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Rekenna
01-16-2010, 10:49 PM
Hi Guys! Okay, I know I am opening a big can of worms here, but here it goes....

Typically when we go to WDW we stay onsite at a Value. For our upcoming trip I got a really awesome deal on the Dolphin-making it only $100 more for the whole trip than a Value. Every time we go I always wish we could stay at a mod or a deluxe (my goal is to eventually, in my lifetime, stay at least once in every Disney Resort-but this will have to wait until the kiddos are out of the house). I don't really care about the comfort level, it's more about just being able to really experience it all.

Currently we are a family of 5, so from now on we will have to have 2 standard Value rooms (which is the cheapest option when staying onsite with the most room). Or possibly a family suite. We don't spend alot of time in our rooms, we go to the parks everyday, and we really are no-frills kind of people. We typically stay onsite b/c in the past we have always gotten deals, and we are users of the dining plan-we eat alot so it works for us. We don't have to have park hoppers, we have never been to the water parks, and we don't do any extras as far as DisneyQuest or Cirque. We're pretty basic.

Okay, so taking the lid off the can of worms... How do so many of you reasonably afford to go to a Deluxe Resort every year, sometimes more than once, stay 10 days and do it all. I'm not trying to be nosy or impertinent. I'm genuinely curious. I have read on here where people say this is all they spend their extra money on, they save, etc. If we did something like this it would literally break the bank.

I mean for those of you who are able to do this, are you getting some awesome deals I'm not aware of or something. Or do you just take the big old $$$ pill and swallow it?

Once again, please don't yell at me-we're all friends here, I'm just really curious.:mickey:

DigitalDaredevil
01-16-2010, 11:08 PM
That is a good question. I am far from having a lot of money, but if I wanted to, I could afford a Deluxe resort. The thing is that I just can't justify spending that kind of money for what you are getting. I understand and love the "magic" of being immersed in Disney. I also love the Polynesian and it's grounds, but if I am going to pay 2-3 hundred a night, I want a bigger place with more freedom to move about.
On a special occasion I might pay for it, but instead I rather stay at a Value or maybe a moderate, but preferably I stay at a condo/resort for a cheaper price as I get multiple bedrooms, a nice balcony, full kitchen, jacuzzi tub, and the resorts have many amenities to keep you interested and busy.
It's 6 of one and half dozen of the other. I have always struggled with the dilemma over the pros and cons of where to stay.

marlaine
01-16-2010, 11:18 PM
We go every year and stay at The Poly. We're a family of 3. We're a little older and were blessed with a wonderful little boy pretty late in our lives. We have some money set aside for our yearly vacation.
The way I justify paying so much is this: we really don't go anywhere throughout the year. That is our one week we spend completely alone (in a crowd of many people at WDW). We don't let anything distract us--it's just us 3.
As long as we have our health and I'm able to keep saving, we'll keep going.

badkitty
01-17-2010, 02:20 AM
For me, I ususally go to WDW with my sister or my dad and we share a room. We pick WL because it is less expensive than the other resorts (and is still so close to MK) and will split our stay with a Value to save money. Since I am sharing with someone not in my houshold, it only costs me 1/2. Sharing the cost really helps. We also choose the off-season and look for the deals which can reduce the price quite a bit. If I am on a solo trip, I have to choose the Values due to the $$.

BigRedDad
01-17-2010, 08:18 AM
There are many reasons for people to do what they do with their money:

1. Splurging
2. Lifestyle they are accustomed to
3. Business write-off
4. Personal wealth
5. Keeping up with the Jones's (yes there are many people that are like this)

If my retirement plans go as expected, I will be able to stay Deluxe multiple times a year when I am 60. I probably would not do it often anyway, but who knows. My lifestyle is not glamorous and I do not spend enough time at a resort to require those amenities.

happy day
01-17-2010, 08:50 AM
I usually stay at WL. I go 2 times a year. I use my disney visa card, and I only book when I find a deal for the time. I got 4/7 deal this march again. I got free dining the last time. The disney visa card allows me to plan and pay for it all 6 months later. SO... I plan to pay about 1/6 of the cost each month in my normal spending bills. If I didn't have the visa, I wouldn't be able to do so m any trips. Saving for it ahead of time seems so much harder then planning for it after I book.

