Seriously-how do you afford it?

col

Well-Known Member
it cost me £19?? to stay at a disney resort for 3 weeks over xmas and new year 2005. i already had the money to pay for it.

coz i loved it so much over xmas and new year im going next year for xmas and new year but im going for longer and staying in a value resort deluxe (yay!).
i came home with some money so i will use that and get more.
the day i came home i was pricing another trip to disneyworld, i travel by plane and i takes about 9 hours but it feels as if you are traveling for a full day coz you get up early for the airport and you get no sleep the night before coz your excited.

i put some money away each week, instead of spending it on crap like sweets and stuff plus im looking for a job coz i got sacked for going on holiday but worse things happen.

to save up i put money away each week, and only buy the important things that i need. i dont drink, do drugs,smoke, go out anywhere like clubs, so all the money i save from not doing that goes towards my disney fund. im already saving up for my next trip plus its my b-day soon so im telling everyone that i want money instead of presents i do the same for christmas i tell them i want the money or dollars.
 

Sledge

Account Suspended
There's been a lot of great suggestions. I really don't have much to add but we always max out how many days of Park Hoppers we buy and use the no expiration deal. The more days you buy the more you save. The max you can get, I believe, is 10 days. For an adult with no expiration it's $377 for 10 days ($37.70 a day), where as a 5 day Park Hopper (w/o the no expiration) is $234. You will save about $90 per person, and if you know you'll be going back it works out good.
 

executivechef

New Member
We're a family of 4 and never have spent $5000. We go every year and travel from MA to FL. This year our total cost with tickets to Universal, Disney, condo (offsite) and plane (8 days) about....$2500 without the cost of food. I have 2 boys 16 and 18..they might eat that much this year alone....:lol:
If you'd care to contact me ...feel free :) .
Guy
 

Raven66

Well-Known Member
We only go once a year. My DH gets 3 weeks of vacation a year and we go visit family in other areas. I keep trying to trick him into letting my DD and I go without him, but he just isn't biting. :D 5k is a lot of money. For 3 of us to go this year is approx. 1300.00 (just for park tix and room) and then whatever we use for spending money. We do fly, but we got super cheap airline tix this year thru travelocity. Just check around, I bought those in Sept. for this month. Good luck!! :wave:
 

CoasterDesigner

New Member
The last trip i made to WDW was in late march/april 05. We spent about £10,000. For 4 of us

We flew from London Gatwick on Virgin Economy (£500) then hired a mini van and drove to the Contemporary and stayed on the 14th floor concierge at about $700 per night (inc tax) for 8 nights we then drove to the Tradewinds Island Grand for 8 nights in a standard room then at the end we came back to the Grand Floridian for 3 nights in a deluxe oversized concierge room $850 per night (inc tax). We then had our spending money. So totaling about 3 weeks.

We had premium annual passes and took one trip to Seaworld and one trip to Busch Gardens.
 

PatsRule

New Member
We're part of DVC so we don't have to worry about which hotel is cheaper. We go once a year. We plan it well in advance so we can book the airfare as early as possible. The rates are little better that way. Being at a BCV's we can purchase some groceries on our way to hotel. We usually get water, soda, breakfast items (bagels, juice, muffins) and snack-type foods (for the pool). This saves a surprising amount of money.
 
I'm from the UK and our last visit cost us about $6000 for two of us (staying at AKL using a passholder discount and flying business).

But back to the how can you afford to go multiple times a year?

We both work 7 days a week for about an average of £62,000 (about $106,000) earnings a year.

As they say, work hard play hard.

However as a suggestion if you intend to go more than 10 days in a year is to get an Annual Pass, the savings are more than worth it (especially if you can control your spending till you hit World of Disney)
 

awallaceunc

New Member
I'm always on the lookout for good deals, though those haven't been issued as much lately. I'm fortunate enough to be within driving distance of WDW, which cuts down on the price significantly (though gas does get pretty high at times). I'm usually willing to settle for a value resort and PB&J sandwiches while I'm there (and I use "settle" loosely, as I rather enjoy both), and a lot of times, I go with a group of friends and we can split a lot of the costs. I've taken various trips on various budgets that range from ultra-cheap to fairly lavish, but being conscious of costs, having a great group of family and friends, and a fortunate location help me pull off multiple trips in the span of a year.

