How do you do it?!???

[GeoDonJac34]

We are able to go once a year mainly because of decisions we made through the years. We bought an older home fifteen years ago, and fixed it up as time went by. We also have only one child. We currently have a mortgage less than 400$ a month, and no car payments. Many of our friends have more expensive houses in developments with much higher taxes. They do not go anywhere, and are basically house poor. They would probably say they would rather that, but we want that time to get away. We are fortunate to both be working. I think my story is similar to others here, it sometimes comes down to decisions. I also will work a lot of overtime when offered.

 

[patricia27]

Saving

We try to go to Disney every 9-12 months. We have been very fortunate that we always stay on property, and I always look for deals. We do not have a set time that we can take vacation time, so we have been going during non-peak seasons. We book through AAA, sometimes their packages are a little better than booking directly through Disney. We usually go for free dining over the room discount because we enjoy eating a lot and its one less thing we have to pay for when we get there. We also drive to Disney to save some money, and we pack a bunch of snacks so we don't have to waste money on food that isn't included with our dining plan. During the year we save by keeping a jug of our change (we just got married a few months ago and we actually paid for a large part of or wedding with change we saved). I am also very big into coupons, and I will not pay full price for anything. I will go to up to 4 supermarkets a week depending on who has the best sales, who will double or even triple coupons, I stock pile things that either do not go bad, or things we use often when sales are really good. I also buy most of my clothes at Platos Closet (a designer consignment shop) instead of buying new clothes at the mall. The most important part of being able to take a good trip to Disney is planning.

Love your Post!! We save over the year, in the UK we don`t have the coupons like you do; however we have loads of "buy one get one free" or "buy 2 for a special price". So it is worth looking around when shopping so you can save for the VACATION!!

 

[captainkidd]

We make decent money, and we have very little debt. Pretty simple.

 

[PatriciaH]

No kids (BIG savings,) no debt, friends that are CM's, friends that work for Southwest, we only have one car and it is 9 years old, DH lives close to work and I work from home (huge gas savings,) I can walk to train/bus/library/bank/stores/shops/restaurants/waterfront/etc., we make our clothes/shoes last and try to buy good quality, DH gets good bonuses 4 times a year, Heath insurance is totally paid for by company, my parents live in FL so we have a place to stay if we want and a car to use while there, we do not spend a lot of money day to day. We do go on other trips as well and I am a travel agent so I see all the deals. Travel is a priority for us. We go to WDW at least twice a year, DL a lot (friends live in San Diego so we visit with them) and try to see someplace new every year too! I am grateful we have been all over the Caribbean, a lot of the US, Europe, Mexico, Canada, several cruises, etc. I feel like we have soooo many places to still see though!

 

[MichWolv]

Hi All!

In my time posting and reading on this site, I have noticed a lot of people who take several trips a year to WDW.

I was just very interested and curious...How do you do it?!? lol :shrug:

We have all the things everyone has...mortgages, utilities, cars, student loans, children, etc., and it takes us 2 or 3 years to save up for a proper 7-10 day trip!! Does it take the 'magic' out of going?

I am just curious/jealous (hehe) how you make it work! Any tips/advice is appreciated, as this is something I would aspire to do lol.

How do I do it? A few things:

1. I do not stay on property for most trips and, if I do, it's a value or moderate. While there is some benefit to the magic and I love the deluxe resorts, I don't think they are worth the price. So I'll pay $140 a night at Coronado, or $80 a night for a nice place off-site, rather than $300+ for the Contemporary or AKL. Some wouldn't consider off-site a "proper" trip, and want the Poly. We save the money instead.

2. APs make the second trip in a year much cheaper than the first.

3. Lots of airline miles from work travel. Sure, I usually have to spend 50,000 per round trip rather than 25,000, but that's easier than spending $700 per round trip.

4. We take a second trip to WDW rather than a vacation elsewhere.

5. I'm lucky enough to have a job that pays very well, and has flexible vacation.

Does it ruin the magic?

It changes it. The best thing is that we don't feel the need to see everything every trip. We can go slow and spend time on small details, knowing that if we miss something, we'll be back. For example, I spent a day in January at Epcot doing just World Showcase street entertainment and Innoventions stuff. It took 8 hours and was really enjoyable, and I'd never have done it if I hadn't just been there in December. Because of our frequent trips, we have seen and done things at WDW that were great experiences, but most people don't take the time to do. Backstage tours, dinner shows, walks down quite trails, petting zoos, pony rides, water pageants, outdoor movies and campfires, renting bikes and boats, interacing with streetmosphere, learning to draw a cartoon character, watching gorillas for 20 minutes and monkeys for 30, seeing christmas decorations at every hotel, eating in over 70 restaurants on property, hanging out and people watching...these are all things that most don't do, but we have done, because we had the time.

On the downside, we go often enough that the attractions don't surprise us. We know when to expect everything. So while it's still enjoyable, we don't get the happy surprise, because it isn't a surprise. If we only went every 3 years, we'd probably have forgotton some of the details, so we'd be surprsed anew. That's why new stuff, no matter how big or small, is a bid deal. Because it's our only chance to get that feeling.

And, you may have nonticed by the reading the forums, when you go often, you tend to notice problems that others don't. And those problems can grate on you. Example -- the Yeti. People who don't go on Everest much can just love the ride, marvel at the scenery and cool backward part, and say "What was that?" when the pass the yeti. I love the ride, and then get annoyed when I pass the static figure that used to move so much.