Please Read: How do you guys do it??????

[ROOKIE2WDW]

I was wondering what some of you guys do for a living. This way i can get an idea of how you guys can afford to go to WDW ever so often. Maybe, some it takes years and savings to go, while others it could be a company paying for it, or some of you guys are rich and can take couple of trips ever year and even some like me have no money but just took a trip to WDW anyways. Well, however you guys do it just post your replies. If some of you guys don't mind mention the company you work for too.....thanks CAN"T WAIT TO READ THE REPLIES!!!!!

 

[caitycaity]

my fiance and i are far from rich! we have a combined annual income (pre-tax) of about $60,000. especially in the area where we live, that's not a whole lot! however, we don't have kids or any major debt, so a lot of that is discretionary income.

actually, if you get discounts through www.mousesavers.com and buy an ap, it's not *that* expensive to go on say a 4-day trip.

i doubt we'll be going to disney next year, just b/c in the past 12 months we've been to Disneyland, and WDW and are going to be going to WDW for our wedding/honeymoon in November. We'll also be saving our money to buy a house.

 

[glo]

My DH is currently unemployed, he has been for the last 3 and 1/2 months. Before this he was the Director of Professional Services at a computer CO. I am a Public School teacher, in Boston. We take one trip a year to Disney. This year I am taking 3 and the rest of the family is taking two. We are taking advantage of the Teacher rate at the Swan and Dolphin and are getting AP's.

 

[BeanoC]

Rookie -

As you might expect, you could get replies from all walks of life here.

We are, simply and humbly, fortunate and thankful people, able to travel to this favorite destination together every year.

Thousands will incur MILLIONS in debt on credit to make their dream trip happen, and this cannot be universally faulted. Life is short. Live it... "Carpe Diem"!!


Still others will scrimp and save and sacrifice, only to settle for the tiniest rooms the All-Stars have to offer...
This is probably the most joyful and appreciated family vacation occurring at WDW!!

Simply put, the rich are often clueless. Bless them; they're spoiled. They will stay at the GF in a suite and EXPECT it as the minimum they deserve.In a sense, they can afford to be spoiled, and be miserable about it. True happiness eludes them, because they haven't yet figured out that happiness doesn't come from a bank. Sound harsh?? Sorry, but I grew up with rich parents, and they are the most unhappy people I know. They are still trying to determine why these green pieces of paper don't fulfill them... sad. They stayed at a suite at the GF and hated every solitary moment of it, only because they could. If they were showered in gold, it would be too heavy, and aggrevate them to no end. Kinda makes you long for hardship!

The middle-class work hard, play hard, and enjoy good treatment at WDW, if somewhat worried about the cost.
This we call... normal!! If it's easy, there's no appreciation for it. If it takes discipline, we're thankful for it. Such is the norm of the average family. Got 2 thousand to spend, but vacation costs 5K?? Welcome aboard!!!
Look around at WDW and you'll see yourself all over the place. People looking for an affordable lunch, discount tickets to whatever, etc. This is how we all go to WDW. This is how the game is played. We learn the rules and we make it happen for ourselves. You're not alone. So go for it!!!!!!

Those who have much less ( the non-PC term is still called poor, and it's not a dirty word) will play the game similarly to the middle-class, but by their daily-learned discipline, play it much more shrewdly, and have that same grand time as anyone there. That is, of course, except for the disgustingly rich, whom the poor will outshine in the happiness department 100 fold!!

Ok, I guess this social status dissertation was not what you were asking for huh?

Point is, EVERYONE can and does go to WDW, and you can too.
I will take my family there every year until my kids outgrow the joy of it, and then the memories will be worth many times more than the money I could have saved. I could have instead worried about why in Gods' name the interest rates won't go up?! Why are my investments stagnant!? Why, Why, Why??

While these folks save up for their solid gold headstones and bronze caskets, I intend to enjoy life...


Just MHO folks!!!!


'Beano'

 

[disneyberry]

not sure how my reply is useful... i agree w/ BeanoC that there're all types among us Disney Fanatics...

anyway, my bf and i are both young "corporate-slaves", very unhappy w/ our jobs, but together we make a lot of money. we both work in "Corporate America" at Fortune 100 firms, we both have job functions in the IT (Information Technology) field.

whoopee. gee, can you tell i'm not happy w/ my career? our lower-middle-class parents think we're insane for not being happy, 'cause we're doing well, making money, saving it, stable jobs, what more could we ask for. to them, our standard of living is like "luxury". (we actually think we're cheapos ) but, really it's not all that.

of course, it all depends on how you view it. many in our position would be so happy (or so they think... ).

we're different from the usual "newly-rich" who make crazy money, and spend it like water. at least we save as much as we can, and we have no debt, but we can't help splurging on things like vacation.

we both want to switch to completely different fields, break out of the paths we had chosen for us... you know the deal, parents want their kids to all be doctors, lawyers, consultants, be "successful". and we've done that, and our parents are proud. so, as you can guess, we're not quite ready to make that leap.

