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[jimmiej]

We've been many times, stay at Disney deluxe hotels, & do it all on a teacher's & secretary's salaries. It's a priority for us.

 

[Lisa06468]

We're real people too and im finding it hard to do a trip for 5 for less than $5k (including spending money). We need to fly there, so theres that, a place to stay, food, park admissions, food, spending money, probably a rental car, food.....

 

[thatduffgirl]

Do I think a lot of people trade financial peace for Disney vacations? Sure they do. People want to save, but immediate gratification gets in the way. We see it happen every day, and, unfortunately, other people's short-sightedness DOES affect us, it affects every taxpayer as we are the safety net for those who need it.

But I do not think that the average American has to choose between a Disney vacation onsite and funding their children's education.

In better times, we paid cash for a Disney vacation every year. My husband and I worked hard and sacrificed having nice cars, designer clothes, and eating out more frequently so that we can go to Disney World once a year in a Magic Kingdom area onsite hotel because that is what makes us happy on vacation. We have small children that need the nap in the afternoon. My husband loves that he doesn't have to drive around. We love being immersed in the magic away from the rest of the world. It is one of the few places that we can really, truly relax and enjoy our family. It is WORTH the sacrifice.

Now, we work hard, but our life has changed drastically. Now we work hard and will still save and sacrifice but only be able to go to Disney every 2-3 years.

As others have said, it is all about priorities. We can shake our heads at how other people spend their money, and they can scratch their heads at the way we spend ours, but we just need to be respectful that everyone has their "thing". Disney is our family's thing!

 

[GothTink]

We're real people (but I had no idea there were so many mannequins vacationing at WDW! ), but we hardly ever get to vacation. So when we do...we splurge big time. Because I don't want to worry about pinching pennies when I'm on vacation, and damit, I want to stay on property, and spoil my family silly. Why? Just because.

 

[lyzziesmom]

Lisa, what are the ages of your kids? If one is under 3, then you can stay at a value resort and any kids 2 and under get free park admission and eat for free at table service restaurants. Of course you don't have to eat TS, you can eat counter service which is cheaper. You can share meals to save on food, or bring your own from home. A box of cereal can save a ton on breakfasts, just buy some milk at the resort. If you stay onsite, you don't need a rental car.

There are a TON of ways to save money at Disney. Start with a base ticket, you don't need all the bells & whistles. Decide if you want to park hop or stay in one park each day, you can save a lot on the tickets if you remove options you won't use. If you want to go to a water park only one time, it's probably cheaper to just buy a waterpark ticket than to add the option, for example. Decide how many days you actually want to go into the parks - your park tickets do not have to equal your length of stay. If you arrive in the evening, you won't need a ticket for that day, and ditto for if you're leaving in the morning. Maybe stay in a cheap motel near the airport your first night if you arrive late, then go back to the airport via free shuttle to catch the Magical Express motorcoach to WDW (also free). Remember, you can always upgrade your tickets once you arrive, adding extra days & options if you discover you need them, but you can NOT downgrade for a refund if you buy more than you need. The longer you stay, the cheaper the tickets become for each day. By the time you get to 6 or 7 days, it's only a couple dollars to add another day. If you are planning a longer visit, carefully consider the cost of an annual pass -- it can be cheaper than an option-loaded 10-day ticket and can get you discounts on shopping, dining, and room rates.

Shop around for airfare. Remember that weekday travel is usually cheaper than weekend. Onsite hotels are also cheaper on weekdays than on weekends, sometimes nearly half the price. Subscribe to airline websites so you will get sale alerts, and download Ding! from Southwest. Scour the DISboards for new discounts.

Try to schedule your trip during the value season. Hotels are much cheaper and crowds are lower.

The biggest tip I can give anyone is research, research, research! Disney can be VERY expensive if you don't know what you're doing, and can get very overwhelming as well. The more you do your research, the more you will find ways to save a few dollars here & there.