eandrsmom
01-17-2010, 08:54 AM
For us, we budget and save to afford rooms at the Deluxe hotels. We like the perks of staying at nice resorts. (We don't go to water parks, or Disney Quest either.) We do like having nice pools and full service restaurants. That being said, due to the recent state of the economy, we are actually considering staying off site for our next visit. We are a family of 6, and I found a Queen suite at a local hotel for $129.00 a night. The hotel is only a few miles from the parks, and is rated 4 stars. We haven't stayed off property in years, but we can't pass up such a deal. I think it comes down to what you want to prioritize. I'd rather spend less, and be able to go more often.

mouseketeer mom
01-17-2010, 09:38 AM
This is a good question. We do stay deluxes, and our trips are 1-2 x/year. We are a family of five.
We do not live large at home. We live in a regular house, regular cars, kids go to public schools. We would be what you call "average". We stay deluxes because we prefer them. We want our time away from home to be extra special, thats what makes it a vacation for us. We spend lots of down time at the resort, in our case, mostly the Polynesian.
How do we afford it? My husband does speaking/teaching jobs on the side of his regular job, and that is basically what gets us on our trips. These side jobs pay very well, and also take us lots of interesting places. These checks are a "bonus" for us, and we use some of them for our vacations. Thats how we afford it. Also, I make sure we scour for specials when deciding on dates and booking our trip.

PetefromRI
01-17-2010, 10:18 AM
Great question.When my kids were young we took them once.I just happened to have a great year financially that year.Usually we didn't have 2 nickles to rub together.They didn't have value resorts then and even if they did we couldn't afford them.Now that the kids are grown and out,my wife and I are like 2 little kids.Obviously my earning power has grown and my wife works fulltime with no babies to watch over.We live very modestly,small house,no fancy cars and cheap dinner out once a week.I make my own coffee for work and pack my own lunch.Now we can go 2-3 times a year at a moderate most of the time,sometimes we squeeze in a value if we have an AP.We wish that we could have done this with the kids when they were young but it just wasn't possible so now we make plans to go with them and the grandchildren.A trip for 2 at Disney is a heck of alot cheaper than 5 and if you stay on the boards long enough you'll find some pretty good deals also.

SBETigg
01-17-2010, 11:43 AM
I always just think that some people have or make more money, prioritize differently, or are really good at budgeting. In our case, we love deluxes. We tried moderate but it wasn't the same for us. We enjoy our resort as much as we love the parks, and staying on the monorail line makes a difference to us. Our solution is to go every few years instead of every year. Honestly, my husband just doesn't want to go every year anyway. He feels the magic would wear off or it would get too familiar, plus we enjoy vacationing in other places on those off years. It works for us.

Some people would rather go every year or several times a year and stay value. Some people love the vacation club. Some people can afford to stay deluxe many times a year. It's just the way it is.

bruin1344
01-17-2010, 12:17 PM
By myself I wouldnt spend the money for a deluxe. I would have to split it with someone.

As a kid in the 1990s, we were lucky was Disney offered some kind of deals to stay at Beach Club or when moderates were overbooked, we were able to upgrade to Beach Club w/o extra charge.

Currently, one of my friends has DVC so we can stay at any of the Villas.

mom2Z&A
01-17-2010, 02:21 PM
While we (myself, DH, DS, DD) don't get to WDW every year and stay in a deluxe, we do go on one big vacation a year that would equal to at least a week or more in a deluxe (ex. Outer Banks, an everything except Disney trip, Big Texas Trip, etc...we live in MD so none of those places are close by). We've only moved up to Deluxe on our last visit. Loved it - doing it again!

We have a vacation fund that we put money into throughout the year that actually goes to whatever trip we go on.

I just booked our upcoming trip in April at the BCR for 8 nights (Magic your way, hopper, waterparks & more, DDP) through Magical Journeys. I compared the price through "rack rate" through Disney's website and then got price for the same through Magical Journeys - saved lots of $$$ (THANKS Karen!!!:thumbsup:)

Something else to check would be time of year you go and what events are going on at Disney as well. That can play a big part in the price as well. Not everyone gets the club, concierge level when staying Deluxe either (at least we don't)...standard rooms are cheaper and you can always ask for a room with view when you check in but may or may not get it.

