Why is the trip worth the $$ to you?

[Scrap'nPatty]

I have to say, I don't know how it happened or exactly when...But I really got hooked on the Magic!

This time last year I won an nice about of $$ and I thought about a trip to Disney for my son.
But as I tried to plan it, it was so confusing and expensive that I backed out and gave up.(Before I found this site)

But then a few months later, my company was having a contest to see who could sell the most Disneyland admission cards. The winning store would receive a pair of tickets or a trip for 2 to DL.

My boss is so into Disneyland that she really pushed for the sales so she could get the trip. Well my store did win out of 119 stores! But she found out that is was HER boss that got the trip.

But it was still ok, because our store employees were randomly drawn for 20 pairs of 3 day hopper tickets! It was so cool...My husband was drawn and then when they redrew for the tickets of the names of those no longer with us, my name was drawn!! My son and I had a great trip. Met up with my brother in Sandiego and did the whole thing.

Now I want to go back. But the prices are tough right now. When I think of speding $2000 I choke and back out again.

I know so many people make DL their main and sometimes only vacation trip.
How do you talk yourself into it without so much guilt?
Is there a trick to saving for the trip or do you put it all on a credit card and pay it off as you go? This in my book is a luxury and DH and I have a rule about paying cash for luxuries.

So share your stories of how you do it and still have the magic!

 

[staley7580]

I have to say, I don't know how it happened or exactly when...But I really got hooked on the Magic!

This time last year I won an nice about of $$ and I thought about a trip to Disney for my son.
But as I tried to plan it, it was so confusing and expensive that I backed out and gave up.(Before I found this site)

But then a few months later, my company was having a contest to see who could sell the most Disneyland admission cards. The winning store would receive a pair of tickets or a trip for 2 to DL.

My boss is so into Disneyland that she really pushed for the sales so she could get the trip. Well my store did win out of 119 stores! But she found out that is was HER boss that got the trip.

But it was still ok, because our store employees were randomly drawn for 20 pairs of 3 day hopper tickets! It was so cool...My husband was drawn and then when they redrew for the tickets of the names of those no longer with us, my name was drawn!! My son and I had a great trip. Met up with my brother in Sandiego and did the whole thing.

Now I want to go back. But the prices are tough right now. When I think of speding $2000 I choke and back out again.

I know so many people make DL their main and sometimes only vacation trip.
How do you talk yourself into it without so much guilt?
Is there a trick to saving for the trip or do you put it all on a credit card and pay it off as you go? This in my book is a luxury and DH and I have a rule about paying cash for luxuries.

So share your stories of how you do it and still have the magic!

My dh works alot of overtime, Otherwise we would never be able to go. We dont have credit cards, so everything is paid in cash- we just budget it in with the rest of our bills. Sometimes We do a package deal, that way we can pay it off as we go along.

 

[CarrieJacks]

We're still in college, so we don't have much money to spare. It took me forever to convince my husband that the memories we would make together as a family outweighed the benefits of putting all of our tax refund into a roth IRA. So that's how we did it; we're using our tax refund, but doing it as cheaply as we can, and then putting what's left over into savings.

I would never go into credit card debt for a vacation, though. I would rather put money aside for however long it took to go, instead of going now, and paying it off later. We have a Disneyland Box that we put all our spare change into, but we use debit cards so much that we hardly ever have extra cash on hand. I've heard of people setting aside a certain amount of money each month to save up, or having a yard sale or selling things on craigslist.com in order to supplement.

Anyway, it IS expensive, but it's magic, and the time you spend together as a family is very worth the money spent.

 

[familyoffiveAZ]

We save until we can afford APs and get the time to vacation.

We've only paid for 3-day PHs once, and that was during the time when we knew we wouldn't be able to get back (pregnant and new baby). We haven't been there now since Nov 2005 -- our longest time ever since going -- but we also now have to purchase 5 APs and that means about $1200 iirc.

We'll be getting new APs early June, so that'll give us a year to get a few vacations in. After they expire, we'll likely hold off a bit again, maybe start up APs in Fall/Winter later that year.

It helps that we live close enough to drive -- about 7 hours. We also don't get all into the extras like staying onsite and doing character meals. Cheap, no frills hotel is fine, as is eating some meals in room with food brought from home.

