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

[vhoffman]

Well, several have mentioned how life is too short and you need to grab your enjoyment as you can. Makes me think of the phone bills I used to have talking to my mother. That was before the flat rate plans they now have where you can talk as long as you wish. Well, we talked as long as we wished, sometimes running up phone bills of $200-$400 per month. Mom died several years ago. Should I have saved that money rather than spending it on phone calls? I'd be quite well off by now with all that. However, I can't buy another call from my mother now. There are some things that are worth more than money. We all make our choices in life. I chose talking to my mother as opposed to stashing money away. Some here will chose Disney trips over stashing money away. You just have to strike a balance and do remember what's important in life. Also, most of us here have families, kids, etc., that we share our Disney trips with. There are many lonely people out there who don't have families to share living with. They'd love to have what we take for granted. I guess they have more money, but who has the true riches?

 

[Lebjwb]

My wife and I have one child, a seven year old daughter. The way I figure it, I have ONE shot at giving her a great childhood. Disney is a time that we can enjoy the "Magic" of good, wholesome, family fun. Just the way I think Walt intended it to be. Didn't he say something like" I wanted to build a place where a daddy could take his little girl for some good clean fun"?

When I was a child my Mom would take me every year to the Jersey Shore and I still go. Mom's been gone 4 years now but I still have those great memories of our summer trips. I can give the gift of Disney to my daughter and build new memories with her. What price can you possibly put on that? I'd pay ten times what I pay when I go to Disney just to see her face light up the way it does and hear her say to me;"Oh Papa, this is the best day of my life"!

 

[funnygarcia]

Haven't been to WDW yet but plan to when DH graduates wiht his Elem Ed degree two yrs fomr now.. however we do go to DisneyLAND each year.
We found that CA was a bit cheaper for airfare plus we go for shorter trip so verall it is less $$.. My family thinks we are crazy to spend our tax return each year on a trip when we are so very poor ( I earn $10K a yr as a preschool teacher, DH is a student earning only $6K a year plus disability payments of $14K yr).

But we have a reason to go...

For 4 hard years my DH was very ill- nearly died twice.
He suffered thru grueling three hr dialysis sessions, three times per week.
Two needles the size of crochet hooks in his arm- his blood circulated thru a machine to wash all the toxins out - toxins that his non functioning kidneys could not handle. Can't move while having dialysis.. sets off the alarms and needles will move. Special diet - less fluids- medications- anything to protect the body from build up of toxins.
The days he didn't have dialysis, he was weak with fatigue and battling insomnia, arthritis, beginnings of osteoporosis, severe anemia.. and severely /chronically depressed.


All that changed three years ago..

On December 5, 2000

my DH got a new kidney..

and I.....
got one less kidney
and a scar that I wear with pride.

That spring we went on our first family vacation- no worries about where to have dialysis, no holding back on anything for fear of fatigue.. we were like every other family.. Very NORMAL - enjoying a great time together healthy and happy at a place we have grown to love..

Disneyland!

 

[daniluvsdisney]

funnygarcia -
what a perfectly happy and deserved ending to such a trying time... we have a saying in our family "we are living today because we are living today" We so our best within reason to make our memories with the folks we love today because it is what we have...
God bless you and yours

 

[nrsldy]

I HAVE BEEN READING SOME OF THE POSTS. I GUESS IT GETS RIGHT DOWN TO PRIORITIES.
WHEN MY DAUGHTER DIED FROM COLON CA AT THE AGE OF 19 AND LEFT US HER SON (1 1/2 YRS) TO RAISE. WE MADE UP OUR MINDS THAT WE WOULD TAKE MORE FAMILY VACATIONS. THEN WE TOOK ALL OF OUR FAMILY TO WDW,1998. WE WERE HOOKED!!!!
NOW WE GO EVERY 2 YEARS AND STAY AT SHADES OF GREEN.

