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[problemchild718]

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 checked DVC points and even with points, you can't stay in his premium season that cheap. Please share the "secret" with your Dis family-or PM me!

 

[problemchild718]

oh god disney 5 times a year at a deluxe? Uh I'm wayyyyyyyy too underpaid to do that. that's almost what we get paid a year, yeah not going to happen, I dont know about the rest of you.

Ain't it the truth!

 

[dvcgirl]

I was with you during the bolded part, but why not just leave it at that? To say someone who is still comfortably paying their mortgage and car payments shouldn't spend money on a vacation until they can pay those off and have a sizable emergency fun is ridiculous, in my opinion.

Yes, life is too short. That is not an excuse to never save, to charge everything, or to irresponsibly put your family in financial danger, but a reminder to do things in moderation and enjoy your family and give them memories that will last a lifetime.

Going to Disney when you can't make mortgage or rent payments is irresponsible. Going when you're comfortably able to make your payments (even if you cannot pay the balance) and still have money left over, is not.

I didn't leave it at that because I just wanted to point out that what people say (and by that I mean "people in general", not necessarily people on this board), doesn't always fit with the facts, the statistics as we know them.

I never said that people should pay off houses, cars and have an emergency fund before traveling to Disney. I simply said that most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck...70% of them. This means is that if one paycheck is missed (for whatever reason), that some level of financial pain would be felt for that particular family. Whether that means falling behind on the mortgage, the car, or having the gas turned off....well, I suppose that would depend on how bad the particular situation is.

I would say that if you are indeed (again "you" is general), living paycheck to paycheck with no emergency fund, have children and take a trip to Disney you are putting your family at risk on some level. Do I think that there are people who do this.........yes.

Taking the kids to Disney will always be the fun, easy and popular decision. Children don't understand that Mommy or Daddy could lose their job, or get sick, or have some sort of set-back. Too many "Mommies and Daddies" out there have lost the ability to delay gratification. And that's one part of the reason why we've ended up in the massive amount of debt (with negative national savings) that we find ourselves in today.

I'm a fiscally conservative person so I would even argue that taking trips to Disney or *whatever* the splurge, at the expense of sacrificing retirement savings is irresponsible on many levels. Again though, I recognize that I'm in the minority on that point.

 

[IDoDis]

Ok, I have to admit that I have never purchased plane tickets for myself before. But when I had to get tickets for Florida, I had a bit of sticker shock! We paid $1484 for 4 tickets with a lap baby out of Des Moines. My brother always flys out of Omaha to save...unfortunately, I don't want to ask somebody to drive us all the way to Omaha and then have to come back and pick us up from there. I'd feel bad.

You could rent a car via priceline (I got a standard which is one step below the full-sized for $12 per day, so you could get a mid-sized or compact for $10 or $11 per day). Rent for one day, drive to the airport, drop off the car, and then do the same thing coming back (one day rental that you pick up from the airport and drop off at your local airport). Then you'd only have to have someone pick you up and drop you off at your local airport. It would cost about $18 each way with taxes and fees, but that's a lot cheaper than flying out of a city where you are paying way more for your tickets.

 

[soccerchick]

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. I got back from a doctor's meeting with my husband and they wanted us to pay 350 dollars a night at the hotel. Instead I found a great condo for us to stay at for 80 dollars a night that was a 5 minutes free shuttle from the meeting/ski slopes. We payed 1600 total for the two of us to fly, stay and get a rental car. We would have paid more that that for just the hotel if we had stayed there. So I look at all these people and think....who is paying this much money to stay there???? Are there houses paid off, kids colleges saved for, etc. The money could go to a much better use!!!! That said, I am thinking we are going to stay at the All-Music Suites but at 111 it is more than I usually pay to stay anywhere. I guess it just worries me that "real" people are mortgaging their futures for a trip. This will be our one and only trip and I am really trying to keep us under 3000 for the 5 of us for the week, which still seems REALLY expensive for a vacation!!!

Christine

Sorry, but I'm very much a regular person and take issue with your post. Don't assume things because you don't understand others' priorities or financial situations.

Have you checked hotel prices ANYWHERE? I can't get a normal hotel room for under $100 at any of the non Disney places I've visited recently (Charlottesville and Williamsburg, VA, Jacksonville, FL, Myrtle Beach, SC). Even looking for hotels for out of town guests who came into the area for my GD's 90th birthday bash last year couldn't get anything around here for less than $90.

We were going to do Myrtle Beach this summer. B/w the hotel rates ($135 to 199/night, plus dining, plus activities, it wouldn't be a whole lot cheaper to go there ~ maybe $400).

With a code, you could be paying $49 or $55 for the ASMU room. I could have paid that for POP with my code, but chose AKL. Why? Because I can afford it and 10 days with my family at a resort is a good investment to me.