Also, WL is a great deluxe even if it is the cheapest on the deluxe scale. :cloud9:

Our goal is to stay at a different resort everytime we go :mickey:

WDWhuny
01-17-2010, 02:41 PM
We have usually gone twice a year and stayed at POFQ. We love the quite and really love to listen to Elliot Dyson in the evenings. In order to pay for our trips I started a buisness. It was really difficult to manage going twice a year on one income with two small children. To solve the problem I quickly figured out that as the kids got older we would have to pay more for them. My problem now is finding the time to go! Now we have more money but other Moms are counting on me and the work seems to never end. If it isn't one problem it is another.:mickey:

kakn7294
01-17-2010, 03:06 PM
In the past, we had always gone value or moderate because it's what we could afford. For our last 3 trips though, we planned it differently (and better) so that we bought APs in August 2008 and used them for that trip with a discount at CSR, then again in March with a discount at Pop when DD's marching band went, and finally in July at WL with another discount because this was the ultimate goal - a stay at WL. We also drive rather than fly which saves us over $500 per trip. This year, we will be staying at a DVC resort thanks to wonderful friends who offered their points to us at a fantastic price as long as we could all travel together. We'll be buying APs again with the intention of using them again the following year - hopefully with a discount but if not, at least the ticket costs are covered.

DVC2004
01-17-2010, 03:51 PM
We joined DVC and are able to go usually 2 times per.

For what we paid for a 4 or 5 night trip 1 time per year in a Deluxe, we paid about that same amount annually on payments for DVC. And, the interest we paid on our financing is a tax write off as it is deeded real estate. It's not for everyone, but it certainly works for us. Our membership has paid for itself twice over with all the trips we've used it for.

rubato
01-17-2010, 07:29 PM
This is actually a really great question. I was curious as well.

We CAN afford to go deluxe. I just don't WANT to. I get to go to the same parks as everyone else. My resort is lovely (CBR or Ft. Wilderness) and convenient. I almost upgraded from CBR to the Contemporary for this upcoming trip. But, after thinking about it, it made no sense. I don't have small children (son is 10) and will spend less time in MK than I used to. I can use that extra $1000 (priced it out with Magical Journeys) for so many more important things than a more luxurious place to sleep for 7 nights.

Goofy4TheWorld
01-17-2010, 11:02 PM
For the OP, a family of 5 is essentially thrown under the bus at WDW, and I genuinely feel sorry for the position WDW puts you guys in. There is no such thing as an economical way to stay on Disney property for a family of 5. People can play junior fire Marshall all they want, but you can go off property and get a room just like one on property, and magically the rigid fire code restrictions seem to just disappear :magic:

Anyway, for me, what I spend on vacations from year to year depends on my income tax refund. As long as I can afford it, I elect to withhold more from my check each week to guarantee a hefty refund come spring. It may not be the wisest way to save, but I like THINKING I am getting free money! Going to Disney is a once every 3 years thing for me, even though I spend just as much at the beach!

I am staying at a Deluxe this time because 1) I got 40% off, 2) I have nearly 1k in Disney Visa Rewards to blow, and 3) I have a 2.5 year old son, so if I am ever going to pony up for the CR, now is the time.

PetefromRI
01-18-2010, 09:29 AM
For the OP, a family of 5 is essentially thrown under the bus at WDW, and I genuinely feel sorry for the position WDW puts you guys in. There is no such thing as an economical way to stay on Disney property for a family of 5. People can play junior fire Marshall all they want, but you can go off property and get a room just like one on property, and magically the rigid fire code restrictions seem to just disappear :magic:

Anyway, for me, what I spend on vacations from year to year depends on my income tax refund. As long as I can afford it, I elect to withhold more from my check each week to guarantee a hefty refund come spring. It may not be the wisest way to save, but I like THINKING I am getting free money! Going to Disney is a once every 3 years thing for me, even though I spend just as much at the beach!

I am staying at a Deluxe this time because 1) I got 40% off, 2) I have nearly 1k in Disney Visa Rewards to blow, and 3) I have a 2.5 year old son, so if I am ever going to pony up for the CR, now is the time.
Junior Fire Marshall,LOL,I love it!!!

BrerGnat
01-18-2010, 06:32 PM
Many people can simply afford it. Plain and simple. As a family we budget about 10% of our TAKE HOME pay every year for vacations and entertainment throughout the year. A large sum goes to the Disneyland resort since we are AP holders and go often. We either take one big vacation or a couple small ones. This year due to DHs deployment we are only taking one big trip to WDW and we are going all out. Deluxe resort, club level. We are stuck going peak season due to DHs leave block but we got lucky with 40% off for military. Made it much easier to swallow! Now it looks like airfare is going to be the killer.

I also go with "the girls" every couple years. We go during value season and stay deluxe but when you split the cost three ways, it's very manageable.

