What do you do to afford your Disney Parks habbit?

Well as advised by someone on boards a couple months ago to save on groceries I go to food pantry and get free food. I also know how to play the system and get government money (think faking disability). Shoplifting and returning those items and panhandling also supplement my income. I have a few lawsuits I’m waiting to collect on then it’s Disney here we come.

You forgot your kids being fake kidnapped.
 
This may be the best thread derailment in the history of the DIS.
:thumbsup2 And since we've come so far, why stop now? :rotfl2:
Funerals are for the living but if my surviving family hires a professional mourner for my service(I would prefer to have my body donated to the Tennessee body farm), I will do my best to haunt and annoy them for the rest of their life.
Since you mentioned it, I'm reminded of a book that was required reading when I was studying funeral service. It's titled "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" by Mary Roach. It's informative, horrifying and disarmingly hilarious - I can't recommend it highly enough!
Had no clue that was an actual way to make money. Tell me more. Seriously, I have never heard of this...don't have much experience with funerals.
Well, in my example step 1 is to be a Buddhist monk, :confused3so beyond that I don't know much. They are paid though, by the families of the deceased and maybe paid pretty well because as it was explained to me, lavish spending on death rituals is customary and has great cultural significance. For this reason, the funeral home I worked at catered specifically to this clientele. I learned so much, and it was very fascinating.
 
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We are in our 50s and have saved and invested well, but we always look for discounts for Disney. I will book tickets through UCT just to save a hundred bucks. We don't have cc debt and our cars are paid off. DH gets bonuses. We use some of his bonus for trips and invest the rest.
 


I know that $160K may look like a dream to some, yet we’ve already paid $32K in Federal taxes/$8K in State taxes for 2019 and we’re only the month of March. VHCOL is also a killer for us and we’re debt free. Been to WDW just once. And yes we’re currently saving big time to relocate in the future to MCOL so we can travel more and retire.

My suggestion if you haven’t already gotten debt free and retirement isn’t where it needs to be, definitely focus on that. If you are debt free/retirement savings looks good, then open a savings account/setup auto deposits, find some wants to cut, and build up a vacation fund.
 
I did not list my salary, either. It is irrelevant because $140 - $160 K can earn you a very different lifestyle based on COL and location. $160 K in San Francisco versus $160 K in Kansas are not the same. Credit card debt, student loans, high mortgage, car payments, luxury items, etc. can make that salary a lot smaller. Some will live paycheck to paycheck and others will be very comfortable. Our rule for travel is that we have the cash for the entire trip before we step on the plane or get in the car, and that has worked well for our family.
 
I use my Disney Visa for everything. Pay it off in full every month. The points I get buy us annual passes, food, hotel rooms, etc. It's really great!

Using a Disney Visa gets you these perks? Please explain. I am thinking that you mean the points pay a portion of these expenses. If it pays for AP's and hotel rooms in full, a lot of us are missing out!
 


We afford Disney by doing very little extras. I find good deals on offsite hotels, we do very little extras, no after hours parties, dessert parties, tours, and rarely buy souvenirs. We live on the west coast, so I'm always looking for good airfare. With the prices skyrocketing like they are, I am even investing in AP's because they do not expire (They have expiry date 2030, this is a placeholder for MDE). We rarely eat table service but when we do its affordable, like Plaza Inn, Mama Melrose, and mostly do counter service ie Flametree. We usually only eat one meal a day and have a couple snacks. Last fall we stayed at the parks for two weeks costing right around $5000.
 
I haven't been to Disneyland in over 2 years. Haven't been to WDW in over 10. That's about all I can afford right now. So I just watch a lot of YouTube videos, go to sites like these, and dream.
 
Using a Disney Visa gets you these perks? Please explain. I am thinking that you mean the points pay a portion of these expenses. If it pays for AP's and hotel rooms in full, a lot of us are missing out!
Depending on what Disney Visa you have, for every $100 you charge, you either get $1 or $2 in Disney rewards (1 or 2%). For most people, it isn't worth it.
 
