For those who have been many times...

[soccer9miahamm]

Hi,
I have friend who seems to think that the only way one can go to Disney World is if they are quite wealthy. We have gone back and forth on this, and so I am calling on my WDWMagic friends for help. If you have been to Disney World multiple times (especially if you live a good distance from the World), please post with where you are from and the number of times you have visited WDW. If you have any other advice, that would be more than appreciated as well. Thanks for your help!

 

[YankeeMouse]

From Chicago. #50 trip coming up. We go often now that our sons are grown, used to go the whole family, now just husband and me. The trips are short, 4 to 5 days, but 3 times a year. Annual passholders, great discounts on the resorts.

 

[pixiesteno]

for those who have been many times ...

We live in southwestern NY and are not "wealthy" but Disney is one place that we love to visit. I personally have been 6 times since 1972. We always stay on property, but we enjoy PC resort and feel that it is comparable to a hotel price in other cities. We have a business so we use the Disney Visa for business purchases and the points are going to pay for our dining and such when we go in December. I agree that with proper planning Disney is very do-able on a budget. The last trip in Feb 08 with my SIL we utilized ME and the buses; I won't go back to renting a car again!
I guess it all comes down to what you deem is "expensive" My brother-in-law thinks that Disney is too expensive, yet he will spend almost as much going to Six Flags at Darien Lake and staying during the summer at their "resort". He won't even consider going to Disney and no amount of laying out of pricing will change his mind; his loss! I figure it's like this, if you have to jump through hoops to convice someone to go to Disney, they aren't going to have a good time anyway and quite possibly ruin someone else's good time.

 

[cinderellafan6]

I have been to Disney soo many times. Tomorrow will be my 76th trip and im 26 years old. I am in no means have money at all. I just know where to eat, what hotels to stay at and the best way to have fun and not spend alot of money. Even though I am from FLorida and dont have to fly doesnt mean a whole lot. If you can you just bring our own snacks and dont eat at the sit down restaurants, and share meals. It is alot easier then you think. All it takes is a little planning and going at the right time of the year!

 

[pacochran]

Have they seen the commercial?

You just have to follow a budget. To me the things that make it expensive are the souvenirs and if you hold yourself to the budget you should be all set.

We did the budget route the first year, but liked it so much we became DVC members so it's a little differnt but still have to budget for other things.

 

[colleen2997]

I live in Philly area and go every year - I am by no means rich. I was struggling financially when I first started going. But I was able to make payments over a long period of time to pay for the vacation. Disney (as well as agents) only requires like $100 down. I also have used my tax refund money every year.

 

[bgraham34]

I live in NJ and have been to the parks 12 times or so. I am hoping to go back this year. My wife and I love the world but I love it more. I am not rich by any means and try to save whenever i can. I wait for discounts to become available and I try to use airline miles if RT tixs are too expensive.

 

[brkgnews]

Georgia guy here with about 12-15 or so trips under his belt in the past four years. I'm now a DVC member, too, so that helps.

 

[MsSnuzi]

I guess it all comes down to what you deem is "expensive" My brother-in-law thinks that Disney is too expensive, yet he will spend almost as much going to Six Flags at Darien Lake and staying during the summer at their "resort". He won't even consider going to Disney and no amount of laying out of pricing will change his mind; his loss! I figure it's like this, if you have to jump through hoops to convice someone to go to Disney, they aren't going to have a good time anyway and quite possibly ruin someone else's good time.

I live about 20 minutes from Darien Lake and, believe me, there is no comparison. To me, that is barely a full day park. It's fine for a quick fix (my students are performing there on Sunday but we get in for free) but can't come close to a Disney experience.