A lot of it is personal preference. I sacrifice other things so that our vacation fund can be what it is. You won't see me wearing designer clothes unless I buy them at Costco! I don't get my nails done. I get three or four haircuts a year. I cut our boys and my husband's hair. We don't go to movies; we use Netflix. Kids don't do any extra activities. I let them just be kids. They go to school and to the park every day. We live a very modest life. We rent an aprtment so don't have expenses of a house. Simply put, we can afford it if we want because it's a priority for us to be able to get away every so often. We spend little time together because DH is away often. Reconnecting as a family is huge for us.

Iluvpooh
01-18-2010, 06:43 PM
Another thing to keep in mind is the cost of living in some areas of the US and also don't forget that the US dollar isn't trading that well so our neighbors are getting a fabulous deal right now.
my husband makes pretty good money (for Alabama), but our cost of living is about the same as Florida so for us it's pretty expensive. A friend of mine in another state lives in a $300,000 house that is much smaller and less nice than mine, but that is the average for houses in her area. To her what my husband brings home is pretty low for her area, but Disney cost the same for both of us. Her husband makes more than mine, but they also spend more on their basic needs so it balances out. (I guess)

Touchdown
01-18-2010, 06:51 PM
It is how you budget yourself, personally I do not go to Disney that often compared with most on this site (we go every 3-5 years) but I spend a lot of time at amusement parks over the summer. This past coaster season I spent 31 days at an Amusement Park. How did I do it? Well, 27 of those days were at Cedar Fair properties (Cedar Point at 21, King's Island at 5, Valleyfair once) for which I purchased a $150 Platinum Pass (which includes parking and water parks.)

I pack a lunch when I go to the park (and sometimes a dinner) and rarely spend over $10 a trip. I happened to be in Minnesota in October which is how I got to Valleyfair, Cedar Point is only 75 min away from my house which works out to about $16 worth of gas round trip. The other 4 days were spent at Dollywood (twice, but I only payed for one one day ticket) and Holiday World (as a coaster enthusiast I get 50% off admission so again 2 days for the price of 1) I only payed for 5 nights at a hotel as well. This and tickets to Notre Dame games are my main activities that eat up my entertainment budget for the year.

KylesMom
01-18-2010, 07:31 PM
Rekenna, you mentioned in your first sentence that you know you're "opening a can of worms here". Really, it shouldn't be like that, and I hope this discussion doesn't turn that way.

Nat said it best:
Reconnecting as a family is huge for us. While my DH isn't in the military, we work totally different shifts so that one of us can be around for DS all the time. Except for some weekends, we don't have enough family time. It's hard to put into words what a Disney vacation means to us - but simply put, it's pure joy. That being said, we've found that staying at a Deluxe such as WL brings more comfort and enjoyment to our yearly trip - and so we make it happen. However, since we both make modest incomes and know that fate can turn on a dime, we've never seriously looked at DVC in case things turned - like they did several years ago for us. In this economy especially, with no raises and no overtime, I feel exceptionally fortunate that we're planning to go back in 2010 at all.

We book our room for the next year as soon as we get home so that we have 11 or so months to pay for it. We cut extreme corners and continue to live in a modest home so that we can take a trip like this once yearly. A/Ps for us are a huge contributing factor in how we can afford to go year over year.

I know that at some point the dream of staying at a Deluxe will end. After all, we've stayed in the Values, Mods & Ft. Wilderness, and had a good time. But while the fates continue to smile on us, we'll continue to pinch pennies to make our dream trip come true each year. :mickey:

Ian
01-18-2010, 07:44 PM
DVC does the trick for us. Between what we save on accomodations and annual passes, the trips really don't cost very much (relatively speaking) and, of course, the villas are fabulous.

tundramom
01-18-2010, 08:13 PM
There a lot of good points being mentioned. My DD often laments that her friends haven't been to WDW and so "don't get it" when she is excited for the next trip. I always point out to her that these friends have full time stay at home moms. My DH and I work full time +, we choose to do this, me because I love to work and my DH doesn't have benefits, DH plans on downscaling his job duties in 3 yrs when our house is paid off. Another huge benefit for us is my DH drives a work provided vehicle (gas, insurance, et al) granted it is a big empty delivery van, but whenever a friend moves we're always the first ones called;) Only having one car to pony up $ for is huge when you think about it. We liked Mods as well as Deluxes, but after adding up what we spent on our last nonDVC trip (10 days at WL) DVC became a no brainer for us. My pat line to people who say "how do you do it?' is this : "We work for our vacations" in other words, other than dinner out on Sat. nights we save everything for our time together on vacation. We really make sure that that time is special in every way.

