How do you afford it?

[jjpenguin]

I know when we first were looking to "do" Disney we were going to go to Paris, for about 30% more we could do Florida. Since then we've never looked back.

OK, flights & tickets can be expensive, but as for the rest, hotel/food/spending you can make it as cheap or expensive as you want. We originally stayed offsite for $29.99 and have gradually worked up to DVC membership and staying in Luxury resorts.

I'm planning a solo trip (because I need my Disney fix) and should be able to do it for 1000 pounds for the week. I don't find that expensive as I definitely will get 100% enjoyment for each and every pound I spend!!

 

[mushumadness]

Ive managed to afford to buy my parents a weeks trip to pop century next year, but I have to save for it as well as down grade my own flights from uc to premum, but its worth it

 

[fuse04]

Similar story here. We have just booked one week at AKL and the second at Wilderness lodge, no hire car. It is certainly not cheap but that is how we use our cash. Wife works two hours a day at a school, I work for local governemnt so we are not cash rich (!) just save hard. We have one car which the wife uses and I car share or ctach the bus to avoid running a second car just for it to sit in the car park all day.....think we are the only family in the street with less than two cars!

 

[wayneg]

I don't know if there are any rules against me doing this but please delete if there are. I think its appropriate to post as it can help generate a few extra £'s for a Florida trip.
I don't know if any of you have heard of a site called rpoints? there are other similar sites but I like this one.
It is totally free, every time you buy anything off the www. see if the company is a partner of rpoints if they are you get cashback.
Example I booked a room next to Disneyland CA. a few weeks back on Alpharooms but used the link thru my rpoints account. They were the cheapest company to use for 8 nights it cost £323.72 but then I get a 3.5% cashback bonus of £11.34
Any Virgin flights get 0.5% cashback (unfortunatly before tax and fuel charge).
Carhire thru Airnet 1%.
Even companies like littlewoods catalogue give 3%.
Cruise Direct 7.5%
In the past year since I joined I have had £220.12 cashback.
If you use the link below to join it gives you a bonus of £5 when you earn your first 2500 (£25) rpoints
I also get a bonus too but I am not doing it for that. If you don't agree with my bonus go to the site direct to register.
http://www.rpoints.com/?ruid=51504

Hope this helps make a few more £'s

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

The original question implied that a Disney holiday is more expensive than a 'normal' one.

I would agree - but only to a point. I'm going with my wife in September 1 wk on site (POR), 1 wk off (Homewood suites), and with flights and car it comes to about £2k.

That sounds expensive - but for the first week everything is paid - entertainment (park tickets), food (dining plan), and the 2nd week we plan on going to a waterpark, disney quest for a few days.

Also, I *hate* *hate* *hate* sitting on a beach for too long, so when we go on holiday we are pretty active so we burn a lot of money. Our average spend on holiday on food and entertainment (incl shopping) is 1k per week.

I also consider Disney to be really high quality - so a budget in Disney is more appealing to me than a budget outside etc etc.

So adding all that together I think actually we get really good value from our holidays.

As for paying - well we are DINKYs and are spending the unborn kids inheritance

I agree i hate being on the beach doing nothing Disney is expensive but an experience I love Disney Cruise Line thats nearly all inclusive with the expection of bar drinks.

 

[Diehl2229]

Me and my wife and two kids will be staying at the Poly for 6 nights along with Disney your way package with dining, Park hopper and Water parks For $4800.00 We only go on Vacation once or twice a year. We were going to go to Jamaica again but decided to do Disney because of the kids, even though we only live an 1 1/2hrs away. But the way I afforded this trip was I SOLD my Boat

 

[Kilted_Yank]

To be truthful, Uncle Sam pays us fairly well for what we do. Both Susan and I have rather esoteric skills that are needed in government. Which is not to say that we are wealthy... we aren't, but we have enough room in our budgets (barely) to have our one big trip.

We afford our trips by...

Not going out to dinner, and we don't live an extravagant lifestyle, We both drive older cars... mine is a 1999, and Susan's is a 1996. I wear a uniform at work, so we don't spend a lot on clothing. These things helps us focus on our one big family trip for the year. I also work as much overtime as I can... which helps enormously.

A big plus is this one: We save all of our small change in a jar. By the time we go to Florida, three or four hundred dollars have amassed, which pays for all of our gasoline for the drive to and from Orlando (825 miles).

We bought into the Hilton Grand Vacation Club, and have been taking full advantage of it since we did.

The biggest single expense for us is our Premium Annual Pass... which we buy every other year. By changing the dates of our summer holidays, we get to have two full holidays on one set of passes. Frugal, eh?

Bill

 

[TinkTatoo]

We have two children with autism so like Johnny we have no social life and don't drink or smoke (well - I do have the odd glass of White Zinfandel now and again ) Our Florida holidays mean so much to us as a family that we save hard to be able to afford to go for a month once a year. It helps that we don't have a mortgage and we also have 260 DVC points which means cheap accommodation for our Disney stays. I also sell stuff on e-bay which goes towards our spending money.