(of course, for me, the more unhappy i am w/ my job, the more i drown myself in DIS, what a sad sad thing, huh?)

plus... how will we pay for all our WDW trips? become CM's i guess.

anyway... sorry for the dose of cynicism *sigh* time for bed.

 

[Diva of Dragons]

LOL Beano!! I like your interpretation! It's true!
DH & I simply make vacationing a priority!! So many of our friends are living to work instead of working to live!
One of them just went on her first trip in 10 years ( 5 days at Lake Powell)!! Now she sees things a little more clearly & plans to do more. In the past, we've been criticized for our wanderlust, because we do have debt (which, fortunately, is shrinking). But, we always pay our bills, don't have any kids and we never put trips on credit cards, so we figure it's no one's business. DH works in Specialty Fire Supression (they protect web hosting facilities, power plants, the computer rooms @ Disney Studios etc...) & makes good $$, but good is relative. If we lived almost anywhere but So. CA, his $$ would be considered GREAT! Well, that's my explanation in a large nut shell And yes, Beano, Wilderness Lodge to All Star Sports~we do appreciate it & have a blast!

 

[nutz4dzny]

WOW! So many great replies but here is my 2 cents worth!

Life can be snatched away in a minute. I live life to the fullest and REALLY Love life!

I belive a true Disney person who has the "magic" is an eternally optimistic person. We tend to be "happy" people who see the enjoyment in "little" things. We are truly in "awe" when we walk down main street and look up and see the castle!

Anyway, My DH and I have only one child, we planned it that way so we could afford 3 WDW trips each year! We both have very comfortable jobs and we downsized from a house to a condo since our DS is going to go to colege soon for Pre-med. We want to enjoy every minute we have together now, not later!

I unfortunately have seen 2 of my uncles scrimp and save all their lives and finally retire with a LARGE nest egg and pass away from a heart attack less than 1 year afer retirement. It hit me hard and made us reevaluate our lives.

We also are not "hard to please people". We don't demand things and when we get little perks such as upgrades to "concierge" etc.... We are sooooooooo grateful that it shows in our faces!!!

I do feel sorry for the extremely wealthy. They have become jaded to the little things in life. Nothing must impress them and they become more and more demanding. I love the saying that Anne of Green Gables says to her friend Diane's rich Aunt. After seeing her big, beautiful house, Anne exclaims...No Wonder she has so little imagination. She was a very unhappy rich, old lady who had everything so nothing impressed her!


Sorry for rambling but I always told ny DH, I am glad we have to work so hard for our money because it makes us appreciate everything especially our vacations which are a priority for us! When we return from a WDW vacation we have smiles on our faces for weeks to come!

But in the end, you have to have the magic inside of you to have fun!

 

[minster22]

What a great topic!! I love the way nutz4dzny put it....about us Disney lovers being basically optimistic people! I work as a waitress and my husband sells time share. My son is 23 and still loves Disney too, now more than ever. My DH does not share my passion for the Mouse and although he has gone with me a couple of times, I also go with friends. Sharing the cost definately helps. Because I love going to the World so much I have finally learned how to save money. I make it a game and it is certainly more fun to save for a trip to WDW than lots of others stuff but the saving lesson has spilled over into the rest of my finances. I just discovered the DIS in March and thanks to all of you I have also learned how to cut my expenses and still have a deluxe vacation!!

 

[LKS]

We used to be FL residents so bought annual passes one year and went to WDW three times. That was enough for us for quite a while and now we are planning our first trip in 4 years. We love to travel though and take trips every year. It is a priority and we have the 1987 vehicle with 210,000 miles to show for it. We also save well over 10% of our income for retirement (401-Ks and Roth IRA) and we have a good income that allows us to do all of this without a terrible struggle. Still, for some travel is a priority and for others it is not. Our best memories are travel with and without our three kids - that new car smell doesn't last nearly as long!