 

[Ksquared]

We take at least one "major" vacation a year and most of the time we use a portion of our income tax to do it. I agree that to me the memories we make as a family are worth every penny. Plus, both my husband and I work full time so I count this as quality time with our kids...can't really put a price tag on that. I'm probably spending more on this vacation than I normally do, but I've been planning it for two years so I paid for things at different times and that helps not make it seem like so much.

 

[sameyeyam]

We save for our Disney trip each year by claiming 0 dependents, Married but withhold at the higher single rate on our W-4's each year. This results in higher federal taxes taken out of each of our paychecks. But then when I file our taxes in the spring we get a huge refund. So we spend most of it on our spring break vacation, which is normally Disney!

 

[mystic_path]

Well if you check on travelocity.com and I mean travelocity as they have the best prices, you can get some MAGICAL deals.

We as in 2 adults got flight and hotel for $525 a person for a place across the street.

We bought the passes a bit later when we had a bit more money and then after awhile we put a bit more money away for food and spending money. It was really easy to save up over a small period of time casue we werent pressured and we didnt have to drop a ton of cash at once. That way it didnt feel like we had such a hard hit.

But its Disney and worth every penny.

We brought our own drinks and small snacks into the park which saved a ton of money and ate continental breakfasts which saved us even more money. When we ran out of our own water we went to any eaterie and they refilled our water for no charge. It was wonderful.

I found the best thing to do is to hit 711 or any convenience store and get penny candies before going into the park. That way if your getting a sweet craving you didnt pay the park prices for a treat.

 

[lilpixie]

We definately save! We never charge up our credit cards -- it would just stress me out too much. We didn't take many trips when we were first married. Ten years later, we have 3 small girls -- so buying 5 plane tickets is spendy, but worth it! We also pool our tax return and thankfully my husband gets a great bonus each quarter. That is our vacation fund!!! I just think of the memories we are making as a family and the magic experience of Disney -- and if we save for it and have the money to spend -- I don't feel guilty at all Have you checked out Getawaytoday or some of the other package deals? Sometimes they offer specials -- so if you time it right, at least it can cut down on some money. Good luck and happy saving lol!!

 

[spazzyjazzy]

We love Disney! I use my tax return as payment for the hotel. It is reward for both my son and I. We work hard throughout the year to be able to go on our summer trips. We have AP's so we take small trips throughout the year and stay with my brothers in Hollywood. I have never spend more than 1000 on a hotel stay. I refuse to stay onsite because with the money saved staying offsite we enjoy the money saved on Souvenirs at DL.

 

[MunkyMe13]

Hubs and I have had to cancel 2 trips to DL due to lack of fundage but we are going on April 28th and 29th and we get a discount on our tickets since I'm a Walmart employee... we are spacing out when we buy things as well, ie: we are buying our tickets this pay check and setting aside money every paycheck til we go. So hopefully third time is the charm and we will actually be going this time... and I'll have a lovely trip report

 

[Danauk]

For us we just save really hard. We have a seperate account that vacation money goes into each month. As we are from the UK flights for us are a major part of the cost ($1400 per person for the summer!!), so we figure it is better to go on a 2 week vacation abroad once every 2 years. As we are paying that much for the flights we figure we would rather save longer and enjoy the trip. I don't have any guilt about spending the money as we have saved it up before hand so we can afford the trip, plus DH and I work hard in our jobs so we figure we deserve the reward!

 

[dawnball]

I'm not sure that it is. Comparing our planned DL trip to our usual WDW trip (and ignoring the extra expense of legoland, the zoo, etc) it's going to cost us an extra $13.78 per person per day for tickets and hotel. Plus an extra $140 per person for travel.

Once you figure everything in, this trip will cost us $2661 more than an equivalent WDW trip, assuming that food costs are relatively identical. Ugh, that's painful. Why, why did I look at that number?

Ok, if we come back for a second long trip in the fall and don't go to legoland that time... Our extra cost is... $1418 per trip. Ok, that didn't help either.