Georgesgirl1
01-18-2010, 08:32 PM
When I was little we went to WDW every other year, but never stayed on property until I was in college. At that point my mom had gone back to work full time since there were no kids at home and my dad was making more as well.
When DH and I were first married we stayed at values or at Ft. Wilderness in a pop up until a few years ago when my parents bought DVC. They bought enough points to get a 2 bedroom or more once or twice a year. Luckily they invite us along most of the time. Sometimes they even give us points to use however we like. So for us, it is all thanks to my very generous and amazing parents!

coneygoil
01-19-2010, 09:26 AM
Sadly, I can't answer that question since my family has rarely been able to stay at a deluxe resort. We got to stay at WL once many years ago, but it came about because of a good deal. My parents stayed at Contempary a few years ago, once again from a good deal.

We're very blessed to get to go to WDW once or twice a year. We use to stay at Riverside (our home resort), but that's even too expensive now. So, we've moved to POP the last few years. Now we have two rooms since I got married last year, but thankfully, POP has good prices! :thumbsup:

One day I hope to stay at Poly or WL again. That just may take a couple years to save up for. :unsure:

LynneM
01-19-2010, 10:42 AM
DVC.

I worked out the 'cost' for my stay in a savannah view studio at AKV last March. Came to about $95 a night, by the most conservative calculation. And that was with the original purchase price worked in, even though I paid it off years ago, and broke even a couple of years ago.

MarkC
01-19-2010, 11:26 AM
As usual lots of good advice on here. Since you are in Kentucky and within driving distance, you can consider a couple of ideas. First, someone else mentioned DVC. If you like to stay in deluxe resorts this is a great way to do so on a yearly basis at an affordable cost. There are some great deals right now due to the economy. Check the Timeshare Store for options. We then use a Disney Visa and charge everything. It pays for our fees and leaves us a little left over for other things. The other thing you can do is buy annual passes and make the most use of them. For instance, in 2008 we went the 2nd week of August, bought annual passes and made sure our next trip was the first week of August. Our 2nd trip had no ticket or motel cost due to the items above. So you have to be a little creative but there are options. PM me if you want more info. Mark

PlutoPlanet
01-19-2010, 12:17 PM
We don't stay 10 days. DVC helps us go every year. Our point of view is that DVC is good if you use it. We do.

whitney37354
01-19-2010, 12:35 PM
We're taking a "once-in-a-lifetime" vacation that we can't afford. We're putting it on our credit card, spreading the payments out from Aug. 09 to April '10. We're staying at CR, atrium club, MK view, with DxDP, & waterparks & more.

DH wasn't thrilled about going to WDW so I let him pick the hotel. He wanted CR with MK view. As soon as packages came out, I booked, and Atrium Club was all I could get on the website, so I just went for it. He also wanted waterparks. I just wanted to do all the character meals we could, so DxDP made sense for that.

If I had planned everything, we'd being staying in a standard room at Pop with Park Hopper passes. No DP or waterparks added. Eating cereal for breakfast & pb&j for lunch, with counterservice for dinner. I'm more frugal that way, where if DH sees something and wants it, he ususally gets it.

Eventually the credit card will be paid down and we'll have scrapbooks full of WDW memories. If DH is sprinkled with pixie dust, we'll try my way next time to save some money!:blush:

javamama
01-19-2010, 04:13 PM
The last two years were our splurge years we took large family trips to wdw, that were grand in nature. For us to stay in the Princess Suite with hopper passes it wasn't horrible. It would have been more if we had gotten 3 rooms in Hawaii instead.

