None of my business question about how people afford WDW

[BambiTamby]

What can I say...dreamflight99 and I were separted at birth!

I work HARD...I play HARD!!!

And I come from very humble beginnings, and was a single mom at one time also, so I know where you are coming from.

Now, I own a successful business and enjoy traveling for business as well as for pleasure.

I use FF miles, AX points, and pay for my resorts up front, using codes, AP or AAA rates if possible.....
Add in the APs....and you got yourself a WDW vacation!

 

[skiwee1]

DH makes a great income so that I can go whenever I like.

 

[motaei]

Both last time & this time, (and I always thought that WDW would be a "once in a lifetime" thing for my family!) we have been able to tag it onto business trips. That way, it's already partially paid for anyway. Other than that, we eat counter service almost the entire time, do a grocery stop for breakfasts & snacks, and pay cash (so if we don't have it, we won't spend it).

When I was growing up, we would go to DL every few years. But we drove 7 hours & we stayed with family, which made it a lot more affordable! Even now when DH & I go down to So.Cal. with our own kids, we still drive & stay with family or "off-site".

 

[stemikger]

I know of a person who is three months behind their mortgage but goes to Disney every year.

If I couldn't afford it without going into debt, I would not enjoy myself.

 

[Castillo Mom]

1. We booked 2 years in advance.
2. Established interest bearing holiday account where every paycheck a set amount goes in.
3. Tax refund for 2 years.
4. Airfare purchased almost a year in advance.
5. Monthly payments made on room (Beach Club) which will be paid off before arrival.
6. Started buying summer clothes little by little since January as well as other miscellaneous items.

 

[jacksmom]

We go twice a year! We are DVC owners! Also, I'm an RN who can always pick up extra shifts(although I work PT and am a mom FT!)! We definately budget for our trips!My husband makes the mortgage payment- I make the DVC payment! It works!!!

 

[TinkKel]

Two words; Tax refund.

Me too!! I know I could let Uncle Sam give me more money during the year, but I would NEVER save it...being a single mom with two kids, I get a HUGE refund. This will be our first trip to FL...actually our first vacation since my divorce 7 years ago.

Also, I save, save, save....like someone else mentioned, I don't smoke or drink, which consumes a lot of peoples incomes. Also, I bargain shop before we leave. We are going to Universal Studios too, and just last week (courtesey of this wonderful board) I found you can buy $50 gift certificates for $25 for some popular restaurants at City Walk.

Yeah, I could buy some new living room furniture instead of doing Disney/US, but what are my children going to remember twenty years from now, a new couch or a family trip to disney?

PRICELESS!

 

[puffkin]

I am a twenty-four year old. I own a home and a car (no rent or leasing for me!) and my fiance and I both have good, not great, jobs. We have been able to afford to go 4 times for several reasons- annual passes, tax refunds, biweekly saving, a major spring yard sale and careful planning.

Vacations are a priority to me because it is quality time I get to spend with my fiance! My family never took real vacations when I was a kid, so I make travelling a priority in my life. However, all good things must come to an end because today is my last day at work. I am quitting my job and going back to school to become a teacher, so for the next few years our budget will be extremely tight. Luckily I have the honeymoon to look forward to, but after that who knows....

 

[lenshanem]

We can't afford it! LOL
I stay at home so I've learned to be creative,
cause with my addiction I have to find ways!

mousesavers.com has helped us so much!

It is almost like a game to me to try to find all the best deals.

We finally dove in and bought DVC a year ago. We had to finance, but it is nice being able to stay at deluxe resorts and it isn't quite as painful making a monthly payment as it is trying to come up with the money all at once. Mentally there is a difference with budgeting in a fixed payment that automatically comes out of our checking versus saving, cause we just wouldn't do it.

We have rented DVC before, that is a really good deal for those that don't want to buy into DVC.

Our tax refund came in time for us to literally buy APs online thirty minutes before midnight the day before the price went up. This is our first AP so we'll get several trips out of it. I even got to use my Disney Visa reward dollars towards it! Before this I always used mousesavers.com to find our best ticket option, I have even bought a few convention tickets in the past.

Our next trip we got Pop Century for $59 a night with our AP for our first and last nights, maxing our stay at BWV.

We drive and we also save spending money up a couple months before the trip. We eat at ONE PS dinner a day, breakfast is in the room and lunch is quick service. I pack pretzels in our day bag for the kids. My kids don't really ask for any junk. I always put up the Minnie ears, light spinners, lanyards, etc. after we get back and then just pack them up again come next trip. We'll buy them a couple things, but we don't go overboard like we used to.

Actually this is the first trip that my youngest we'll now have to pay for everything since she just turned three. OUCH!

 

[ksc37]

Personally, both my husband & I work. It's a situation that if we only had one income, money would be very tight, but with two incomes, we have some expendable income.

Since we both work, we feel that an enjoyable family vacation helps bring us together, and gives my husband & I a break from the daily grind of a full-time job. Plus, we've loved WDW both before & after having kids. Luckily, the kids also love WDW!