Well, we can potentially walk from our hotel to DL, oh shoot, I didn't figure in the extra cost for parking.. You know - I'm just going to stop now.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

When we didn't have enough money, DH and I vacationed locally, traveling to the beach for a stay or visiting relatives in the next state. When we had saved up, we'd return to Maui, which is where we honeymooned, and both just love it there!

We'd always wanted to go to DL, but decided to wait until our DS was 5yo, thinking that was the perfect age for his first trip. But by then we had a 1yo as well, so we put it off another year.

Last fall was our first trip, and it was INCREDIBLE! Each one of us had such an amazing time. Even DS2, who I didn't think would be able to remember it, still talks about it.

It is a huge amount of money. But any trip where each of us still talks non-stop about it and can't wait to go back is money well spent. So we are budgeting for the next trip.

Two ways I'm trying to get there:

1. I tend to impulse-shop, and I find myself asking, "Do we really need this, or can I put this money in the Disney fund?!"

2. Also, when we were in the park, we saved by eating store-bought cereal in our hotel room, and bringing snacks into the park.

There are a lot of good tips on the Budget board, you might check that out if you haven't already.

 

[lisadoll93]

This is my take on it... the memories. For the few days that we are there, my hubby and I are rockstars in my kids eyes. These are the stories that they are going to tell their children. I STILL remember every trip I took as a child.

As for paying for the trip. We use my bonus for the AP's. Watch for discounts on the hotels, go mid-week. Only get a room with a fridge and mircowave. I start buying supplies a month ahead, a little here, a little there. The kids get one toy at the park and we have one sit down meal. Otherwise its pb&j or easy mac.

Also, we cut out all extras the month before and the month after.

Hope that helps,
Lisa

 

[MATTERHORN]

My DH also works a TON of overtime, so much that he really can't ever go with us. Even with that, I stay at home so it is tight sometimes! My reason is that when I am there, it's an escape for me! I don't think about bills and PTA and Dr. appts and oil changes and all the not fun stuff of life! I think strictly about me and my family and all the wonderful memories my kids will have (and me!)

When I am gone one day, hopefully this will be a place my kids and grandkids can go to really feel me like I am there with them. It is just so great that I just can't describe it and I'll cut corners anywhere else to get us there!!

Also, we have AP's which really helps!! If you had upgraded your tickets from their face value thinking just maybe you might be back in a year, it's so so much easier to plan the other trips!! I can go for 3-4 days with hotel, gas and food for $500 when I don't have to buy tickets!


Andrea

 

[azgal81]

I save money for vacations each month that's how I can afford to go on them. I also do online surveys for extra vacation money.

For disney only I do reward sites for disney dollars and disney gift cards. It's amazing how much money you can get through those. We covered about 80% of our costs with that money. We are gong to disney world in December and I already have $400 in disney gift cards/dollars from the last two months of rewarding. Hoping to cover most of the trip cost again!

 

[MouseFaninQueue]

Why is it worth the $$??
These pictures say it all for me

Don't forget the pic below in my signature line.

And then it is probably because a year and a half later we are still talking about it.

As for how we get there... soemtimes it is on a wing and prayer! but mainly it is just early early planning and saving.

 

[Scrap'nPatty]

I save money for vacations each month that's how I can afford to go on them. I also do online surveys for extra vacation money.

For disney only I do reward sites for disney dollars and disney gift cards. It's amazing how much money you can get through those. We covered about 80% of our costs with that money. We are gong to disney world in December and I already have $400 in disney gift cards/dollars from the last two months of rewarding. Hoping to cover most of the trip cost again!

How does that work?

 

[azgal81]

How does that work?

How does what work the reward sites??? You just shop online through sites, click on links, take surveys, do sign ups. It's pretty simple and a easy way to make money. The big money trial offers do require a credit card so you pay like for example 1 dollar for a 7 day trial and then the reward site pays you $12 to sign up so you net $11 dollars. There's a reward forum here http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=35 we help each other out about what offers are good, how easy they are to cancel stuff like that.

 

[Twinprincesses]

My husband gets a slight discount on tickets through his employer so we save a few $$ there. I also have a friend that works for a hotel chain so we use her discount for the room, if the discount is not available I will search the net for a discount code to a hotel. We get a cheap flight out as well. We go fairly easy on the souveniors and the meals.

The $$ is worth it to see the joy on my childrens face.