I SAVE CHANGE AND DISNEY POINTS. SHOP AT DISCOUNT PLACES,SAVINGS FROM MY JOB. THE TRIP IS PAID FOR BEFORE WE LEAVE. WE HAVE FOUND WAYS AT THE PARKS TO EAT AND STILL NOT BREAK THE BANK. WE WILL CONTINUE TO GO TO WDW WORLD AS LONG AS WE CAN.

I WISH THAT WE HAD BEEN ABLE TO TAKE MORE TRIPS WHEN OUR CHILDREN WERE LITTLE. NOW IS THE TIME TO CREATE MORE MEMORIES AND FEWER REGRETS.

WDW RULES!!!:

 

[Trvlnlite]

I started to read the replies from the beginning and then skipped to the end because people were still responding. Some of the responses brought tears to my eyes. So I just wanted to add my 2cents as well.

I am an Accountant and I work for a goverment contractor outside of Washington DC. My salary with ot is about 50,000. I am a fulltime student finally going for my degree so that I can apply for better positions that require a degree. Although I have 24 yrs of experience, living in this particular part of the US it is almost mandatory that you have completed college before they will even interview you. All I can say is that I have been very blessed to find decent paying positions.

We talked about it about 4 years ago, but it didn't work out due to finances at the time. So we went for a few days down to Cape Cod and stayed at a hotel near the beach. My grandchildren loved it. My daughter and grandchildren live in Boston and I live in Maryland. I only get to see them maybe twice a year sometimes. My daughter has five children and does not work. My youngest grandson has a disability where he will need care for the rest of his life. My grandchildren range from 7-17yrs. They first flew to see me about 5 yrs ago and stayed for a week and did the DC thing (tours, sightseeing). They had their first plane ride then. I gave each of them a camera and they took the craziest pictures, but it gave them joy to have a camera and create their own photo album. I have 4 grandsons and 1 granddaughter.

My granddaughter is 12 but she loves to travel. She wrote the best praise of me when she had to write a short story about who she admired most. When my daughter showed me the story I almost cried. She said that she admired me because I try to teach them about the good things in life. About how to be honest and disciplined and that I take them on trips and do fun things. She said the most important thing is not that I do those things but that I am alive and that she loves me. I travel quite a bit on my own but this is the first big trip we have gone on as a family. I am looking forward to watching their faces. I have planned some big surprises for them.

I have been planning a Disney trip for my grandchildren for 18 months now. I have wanted to do this for them because my daughter is not married now and she cannot afford to take the children on vacations. I want my grandchildren to see that there is life and a world outside of Boston. I want them to see that they can reach for the good things in life but they must be disciplined and persevere towards their goals. We have talked and planned for a year and a half. They have saved their money doing extra chores and when they get monetary gifts for christmas and birthdays. My daughter had also been putting away some extra as she will be responsible for the food. I will be paying for everything else. I have been having direct deposit go into my credit union. I don't touch that money now matter what happens. Case in point I blew my engine coming from Boston this past Christmas. Between the travel back and forth and the repairs it cost just over $2000. I also planned to go on a small trip to Trinidad in February just to get away from the cold, but I cancelled because I didn't want anything to get in the way of Disney. I have money going into two different accounts at two different locations to pay for this trip and I am just about there. I think I will keep the money going there even after we get back.


We will be going to Disney for the first time for all of us in May. I picked this time because I will be celebrating a milestone birthday and although most people have big parties and invite all their friends, I just want my grandchildren to celebrate with me. So I decided to take them and me to Disney.

With the help of all you good people I have planned and planned and planned. I have purchased the passporter and the Unofficial guide 2004. I have gotten a good discount rate at POP Century for a couple of nights and rented a villa for the rest of the time we are there. The children have looked through the book WDW for kids by kids and have picked out the activities they want to do. We will also visit Universal. All I can say is that grandma will be spending a day to herself at the Epcot flower show!

With God's blessing this will be a trip of a lifetime! I want to thank all of you for all the helped you have given a stranger and didn't even know it. My family enjoying their childhood is important for me. And all the money in the world will never buy that!!!