Oh, and tell him to steer clear of the new coaster - one of my students works at it and they have been having some trouble with it - the motor started on fire about a week ago - they are still working the kinks out. Maybe by the end of the year they will get it running right :shrug:

 

[MicheleK]

I have been at least 30+ times since I was eight. When I was younger stays at my grandparentsh house (1.5 ours away) were the norm. Since adulthood, stayed at almost every hotel on property and now that my kids at 18 and 13 we choose to stay at vacations homes/condos. Not only is the price right (2 bed/2 bath condo 10 minutes from the park, about $80/night) but the kids get privacy and I can "reheat" all the leftovers from dinner the night before :animwink:. Sometimes we travel with family/friends and then we get a four or five bedroom pool home and split it with two or three families..........talk about CHEAP (about $120 per night split two ro three ways -- no brainer)!! We get a 10 day hopper with 10 pluses (20 days total) for $500 with no expiration date. This give us three to five (or more) trips out of one hopper. My brother lives in Vero Beach and we visit him often and we love just shooting up to a water park for the day. We tend to save the "parks" for longer trips. We also pack a cooler with subs, soda, snacks, etc. and take a break mid to later afternoon, go back to the truck, turn on the AC and radio and have a picnic in the parking lot. We've got a lot of compliments and "we should have done that!" from people passing by :wave:. Usually we love a big breakfast at Crystal Palace (or the like) and then have the picnic late afternoon. Hope this helps your friends see they don't need to be "rich" to do Disney!

 

[Yankeeplex]

I have been 39 times with the 40th time already scheduled for December 6-13, 2008. I must say, THE BEST DEAL in all of Disney are the Grilled Chicken sandwiches at Cosmic Ray's. The sandwiches are big enough that I can split them between my two kids and my wife and I get one each. You can put whatever toppings on them and they are under $6. Very healthy...very filling...and when eaten for lunch, you are good until dinner...no problem.

 

[Eyorefan]

I'm 25 and have gone to WDW 7 times in the past 3 years. I'm not rich and most of the time I manage to stay in Delux hotels. How do I do it? I watch for good deals and I talk friends into going so we can split the cost. Like others have said, Disney can be really cheap or really expensive, its just all in what you can afford, and what you're willing to pay.

 

[daringstoic]

I visited with my family almost every year when I was growing up. We live 1200 miles away, and drove every single trip. There are 6 of us, so it was MUCH cheaper than flying. We drove straight through the night (my Dad drove every mile. He's amazing.) so we didn't have to pay for a hotel midway. We hauled our pop-up camper and stayed at FW. That was about it for cost-saving, though. My mom is a huge fan of character buffets and extravagant sit-down dinners, so that ends up costing us a fortune ($20 x 6 people x 2 meals a day x 7 to 10 days=$$$$$), and my mom also goes overboard on souveniers.
My last trip in November was for 6 days and the total cost was $400. Granted, I didn't have to buy a park ticket (seasonal CM), and I got 50% off Pop and split that cost with a friend, but we also did a lot of little things to cut cost. We shopped around for a long time to find cheap flights, and we packed Pop Tarts, granola bars, cans of pop, a loaf of bread, and bottles of water. That pretty much took care of breakfast for us, and we used the bread to make PB&J sandwiches in the food court that we took with the pop and granola bars for lunch. We just zipped them into ziploc bags and threw them in our backpacks and ate them whenever we were hungry (usually while in line somewhere, so as not to waste a second of our precious disney time.).
It is entirely possible to do a Disney trip economically, as long as you keep your budget in mind, and do a few simple things to keep costs down. Even when I traveled with my family, we were by no means wealthy.

 

[Figment25]

This is one of the reasons WDW is so magical, you don't have to be wealthy to experience an awesome vacation. I have been to WDW 18 times with trip 19 planned for October. When I was in college, my DH used to pay for our trips out of his salary alone, now that we both are employed we go twice a year. Some trips are not as extravagant as others, such as opting to stay at POFQ rather that the Poly but either way you can still have a great time. Please tell your friend to do the research, and they will soon find out how affordable a disney trip can be esp if they get the dining plan

 

[WildLodgeFan]

I have been 4 times - with my fifth coming up in September. This will be the second trip that I have paid for however. When we went in 2004, it was a special occasion - I had graduated college and it was a kudos to me and a big thank you to husband and kids for support - so we did lots of extras then. We are going for my daughters 16th birthday this year, but as we also invited her best friend to come with us and we are going during the school year, we are going a shorter time and on a tighter budget and I think we will still have a wonderful time. I don't believe you have to be wealthy, but I do think that you have to be a researcher to get the best values. Too many people don't want to spend the time to research into getting discounts, etc. and often pay premium prices for their leisure items, including vacations. As someone pointed out earlier - don't always take the first airfare, try to be flexible to possibly get the best deals.