Now we have decided to take our kids, so just the 4 of us this spring/early summer. We'll stay in a deluxe, because we like that style of resort, and we like club level services. My dh works hard, we want to treat our kids to another nice vacation this year. We also are lucky that we don't pay to fly again, so that saves us 800-1000 a trip.

betteratmk
01-19-2010, 06:29 PM
:mickey: i guess it's whats important to you!!! Wehave a very large family with only 1 left at home now. DS will soon be 13. When the other 6 were home we didn't stay on-site. Most of the times 2-3 of them would have a friend!! We still do value or moderate resorts, Our priority then and now was education, all of our kids went to private school, all 6 have their degree, 4 of them have their Masters and 2 are talking about their Doctorate. Now however we can go 1-2 times a year :D

diz_girl
01-20-2010, 04:26 PM
I've only ever stayed at Deluxes, first with my parents and now on my own. I'm a big budgeter and I actually have a cash-flow spreadsheet for an entire year that shows all my money coming in and going out, and I set aside funds for 'car savings', 'disney savings', etc. So I plan for it, but we don't stay for 10 days, just 6 nights, and I usually get a standard room, not club-level. For our last trip we purchased 10-day non-expiring passes and used only five days on them. On our next trip we have the remaining five days and won't have to worry about paying for them. We don't really splurge on souveniers either, probably about $100-$200 per trip, and they are paid for using our Disney Visa points and we pay off the balance every month.

That being said, DH and I are a dual-income couple who earn a good salary, even for New Jersey. However, the cost of living here is quite high, but we don't live an expensive lifestyle. My car cost me under $20K five years ago. I probably only bought $300 in new clothes in the past two years (maybe it shows). Our computers (desktop and laptop) were purchased in 2003 (no I'm not kidding) and our iPods were either free with a purchase of four new tires or a Christmas gift. We don't have a boat or RV (or both) sitting in our driveway like everyone else on our street and we vacation once or twice a year. Since DS was born in 2007 we rarely eat out and the last movie that I saw in the theaters was Star Trek (awesome!) and we generally use Netflix for movies. We aim to visit WDW once every two years, on top of our annual vacation.

Because we plan to go every other year, we just bought into DVC and will be able to stay in a 2-br villa with a decent view every other year. It is not for everyone, but I think that it makes sense for us.

I kind of agree with the comment that families of 5 get thrown under the bus. However, for the first (almost) 20 years of the existence of WDW, your choice for a family of 5 was either a Deluxe resort or Fort Wilderness or staying way over at the (formerly) Lake Buena Vista Village. At least now there is Alligator Bayou at POR and the All-Star Family Suites. But things haven't really chaged over the past 40 years.

Disney Doll
01-23-2010, 03:30 PM
I think there are all kinds of factors at play, different income levels, different priorities, different vacation styles. When DH and I first started going as a young couple in our 20's we stayed at values and we really saved for those trips. Now that we can afford more we prefer moderates. We could afford deluxes, but for us it's just not worth the extra cost. When we do stay deluxe we go with my parents who are DVC owners. They treat the entire family to a trip every few years. They are at a different place in life where they can spend more comfortably and once grandkids entered the mix Disney trips became a priority for them. We really have the best of both worlds, trips every year with just our small family and then extended family trips with my parents and my brother's family.

In my dreams
01-23-2010, 04:37 PM
:mickey: Thanks for taking my first post!
I've previously stayed at a Deluxe -POLY and a MODERATE-POFQ and Value- ASMUSIC and POP. Also 2 of the DD hotels. The decision for where I'm plunking my $$ is how much I've saved ahead of time and how long it will take me to pay off the balance. Unfortunately for me, I usually have a very small time frame to get down to WDW and can't take advantage of the "deals":(

JenniferS.
01-23-2010, 04:41 PM
It's called our income tax return. Instead of paying off our bills and such, we use it for our annual disney trip. This year we are finally being responsible and paying our bills and next year we will go to WDW.

mudpuppysmom
01-23-2010, 06:44 PM
Someone else said this, but what we do is....we don't live in a big fancy house, we don't drive brand new cars every three or four years (we drive em til they die), we don't eat out much, we grow our own garden and can and freeze much of what we eat thru the winter, my husband is also in the military so we are afforded the discount when Disney offers it -- that is how we have stayed at AKL twice.

That said, my son would like to stay at the Poly, my DH wants to stay at WL and I'd like to stay at the BC, but I don't see it in the near future for us. We have said we are going to forego DW this year and do an Alaskan cruise with Disney next year -- which the airfare will really bite into that budget, but we'll save enough and go......I just don't like the idea of no vacation this year, but sometime you have to put on your big girl panties and deal.

Also, we don't spend that much time in the hotel to justify spending a ton on a room! Altho, our past trip in Oct. 09 I'm sure it would have been nicer to be at an actual Disney resort since both our kids were sick one after the other the entire week we were there! We usually stay at SOG, which is across the street from the Poly and it's a nice place, but they will be the first to tell you, "we're not Disney" -- and they aren't, but it's still a wonderful place and you can't beat the price, so that is why we stay there most of the time.