Depending on what Disney Visa you have, for every $100 you charge, you either get $1 or $2 in Disney rewards (1 or 2%). For most people, it isn't worth it.

I have one. It's nothing special. I use it for everything, literally. Over 5 years, I think I've earned maybe $300.
 
Regarding our travel habit in general, I'd say it's mostly what we don't do. We don't smoke, vape, gamble, or drink alcohol (cut way back years ago because it was getting too pricey, and have since stopped entirely for medical reasons). I don't often replace my cars, and I don't pay rent or a mortgage anymore. We don't eat out often, and when we do it isn't at expensive places unless we are traveling, when we splurge a little bit. We use credit cards with good points programs (not the Disney card, which I have, but only for the discounts) for just about all our spending, and are able to use the points to pay for airfare and often hotels as well. Also, we do not EVER buy souvenirs.

We consider our lives to be comfortable, but many people would look at how we live and not think so. The cars are old, the house is very small, and our wardrobes are nothing to write home about. DD goes to a public school in what is mostly a very poor district, but hers is a selective magnet school, which is excellent. (And yes, as many know, she participates in a very expensive sport. Getting into this particular public school is the tradeoff for that; if she was in private school she would not be doing this sport, as the cost would be equivalent.) Probably the most visible sign of our frugal habits is our phones. DD whines daily about how old hers is, and mine will hold only about 20 apps, but I refuse to spend more than I have to on something so easily lost or broken.
 
I'm curious. Do you think the lack of excitement occurred because you spent so much time there, because WDW has been making negative changes, or a combination of the two?
Yes, seeing what's behind the curtain for so long is what did it. But I don't agree with the negative changes part, there's been lots of positive changes as well. And lets not forget that after all is said and done, it's still just an amusement park.
 
Using a Disney Visa gets you these perks? Please explain. I am thinking that you mean the points pay a portion of these expenses. If it pays for AP's and hotel rooms in full, a lot of us are missing out!

Yes, I'm saying the points pay for these things. I have a lot of expenses. Braces for the kids, doctors appts that don't take insurance, all utilities get run through it, all car insurance, house insurance, etc, payments get run through it. If I was going to write a check or pay cash for something, I run it through the card instead. Gas, McDonalds, groceries. For me, it adds up.
 
I find that using my Visa SWA card saves me more money than the Disney Visa. We have had our Disney Visa from Day 1 and are Charter Cardmembers and even so we have probably only earned $1,000 over the life of the card. On the other hand in 4 years of a SWA Visa we have flown for free at least 5 times. Five trips for two at about $500 for each trip is $2,500 in four years. The Disney Visa rewards stink by comparison to most other rewards cards.
 
With the ever increasing cost to get inside the Disney Parks, I was curious as to what this community does for work? Perhaps include the size of your family and a salary range if you feel comfortable.

Family of 4 for me, I work in commercial real estate for a global company. Salary range is 140 to 160k.

Getting tougher and tougher to go.



I think that is a great salary........but questions are

Where do you live? (taxes, insurance costs, cost of living)

How big is your house? (bills, heat A/C etc. according to size)

How many cars do you have? Lease, payment to own? (again insurance cost in area where you live)

How many children? Private school? Public school?

Do you have a person cleaning your home? Like eating out or ordering a lot? Starbucks twice a day? Are you high maintenance (hair color out, mani/pedi every other week lol).

Debt/Mortgage/Rent

Emergency fund/comfortable with savings



Please, I am not looking for answers - just that I think it's not all about the income but what goes out too.
 
Very simple. I live well below my means. Not frugally, just not spending on very expensive or superfluous things. Not having any kids helps too.
 
Market price for a kidney is $262,000 in the US. That buys me a few DIS style trips.
 
We don’t , it has lost its value over the years . We have started using vacation money to travel other places in the world . We can go to another country for 10 days or so for less then a week at Disney these days . I probably won’t go back and instead travel elsewhere.
 

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