 

[GailT]

OK, here is my 2 cents worth, may not be much but here goes. I am a divorced single mom (my son is 18 but I am still a single mom) I give it my all to give him the best life whether it be food, shelter or just everyday things like giving him money to go out with his friends. I work part time but that does not stop me from traveling. I take one day at a time, I have seen so much death that I am thankful for all I have in my life and my number one priority is my son. Oh I forgot to add, Thank you AMEX, without you I would be sitting home just reading about Disney but instead I live it.

 

[Kristi1357]

Our main priority seems to be vacations, and usually Disney ones. We are middle class, have decent jobs and a house. But, we also drive a 1993 Saturn SL1 with 180,000+ miles and a 1996 Ford Ranger with 90,000+ miles on it. And we have no plans to buy a newer car until we absolutely have to. We use coupons, rebates, etc. We are saving like crazy to buy into DVC so we can continue to afford our many Disney treks once we have kids. We also do save the max in our 401(k) plans and have some stocks - but buy no means are we rich.

On the other hand, I feel very "rich" in being able to vacation with my husband is such a wonderful place. There's no where else I've vacationed that I really forget about everything - work, bills, and any other problems. We've been to WDW so many times now, we don't need directions - we know where everything is. There's no stress from needing to get everything in, or not knowing which bus goes where, etc. Maybe it's corny, but I think our Disney addiction keeps DH & I going strong.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot! I also work at my local Disney Store. I meant to just work there for awhile after college, until I got a "real" job.....well, that was well over eight years ago! I just can't bear to part with my precious Disney discount. It sure comes in handy at WDW! Besides, I egt to talk to guests about Disney - what could be better?

Kristi

 

[Trekker]

In order to keep the Resort Board on topic I am moving this over to the budget board. You can still get to it from the link on the Resort Board.

By the way - we are just independantly wealthy thats why we can go - not!

 

[tigger2esq]

in a very blue collar family (my dad worked in a local factory and mom worked part time as a secretary) but we were able to afford SEVERAL trips to WDW growing up.. How? My mom was always very frugal. She cut coupons, sent in rebates, never paid full price for anything, searched for the BEST hotel, airfare deals and SAVED SAVED SAVED. Once we got to WDW we ate breakfast and lunch at the hotel (we always had an efficiency with a fridge and first stop was always a grocery store for cereal, lunch meat etc.) She put juice boxes, fruit and granola bars in her purse for snacks at the park and dinner was always KFC or pizza etc. We never realized we were missing anything fancy--this was how we lived and we loved every minute because we got to go to Disney!!!!!
Today--I am an attorney with one of the largest law firms in the US, and DH is a marketing exec. We have very little debt and no kids. BUT some things are still ingrained in my brain. I cut coupons, do rebates, look for internet deals, I refuse to pay full price for anything, search for the best deals on airfare etc. and refuse to pay $300 a night for a place to sleep!! (there is an atty in my office who will ONLY stay at the GF--I think he is nuts!) I was one of the poor souls who got caught up in the Pop Century fiasco--and ONLY becasue of the great rate given are we staying at the AKL for 2 nights over New years (we are spending the remainder of the trip at ASMo) I am really excited at the opportunity to stay at a Deluxe resort but normally we stick to the moderates and value. But we dont deny ourselves little luxuries either like dinner for our anniversary at Victoria & Alberts. But we also dont go all out just because we can afford it. (I refuse to eat 3 meals a day at the Disney parks/resorts....way too expensive--and we always pack granola bars and water bottles etc.).
because of this we are able to take 2 nice vacations a year (one usually to WDW and one ski vacation). With our high stress jobs we need to make vacations an integral part of our year or risk burnout--so they are always a priority.

 

[DisneyKidds]

What you do and how you use your resources (however much or little you may have) depends on what your priorities are.

Some background. I work in accounting for a large Architechture and Engineering firm and make a pretty decent income. DW is a teacher, or at least was as we just had our second child and she would like to stay at home with our children full time (we'll see if this happens - but it should if this is one of those PRIORITIES I mentioned). I would put us at mid to upper middle class. We have gone to WDW 1 to 2 times per year since our honeymoon in 1991. Our pretax income since then has ranged from about 45k to slightly over 100k. This may seem like a lot to some, but in the metro NY area it doesn't go very far. Housing, commuting, etc., etc. take a huge bite. We are fairly intelligent about savings, utilizing 401(k) and 403(b) savings plans. However, we know we don't save as much as we should.