Maleficent's Dad
01-23-2010, 08:38 PM
How do so many of you reasonably afford to go to a Deluxe Resort every year, sometimes more than once, stay 10 days and do it all. I'm not trying to be nosy or impertinent. I'm genuinely curious. I have read on here where people say this is all they spend their extra money on, they save, etc. If we did something like this it would literally break the bank.

I mean for those of you who are able to do this, are you getting some awesome deals I'm not aware of or something. Or do you just take the big old $$$ pill and swallow it?
I'm happy that this thread has been very calm, and posters have reasonably answered & responded to your question. :thumbsup:

My answer is covered in much of what has already been stated. Ian summed it up best - between DVC & AP's, the trips don't cost us too much.

Additionally, there are many people who can afford these deluxe trips, and there are many who will sacrifice their "regular" home lives in order to afford these deluxe trips.

When DW & I were first starting our lives together, we tried putting together moderate packages as best we could. By the mid-90's we were able to stay at the GF for the first time. Not long after that - we went with DVC. We are blessed with decent incomes, yes, but we also put family & vacation times as a priority. It is very important to us to get away as a family. And with the number of trips we now make, the resorts are very important to us as well - so we use DVC. And we spend a lot of time at the resort(s)! So resort choice is extremely important to us.

Dining is also important because those are the times when we as a family sit down together and decompress, and we talk! So we sit at TS restaurants daily; this way, even if we're running ragged in the parks, we know we have some quality time to sit & communicate together. It is a priority to us! (As is good food!)

I know that I'm lucky - but as I said, we prioritize vacation time as a family! So regardless of where we travel, time off together is of utmost importance to us! :mickey:

LVT
01-24-2010, 11:50 AM
Interesting discussions.
I judge by what I can afford without borrowing from a bank or credit card. (Interest now out of site anyway). Save, prepay and tax refund all are
involved. There are a lot of people with more money who are better at getting bargains.
I want to know if anyone pays truly pays rack rate during the high seasons? Mere vulgar curiosity on my part.

Rekenna
01-24-2010, 02:02 PM
Thanks to all of you, this has been a really great and informative discussion. I really appreciate all the feedback (I think this is the most responses I've ever had to a thread).

I find it really interesting how everyone plans their vacations differently all to the same location! That's why I love Intercot-great diversity with the same goal in mind.:mickey:

I hope everyone has fun creating their next magical experience-enjoy!

alaMode
01-24-2010, 06:00 PM
For us, it's quantity over quality right now...

We went once a year for two years and stayed for 4-5 days at the Poly each time.

My DS absolutely loves WDW, so I found myself looking for a way to visit more often. DS has some significant special needs, so it means a lot to us to see him enjoy himself so thoroughly!

I won't, however, go into debt for a vacation because the stress of the debt would ruin the trip for me!

We discovered Pop Century, and now we go twice a year for 4-5 days each visit.

We're basically spending the same $$$ per year at WDW, even factoring in two roundtrip flights for the family instead of one. We've always gotten great deals (Thanks to Karen @ MJ) on all of our trips, regardless of our accommodations.

We're having fun experiencing WDW during different seasons and we still have things on our to-do list because we just can't get to everything in 4-5 days.

I'm sure we'll go back to our once-a-year trips down the road, and I'm sure we'll stay at a Deluxe resort for those trips. I'd like to experience GF or AKL.

For now, we're looking forward to a trip in early June (first time during summer vacation, first Star Wars weekend!) and a trip in October (first time experiencing MNSSHP!) We'll stay at Pop and have fun!

Either way, or any way --we love our time at WDW!

Tess
poly07
poly08
pop09
popChristmas09
pop10

KAT1811
01-24-2010, 10:24 PM
For the OP, a family of 5 is essentially thrown under the bus at WDW, and I genuinely feel sorry for the position WDW puts you guys in. There is no such thing as an economical way to stay on Disney property for a family of 5.

We are now a family of 6! I am amazed at the lack of reasonable accomodations for larger families. We are fortunate to be staying DVC but for those that don't there aren't many options.




I find it really interesting how everyone plans their vacations differently all to the same location! That's why I love Intercot-great diversity with the same goal in mind.:mickey:



I too find it very interesting how everyone "does" Disney.