I am a teacher and my DH is a police officer. Our house isn't paid off- our mortgage is the only debt we have. We have two regular, non-luxury newish cars paid off, we have healthy retirements funds, kids have very healthy college savings, we got out to eat regularly, and we have a kick *** credit rating. We are fairly conservative with our investments and spending.

We are going to Disney in August. Our trip will probably be around $4500 total for 10 days. Did Hawaii last summer for two weeks. Vacations are important to our family. I want my children to have these opportuities. I "don't get" people who chose to NOT vacation until the "kids are old enough to appreciate/remember" but I don't question them on a message board. To each his own. To my DH and I, time together as a family = priceless!

I doubt the people in CC debt up to their eyeballs are the ones doing the multiple trips to Disney in a year.

 

[wardfamily1]

We drove down from the Detroit area in April 2006 and stayed here:

http://www.comfortinn.com/ires/en-U...nadult4=1&nchild4=0&nadult5=1&nchild5=0&map=y

It was only $34 a night/taxes included. No special codes or rates. You just have to check regularly. Made for a very cheap trip, they had deluxe contentinal breakfast and microwaves and fridges in the rooms for no extra charge. It's only 8 miles from WDW too. It was just as described on the website, definitely not a roach-motel.

It is possible to go to Disney on a budget. I checked this hotel for rates, this year it is $55 a night for the time frame we are going but we are staying at POP this time because we choose to.

 

[lisaross]

We're a "real" family! My DH works full time - i work p/t! two kids in public school - dog two cars etc.

Our 1st WDW family vacation was the summer of 06! It was unforgettable! Since then we've been thinking of going back in the summer of 09 and we are now saving for that trip. This summer we'll be taking a vacation to lake george - probably for 3 nights and will probably run us about 1500.00 - maybe also an overight to Hershey or something - and we'll stay in a motel But when we go to Disney we will save and really have a great vacation - will stay in Disney at a Moderate like we did last time - do the dining plan and we're hoping to go for about 10 nights splitting our time at Universal (we have not been last time). Will i go into debt? no but we'll save and save and do what we can afford! Like i said we went almost 2 years ago and the kids still are always talking about it - hey we all are!

We could not afford to go every year and to be honest i don't think i'd enjoy it if we went every year - i love all the planning and saving!

 

[mom2my3kids]

We are regular people and we have once a year for three years now, plus many day trips on previous beach vacations. I usually pay for our hotel with our tax check, plus put a chunk away for our starter fund. Then I have at least 8-9 months to save money every week, and being a server I will work a few doubles here and there and stock away the money. Yard sale during the summer, ebay a few items, overtime on my hubby's part. I try and get the best deals on a rental van, tickets (undercover tourist). A friend of mine is always giving me heck over going to Disney every year, she can't see why we waste the money. I also tell her we LOVE it and we deserve a nice vacation every year away from work and everyday life. This year we are spending 3 days at Daytona Beach Shores (LOVE LOVE IT HERE) and 6 days at Disney world, MNSSHP and one day at Universal Studio. Oh yeah my hubby and a friend is going to the Universal Horror Night, my hubby build haunted houses here for halloween so he just loves this stuff. I would love to go a few times a year, but we can't afford that so we just enjoy the once a year. But I am happy for the ones who can, more power to them.Almost forgot to add, last year we did free dining it was great and saved us tons of money on food. This year we can't go in Sept (kids Istep) so we we eat at 3 TS and the rest CS or sandwich back at the hotel. Plus we will be bring drinks, snacks etc when we arrive.

 

[DawnM]

There are lots and lots of posts about this.

We go to Disney and we are cheap. The cheaper we can make the trip, the more often we get to to!

We use a SkyAuction condo and get it for $26/night (must stay 7 nights). That includes tax and gives us a 1 to 2 bedroom with a kitchen.

This last trip we did the homeschool tickets and got a great deal.

We take food with us, eat only one cs meal per day and the rest at the condo or off-site.

I do not feel for one minute that I don't have the Disney *magic* just because we spend $1500 for an entire week for 5 including tickets, food, travel and dog sitting! Staying on site and eating all meals out would cost MORE than twice as much!

Dawn

 

[Sally]

After reading all the posts so far, and watching the usual fight over people who vacation vs. people who save. I would have to say everyone has a different view of what is right. I personally save for my vacations, my neighbors choose to vacation on credit cards and hope for the best later. The bottom line is always, we all make the decisions based on our situations and what we feel is right. Arguing on the boards doesn't change that some people don't save enough and some people use credit cards to pay for a vacation.
I like Disney and my kids like Disney, we plan for a trip each year, if it happens then we go, if we need a new fridge or tires for the car, it comes out of the disney fund and we don't go that year..I don't use my emergency fund for anything other than a true emergency. I have been blessed with the ability to go every year that we have planned to go, but I sacrifice other things. I am not sure the last time I went into a store that wasn't a thrift store to buy clothes for me. I can't remember when I last went out to dinner with the girls. I made the choice to not have credit cards or high debt because I want my vacations. I have my house and cars that are paid off and I only have my utilities to pay each month, I use coupons and cook every meal at home.
Not everyone does what I do to afford a vacation, my kids understand that if we can't afford it, we can't go and they are fine with that, they would rather have a good vacation than non at all.
Sorry for rambling, but it seems everytime there is a how do you afford disney thread it ends up with a fight over debt and saving.

