nt

[Plantlady]

or western US Nat'l Parks (with the right vehicle), .

We did 10 national parks, and about 5 national monuments last summer.. Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, ect... 4000 miles on the car, when we got home (2 1/2 weeks).

We spent about $2000-3000 on that. So, similar priced to a Disney vacation, I believe.

We did eat "cooler food" for 90% of our trip, only a handful of meals out, when I just couldn't stomach another cold cut sandwich. That cut down on the costs there, but that's our vacationing style, nothing new there.

 

[xoprincessmomxo]

My husband and I both work hard for our money and we are lucky enough to be going to Disney World this year! Of course, in order for us to do this: We don't have a mortgage as our home is paid off, we are very frugal compared to many people (rarely eat out, shop at Wal-mart for pretty much EVERYTHING), and we only go on vacation every other year. But to save for Disney, we have forgone vacations for two years. We are also doing a value resort so that helps in the savings department. Are there other, more important things I could spend my money on? Absolutely. There's always a trade off. You just have to figure out which one you can live with. As for my reason for Disney: I don't want to sound like a Debbie Downer, but when my mom was dying from cancer she didn't talk about all the money she saved for a retirement she would never see, she talked about Disney World and how happy she was that we were able to experience that as a family.

 

[michellem1118]

... but don't understand how a school teacher could afford a Mercedes (Disney vacation).

I feel like I should take offense to this. My fiance & I are both school teachers, and we're also DVC members. We've been to Disney twice in the last 12 months, and are going again in July/August for our honeymoon. We've paid cash for both trips already taken, as well as for the out-of-pocket expenses for our honeymoon. We've done the DDP on each trip as well. AND we live in one of the highest cost of living areas in the country, and no, teacher salaries are nowhere near commensurate with the COL here. I have student loans, we have a car payment, we pay nearly $1000 a month for a 300 sq. foot apartment, and we're paying for our wedding on our own as well - all without credit cards, and without sacrificing our financial futures. As pp have stated, its about budgeting and prioritizing.

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

My husband and I both work hard for our money and we are lucky enough to be going to Disney World this year! Of course, in order for us to do this: We don't have a mortgage as our home is paid off, we are very frugal compared to many people (rarely eat out, shop at Wal-mart for pretty much EVERYTHING), and we only go on vacation every other year. But to save for Disney, we have forgone vacations for two years. We are also doing a value resort so that helps in the savings department. Are there other, more important things I could spend my money on? Absolutely. There's always a trade off. You just have to figure out which one you can live with. As for my reason for Disney: I don't want to sound like a Debbie Downer, but when my mom was dying from cancer she didn't talk about all the money she saved for a retirement she would never see, she talked about Disney World and how happy she was that we were able to experience that as a family.

If you are so frugal don't you want to see more of the world than WDW? Don't get me wrong the last 12 months I was there 5 times but vacationed other places as well........As much as I love WDW I couldn't imagine that being the only place we go.

 

[mickeybrat]

You can finace a deck, a pool, a house and even you car. You can not finance the time with your family.
Life is too short, children grow up too fast. We make memories every year.

 

[PirateSusan]

My family is as real as it gets. Financially, we have been tight for years, until my husband earns his certification for teaching come this Spring. But where there's a will, there's a way. Nothing can keep us away from Disney! We have memories from the day it opened. I have travelled all over the US and, of course, will visit these sites again. But Disney makes you feel good, makes you feel special. We prefer to stay on site, and there are many ways to save - you just have to do some research. Life is too short. . .why not make it magical?!

 

[agentpleakley]

Real people here checking in -- this will be our 3d year in a row -- we book almost a year in advance -- we use DH's overtime checks to pay for everything but spending money (souvenirs, etc). I do SR and use my Disney Visa on everything to earn spending money.


We drive to cut costs. $155 to drive v. $830 to fly. We came back with $600 this year from our budget -- so that is applied to this year's trip.

 

[CapeCodMouse]

My husband and I are also as "real" as "real" can be (if that the same as "normal"? - I hope not )

I am the champion bargain shopper of the family. We just went to Disney this past Nov., stayed at Pop, dining plan, MYW/PH passes, airfare for 5 days/4 nights and spent around $2,500.00. No credit cards - we paid for it over an 8 month period in cash. We did not plan on going again until 2009.

