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!

 

[Phonedave]

I live in Northeast NJ - just next to the George Washington Bridge.

I went to WDW once with my parents as a kid (they went a second time when I was away at college and took my brother)

When I was married with two kids, we went, I think, a total of 4 times while I was married, over the course of 3 years. (We didn't start going until after my youngest was born)

Since then I have been, a rough guess 6 times in the last 2 years. Sometimes it is when work sends me to FL, I take an extra day or three and make a mini-vacation. But, there have also been 3 planned week long visits with my kids and a week long visit with friends.

So to try and make sense out of this whole mess. In the last 5 years, I have gone 8 times, where the entrie bill was out of my pocket. One of those times was paying only for myself, the other times were with my ex-wife and 2 kids or just my 2 kids

I make a decent salary, above what is reported "average" around here, but not so much above that I consider myself "rich". If I made what was average, maybe I would have gone once a year or so.

WDW can be as expensive or as cheap as you want to make it. I have done it both ways. It is most assuredly affordable. Is it as cheap as say, a day at the beach (provided you live withing diving distance of the beach), of course not. but it's not out of the range of a "normal" transportation/lodging/food vacation

 

[cabihler]

Our 100th trip in 20 days

our first was in May of 1978 with our next in May of 1983. Since then we have gone multiple times each year with many years having 5 or 6 trips.until 1993 we lived in central New Jersey with the majority of trips driving down closely followed by airplane. we even took several trips on amtrak. we moved just outside of memphis, tn in 1993 and its about even driving to flying. we did not stay on property because we tried to budget our trips to give us more trips during the year vs. staying at the comtemporary or poly... that is until our first stay at the caribbean beach. it had been opened less than 1 year and since then we have always stayed on property.

okay for the obvious, disney is NOT cheap no matter which way you slice it. this june we are staying at the Pop 6 nights then the Movies 5 nights taking advantage of the Annual Passholders with Dinning Plan. if it works the way i hope it will save us a considerable amount and still it is NOT CHEAP.

i think it was cheaper 10 years ago for a family of four to visit for 5 days and stay off property (NOTE::: we have had Annual Passes for more years than i can recall). Back then you could get a 4 or 5 day park hopper. today disney has the Magic Your Way tickets priced so that a 5 day ticket (considerably more than the old ParkHopper Ticket) costs almost the same as a 10 day ticket... because they want you to spend more days in the park because they recoup the money on other expensives.... it actually is a great marketing plan and does provide a good value unless you are extremely tight on budget..

and that is the rub.... NO you do not need to be wealthy to go to disneyworld once but to go every year or especially several times a year you do need spare dinero.

 

[MickeyspalJim]

It seems alot of people's first thing out of there mouth when they here that You are going to Disney is "that's just too expensive to Me". They don't know for sure, they just assume that it must be. I live in Jersey, and fly each and every time out. That is a personal choice. I, up until 2004, had gone to WDW 11 times. Since getting married in 2004 My wife and I first came once that year, then we realized how much each other Loved it here We started going twice a year, well Last year, we bit the bullet and joined the DVC. and ended up going last year 5 times and tomorrow are heading out to WDW for our 3rd time this year again. We are not "rich, We started out with Value resorts in the value seasons. That would be Your least expensive time to make Your trip. Next is if You are flying, to try and wait for the lowest fairs available for Your travel dates, sometimes the plane was set up first and the dates of the resort followed that. Of course, the more in your family that You have to pay for, the bigger the expense, so that is another thing to figure into "How" You get to WDW. As someone else mentioned. Disney seems to be offering free dining the last 2 years and that is a big savings right there. SO, You find a cheap flight, a value room, Free Dining and yes, You can travel to WDW without being "Rich". You only have to be smart. Lots of research, like You are doing here on this site and Many others like it. Anyone who comes down more than once a year should have an annual pass, not only for the park savings, but this is another way to get a discount on the value rooms too. Passholder discounts at the right time, can get You rooms for $59.00 per night plus tax. If it gets in Your blood, You will find ways to save for it. Everyone has there "hobby" to spend there money on. Just make Disney Yours.

 

[Mikester71]

Haven't been MANY times, but have been twice (both since 2005) with another tripped already booked for next year. We have drove down from up here in Canada both times and will be doing so again next year (dreading the gas prices already ). We definitely aren't rich by any means, we just usually put extra money into my wife's Christmas fund each pay and then use that money at the end of the year to pay for the vacation (usually 10 days at Pop). We try not to go too crazy that Christmas on gifts and save that money for spending money for the kids and us. So far it has worked out beautifully for us the past two trips and we have already been paying on our trip for next March and should have it paid off with months to spare.