 

[mickeyfan2]

I am not a "real" person since I don't have 2.3 children, a dog, a cat, six fish and a parrot. So who cares what I do for my vacation!

 

[Aliceacc]

. This summer we'll be taking a vacation to lake george - probably for 3 nights and will probably run us about 1500.00 -

This will be the first year in a LONG time that we haven't gone to Lake George.

Where are you staying?

 

[mjantz]

We don't do Disney every year but we do take a vacation every year. How? Well.....

-Our house is smaller than most of our friends houses
-Our cars (1 is paid off) will be driven until they fall apart
-DH works overtime every week (not 80 hours but usually about 10 over the 40hr week)
-We don't go out much. Usually if we go out its when we have grandparents visiting or we're visiting them (free babysitting).
-My kids attend a charter school so we're getting a private school education at a public school. I pack their lunches cheaply & their uniforms are almost all bought used (& I sell them at the uniform sale to buy more)

We have a mortgage & bills but I'm not going to wait until the perfect moment to take a trip because it will never come.

 

[bdcp]

What are "real" people? Last time I checked, everyone, regardless of income was a real person. It's really no one's business how anyone goes on vacation unless they're neglecting their children or declaring bankruptcy (which we all pay for) to do it and even then, it's not our business about people we dont' know. I don't really care how people afford it. My boys went twice growing up because we went elsewhere in other years that were cheaper. We really couldn't afford it then, but we found a way to take them once when they were young and again when they were middle school age. I, personally don't see the point in going every year. We did a variety of things, including truly educational vacations, but the fact someone else had the money to go every year really had no effect on us. The two trips we made were special and very appreciated, but not required on any level. The funny thing is, if you go on any vacation boards, cruise, etc boards, there are always people complaining and questioning how some go so often. Really not anyone's else's business.

We now have very good incomes now, and we eat out often. If we didnt' eat out, we could easily go on vacation 3-4 times per year. It's our choice. We're also comfortable with some debt. That also is no one else's business.

 

[punkin]

I am not a "real" person since I don't have 2.3 children, a dog, a cat, six fish and a parrot. So who cares what I do for my vacation!

I never figured out how to have .3 children so I'm stuck with only two.

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

What are "real" people? Last time I checked, everyone, regardless of income was a real person. It's really no one's business how anyone goes on vacation unless they're neglecting their children or declaring bankruptcy (which we all pay for) to do it and even then, it's not our business about people we dont' know. I don't really care how people afford it. My boys went twice growing up because we went elsewhere in other years that were cheaper. We really couldn't afford it then, but we found a way to take them once when they were young and again when they were middle school age. I, personally don't see the point in going every year. We did a variety of things, including truly educational vacations, but the fact someone else had the money to go every year really had no effect on us. The two trips we made were special and very appreciated, but not required on any level. The funny thing is, if you go on any vacation boards, cruise, etc boards, there are always people complaining and questioning how some go so often. Really not anyone's else's business.

We now have very good incomes now, and we eat out often. If we didnt' eat out, we could easily go on vacation 3-4 times per year. It's our choice. We're also comfortable with some debt. That also is no one else's business.

If it's no one's business why would you state your private information?
I don't think the OP was trying to make people defensive.....it was just a thought and a question they were asking.

 

[mom2my3kids]

I never figured out how to have .3 children so I'm stuck with only two.

I never understood the 2.3 children average either.. You either have 2 or you have 3 children..

 

[wide awake]

I didn't get the OP...OP is married to a doctor, so I'm guessing they can easily afford WDW at whatever level they want to stay. I think by "regular people" she meant those of us married to not doctors or lawyers. I'm a fan of zero cc balances, and having a cushion, but if I happened to be Mrs. Dr. I probably wouldn't be quite as conservative as the OP seems to be. But, whatever floats her boat.

 

[mom2my3kids]

I didn't get the OP...OP is married to a doctor, so I'm guessing they can easily afford WDW at whatever level they want to stay. I think by "regular people" she meant those of us married to not doctors or lawyers. I'm a fan of zero cc balances, and having a cushion, but if I happened to be Mrs. Dr. I probably wouldn't be quite as conservative as the OP seems to be. But, whatever floats her boat.

Yeah something don't add up that is for sure.

 

[NY Disney fan]

I have not read this whole thread but staying on-site at Disney is not such a luxury when you consider that, if you use the bus system at Disney, you don't have to worry about parking and gas. A huge money saver. I always try to stay on-site and I always use the bus system.