For those of you that stay deluxe - what do you do for a living?

[winnieofpooh]

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum, i wasn't really sure where to put it. I'm also sorry if this is an uncouth thing to discuss, but I thought it would be interesting!

I've always dreamed of taking future kids (getting married next spring) to Disney and staying at GF every time (it's my favorite!). However, I know it's incredibly expensive and can't fathom how people afford to take their kids and stay deluxe all the time! So I'm curious, if you love to stay deluxe with the kiddos, what do you do for a living? Or do you have any other secrets to how you afford to stay deluxe?

 

[robinb]

People from all walks of life stay at Deluxe resorts. Some are already well to do, others have well paying jobs and others scrimp and save for years for their one week of luxury.

The cheapest way to stay at a Deluxe resort is to rent DVC points. There are DVC villas at almost every Deluxe resort, including the Grand Floridian. You do need to plan in advance (6-11 months) and usually pay in full.

 

[Tigger's ally]

We stay in all three levels. Contemporary way back when it wasn't near as expensive, BWI, AKL a couple times and Wilderness Lodge five times more recently. Last time was OKW. We are not into having a big house (raised our three kids in a house a little over 1350 square feet). Not into fancy cars. Had five minivans over the course of raising them). I have always driven an old work car. And we have put our three kids through college (all three were in college at one time Yikes) and one through grad school. We have always felt that great times> than great things. So, we save. I work for a local printer and handle all the paper that comes from across the world. Mrs. Ally is a customer manager at a local bank. We have always "cheated" the system with one of either my wife or I having an AP. Not both. This allows us to take a week vacation (family) in spring and then just the two of us for a long weekend in the fall. We look for and utilize the best AP rate when it comes out. If it is Port Orleans or All Star Sports or BWI, we get the best rate. We tend to stay Deluxe on "special" trips like my grandtinkers first trip or our anniversary trips. We usually drive down but have flown at times when the prices are right.

 

[Summer2018]

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum, i wasn't really sure where to put it. I'm also sorry if this is an uncouth thing to discuss, but I thought it would be interesting!

I've always dreamed of taking future kids (getting married next spring) to Disney and staying at GF every time (it's my favorite!). However, I know it's incredibly expensive and can't fathom how people afford to take their kids and stay deluxe all the time! So I'm curious, if you love to stay deluxe with the kiddos, what do you do for a living? Or do you have any other secrets to how you afford to stay deluxe?

I’m a teacher. Before I got my masters degree, we stayed at the All Star Music. After teaching for many years with a graduate degree, we have been able to save up enough to go to WDW every three years and stay deluxe in a standard room. We drive two days down from the northeast to save money rather than flying. We are by no means wealthy, but we are willing to work hard to save up for deluxe accommodations.

We could not afford an annual trip to WDW, nor would we want to go to the same place every year. Next year, we are checking out Disneyland.

 

[Hopefully]

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum, i wasn't really sure where to put it. I'm also sorry if this is an uncouth thing to discuss, but I thought it would be interesting!

I've always dreamed of taking future kids (getting married next spring) to Disney and staying at GF every time (it's my favorite!). However, I know it's incredibly expensive and can't fathom how people afford to take their kids and stay deluxe all the time! So I'm curious, if you love to stay deluxe with the kiddos, what do you do for a living? Or do you have any other secrets to how you afford to stay deluxe?

I believe this would be best asked on the Community Forum.
We work hard, scrimp on other things, don’t eat out, don’t go to the movies, don’t have new cars and we save.

 

[IrishNYC]

What we do for a living doesn't really matter - we save for the vacation we want. We don't always stay deluxe, either. We live in one of the most expensive cities in the country, my husband is a civil servant, I just started my own business and don't make enough to take even a one day vacation to a deluxe resort right now. But we own a very small home, only one car that we rarely drive, don't eat out very often, etc. Travel is our only spendy habit.

 

[Marionnette]

We own a small business. We stay Deluxe because we rarely get time to vacation (if we're not working, we're not getting paid). So we stay in nicer places when we travel since every trip is a luxury.

 

[DCLPrincess]

I work in customer service, definitely low paying. I've stayed all 3 categories and go every year. You can look for discounts like free dining or 20% off rooms. I save money by not eating out, buying coffee, fancy clothes/cell phones. I'd rather put my money towards vacation. Also saving all your spare change and recycling cans and bottles, that money really adds up.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I haven't stayed at Deluxe but I don't think staying there means you do something for a living that gives you a lot of money.

Vacationing anywhere comes with a variety of factors.

People do a lot of things in their home lives that allows them to spend more money elsewhere. Some people have others paying for it or a portion of it too. Some people use CCs to pay for expenses. Some people save for several years for it either forgoing vacationing during that time or taking different types of vacation and so on and so on.

Also need to consider living expenses and affordability of where a person lives.

 

[dansdad]

As others have said what you do doesn't make a difference. My wife and I make under 80k combined. We have zero cc debt, no car payments, bring our lunch to work every day, etc. We hate paying interest and our mortgage is the only time we do. Because we don't carry any cc debt we use our Southwest cc for EVERYTHING (paying it off before interest hits) so we fly free. If you have a plan and work it, it's pretty easy to do.

 

[alltwelve]

One additional factor to consider is the cost of living, relative to where the vacationer lives. The price of a deluxe resort may not seem to high to a vacationer from a major city who is used to paying high prices for things, but a vacationer from a place with a lower cost of living, may see those Deluxe prices as astronomical.

