Slowly saving for first trip...

[justthe6ofus]

I grew up going to Walt Disney World at least every other year. It was our very favorite vacation spot, even when my sister and I were teenagers. The "magic" of it even extended far enough to leave me completely clueless as to how much it all cost. (My parents probably chose to keep us in the dark so we'd continue to enjoy it without guilt, ha!)

Now I have four kids and we're ready to take them for the first time! Saving for a trip is a process for us, though. I'm literally rolling coins and watching every penny in order to stack the "vacation fund." I am very excited and motivated to do it, though!

Just wondering if anyone else is in my boat - saving and dreaming of a WDW vacation that may be a year or more away!

 

[sillylily]

Absolutely! We have been in the planning stages for nearly two years, and FINALLY the big payoff is in sight!

 

[Mommy23Princesses]

We are in the beginning stages as well. Planning on going next October or Novemeber but saving all our change and dollars bills in our Disney Bucket and hoping to put down deposit by October. Since we live in Las Vegas and I have to buy 5 plane tickets my budget for this trip is really high since I am not too sure what to expect for the airplane tickets, that part makes me really nervous. I wish they would allow people to make deposits on airfare and pay it by a certain time, would make budgeting for me a whole lot easier.

 

[julie4423]

We are in the beginning stages as well. Planning on going next October or Novemeber but saving all our change and dollars bills in our Disney Bucket and hoping to put down deposit by October. Since we live in Las Vegas and I have to buy 5 plane tickets my budget for this trip is really high since I am not too sure what to expect for the airplane tickets, that part makes me really nervous. I wish they would allow people to make deposits on airfare and pay it by a certain time, would make budgeting for me a whole lot easier.

I actually used Bill Me Later to pay for my last tickets through Airtran. I had 6 months interest free to pay them off. They had by far the best fares of any airline out of Indy. I know that they go to Vegas as well (DH and I want to go!), so you might want to check.

We are also in the serious savings situation. I'm *hoping* to go next October, but I really need them to offer FD. We're a family of 5, so that is a savings of $1769 for 8 days. I just got a pin code in the mail, and they're offering FD right now, so it makes me extra sad that I can't just go now.

 

[NYEmomma]

We're going to WDW in October (DD's first trip!!) and I started saving for it about 2 years ago. I got a part time job where I work from home & started putting half of my paycheck in an account for vacation.

I also started doing some serious budgeting/meal planning/couponing to cut down on our grocery expense & anytime I did really good on saving, I picked up a $25 Disney GC at the grocery store. DH never even noticed it since it was part of the grocery bill but I've manage to build up around $300 extra Disney money that way.

 

[justthe6ofus]

Thanks for the replies! Nice to know there are others out there picking away at their Disney funds!

Mommy23Princesses, airfare can be a stinker! It was going to potentially add another $1500 to our total cost to fly into MCO. We ultimately decided to drive about 15 hours. But, from Las Vegas...not so much an option! Good luck with finding some good rates!

 

[keholman15]

of course you can

 

[Liberty Belle]

Thanks for the replies! Nice to know there are others out there picking away at their Disney funds!

Mommy23Princesses, airfare can be a stinker! It was going to potentially add another $1500 to our total cost to fly into MCO. We ultimately decided to drive about 15 hours. But, from Las Vegas...not so much an option! Good luck with finding some good rates!

We drive about 15 hours to get there. It's really not that bad. The trip going down is ok because everyone is excited and they have a new movie or new car things to play with/work on/read/etc and for some reason the trip back up always goes by so quickly!

I have $200 saved - thought our youngest son and I were going down in September with dh for a conference and I was going to take son to MK for one day. But, I lost my job over a year ago and things are very tight, so it looks like that money will have to be spent elsewhere. Once I get a job again, I definitely will start saving for our next trip.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I grew up going to Walt Disney World at least every other year. It was our very favorite vacation spot, even when my sister and I were teenagers. The "magic" of it even extended far enough to leave me completely clueless as to how much it all cost. (My parents probably chose to keep us in the dark so we'd continue to enjoy it without guilt, ha!)

