How do you handle payments?

Guatemom2

New Member
I was wondering how do others handle paying their Disney trip? Do you make scheduled payments (like a bill), do you save up a bunch then make a payment, or do you save and then pay when your trip has to be paid off by?
 

msteel

Well-Known Member
Personally, we do not borrow money for vacation. So, we save. I believe that is the only wise thing to do.
We also do not go to Disney often because it is expensive. We have a trip planned in a few months and that will be three years from our previous WDW trip.
 
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LucyK

Well-Known Member
I make a payment schedule and pay off a little every month. Then I use my end of the year bonus to pay a good chunk of it and then stop payments altogether to see if any discounts will be released for my dates. If they do, fine if not I pay the balance 60 days before my trip.

Last year once I had the SPD discount applied to my reservation I had as little as 50$ left to pay which I paid right after applying the discount.
 
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We book accommodations offsite (Wyndham Bonnet Creek) and pay 1/2 at time of booking and then 2 other payments spread out by a few months each. Pay for tickets thru AAA right before we leave for the World. We don't like to pay everything upfront because then you have to get travel insurance.
 
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Tinkerbella16

Well-Known Member
At the time of actual booking, I will pay the $200 deposit. Then I will make 1 or 2 payments through out the months and keep saving. just before our 45 day mark, I will pay it off in full.
 
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Steve1005

Well-Known Member
It might not be the perfect idea, but I actually took mine out of a 401k loan. I don't have any penalties if its paid back in full so I take the loan, have a little taken out of my check every week to pay it back, the loan is paid in full in less than 2 years, so every other year we kind of use my retirement for a little vacation fund of sorts.
 
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minniemickeyfan

Well-Known Member
It might not be the perfect idea, but I actually took mine out of a 401k loan. I don't have any penalties if its paid back in full so I take the loan, have a little taken out of my check every week to pay it back, the loan is paid in full in less than 2 years, so every other year we kind of use my retirement for a little vacation fund of sorts.
Due to the time value of money, your total retirement fund will be much much smaller in the end.
I would try to put what your paying back each week into a separate Disney fund- like a savings or another checking acct and wait until you saved to go to Disney even if it means skipping one vacation.
 
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Graham9

Well-Known Member
We save for it. That is, the tickets, hotel & flight. Spending money comes from spare cash, credit card and 'money box' savings.

We have expectations and 'standards' when we book and would never come to WDW if we couldn't afford exactly what we wanted to do and where we wanted to stay (Any moderate resort or better) or if we never had any money we couldn't 'spurge' away when we want to. Which is why we are coming this year (50 days time) and haven't been for three years.
 
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Zipadeelady

Well-Known Member
We pay the $200.00 down payment then at 60 days before our trip we put the remaining balance on our Disney Visa Card. Since paying for our trip on the card is 0% interest it works for us. Plus we get reward dollars!! After a few monthly payments on the card it is tax time and we pay off the remaining card when we get our tax return.
 
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Epcot-Rules

Well-Known Member
How do I handle payments? You can send me cash or certified check. LOL...

In all seriousness, I put it on my American Express in full at the time of booking. I love the air miles. I never think it's a good idea to finance a vacation, be it credit cards or loans. I got in financial trouble about 22 years ago and learned a lot from that horrible lesson so I pay in full now.
 
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Disvillain63

Well-Known Member
We pay when we book it. Then start buying Disney Gift Cards for when we get there. The gift cards are for all our other expenses while at WDW. There are no credit cards to pay off, and we're not eating into our checking account while down there.
 
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allgiggles

Well-Known Member
We save up the money before we book the trip. I buy Disney Gift Cards, accumulate rewards points on our Disney Visa & Chase Freedom Visa, and deposit money in our "vacation" savings account monthly as well as whenever we have extra money. When we book the trip I put the $200 deposit on our Disney Visa which gets paid off every month. When the balance is due I use whatever gift cards/rewards points I have accumulated and put the balance on our Disney Visa and pay it off when the bill comes.
 
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allgiggles

Well-Known Member
Can Disney Gift Cards be used for anything at WDW, even food?

They can be used for pretty much everything "Disney". We've used them to pay for our trip; we've used them to pay off our room charge during a trip (we charge almost everything to our room during our stay); we've used them to purchase food at restaurants/snack locations throughout the parks; and we've used them to purchase souvenirs at Disney-owned stores in the parks and Downtown Disney. I prefer to just charge everything to our room and pay that balance off every few days with gift cards because I like getting the itemized printout of where we've spent our money. Plus I don't have to keep track of which gift cards I've used and how much money is left on them. However, if our older kids decide to go off on their own for a few hours, I like being able to give them a gift card to use for their food expenses -- I don't trust them with room charging privileges. :)

ETA: There are a few (very few) stores and restaurants (mostly in DTD) that don't accept Disney gift cards.
 
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StarWarsGirl

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
The benefit of being 18 is that my dad still pays for my trips...

Anyway, we're DVC members, but this January I'll be staying at a value. The deposit has already been paid. Everything else will go on the Disney Visa which he'll pay off. I think he has a payment plan on it, but not 100% sure.

I pay for souveniers
 
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DisneyDelirious

Super structures are my specialty!
Premium Member
We make our next reservation during, or right after, our trip and then make payments every two weeks on payday. We go at least one trip a year and it is 11-14 days long. The trip is always paid off well before the due date and then we book out airfare. We never charge anything vacation related. If we couldn't afford it, we simply wouldn't go. I'm the type that enjoys my vacation even more knowing that I won't have large bills related to it waiting for me or beating me home. Budget it like any other bill.
 
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