Then, along came the 40% off code in the mail - so, on the phone I got. Let's see - 6 days/7nights at Pop again (can you tell I LOVE Pop!), airfare, DXddp, MYW/PH passes w/water park option...... wait for it...... $2,900!!! Wow - look at that - for only $400 more, we can go for longer, have the deluxe dining plan and add the water park option to the passes. Oh my God........ I don't think I can pay my mortgage this month.....

Why would you shake your head at people jumping for the 40% off code? I got a value resort for $82/night for 7 nights???? What do you see a the problem with that? It's the same reason I went to Sear this week, and got my husband a new leather jacket at a 75% off clearance price.... it just makes sense to me to take advantage of any discount... especially at Disney! And WHY would I pay for a deluxe resort when the only thing we use the room for is sleep?

I priced out a vacation to Myrtle Beach for us for a week - it would cost WAY more than a Disney vacation ever would...... you think Disney's expensive.... try going to Bermuda.... ouch.....

 

[choirfarm]

nt

 

[torinsmom]

Oh, man, don't get me started on how expensive any vacation can be! Until this year, my whole family(50 strong) has gone to the beach. My sister's family, my cousin's family, and my family(10 people) would rent a house at the beach. it wasn't even ON the beach, it was 3 houses away. That house cost us $4000 for the week, so my part was over $1000, just for lodging. Then I had to pay for food and recreation for a week, gas to get there, souvenirs, etc. I seriously spent more on those weeks than I did for 7 days at Disney. And there is so much more to do at WDW! This year, my budget is $1600, and I think I can do it. That's about $133/month, and who can't afford that?

Marsha

 

[ontario2orlando]

Real family here, who loves to make memories and live for today. We are a single income family with two kids one of which is an early teen(can you say $$$/high maintenance). There's two times a year we spend big money. One is Christmas(we came from poor families and want our kids to have more than we did) and the other is vacation(summer).

For the most part our vacations have consisted of Rv camping with our folding camper. Even that hobby is getting costly. We've also taken two road trips. One to a zoomusement park and the other to visit relatives.

In the summer we are gone outside playing more than many families we know that are better off than we are. It's just a choice. This year we've chose to take the cheese and M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E !!

So, how does a modest financially family do it? Our tax return and saving some pays for our vacations. Most people we know with similar family dynamics receive similar returns (US & Canada) We don't pay bills or use it for anything else, usually, sometimes we do. That is our vacation fund. It is our make memories and have fun money. Our family's breadwinner works hard and deserves the vacation time. The children deserve the memories. The family deserves the bonding that only time together on adventure can bring.

So, why Disney? Why not spend all summer camping and playing outside? Why trade 2 months for 1 week?

Well, it actually is more like 2 weeks, because we'lll drive to WDW and that will be part of the adventure. We'll also go to the ocean and that's a big deal for an outdoor lovin' family.

Disney represents a couple things for us the adults. One it reminds us of our childhoods, which was rich with Disney magic - more so than today's kids. The Sunday Disney movie was sacred time. Second, it is opportunity to give our children what our parents couldn't or wouldn't.

We couldn't even predict what will come of this trip. Will it hook us? No one could know yet. It is doubtful as there are so many other things in North America we want to experience.

If we can have fabulous vacations with priceless memories and a stack of scrapbooks, then you can too!

 

[momtoBrandon&Jacob]

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"

I totally agree with the first paragraph, but honestly, the 2nd paragraph sounds like a total crock of you know what.

 

[DizzDoll]

As a single mom of 2 teens (one who adds new meaning to the phrase high maintenance and the other who eats like a horse) and living in the "real world" as it were, we too take vacations - and until the recent devaluation of the dollar, a good portion of these vacations were spent overseas. Yeah, several times we took 2 vacations per summer (one overseas and one to WDW believe it or not). I used to book at mods or deluxes, but have found that the values are the way to go for us since we're in the parks more than we're at the resort, so (finally, the brain kicks in) why pay the extra $$ for a mod or a deluxe (other than the fact that they're prettier, IMHO) when we spend the day in the parks. The 3 of us enjoy being together and I've been very successful in turning my kids into Disney-holics. A job well done!!! As to how anyone else spends their time and money is their business and I'm not about to question anyone's ability to pay for their vacations, nor question their judgment in taking any. One cannot put any price on family time, and IMO, in this day and age family time is beyond priceless.