How have we afforded WDW? Well, for many years we didn't - but we went anyway. For years we incurred a lot of debt meeting our WDW habit. Was this wise - probably not because debt is a horrible thing. Would I have done things differently? No. WDW is one place where we can go and leave the real world behind. It is a magical place where we are just happy (well, extra happy because despite the hardships my wife and I have endured we are already happy). Planning trips gives us something to look forward to. When we are there all our cares melt away. I wouldn't trade that for anything. Ever since we have discovered WDW we have made vacationing there a PRIORITY (there goes that word again). Going to WDW has come at the expense of foregoing certain other things and saving more money. Some would call this foolish. I would say it is foolish to work like a dog, save a fortune, and not have wonderful experiences like we have had at WDW to look back on. Now that we have kids to enjoy the magic we feel this way even more. Recently, trips have been easier to manage. In my previous job I travelled a LOT (60 to 70%). While I am fortunate to have a lot of frequent traveller points/miles, it was a huge hardship on my family. We have discovered these boards and that is helping as well. There are ways to control the cost of a WDW vacation and we work hard at doing that.

Managing trips to WDW is not an easy thing (at least for us). But if it is imortant to you you find a way to make it happen. We have been fortunate to work out from under the debt we incurred in our earlier years. We are blessed to have good educations and good jobs. I wish all people could be so fortunate. But whatever you do or don't have, life is about determining what is most important to you and finding a way to make it happen.

 

[JUST4JENNA]

i am one of those people who believes that life is too short and can be taken away at any time. yes, we could be banking all this money we spend on our DISNEY vacations, had we done this, we'd probaly have a hefty bank account by now. i want to enjoy life to its fullest while i have the chance to, and i dont worry about what will be 20 years from now. we r not rich, and we realize that we are very lucky to be able to go to DISNEY as often as we do. my husband is a controller for a doll manufacturer in NEW YORK, and also works a 2nd job during tax season. we look forward to our family vacations in DISNEY, and 20 years from now we will still remember the "MAGIC"!

 

[Muushka]

I think the major reason that we are able to visit WDW at least 2 times a year is that it is a priority for us. Even 7 years ago when my husband was unemployed and a full time student (for which we paid the school bill at the time of attendance), we went often. We stayed at moderates and watched every penny, but we still went.
We did not have cable, we did not own brand new cars, but we did have a nice vacation!

Currently I am unemployed. My husband is a software engineer (but not grossly overpaid). I drive a car that is 11 years old. I am very careful about spending money. I am conservative with water and electricity (I even hang my clothes out to dry and then fluff them in the dryer!). We owe no money other than our mortgage
(which is pretty low due to large downpayment). We wait for movies to go to the $1.50 theatre (will not spend $6 or $ 7 or whatever it is).

We have purchased into DVC at VWL. I usually eat 1-2 meals a day in our room. My husband really likes to eat out (which we NEVER do at home) so he enjoys the meals at WDW.

I guess the bottom line is that we think about every single purchase that we make. Whether it is 15 cents or $15,000 (which is what we paid for DVC).

 

[Disney World Mommy]

Ok, can I say that I need some kleenex here? My eyes are literally welling up with tears after reading all these great posts!!

Here's our story, my hubby and I've been married for 10 years, I worked full-time as a legal secretary until I had children almost 5 years ago and then went to part-time (2 days per week now as an insurance associate agent), my hubby is an electrical engineer and makes a pretty good buck, plus does some side work for a friend which again he makes a pretty good buck there. We went to Hawaii on our honeymoon, then proceeded to go to WDW 4 times (once a year for the next four years without children stayed at the Poly, Y&B, PO and PO again....) -- got pregnant and began "cruising". We've since been on 4 cruises (all with our now two children except for the first cruise in which I was pregnant) and just took them to WDW for the first time last September. We have ** no ** credit card debt (just finished paying off the say $1,500 from the cruise we just took in February) -- see, we get those "no percentage on purchases for such and such a time period" and then if we use it on vacation, we just pay it off as soon as possible!! We drive a 95 Grand Am (paid for and not getting a new car until that one literally DIES), and a 98 Dodge Caravan (2 more years to be paid off and then again NO NEW CARS EVER lol). We are very very very adament about saving for our children's college, however as my cruise director friend told me -- part of giving your child a good life is giving them good vacations too -- so bearing that in mind I realize that ALL this money we've spent on vacations (and man is it a lot) -- we definitely could have a ton of money saved -- but aren't the memories great too? I plan on working full time when my kids are in high school and in college so I can again do whatever it takes to send them to college (or at least pay a great deal of it ...) and in the meantime, we are totally happy with the ASMovies and getting the best possible rate ever and hopefully being able to disney at least every other year - if not every year (have to decide if we are going to continue to cruise or not .....) -- and can we "afford" to stay at the moderates or deluxes? Well I guess we "can", but I just can't seem to get over spending the money if you don't have to! Well -- when my kids get older then maybe we will but right now, seeing their faces when they see that giant buzz and woody -- that is a classic!!!