 

[bidnow5]

We are from Rhode Island about 1200 miles our 32nd trip is in 8 days we are NOT wealthy one of the things we do because we can be very flexible we will be getting annual passes this year then we will go the 3rd week of May next year so we get two trips out of our tickets

 

[Laura]

I'm 26 years old and about to go on my 23rd trip. 11 of those are within the past 4 years. Half of them were taken when I lived in upstate NY. The rest were taken from here in North Carolina.

At the lower end, a week of lodging will run about $600. Plane tickets for 4 people would be around $800 at a minimum. Then add in another $600 for a week's worth of food and $800 for park tickets. You're looking at $2800 right there for a trip staying at the cheapest resort for your average family.

I'm able to go multiple times a year for a few reasons. One: I always invest in at least 1 annual pass for the discounts and free parking. Two: We always drive so it only costs about $400 to get there and back, rather than paying $800-$1000 on plane tickets. Three: We have a time share that we trade and stay inches from the property, sometimes even closer to the parks than the on property resorts. So for the price of being squeezed into a value resort we're able to stay in a really luxurious 2 bedroom condo. But even with all of that a trip still costs me over $1,000 a pop, even if I'm going all by myself.

It's all about your financial priorities really.

 

[Jayhawkie]

I have been 16 times to the world. Probably 9 of those times were with my parents, but the rest were with hubby and kids. We are definitely not wealthy by any means. A person just really has to plan to take a trip to WDW way in advance. For the last several times I make my deposit and then just send them a payment of whatever I could afford for that month. Some months I paid mor than others. I have heard of several people making a fund for their trip. For instance, every time your famly wants to go out to eat or do something fun, consider putting that money in your vacation fund instead of doing wahtever it is that you want to do. It gets the whole family involved and really makes everyone think about your choices. Also, make a WDW jar just for change. Anytime anyone has any change they put it in the jar. Then you can divide among kids or whatever and that can be "their" money to spend however they want. Even if the amount is small, say $10, it is the concept! Also, there are so many souveniers that you and everyone else will want. But really put into consideration what you really wnat. When I was young, my parents never bought my sister and I a bunch of junk. We would get astuffed animal and maybe some candy, but we always got stuff we could use in the future--like backpacks and rain hats. Considering food, if you are not on the dining plan,, share a meal. if you are still hungry get an icecream at one of the carts. Drink water with your meal, don't let kids have oj and milk for breakfast, just have one. There are so many ways--but most of all have fun~~~~~:wave:

 

[mousebymarriage]

We live approx. 1100 miles from Disney and we try to go every year, we are by no means rich. My DH has been to Disney 2 dozen times, I have been 15 times, DD who is 11 has been 10 times and DS is 6 and has been 5 times. We usually use our income tax return money for vacation, plus we save ALL of our loose change. We also tell the grandparents to give the kids Disney dollars for birthday and christmas so they have spend money for souveniers in Disney.

 

[silverboyd]

i live in Charleston, SC and I have been going since I was 6. I think this November will be my 32nd or 33rd time and I am only 28 years old. It's very affordable. We're going for 6 days in November and it's only costing $1860 and that's with the DDP.

 

[BensMum]

We've been 5 times, trip number 6 will hopefully be in October 2009. We save up and tend to go to WDW every couple of years, but as we travel from the UK, we stay for a full two weeks each time to make it worthwhile. In between trips to the World, we visit DLRP for a couple of days, just, to stop the Disney withdrawal symptoms. Without a doubt the trips to WDW are much more cost effective ( and much more enjoyable). We are an average income family, certainly not wealthy. We've often looked at other vacations to popular European destinations, but when we've worked out the cost we find ourselves saying 'we could go to WDW for that!'. I think that says it all.

 

[Tater48]

Just returned from trip # 9 yesterday afternoon. 7 days / 8 nights. The first trip we made was just me and the DW. The next 5 were with the kids, and the last 3 were just me and the DW again, as the kids are now grown and have lives of their own. These vacations are something that most people have to save for. You can't just come home on a Friday afternoon and decide that you are going to go to WDW for a weeks vacation the next day. Well, some people can, but the majority of us can't. Get online and search around and find the best bang for your buck. If the DW and myself can afford to take these vacations on a Police Officer and Pre-K Teacher's salaries (so, no, we are not rich), I think that with a little searching and saving just about anyone can make one of these magical trips. As I said before, we just returned from WDW yesterday, and we have already started looking at next years trip. We want to do a 4 day land / 3 day sea trip next time. But in order for this to happen, we will start budgeting for this now.

