To think a (not Paris) Disney holiday is possible for the average working family?

Some people just love the planning stage though, so it’s not viewed as time wasted at all. I adore planning holidays!

Ridiculous comment. Greece isn’t a ‘place’, it’s a country comprised of many islands & the mainland. For example, Mykonos is completely different to a smaller, quieter island like Naxos. Saying you dislike Greece is like saying you dislike the UK.

We are going for 18 nights in August, it’s our only abroad holiday this year though. We do prioritise holidays and travel, our mortgage is small, cars are bought outright etc.

Since Covid we have valued experiences over material things.

We got a decent deal with free Disney dining. The flights are expensive though. Our kids are so excited, as are we!

We are going back as a family group at Easter 2027 and it’s significantly cheaper due to lots of us going in a gorgeous villa owner by a friend of my husband’s. He is kindly giving us a discounted rate.

We're pretty average an wouldn't consider going to Disney Florida or similar, the cost just seems so disproportionate for what it is. It's a shame Disneyland Paris isn't an option.

I don't really think it's anything average families do at all. the only people who have been there are on the well off side. I would imagine most families struggle to afford a holiday at all.

I have a friend who has done Disney about 4 times now with DD. The lengths she goes to to find deals to make it affordable is ridiculous in my opinion. She has spreadsheets upon spreadsheets and knows where to eat out (by signing up to deals) and tracks flight prices and FB groups…it’s exhausting. Disney not for me but if you’re willing to dedicate 10 times as much time planning it as the time you’ll spend there then I’m sure you can make it affordable. I’ll bet most families put it all on credit cards anyway.

I know for sure I’d rather go to Disney World than Greece. Why even compare Greece to DW? It’s not the same kind of holiday. 😂 But I thought Greece was pretty rubbish tbh.

We did a big holiday to the states last year - road tripping, staying with some friends, staying in cheap motels and cabins the rest of the time, keeping costs reasonable on a day-by-day basis. Overall trip cost was about 4k but that was from choice - could easily have been done cheaper if we'd gone for less time etc.

As part of that we did one day at disney which was fun, but I definitely wouldn't have done two weeks there! Disney tickets were about 150 dollars each for the day and were the kids Christmas presents that year.

If you want to have a nice holiday for a not unfeasible amount of money, why not find reasonable flights and then rent a small apartment with access to a pool not too far from one of the parks. Have a couple of days around the pool, a couple of days at disney and then a couple of days sightseeing/beach? Public transport in the states is poor but you can probably manage without a car as long as you are within uber distance of the park.

Disney tickets will be expensive but they went down very very well as a xmas present so that probably saves your xmas costs quite a bit if you plan a bit in advance.......

We have normal jobs but higher than average household income and are going this year, it will be a one time thing though as I don’t actually like theme parks. It’s cost around £15K for 4 of us including Disney and Universal tickets, we could have done this cheaper but we are staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge with a dining plan and then also 4 nights at Portofino Bay Universal to get the express passes as they both love Harry Potter. My eldest has been asking to go for a few years now. We have prioritised some expensive holidays over the past few years by staying in our starter house but we will be moving next year and will have less disposable income to spend on holidays.

I disagree with all the disparaging comments about Disney. It’s great fun!! Of course it’s commercial and manufactured.

I went as a child two times and can still remember it - even the time I was aged 3!!

Mine has been once and we have a trip in the pipeline. It’s not too expensive, when I compare with other holiday costs, and what is included. We will stay in the parks.

I suggest calling some specialist Florida companies and get some quotes from them. It’s the theme park tickets that add up but if you book for 2 years time, and put a little away each month, hopefully it will be affordable. End of April is a good time to book with discounts.

I longed to go as a child but there was no possibility of going so I never even bothered asking. In retrospect I now think I'd have hated it - long queues and crowds of people. My other fantasy holiday was being bronzed on a golden Fiji beach - I'm a pale skinned Celt! Funnily enough that one never came off either.

I kept hearing how magical Efteling was so we went last year. For me it honestly felt like a day out at Thorpe park or similar. It had no where near the same level of detail and general enmersiveness as Disney. (Admittedly not helped by the fact it was pouring with rain and I don’t speak the language). I wouldn’t bother going again. I definitely want to try more European theme parks generally but honestly for me I still think Disney is in a league of its own.