Sometimes I get a little frustrated with my hubby because he is so "anti-credit card debt" -- but then again, I guess he is doing the right thing in keeping it at a very very minimum and getting it paid off before anything else gets put on it so hence we don't turn around and are staring at $20k that we can't feasibly pay off anytime soon!!! But I can't help to say -- like others have -- life is too short! ENJOY IT !!!

I really really really am still holding out though to win the lottery! I know I'd enjoy life as a RICH person!!! LOL But I'd still find myself wanting to find bargains!!! (At least I think I would .....)

 

[Disneydenise]

Jeez this is an eye openingdscussion. We have been fortunate to go to DW every year for the last 14. Sometimes we had the $$$ some times we charged it and paid it off for he year. We both come from humbl beginnings. My DH paid for his degree and then we paid for his Graduate . We had our children immediately . I was very good with our money and we had a small cute house. We would drive thr the night to DW. We have so many videos of our family. I have great video of our children from toddlers on. I have all our favorite rides that are now gone. I use to be annoyed with DH for taking so much of the ride and not enough of the children. Now I am so happy to see Horizons and Imagination. Now after years of hard work we are going to be alittle poor again. DD will be in college in fall of 2002. DS will be going in fall of 2004. I will never regret the $$$ money we spent on these vacations. I have learned alot from them and one of the lessons is all the stuff in the world is not a valuable as your memories. My best investment I think has been our video camera.

 

[mickey7861]

The middle-class work hard, play hard, and enjoy good treatment at WDW, if somewhat worried about the cost

That's us!

We've been doing WDW since 1987 at least once each year with our 2 kids, now 18 & 16. Each trip is between 10 - 21 days. Our WDW trips are our priority. We work hard and like to play. While we did just purchase a 2000 Intrepid last year it replaced an 85 Buick and our other car is a 95 Cavalier so cars are not a priority as long as they run! . WDW is our unanimous choice for vacation. We make about $80K combined, not rich. 2 kids, 1 in private high school, 1 starting college in Sept. With resort prices going up steadily, we stay on site, along with the tuition payments we decided last year to buy into DVC. Now our vacation $$ are stabilized for the next 41 years. YAHOO!!!


I too have the Horizons and Imagination, Mr. Toad videos. Irreplaceable.

 

[JillU-DVC]

After several years in a row with no vacations because I couldn't afford it, I finally decided to buy into the Disney Vacation Club.

I make monthly payments for 5 years (significantly less than many car payments), plus pay monthly dues of approx. $50, and I get 250 points each year (until 2042) to use for a Disney vacation (or other vacations). Points bought from Disney currently coast $72 (I think). When I bought, the points from Disney were $65/pt; I bought a resale and paid $55 (probably a little less, closer to $53/pt).

Since DVC takes care of the hotel (don't even have to pay the 11% hotel tax), it's a lot easier to find the money for airfare, tickets, food, etc. Plus if we want to save even more money, we always stay in a 1 bedroom at OKW, BWV or WLV, and get a full kitchen, complete with full sized fridge, dishwasher, stove, etc, and a washer dryer in the unit. So we can cook some or all of our meals in the unit, just like at home.

The units are nicer than my house, and our next trip, in Sept, we are taking my brother and SIL with us (we booked a 2 bedroom for that trip).

Since I bought my 250 pts last March, this is our list of Disney trips:

Sept. 2000 - honeymoon, 14 days
Jan 2001 - 10 days
Sept 2001 - 10 days

We bought PAP before our honeymoon, and Seasonal Annual Passes for UA/IOA; we went at the end of Sept last year, and will go at the beginning of Sept this year, so we'll get a total of 34 days out of our passes.

With all of those trips, we did have to borrow from next year's points for our Sept trip, plus the resale DVC I bought had some banked points from last year, so I don't want to imply that my 250 pts would get you 34 days at Disney each year. But I can stay in a 1 bedroom for 2 weeks each year with my 250 pts (we only go in the off season, when the point costs per room are lower).

By the way, we live in MA, so we have a fairly long trip to get to Orlando.

For those of you interested in DVC, I suggest reading the DVC FAQ on these boards:

DVC FAQ

Hope this helps!!