 

[Goofyz3girls]

Just to let you know we also are "REAL" people here in NY.Both my wife and I have decent (not great) jobs but find it some how during the year not to go into debt for our WDW vacations.Yes we could probably put it on the mortgage or save that much more for the future but you can't put a price on memories...as the commerical goes...."PRICELESS"

FYI:...It took years but I finally found the SECRET......Hows this for cost....our last visit Dec.21-28,2007 at the BCV was an unheard cost of $850.00...YES you read that RIGHT........and our upcoming visit Aug 24-31,2008 VWL is $1107 and if memory serves me correct these are "DELUXE" not value WDW resorts.So I think the problem is you really haven't found the secret to staying on WDW grounds. "HAPPY HUNTING"

 

[Stittsville]

I just start laughing at people who think they have gotten a "great" deal with the 40 percent off rate, but the rooms are between 400 and 500 dollars with a rack rate!!! If we stay in a hotel, I rarely pay more than a hundred dollars. I guess I am just cheap.

Isn't this like laughing at someone for getting a great deal on a Mercedes, and then wondering how "real" people afford cars? Not every car is a Mercedes, and not every trip to WDW involves a deluxe resort.

 

[Aliceacc]

This is our first trip to WDW since 1990. A typical vacation for us is a week in a cabin upstate.

After 6 years as a SAHM, I went back to work a year and a half ago. We're not out of the financial woods yet, but we're seeing daylight.

For our family of 5, WDW is a big splurge. Those $89 rooms at Pop or Allstars aren't for us; they don't accomodate 5. And airfare alone is costing most of what the accomodations at Lake George would run.

So we saved. We'll use part of our tax return. We lucked into the 40% off code and managed to upgrade to the Poly and still save $500 over what we had already booked.

Could we have done this more economically? Absolutely. But this isn't an annual event for us-- this is the ONE trip we're taking while our kids are still young enough to believe in the magic.

So we'll eat a lot of pasta between now and August, and probably afterwards. We won't re-do the kitchen this year (or next year either, who arm I kidding??)

But this one time we're doing it up!!

 

[RNtheRN]

I look at it this way, you get what you pay for. We could spend a few weeks at wildwood, or maybe take the kids to great adventure in jersey. Sure, why not. I'll tell you why not.
I dropped the $20K to get into the DVC for two reasons. First, the simple fact that I have a place that me, my children and my grandchildren can use for 50 years. Just makes sense.
Secondly, my wife and I took 'budget' vacations before and got just that 'budget rooms, budget attractions, and budget treatment'. For example, the first year we got married we took a trip to great adventure and spent few hundred on tickets and a hotel. The park was filthy, a lot of people there let there children act like savages, the service was less then stellar and the bed in the room was lumpy.
I wanted a choice of vacation destinations that we as a family could really "enjoy" and not just end up spending time away from home.
And Disney provides that. So I'll spend a little extra to have a better class of attractions, a better class of accomodations and a better class of people on my vacations. If that sounds elitist or cruel, sorry but you asked.
For the record, were not even what you would call well-to-do people. I'm a teamster driver for DHL and my wife is a bookkeeper. We have all the usual bills that moost people have, we just don't live beyond our means. We do use credit cards on vacation but we use them wisely. We're as "real" as people can get I suppose. So it can be done.

 

[Unregistered]

I have been to Disney 3 times and going again in May on a land and cruise package with some friends. I have never been really into spending lots of money for a hotel but when it comes to Disney I reserched each and every hotel and put together my budget as a single person what I could and couldn't afford. I am going on the land portion all by myself so yeah even though I would love to stay at the Grand Floridian I decided to go to the Pop Century instead. I have already started a savings for when I take my nephew in Dec 2009 for the first time cause I want to make sure that he has a great time and really sees everything. So since I know that I am going to be droping about 5-6,000 on the trip total then I start now to keep from putting it on a card and getting into debt but I know that he is only going to be able to go to Disney for the first time once ( I know that sounds weird) And I want to make sure that it is amazing but to each their own.. That is what makes people so great is that each and everyone of us has different ideas and wants in life.

 

[RNtheRN]

Do I think a lot of people trade financial peace for Disney vacations? Sure they do. People want to save, but immediate gratification gets in the way. We see it happen every day, and, unfortunately, other people's short-sightedness DOES affect us, it affects every taxpayer as we are the safety net for those who need it.

But I do not think that the average American has to choose between a Disney vacation onsite and funding their children's education.

In better times, we paid cash for a Disney vacation every year. My husband and I worked hard and sacrificed having nice cars, designer clothes, and eating out more frequently so that we can go to Disney World once a year in a Magic Kingdom area onsite hotel because that is what makes us happy on vacation. We have small children that need the nap in the afternoon. My husband loves that he doesn't have to drive around. We love being immersed in the magic away from the rest of the world. It is one of the few places that we can really, truly relax and enjoy our family. It is WORTH the sacrifice.