 

[shelly3girls]

Vacations are a major priority for us. My parents sacrificed a great deal for our family vacations and they are some of the fondest memories I have as a child. I would not give up my WDW memories with my father. After his passing I realized how important family vacation time really is. We have to get away to get this time. If we take time off and stay home with the kids I end up spending my time working around the house and getting caught up in work stuff. At WDW I am away and cannot worry about these things. For this reason we make trips a must.
We have been blessed with two great jobs so we have the disposable income. Yes we have a mortgage, we do pay extra every month. Yes we have reasonable car loans, but at 0% my money is better off in my brokerage account. We set aside enough money each year out of my bonus for one long trip using our DVC and a trip to the Outer Banks. We then set aside any extra money (Ebay, change, rebates, etc.) in an ING account. When we see discount codes and cheap airfare we schedule a quick trip for a long weekend usually about 2 months at most in advance. We also have APs.
I would never charge a trip we could not pay off and never carry a CC balance. At first appearance it may look like we live beyond our means b/c we are young with 2 children but in fact we just have different priorities than others. Our dealer demo Chrysler w/5000 miles saved us 8k over a new one and 25k over the Cadillac my husband really wanted. We do have a big house and I am still trying to decide if it is really worth it. Our old house was paid off, we could be putting a lot more in the college funds. This is a debate that goes through my head everyday, but one thing I never doubt is our family trips!

Oh, one other thing. I have Child care expenses deducted from my paycheck every period tax free. When I recieve the check from the flex account for this and medical expenses they go right into savings for our 2005 Disney cruise. It is money I never had so I don't miss it.

 

[Smcgibeau]

I use my tax refund or any bonus money at work. Then its budget, budget, budget to get the best deals. I'm lucky because my daughter isn't in school yet so we can plan last minute trips if we find extra money.

 

[denman007]

I cashed out my DD's Coverdell account last year to go - she said it was ok. This year, I took out a 120% HE loan and sold my wife's car at an auction.

The memories are worth it in my book. Live now and worry about everything else later!

 

[karylrocks]

I am always wondering this myself. I can usually scrape together a few hundred dollars, but other than that I use credit cards. DH is a psychologist and up until last year I have worked full-time, but we never have any money (mental health does not pay as much as people seem to think; DH will be 77 before we will have his student loans paid off). We were able to afford to buy a house just last year, and we have two adult children. I guess you just use your money for what you think is important; I have friends who never go on vacation and I could never be that way.

 

[whjoyjr]

After looking at what we spent on the holidays, what the tax position for the year is, and what, if any, bonus I got at the end of the year, we decide if and where we can go.

After paying rack rates for the Poly 3 years ago, I have learned a LOT! about affording "The Mouse". This year I qualify for the Government discount at the Swan, so we were looking at just under 4 Grand for this trip. I learned about the Disney Visa "& for 4 " deal here, and applied and got the card. Using the card we were able to move up to the Boardwalk for the same that I would have paid for the Swan using the discount.

We had planned for only 1 car payment at a time, but my new job took me off of commuter trains (and a 75 minute commute each way) to a 10 minute drive.

I am lucky and make a decent income. We bought a house lower than the maximum we qualified for, and are very happy with the 100k in equity we are currently sitting on after 5 years.

This is the first year that I have actually be able to put money into a 401k as well as a standard savings account. This years trip is paid for by the tax refund of $3800.

 

[Disney Debbie]

Originally posted by denman007
I cashed out my DD's Coverdell account last year to go - she said it was ok. This year, I took out a 120% HE loan and sold my wife's car at an auction.

The memories are worth it in my book. Live now and worry about everything else later!

Please tell me this was said tongue in cheek!!!

BTW - Your signature pictures are just BEAUTIFUL!

 

[shelly3girls]

denman007
Off the topic, but how did you get such beautiful pictures? We are usually in such a rush we feel lucky to get any picture at all. At the breakfasts the lighting is never good enough to get great pictures.

 

[Naisy68]

Well...
We save and save. We tighten our budget a great deal and try our best to find good bargains on everything. We can't afford to do that more than every other year. We have decided that we would like to go to Disney on the even numbered years. Yes, we could take more affordable vacations but we are creating memories that will hopefully last a lifetime and to us that is worth it. This year we are planning to celebrate our DD 3rd birthday there. She wants to be a Disney Princess and to us she is most definately worth it.

 

[fun & fancy free]

My family have just begun making this trip every year. We too live on a budget and save tax refund as vacation money. One thing too is we watch for deals. This year we took advantage of kids stay&play for free. Which made it possible for hotel upgrade. Next year we are saying we will not be going to WDW. Then again that is what we said last year Yes our house needs new siding and we would love a swimming pool but if that means no WDW then I guess we will have to leave the homestead looking as is. After all my kids could care less about the siding and our neighbors just put in a new pool. I think I have already helpede make my decision about WDW for next year.
I am hearing alot about annual passes. Is there somewhere I can read more to see if it would be worth while for us?

We will be leaving on May 1 for WDW after that I guess we will start saving for next year.

(we have also asked for family & friends to give Disney Dollars as gifts for the kids that way they have $ of their own)

 

[HANDYMOM]

I've silently wondered how so many people visit so often. It blows my mind that some people go multiple times each year!!!

DH (a Policeman) and I (an accountant) will never be able to go even every other year, that's just the reality of it. This year we started planning 6 months ahead and dedicated our tax refund (last years refund went toward a central air unit that died $3500 total - our refund didn't cover even 1/2) and all of our and DS's birthday money. We've been able to accumulate some $ from DH's overtime (minimal, he'd rather enjoy DS's - GREAT DADDY) and I sell Southern Living at Home on the side and have a couple of mega yard sales each year.

Even though I'd love to visit more, the long waits make it even more exciting when we actually get to go. We leave in 21 days for DS's first trip ever (they are almost 5 and almost 3). More power to those who can go more often, you're lucky.

DH and I consider ourselves very blessed to be able to provide our sons with this one trip.