If all goes well on this trip, we may do a cruise in 2006. :

 

[carone0318]

We go to Disney every year. The only reason that we can afford it is because we bought DVC. If we didn't own DVC, we probably couldn't afford to go. Last yr we went in May even though we knew that dh was going to be laid off a month later. Who know what the future would hold and dh said we are going. It ended up being about 6 months before he found a new job, but we always had our chin's up. We make a little over 100k, but the news at my work has just be annouced that about 30-40 people are being let go. I am hoping and praying that I am not one of them, but I could very well be. My only true concern about that is my Disney vacations. We have a trip planned for the end of Aug, and regardless we will be going. I didn't take true vacations as a child, our family always would visit relatives (that was our vacations.) I swore to my dh that we will vacation every year, it is very important. Now don't fret, I know how to prioritize and if it came down to a roof over our head or a vacation, I know which to choose. But on the other hand I also know if it is a choice over a new car or a vacation, which is the right answer. The struggle is part of the appreciation....

 

[Del]

I got chills reading your post---God Bless you and your family. Have a great Trip!

Del

 

[lentesta]

Hey Trvlnlite, thanks for reading the Unofficial Guide. Drop me a line if there's anything we can help with for your trip.

Sincerely,

Len Testa

 

[crisi]

Some people here may want to check out the poll on the DVC boards that talks about how much DVCers make.

 

[vhoffman]

To the poster who said their family vacations consisted of visits to relatives, well, she could be my cousin! That's just about all we did as a kid was take long car trips to visit a bunch of relatives so old they had one foot in the grave! That was supposed to be a marvelous experience for me--I'd get to see the country (we lived in Chicago) and connect with my roots. And that was back in the days when they didn't even have cable in rural areas, let alone internet, etc. Needless to say, I was bored S*******!!!!!!
I vowed when I had a family we would have fun vacations, not drive around visiting old fossils. Oh, we do the family thing, too, but short trips, maybe a weekend. They are NOT the highlight of our vacations. That's one of the reasons we've latched onto Disney--its great for kids of all ages. And, we really don't spend much more than my parents did, if as much, on those "visit the old people in the country" vacations. I want fun on my vacations!

 

[disneyberry]

<font face="times" size="+0">wow, this is a really old post! interesting that it got bumped up.

btw, so much for the "stable jobs" that dbf and i had. *nervous grin* we both lost our jobs after 9-11 due to company cutbacks, and have spent the past 3 years struggling with long stretches of unemployment in between consulting gigs.

we've cut a lot of things in our budget, but vacation is the one thing that is the last to be cut.

we bought DVC a little over a year ago, and that should help us continue to afford WDW vacations in the future.

in the meantime, we're just working hard to try to get back into stable jobs! anyway, just had to reply 'cause i found what i'd written a few years back to be amusing... </font>

 

[Jailen's Gma]

How do I do it? Because I have to. When my children were young we couldn't afford to take such vacations. They are both grown now, but we take vacations together. Some I pay for, some we all pay for. I have learned that we need to do this to sane.

I work in local government, one son is in the service and the other one customer service. After dealing with public all day in and day out, we need the mental release of a vacation.

I try to tell my family that we all need to take a vacation every year. They don't have to be long or expensive, just some time away from work and home.

I just do it.

 

[NvrBnToWDW]

I am a stay-at-home (homeschooling) mom and my husband works at a warehouse. We have two wonderful sons (9&11). We make less than $29000 a year. And this will be our first vacation that leaves the state of Texas. We spend $500 a year on vacations within the state. We spend $50 a week on groceries (don't feel bad, we do eat steak). We live in the home I grew up in. We own 1 car. And we never have lack. We always have more than enough. And there is always still money left in our wallets by the next payday. We are frugal, but we don't suffer. We go to movies, eat out, give kids allowance, tithe to our church, by name-brand cereal, wear new Nikes & Reeboks. Another words, we are blessed! The only way we can have all this is by the Grace of God! He is the one that not only provides our needs but our hearts desires also. We set our hearts on an "impossibility" (a week long trip to WDW) and "with God all things are possible". This dream is already coming to pass. We have paid our hotel deposit and booked our room (ASM) and have souvenir and food money saved. All this from a thought that entered my mind only 2 months ago! PRAISE GOD! HE IS GOOD!!