-Aaron
 

makonyy15

Member
I'm with patsrule on this one. If you love disney world, like my parents, sister, and I do (I'm 17) then the DVC is definitely the way to go. It's ultimate flexibilty for hotels, and then book far ahead to get low fares, and we usually buy park hoppers that continually carry over from vacation to vacation, so that helps too. The only area that 'kills' the expenses is dinners, but we see it as a vacation and it's ok to go out and splurge on nice upscale restaurants, because here in Binghamton, NY there are very few nice restaurants with character, so it's kind of a treat.

However, if you love disney, any way you save money that allows you to go back every year or every few years is worth it!
 

fkflintstone

New Member
I think 5,000 is about right if you consider everything .We fly from Maine 4@ 250=1000 ,stay 8 nights at CBR 133x8=1,064plus parkhopper tickets plus food and a few tshirts maybe a new hat ,some cofee mugs,snacks in the parks.The best thing to do is dont think about it and have a good time while your there and go when you can afford it ,or when the last trip is paid off.
 

DisneyPhD

Well-Known Member
fkflintstone said:
I think 5,000 is about right if you consider everything .We fly from Maine 4@ 250=1000 ,stay 8 nights at CBR 133x8=1,064plus parkhopper tickets plus food and a few tshirts maybe a new hat ,some cofee mugs,snacks in the parks.The best thing to do is dont think about it and have a good time while your there and go when you can afford it ,or when the last trip is paid off.


Really? I think we have done 3 trips in 12 months with 4 people for around 5,000 if not under. (I think 23 days in the park in all) AP and DVC are the most important money savers here. Those are mostly at deluxes resorts (one at Mod with cash.)
 

Shanandty

New Member
Original Poster
Thanks for all your responses! There is a lot to consider, but...

How I got 5k:
Airfare from Winnipeg ( Canada) was/is $900 PER PERSON - I have to travel in the summer- Im a teacher- and there is no way I could drive that distance.

Value Hotel w/ Hopper and food plan was about 2,000 US- thats about $2500 Canadian ( eating at the food courts for lunch and dinner was about $5-10 less a day than the plan so we opted for the food plan

Theres 4300 -add up the extras,- a souviner, a photo, a beverage,taxi to airport BOOM there's 5K!!
Being Canadian we can't get the Disney Visa ( I tried) or DVC, or a lot of the other special offers you can get.. but I haven't thought about the annual passes. I just don't know if it's actually worth it, because we would not be able go more than 1x per year.

And it is cheaper to have 4 in a room, cause then you can split the cost 4 ways. ( If you make your kids help pay!!:animwink: But if you look, the hotel isn't really cheaper if you have 1 adult or 4 adults in there. A family of 4 pays pretty close to the same that I would with me and my son.

We went this summer with my entire family, and split the cost so I didn't have to solely pay for my son- which was very nice of them- and it wasn't 5 grand.It was closer to 3500 ( Canadian). We also used airmiles to fly out of Minneapolis. But If I went alone with him, I think its gonna be close.
It really helps to have more adults in a room to share the cost.

This forum rocks!! Its great to see so many opinions discussed. You have no idea how many people you guys truly help!!
 

mousermerf

Account Suspended
Shanandty said:
And it is cheaper to have 4 in a room, cause then you can split the cost 4 ways. ( If you make your kids help pay!!:animwink: But if you look, the hotel isn't really cheaper if you have 1 adult or 4 adults in there. A family of 4 pays pretty close to the same that I would with me and my son.

That's true with children, but not adults. In most standard rooms at WDW, any adult over the "double occupancy" (2) will be subject to a surcharge. At the deluxe hotels I think it's $30 per person per night. Ouch.
 

MickeyTigg

New Member
I have a racket going where I sell my kids, then kidnap them for ransom money. That usually pays for a couple of trips a year....and it's tax free.


:lookaroun
 

shmmrname

Active Member
It's manageable if you have time to plan for the expenses, and you really do everything as cost-effective as you can. It helps that my group of 4 or 5 usually split a room, drive from FL, and tend to skip breakfasts. WDW sucks if you are always worried about money, so there's no point in going if your going to worry about every dollar you spend.
 

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