 

[HelenePA]

I totally agree with the first paragraph, but honestly, the 2nd paragraph sounds like a total crock of you know what.

not really go look at the rent dvc point board. I'm gonna have to look into that next time we go

 

[Jennifer823]

When the war started, my husband was called up from the reserves with less than 48 hours notice. I wasn't thinking about whether the house was paid for, but I was glad we'd just gotten back from a great family trip, in case it was the last time I ever spent with him.

I agree with you. It's so important to have those great memories, because you never know what the future will hold. I think that a lot of the money problems most of the country is having right now might have something to do with 9/11. Our family personally went through 4 deaths in the 6 years around 2001, and I know we went through a time period of spending money because we were depressed and worried about the future. Vacations started to mean more to us, doing things as a family. When you think of your own mortality, "saving money" really doesn't seem that important, you know?

 

[hohoz]

We are a "real" family with a DD7 in private school. We are on a tight budget but I would always want to go on vacation at least once a year. We work hard all year and I think we deserve the right to have at least one week of enjoyment. I thought the 40% off code was great I paid $49 a night for POP with it. We are staying 7 nights at POP, on the DDP, and MYW + Waterparks for $1800.00. I really don't think that is breaking the bank. And what is great is that in May we should be getting that nice "Help the Economy" check and guess where that is going to go. So out of pocket we will have paid $300 plus flights (which one is free because I have a reward credit with Southwest) for a week long WDW Vacation with Dining.
But we are also cutting back on the weekly things we would splurge on to save some spending money. We are saving $100 a week by bringing our coffee and lunches from home instead of going out everyday. It's amazing when you look at it how much you save by doing that. Also the plus about that is we are losing weight because we are eating much healthier than fast food everyday. So I guess it works out both ways.
I am happy we do something every year because DD7 will only be young once and I would never want to miss those precious years.

 

[JAHokie46]

hohoz, can you tell me what POP is? I don't see that in the abreviations sticky. Also, how did you get the 40% off code? Thanks!

 

[hohoz]

Pop Century (Value Resort). Not sure how I got the 40% it just showed up in a email from Disney. I'm on alot of Disney email list's for different things. Plus we haven't stayed on site since 2003 so maybe that had something to do with it. I really enjoy POP. I guess a Moderate would be nice, but we are never in the hotel enough to enjoy all the amenities. So we do values all the time. Maybe if we won the lottery but I won't wait on that!

 

[abish19]

We just returned from WDW last week. We aren't "rich people," we're probably solid middle-class. But we realized on this trip that our kids (almost 4 and 1) are going to grow up REALLY fast and it's time we commit ourselves to them and making memories with them, and spend less time and money on making our house perfect, owning late-model vehicles, etc. We have no debt other than our house and I'm a SAHM with a few extra dollars earned from occasional babysitting or piano lessons. My husband works full-time and also does some freelance.

I think that what I'm reading on this thread is that we all have a certain amount of money to spend, and each person and family determines how to spend it. Some folks eat out a lot, lease a new car every two years, spend a lot on clothes, etc., but for us, I think a reasonable amount of budgeting and saving could mean a Disney vacation every year (it's been ever 2-3 before that).

By the way - you all had some great advice for how to make WDW affordable! Thanks!

 

[PiratesRock]

At this point I'm taking myself +DH, DD8, DD9, Grandma & DSis to Disney in October. My BIL did similar last year and cost was >$10,000. He couldn't believe I could afford this...

1450sqft 3br/3ba Townhouse w/public & priv pools .... $858/wk (incl tax)
airfare for Grandma & 2 kids on SouthWest ...approx... $500
Gas to drive my SUV w/ me, DH & Dsis to Orlando...appr..$300
10 day Park Hoppers for DH, Gma, DSis (thru UCT) $840
I bought 10d PH+NExp for me & kids last time..this time $0

So before souvineers and meals, I'm out $2498 for 4 adults and 2 kids. I could make everyone ride in the car both ways and save that $500, but what's your price for sanity?!

We eat a late breakfast, a mid-afternoon snack which I will bring in with me, and some evenings meals will be prepared in our kitchen at the townhouse (or cheap takeout if I'm exhausted). Meals eaten at Disney will be places I really love or have heard great things about on these boards. I'm willing to splurge if it's really worth it!

My children will be given a specific amount of money for souvineers. I buy them each 1 t-shirt any time we vacation. They will use their money for any additional souvineers or snacks.

My "Real Mom" montra is "All things are possible thru Him + extensive research & planning"!