full 20% at restaurants, more if DD and I are sharing an entree. For you to imply that we are somehow responsible for the lack of dental care of any company's employees or are "stealing" our vacation because we did our homework and found a legal way to vacation that works for us financially is IMHO ridiculous!

BTW: I forgot to add the $30 in tips I left for the maids at CSR and BCV into my total, sorry!

Jennifer

Whoa!!!! I don't think she meant you personally. However, people have become very demanding and do demand low prices and it is coming on the backs of the employees -- at least in the airline industry it is. My dh is an airline pilot for a major airline. When we were married, he was a First Officer (2nd in command, if you will). He has been a Captain now for over 10 years. Last year he made less money than the year we were married AND he has worked more days. His vacation time is less than it was a few years ago and his sick time has been reduced too. We have had to sell our home and move into a more modest home and we can't send our girls to the school we were hoping to because we simply can't afford it. That's fine. We do what we have to do, and those changes have been what has enabled me to continue to stay at home; so I'm really not complaining. However, it does bother me when I hear people complain about having to pay extra baggage fees or whatever for their $16 ticket. The passengers don't realize it, but the employees they're complaining to are supplementing their travels with their pay cuts.

I think that is the kind of thing the poster was referring to. Things that we don't even realize are going on in probably every industry. Businesses are hiring part-time help in record numbers, so they don't have to pay benefits and then getting rid of the full-time employees. You may not be stiffing anyone personally, but that doesn't mean the people there to serve you aren't being stiffed by their employer in an effort to keep costs down and profits high.

Again though, this is not a personal attack on any particular person on this board or anywhere else. It is simply a sign of the times.

 

[newholidayx2]

Leaving again for WDW in less than 10 days
Was there solo week in April (F-F)
w/DS15 wk in Aug (F-F)
This Nov will be 13nights solo (celebrating 50th bday, friends will be joining me at different times)

We're DVC - stay 1st wknd on cash, Su-Fri on DVC points.
Nov will be 4nights value, 4nights moderate and then 5nights DVC