 

[eroyee]

We are from Michigan and we have gone on a "deluxe" trip to disney and some moderate and values. we have been 13 times. You can always manage a trip to disney and we are far from rich. we are both retired and on fixed incomes. we have flown and driven down. There are many ways to save for disney or pay a little at a time. Its definitely worth it..........:sohappy:

 

[pcarathers]

We have been 5 times, with our 6th booked for December. We go every 2 years. We plan every detail possible. We decide on how much we want to spend each day. Each person gets an envelope for each park, and their daily spending money goes in that envelope. What they don't spend the first day goes toward the next day. We do the park that we KNOW we'll spend the most money in for last. That way, what we didn't spend the previous days, add to the last days.

We live in northern Louisiana and drive in, breaking the drive into 2 days, usually stopping in Panama City to stay on the beach (found a really inexpensive hotel there!)

We also designate money for the drive there and back(gas, food along the way), tip money is divided, and any money for other planned stops is separated. This way, we don't use the money for the drive while we're at the World.

The dining plan is really great. That way we don't have to allot for food. It's already paid. If you book early enough, you can make monthly payments for a package, kinda like a "vacation layaway". I work in retail so doing this is a lot easier!

Planning for every 2 years gives us plenty of time to save up so that it is not overwhelming our budget.

 

[LudwigVonDrake]

I have been to Disney a dozen times. My first visit was when I was 20 years old and I am 43 now. Believe me, I am far from wealthy. It's called saving for the trip

 

[KaliSplash]

We're from Columbia, SC, and visited at least annually from 1979-2005. Before children, we visited twice a year. Sometimes after the arrival of children we visited twice a year. Have visited 3-4 times a year on rare occasions. (Usually just 1 long trip and the other just 1-2 days.) Inlaws live in Cocoa, 1 hour driveway to parking lot, which we use for short trips. More than 1 day trips we stay on-site.

We have used the burn the AP at both ends. Vacation 2nd week of June this year, 1st week of June next year for our long trips. Also make a 1 or 2 day visit at Christmas by driving over from in-laws.

Two in college now and it's killing me that we haven't been since summer 05.
Hopefully we'll be back in the rotation soon

 

[wdwfan22]

I'm from Springfield IL and have been a total of 56 times. It can be done cheaply if you plan :wave:

 

[crlachepinochet]

The AAA discount is a big deal! Of course, we took free dining instead of AAA for our upcoming Sept. trip, but for our honeymoon in 2006, we stayed at Pop for $66 per night! It's worth getting the membership just to book your trip! We also arrive early and leave late so we can get as much park time while paying for as little hotel time as possible. We were thinking about flying out on a Friday night after we got out of work, but why pay for that extra night at the hotel? Instead, our flight arrives at 10AM and we can almost squeeze a full day out of it.

I'm from Buffalo and I've been to WDW five times and DLR twice. Having some of the low-cost carriers come in really helped make a trip much more affordable. In 2006, we flew BUF-JFK-MCO on JetBlue for $39 one way per person! Our travel dates are less flexible now and fuel prices make that fare seem really hard to believe now, but we still snagged $200 round trip per person nonstop on Southwest. The 2.5 hour flight will be a breeze after 7-8 hours travel time to DLR! Cool to see other WNYers!

 

[BepsiCola]

We've been six times and are going back for our 7th in December. We go for two weeks each visit and have done something different on each trip.
We sometimes stay at a villa so share the cost with my parents plus we eat in and look for the kids eat free vouchers. This year there will be 7 of us flying out to celebrate my Dad's big 60.
9 and 1/2 hours on a plane is worth it.
Only 189 days to go YIPEE

 

[Jodileigh]

We're from Kansas! Not close enough to drive (IMHO!!). My biggest tip for those who are scared by the costs is PLAN AHEAD!!! We are not blessed enough to go as often as some, but I plan my trips anywhere from 18 months to 2 yrs out and save, save, save. I pay for everything cash up front. I have a money market acct where $$ is taken out of every paycheck. I've been doing it for years and don't even miss it now. Plus I put all of my bonus $$ from work into it as well. DH has an American Express card that he uses for work and gets airmile points from it, so that covers airfare. We stay mod and usually do the dining plan, mostly b/c I like knowing my food is prepaid as well! You can go cheaper by staying value and doing things like getting groceries for your room for easy breakfasts and lunches or whatever and doing mostly counter service. It's all in what you want. Yes, it is still pricey, but no worse than any other major vacation destination!