Now, we work hard, but our life has changed drastically. Now we work hard and will still save and sacrifice but only be able to go to Disney every 2-3 years.

As others have said, it is all about priorities. We can shake our heads at how other people spend their money, and they can scratch their heads at the way we spend ours, but we just need to be respectful that everyone has their "thing". Disney is our family's thing!

Bravo Well said.

 

[robinc71]

I am sure there are some people who do go into big debt to go to Disney.

But there are probably other people (like me) who do save some money for vacation and use it on Disney (without impacting the savings for college, retirement, etc).

For me, I used to put off these kinds of things (vacation) not wanting to spend the money. Then my husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Those years and the uncertainty (well, certainty) of what was to happen made me regret the things I had put off. I learned that you need to live life - you don't know what will happen in the future.

We went to Disney when he was sick. It was pretty sad.

Now almost 4 years later I am going to take my kids again. I want to experience their joy at being someplace magical. To make it easier on me, we will stay onsite. It just makes it more manageable. I don't have to worry about a car or waiting in traffic.

I won't go into debt to do it though.

Sorry about your husband . I hope that you and your children have the magical experience that you deserve. You only live once and can't take any of it with you!

 

[mari360]

Oh, I agree that you need to seize life. We take a big 2 week vacation every year and 2 or 3 one week vacations and/or sometimes a family mission trip. We went to Honduras last year and are going to Ethiopia as a family this summer. When you see how others live, I just feel guilty for even thinking of going to Disneyworld when they don't even have clean water. Also, I put this topic on this board because I didn't know where else to put it.

Christine

I know what you mean. My family is from Guatemala and when i go visit it kills me that i see all the luxuries we have... even if it's just filtered water.... i hope you enjoy ur DIS trip... and Congrats on the trip to ethiopia....

 

[SatninDis]

delete

 

[MzDiz]

Just to let you know we also are "REAL" people here in NY.Both my wife and I have decent (not great) jobs but find it some how during the year not to go into debt for our WDW vacations.Yes we could probably put it on the mortgage or save that much more for the future but you can't put a price on memories...as the commerical goes...."PRICELESS"

FYI:...It took years but I finally found the SECRET......Hows this for cost....our last visit Dec.21-28,2007 at the BCV was an unheard cost of $850.00...YES you read that RIGHT........and our upcoming visit Aug 24-31,2008 VWL is $1107 and if memory serves me correct these are "DELUXE" not value WDW resorts.So I think the problem is you really haven't found the secret to staying on WDW grounds. "HAPPY HUNTING"

So, are you going to share the "secret"?

 

[Step]

So, are you going to share the "secret"?

By the resort types, I'm guessing DVC.

 

[avic1977]

We just got back and we are probably not a typical family. We are a family of 5 with a single modest income (under 45,000) We are using our income tax to pay for this trip. We have never went on a real BIG vacation. Only short single day trips to our local beach or over to New Orleans for the Zoo there. After 10 years I figured $4000 was a resonable splurge. I know we will not be going back anytime soon We just cant afford $4000 a year but for a once in a lifetime vacation it was well worth the money!

I am now planning a short weekend trip to New Orleans for our family vacation...budget $300-$400

 

[Lovin' Lorne]

It's a matter of preference. We stay on property because that's what we like. I don't want to cook, clean or make beds when I'm on vacation.

You got that right! I don't care how much money I could save by renting a condo or whatever it is. It's my vacation too, and that means no slaving over a stove, a washing machine or anything else that falls under the heading "domestic duties!"

 

[Plantlady]

I've read the entire thread.. to see if someone volunteers that they are NOT "real" people.

We vacation every year. When the boys were little, and we were both college students, they were cheap trips.. St. Louis for under $500.. now, they are Disney, along with DVC, along with other "wonders" of the world.. we are up to two vacations a year, because that's our priority.

DH is a teacher. A family of five, teacher's income. I do not have a job in my professional field, because I want to be home with the kids. So, I am a para educator.. the pay is piddly, but, that piddly pay gets us to the Mouse, and I have summers off with the boys.

I sure hope we're "real", or else we have a problem.

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

I guess it would depend what you consider "real" people.

I am one of those people that would not go if we had to stay at a Pop Resort.....everyone has opinions what is too much $$$ to pay for what property, car, university, champagne, etc.

We don't skip bills to vacation.......