 

[Misty89]

surprized to see this thread still running!

 

[BethR]

Originally posted by Misty89
surprized to see this thread still running!

Yes, I think that it is a little odd.

And it seems as if it COULD take a political turn.

We are all for the freedom to support one's candidate here on the DIS, but we have avoided things getting political and heated on THIS board. There is enough of THAT stuff going on on the Community!!!

It would be nice if we could keep it that way.

(This is not to say that people should not have political messages in their signatures, etc. But it would be nice if we could keep the discussion of the election to the Community Board. )

Thanks!

 

[grlpwrd]

Yes, this is a wonderful topic ... minus the political interjections, of course.

My story - short version (lol)... I come from a working class struggling family where we continually lived in survival mode. My parents couldn't afford to take vacations, but one year in 1977 my father managed to muster up money for a trip to Disneyland. That changed my life.

I am a WAHM with an ebay business and blossoming design business while my dh makes a great living as an engineer. We plan and are we are able to do more things.

We don't go to WDW often, but we experience Mouse Magic when we can. Really, though, I don't have to visit WDW - I am a Disney fan for life with a collection of Disney items.

I always have a Disney day.

 

[rockin_rep]

PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE don't make this a political thread!!

This is possibly the BEST thread on this board, and DESERVES to stay at the top!!!!!! It totally reinforces my believe in this: "Some people know the price of everything, and the value of nothing." - Oscar Wilde

*Things*, material possessions are meaningless in the grand scheme of life. However *TIME* spent together creating memories is absolutely PRICELESS. Life goes so fast, and no one knows what a day will bring.....

DH and i have been blessed, growing up in traveling families and now our careers (i'm flex-part time) have allowed us to make travel our top family priority (after God). Our trips and vacations as a family are a major part of the *glue* that have made us so very close as a family.

While we've saved, sacrificed and scrimped, our vacations together have been a huge blessing for which we'll always be grateful. *THINGS* are very low on our priority list, altho God has blessed us with much in that area, also.

Again, pleeeeze don't allow this to become political so others may continue to contribute and we can keep it at the top!

 

[ksoehrlein]

What a fun thread!

MY DH and I started "going" to Walt Disney World when I was a Cast Member there. We started dating when he came to visit me in FL on his spring break from podiatry school, so we consider the day we spent at Magic Kingdom to be our first real date. Anyway, at the time I made very little money and ate my share of Ramen noodles for dinner, but was able to spend a day at the park whenever I wished. How ironic that my "salad days" spoiled me -- at least in that regard.

I remained a CM (Disney Stores) after moving up North to join DH in Philadelphia. He proposed to me on our first low-budget trip back to Magic Kingdom.

After such grand beginnings, how could we NOT go back often? We joined DVC while I was still a DS CM (yes, I'm the infamous one who charged the membership on her credit card). But the CM discount and the fact that prices only continue to go up inspired us to take action at the time. Our DD is now 4 years old and has been to WDW 7 times. Our DS is 17 months old and has been 3 times. Yes, we're still paying for our DVC membership. Yes, we have other debt as well (podiatry school and opening up one's own practice isn't cheap). But the memories? Priceless!

 

[tinaluis]

You're not intruding "on a world of make believe" but many of us visited WDW before George Bush and the tax cuts and will continue to do so no matter who is in office.

As others have said, our family makes some "sacrifices" in order to visit WDW as often as possible. We don't got out to eat very often, usually rent movies/watch cable as opposed to going to the movies (we can never seem to get a sitter anyway) and don't have to have the latest "gadgets". Instead, we focus on spending time together (at WDW and at home) and trying to enjoy the many free things that Chicago has to offer.