Now I have four kids and we're ready to take them for the first time! Saving for a trip is a process for us, though. I'm literally rolling coins and watching every penny in order to stack the "vacation fund." I am very excited and motivated to do it, though!

Just wondering if anyone else is in my boat - saving and dreaming of a WDW vacation that may be a year or more away!

We are. November 2012 will be our 3rd trip. We had the plan of going every other year but we had to be adults and our last 2 trips were cancelled . Well we decided that WDW was something we couldn't live without so I got a PT job and we are saving for our trip without having to touch household money or household savings. When we went we bought all the different popcorn buckets and the kids are having fun trying to fill them. I told them once all 6 are filled I will book the trip. It helps them decide when they have 2 quarters that they want for a sticky hand in a vending machine or toss those 2 quarters in the bucket.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

We are in the beginning stages as well. Planning on going next October or Novemeber but saving all our change and dollars bills in our Disney Bucket and hoping to put down deposit by October. Since we live in Las Vegas and I have to buy 5 plane tickets my budget for this trip is really high since I am not too sure what to expect for the airplane tickets, that part makes me really nervous. I wish they would allow people to make deposits on airfare and pay it by a certain time, would make budgeting for me a whole lot easier.

I feel your pain with airfare. That was the main reason our trips were cancelled. The first 2 we lumped airfare with disney travel and paid it off before the trip. Now we have to pay it separate. 3000+ is a hard amount to part with in one lump.

 

[GatorMama]

Once we get through Christmas, I plan to put every penny of our coupon savings into our savings account the minute I get home from the trip. I'm also considering talking to DH about getting a Disney Rewards card, but not until we pay off a loan early next year.

 

[MaggieBailey]

I grew up going to Walt Disney World at least every other year. It was our very favorite vacation spot, even when my sister and I were teenagers. The "magic" of it even extended far enough to leave me completely clueless as to how much it all cost. (My parents probably chose to keep us in the dark so we'd continue to enjoy it without guilt, ha!)

Now I have four kids and we're ready to take them for the first time! Saving for a trip is a process for us, though. I'm literally rolling coins and watching every penny in order to stack the "vacation fund." I am very excited and motivated to do it, though!

Just wondering if anyone else is in my boat - saving and dreaming of a WDW vacation that may be a year or more away!

Yay you on the saving! I never went as a kid (I have 5 younger siblings, was homeschooled 7th grade on up, and dad was the only one who had a job outside the home so there was never any vacation!) but DH and I have been several times, and we love it - it's truly my happy place! The other times we had the extra money to go, and now, we really don't. I plan and dream about going all the time, but know it will be awhile. We do the same kind of saving! Have you checked out a blog called "Couponing to Disney" I follow it via Facebook and love it! So many great ideas. Good luck on your savings!!

 

[Cin]

I too save for a year or more for my Disney trips. I do stay on property and love it, but can't imagine trying to budget for a deluxe resort. I love Disneyworld too and having all the amenities but I can no way justify the cost of those resorts. They are nice, but nowhere is worth that much of my hard earned $$. It's okay with your trip being so far off as it gives you more time to plan your trip. Planning is half the fun. The only problem with having time is I end up changing my day to day plans based on crowd calendars and restaurant reviews and then go changing my ADR's (again).

 

[roadtripper]

If you're driving, you can save a lot of money. I always recommend renting points from a DVC member to get great accommodations cheaper and have a kitchen to cook meals if you want--or just a big fridge for storing breakfast stuff, drinks, etc. If you have the flexibility to go during school, but not during vacations (Sept, Oct, early May) you can do really well. Good luck!

 

[monorailsilver]

I am currently saving too. I have been since our last trip in 2008 although we had to dig in that vacation fund for a few day trips or incidentals so basically I am at square 2!

I do QR & just cashed in for another $50 disney gift card so that will make $200 & I have the Disney Visa.

I figure I need around $6000 for our family of 5. We are going in August 2013. Airfare will be covered by FF miles but that is included in my total budget. So bascially I just need about $4500 more.

We do the Poly because I grew up going there. I love the monorail & the view & sounds of the MK while sitting at the pool.