 

[CyKosis]

I live in Calgary, west coast Canada, and have been visiting the World every year since 2000. We also go down to DL once a year. We stay at moderates in WDW and just your average hotel in DL. Im not sure what your friend considers wealthy, but I know Im far from it, .:ROFLOL: I think you can plan and budget a trip to WDW and make it inexpensive. We use airmiles when we have them and find seat sales as well. We also try and go during low seasons, every little bit helps. :shrug: Using the dining plan is also a bonus.

IMO, a trip for the average Joe is very attainable, it may take some saving and discipline, but sacrificing the little things will always help!

 

[WIX]

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and we go each and every year. Of course we bought into the DVC and are VERY happy with that decision.

Just yesterday I saw a WDW advertisement for $57/nt per person for five nights six days including tickets and dining.

If you can not afford that, something is very wrong.:veryconfu

 

[DISMOM]

We are a family of four and have been for a week each vacation in 2004,06, and 08. We are not wealthy and have had a great vacation each time. Last year, we went to the beach and I was so bored out of my mind. I'm in the Disney mode on vacations and want to go and go. ha. We take a non-Disne vacation on the odd numbered years. Next year, we'll probably hit the mountains of Tennessee. OH, how can you put a price tag or a net worth on great vacation memories.???

 

[gettingsmaller]

You don't have to be wealthy, but you might have to be a little crazy... I was reading a paper the other day and say an ad about selling plasma "make $65/week selling blood!".
I thought "Hmmmm... If I do it every week until late next year, I could pay for DIS trip by selling blood!"

....like I said... a little crazy...

Seriously, we are not wealthy. We live in Dallas and have been 2 times in 4 years. We have 2 cars that are paid for (at least 7 years old, but paid for). So, while some people may have 2 car payments on a Lexus and BMW, we have that money freed up to make a trip every once in a while--just depends on how you want to spend your money...

Just tell your friend to price a value-level vacation at WDW. They should see that it's not an impossible expense. It IS a significant expense for our family, but it's not impossible.

 

[Elonwy]

I am from Nova Scotia, Canada and have been to Disney 19 times. I find if you can go during off season it makes a big difference. Also, if you have airmiles, which may people do these days

for example, I did a recent trip during March Break and stayed at a moderate resort for 7 nights. I had a parkhopper pass with Water park and more option and the dining plan. Including about $400 in spending money for souvenir's that trip cost me (price for me only) approx $2500 including my return flight

Now, my previous trip was last September, I stayed at a value resort for 7 nights, had park hopper tickets (no water park option), got the free dining plan offer and was able to use my air miles for the flight. Didn't take as much money for souvenirs and the grand total for myself was........$750

So tell them to shop around, see what time of year they can go and utilize and discounts they can find and it CAN be affordable

 

[WhatJaneSays]

I live close enough to drive, so we're there all the time. I might not be the best judge of price but I'm more than happy to share what we spend at Disney.

I normally split the trip with two other adults. We buy our FL seasonal passes the first trip of the year and spend 3 nights. Seasonal tickets, on property hotel, food, gas, and shopping cost us between $1300 and $1400 for the three of us (we could do it for about $1100 if we weren't shopoholics). After that the same 3 night trip (hotel, food, gas, shopping) runs us about $750 (or $250 a person). We do go a lot, we try to go every other month or so for a 2-3 night stay. I just always keep my eyes open for good deals. The more people you have generally the better deal you can get; splitting the costs is key to a cheap but fun trip.

I really think that it's the airfare or gas prices along with the Disney tickets that really add up for most people.