My hairdresser has got her flights and villa in Florida booked separately for a good price. She looks for the best deal for months and then snaps it up.

Took my dgs to the Disneyland Paris during the 2020 lull in covid.
The park was only running at 20% capacity and we never queued for more than 10 minutes.
Disneyland Paris used to be small but I think it’s a good size now.

We've done Paris, could afford Florida but would be our only holiday and I prefer 3 or 4 weeks throughout the year. Luckily my dc agree, and aren't massive Disney fans anyway, although we enjoyed Paris

We have been 3 times to Florida, but largely because of ex’s job at the time, allowed a flight allowance so we used it to meet him in the US. Friend of mine who is a single parent goes every 18 months, universal not Disney now as her DD is 18. Guess she just prioritises saving for holidays. She doesn’t spend more than 3-4k on accomodation and flights, doesn’t hire a car. To stay at Disney you’re looking at 15k easily. It’s a lot of money.

Gosh, we took ours to Paris Disney when they were 6 and 9. It was a great couple of days and they loved it. However, for reasons you quote, we wouldn't have done the US, not least because they weren't that into Disney but loved a theme park.

DH and I were expecting it to be awful but both liked it too. It was 20 years ago though and except for the park tickets it was as cheap as chips. I recall getting the Eurotunnel return for £18.

Yes Disney usually bring a deal out end of April and they offer free dining so 2 meals 2snacks a day pp including refill drinks all day, 14 days for 7 park tickets, so it’s more reasonable I think than Turkey or Greece at present however one thing I’ve noticed in past couple of year is that the flights have quadrupled which appears main cost

Not sure why your 9 year old is obsessed about it, mine didn’t really know about it let alone was dying to go. We did one day in Orlando as we were visiting family in the area anyway. Flights we booked as soon as they went on sale, Orlando flights get crazy expensive in the school holidays.

my relative paid for our Disney tickets and for 3 fast tracks per person. It was crowded, we hardly managed more than 4 rides per person despite the 3 fast tracks. The show was good. Generally queues were 3-4 hours for most rides. I wouldn’t go back if you paid me tbh, let alone go for more a week or more.
food prices have gone up lots in Florida, even self catering you will spend a lot on food.

I'd imagine costs of flights, hotels and Disney will be dropping massively with the massive drop in tourism to USA

You might even get a free trip to El Salvador too

We took ours to Disneyland paris - it was shit. They were bored (aged 5/6) and it was freezing. We sacked it off and went into Paris every day instead which they loved - metro, Eiffel Tower, all the good stuff. So much better. Save your money for something better than made up buildings and students in fancy dress!

I’d suggest trying some European (non) Disney theme parks. For example Efteling in Netherlands is magical and a fraction of the price.

I still have no desire to go to somewhere with queues for rides that take a few mintues, food costs a fortune and not heard any good reports on it, everyone gets tired and cranky and apart from the odd photo oppurtunity there is so many other holidays can be done for the same cost

Its about priorities really. "Affordable" isn't a definition with sharp boundaries.

Our budget for a family holiday is £2500 maximum in total, some years cheaper or no holiday at all. We are richer than average for a uk household. If we didn't spend so much on other things like paying into pensions, home and garden maintenance/improvements and other priorities THEN I guess we could, as a one-off scrape together the £8k plus that google reckons a florida disney holiday would cost, but I would consider that an enormous waste of money. For me, any expenditure on that scale needs to be for something that either has a significant year-round impact on our quality of life, or needs to be something that is a genuine investment that will pay off in the future by increasing income, reducing living costs or increasing the value of property. I guess if our household income doubled then the threshold for fripperies like holidays would change. other families might well have different priorities but I think any family would need to be at an income significantly above average for it to be possible as a once-in-a-lifetime rhing

I couldn’t afford it when my kids were the right age. I could now but wouldn’t want to! I know a few people who have been.

We are going Japan in October and Florida in April single mum - carer. We live very frugally at home though and take one big holiday a year.