Its like when you watch House Hunters and a couple sees a house in San Francisco for a couple of mil and don't think that's too bad; then another couple buys a home in Waco, Texas on Fixer Upper for $150,000! lol Each of these couples may see Deluxe resort prices completely differently.

 

[kiford]

When we were first married, we didn't stay deluxe. Our first trip to WDW we stayed in a modestly priced hotel in Orlando. Our first trip where we stayed on the grounds we stayed at CBR. We couldn't get the least expensive room - we got the mid-priced one - but we thought that was a splurge as it was at least 50% higher than staying in the modest Orlando hotel. At that time, we never thought we'd be able to stay at places like the GF but things change over the years. Now we can afford to do so. It isn't just a matter of what you do for a living, but what stage of life you're in and where you put your priorities over those years. We either didn't travel or travelled infrequently or modestly for many years, didn't buy a house that was far out of our ability to manage, kept our spending modest, didn't take on a lot of debt, worked to pay off the mortgage, spent many years in school while we were also working, and many years working our way up in our respective professions with long hours to get where we are today. This is our reward. We were in our mid-30's before we were able to stay in a deluxe resort and it was the first vacation we'd taken in 9 years that didn't involve visiting family and staying with them (we're now in our 50's). There's no particular secret other than: live modestly, work hard, be patient, make choices. Few people can afford to "go deluxe" when travelling (in all senses of that word, not just at WDW) early in life unless they inherit lots of money. And don't assume that everyone who "goes deluxe" can actually afford to do so; they also may have made sacrifices that are different than what you would do or would consider doing in order to afford it.

 

[coast2coastmickey]

It goes both ways. My wife and I are higher earners for our age, and we are extremely comfortable. Our house is our big extravagance, but we drive 15 year old cars, we eat at home, and we try do enjoy local events and fun stuff for free or minimal cost. We can afford almost anything we could ever want. We both have worked for the same companies since college and have developed into middle management/analyst type roles.

Even though we could easily afford it, I don't see the value of a Deluxe (or any Disney on-site property), so we stay off site. We figure that for $150/day total, we can get an off site full condo and rent a car and pay for parking, which allows us to sleep in a comfortable, luxurious bed, and stretch out in the morning with our own home cooked breakfasts and snacks, without disturbing the other person if they're sleeping in. That's relaxation to us, because waking up in a tiny hotel room and paying $3 for an apple and $3 for coffee isn't our jam. We both work too hard to waste our money on $3 apples we can buy for a few cents at a grocery store.

For us, the parks themselves provide more than enough entertainment, even without advance planning, or the "benefits" of staying on-site, so we don't see a need to spend more than is necessary for a Disney vacation. Sure, staying club level in a 1BR suite on the monorail may be a more "fun" trip, but I'd say that a week doing that is probably around $10k, while we stay around $3k for our style of trip. 5% more fun for triple the cost isn't something worth it to us.

 

[AEA1127]

I think regardless of what you do for a living it all comes down to how you like to vacation and how often. We prefer to stay deluxe for the location and ease with our young children. We spend the most time at Magic Kingdom and always do afternoon breaks at the resort for naps and showers, so being on the monorail or WL makes that a lot easier. Other families with children don't take breaks or the room costs aren't worth it for them for a million different reasons. I will say that although we are fortunate enough to be able to take multiple trips a year and stay deluxe, we personally would do one trip a year if we had to choose between deluxe and other levels. Everyone is different and you'll have kids and figure out what's most important to you! Congrats on your wedding

 

[Jadyreen1282]

It's all about the budget friend. Make one, stick to it, stay where you want.

 

[gatormom2tots]

I am a teacher with a Masters degree. My husband is an attorney in private practice. In addition, he is a manager at a Pizza Hut (yes- you read that right!). Our "regular" jobs pay the bills for our family of 6 with all 4 kids in extra curricular activities and sports. His manager job pays for our trips and is helping us to purchase a vacation home in Florida in the next 5-7 years. Its all about how you allocate your money. We often stay on rented points or off-site. But we also enjoy staying deluxe when we can!

 

[Texans_loyal]

I rent DVC points and go in "slow" months. AK is the same price as POP in Jan.

 

[GusGusTheMouse]

My husband is an attorney in private practice. In addition, he is a manager at a Pizza Hut (yes- you read that right!)

Well this comment is just amazing! Go husband!

Agree to all of the above, its how you allocate the money. You also have to consider how many rooms a family needs. A single couple may be able to afford one deluxe room, but when a family of 5 needs two rooms they have to divide that same cost into two rooms at a lower level hotel.

 

[OneinThree]

As others have said what you do doesn't make a difference. My wife and I make under 80k combined. We have zero cc debt, no car payments, bring our lunch to work every day, etc. We hate paying interest and our mortgage is the only time we do. Because we don't carry any cc debt we use our Southwest cc for EVERYTHING (paying it off before interest hits) so we fly free. If you have a plan and work it, it's pretty easy to do.

Great post. It's less about your wage than it is about your plan. Don't live beyond your means, and save for the cost of your budgeted vacation as opposed to paying interest on it.

 

[monica9]

I’m in nutrition and husband a software engineer but we live in a high cost state and don’t make a ton but we afford it because we only go every 1 1/2 instead of every year so we have that extra 6 months to save, I don’t care about expensive things as much as expensive experiences. I don’t look at price for dinner, movies, vacation but I sure as heck won’t buy a pair of jeans over $40! So it depends on a number of factors. If I cared about expensive clothes and jewelry I’m sure staying at a deluxe would be a bit more expensive for us.