We live the way we travel, nothing ostentatious, just nice (and nice is all perception). I just can't justify spending the extra money on a deluxe. Just the thought makes me cringe. We get the same experience at a moderate or value (which is where we always stay(ed) before we started staying DVC). Our last trip was OKW (DVC) but before that we stayed ASMo and had just as much fun (not as much room, but just as much fun. Lol!) We spend a lot of time in the parks. I rather be there longer and stay smaller then go shorter and stay big. Our last trip was 18 days (it'll be a long time before we do that again but we traditionally do about 10 days).

We absolutly LOVE our Disney trips and the time we have together. As a PP said it is so impotant to us to reconnect as a family.

darthmacho
01-25-2010, 04:10 PM
To me the choice is simple...

What can you afford? Go with it. Because if the choice is between staying at say, All Star Music for the fourth year in a row, or staying home, you know what the answer is going to be...right? :mickey:

This year, we're pushing the envelope to stay in PORiverside. We'd much rather stay at Wilderness Lodge, or perhaps even better, but in order to get in the 10 days we want, we're sticking with moderate. We may even change to Pop if saving that $700 or so gets us there sooner than later... :D

azcavalier
01-25-2010, 08:11 PM
We're in the same boat you are - family of 5. We used to stay at Value resorts when our youngest was a baby, but now we have to go up to a moderate. It's actually a good thing - I'm cheap, and this makes me HAVE to step up and stay at a nicer place! We really love PORiverside though. The under bed trundle is a great thing! We don't really go deluxe - I'd rather go more often!

We put money away all year a little at a time and go when we get free dining: free dining saves us about $170/day now that our oldest two are over 10. Also, if you get paid every two weeks rather than twice a month, there are 2 months a year with one extra paycheck - we put some of that money (that would ordinarily be used for fixed bills) towards our trip. Our souvenir money comes from our DIsney rewards points.

Good luck with saving!

DVCJohn
01-26-2010, 03:23 PM
I stayed on property for the first time in 2000 at the All Star Movies Resort. I really liked staying at a WDW resort since the only experiences that I had was at cheap off site locations. I saw the advertisment for DVC on the Disney cable and visited an Open House. I purchased immediatly at BWV. I now average 2 trips a year do WDW. This December I am taking my parents for 5 days to the GF using my points. Now some DVC members will say that is a waste of points since the accomodations require a greater number than a DVC location but I guess it depends on what value you put on the experience. Christmastime at the Grand Floridian is something that I have always wanted to see. My parents are getting up in years so any enjoyment that I can bring to them in the time they have left is worth any amount.

MississippiDisneyFreak
01-26-2010, 04:20 PM
I often how wonder too how people can go so often and stay in a Deluxe....we only go every three years and it takes a lot of saving to pay for staying in a values or moderates...I would have to go into debt to stay Deluxe level and I refuse to go into debt for a vacation...but I am just happy to be in WDW wherever I stay, maybe one day I'll have the money but for now values works for me:)

vicster
01-26-2010, 04:41 PM
Free Dining! We haven't paid for meals at WDW in years.

Disney_Barbie
01-28-2010, 11:41 AM
Hmmm, I guess I would say that for us, it's about daily "splurges" vs. semi-annual splurges. Obviously, no matter how much you save, different people have different incomes and different expenses.
But as far as savings go : We love to cook, so we make almost all our meals at home. We might go out to eat or order take-out like twice a year at the most (except of course dinning on vacation, then we hit up the best resturants). I carefully plan out our meals based on the week's sales fliers and such.
We don't stop for a coffee & a bagel in the morning, we bring our own coffee to work in tumblers. To us, it's those little things that add up.
Then by the time vaca rolls around (which is about twice a year) we have the funds to really live it up. But to each his own! I know many people that think of vaca as just one week of your year, they'd prefer make their lives easier on a day to day basis (IE - not having to worry about cooking dinner 7nts a week or pre-setting the coffee pot at night) I'm not downing those people, I'm just saying differnt strokes for different folks. (But to us, that $1.89 for a large coffee... 5 days a week, for the 2 of us is almost $1,000 a year. So just by bringing our own coffee, we "earned" ourselves about 5 nts at a deluxe resort. I'll make my own coffee, thank you!)
And I guess to an extent, we live it up ONCE we're actually on vacation, but are bargin hunters when planning the process. We stay in Deluxe but utilize AP rates (or recently renting vacation club points from DVC members) We get annual passes and really make the most of them. We buy a Tables in Wonderland membership and it pays for itself after about 2 "signature" meals. This way we get to experience the best things disney has to offer, but at least we know we're getting them for the best possible price.