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

[Lilylouis]

DD is nearly 9 and has wanted to go on a Disney holiday for years.

We took her sibling who is 11 years older to Florida, before DD was born (not thinking we’d be able to have another) and it was a once in a lifetime experience and nowhere near as much money back then- we both also had better paid jobs and our mortgage wasn’t as high add onto that the COL.

We wouldn’t do Paris for personal reasons I’d rather not go into.

Do any average families do any Disney holidays?

Currently we have to save hard for a week in Spain!

How do people do Disney?

@SALaw everyone is entitled to comment on the topic whatever way they like.

This is mumsnet all over. You get it on Disney World posts, and Center Parcs posts too. I have no idea why people feel compelled to come on posts about these and tell people how much they hate them and that they would never want to go when OPs aren’t asking for opinions on them, it’s so rude!

The OP asked how families afford Disney.

I’ve been all over the world and Disney World (with lots of research and planning) was without a doubt the best family holiday we have had which is why we want to go back!

Saving is how this will happen for us. We have a modest lifestyle; a small house, one older car, we don’t drink, I don’t buy clothes for fun or have any professional beauty treatments etc, which all helps.

Yes well I’m the same but I’m also conscious of people who can’t afford the same. Lots of people who are commenting here about how great it is seem to be able to afford to go multiple times so it isn’t an issue for them.

I would have stopped ages ago only people kept tagging me and commenting telling me my opinion is wrong , that I don’t have a clue because I’ve only been to Disneyland and it’s not the same, that I don’t even know the difference between “world “ and “land”. So it’s basically the same level of rudeness.

Those commenting definitely think they are a cut above. Otherwise, why comment? It’s not a ‘what do you think about Disneyland’ thread. Nobody cares that you don’t like it.

I’m confused. Your title says it IS possible and then your post says you have to save hard for Spain.

Because there are 6 of us. Because being in a villa is not a holiday for me. Because you reallly need to go for 2.5 / weeks. Because we’d need to go in school holidays. Etc. etc. that’s was 100% what we were quoted. Even in a villa it was coming out at over £20k.

edited to add it’s even LESS of a holiday for me if I have to spend months shopping around looking for details, taking indirect flights ( everyone I know that did this their luggage got lost ) and have a spreadsheet and plan restaurants 6 months in advance which are all things I know many people do to go on a lower budget.

We are going in the summer for 3 weeks as possibly our final family holiday (older teens who will want to do their own thing next year), we also took them when they were little as
our first big family holiday. Honestly it’s not costing much more than first time round. We shopped around and did everything as separates, staying at the same resort as last time (orange lakes Kissimmee), flights and accommodation are £6700, you could easily do it without a car but we will hire one. It’s self catering, full kitchen in the villa so we
could eat for what it costs us at home, supermarket will deliver direct to the villa. Yes park passes are expensive but the resort we are on has several pools, a lazy river so we only plan on doing a few days at universal and the rest chilling on resort and exploring Florida a little. All in it will cost a bit more than our normal family holiday which would be a 2 week all inclusive somewhere like Greece (which costs around £8k), we have been planning this for a long time so have just been putting bits away towards it. I do save the change with my bank,, anything that I have sold on eBay/vintner has gone to the Florida pot for the last year or so. We are financially comfortable but not wealthy. We are going in August, could definitely done iy cheaper but we really wanted to go
back to the same resort, which as a holiday destination in itself is very special.

Considering it cost 10 grand to go I’d hardly call it snobbery not wanting to go somewhere like that. I think anyone who feels that way has a chip on their shoulder about it themselves. If you don’t care please stop sharing my posts and tagging me 😝

We did different popular Disney World restaurants every day (Cinderella’s Royal Table, Storybook Dining with Snow White, Space 220 etc) and this required booking 60 days in advance, and therefore lots of planning before that, or it wouldn’t have happened as well as it did! We needed a planner, a list of the restaurants we wanted to go to, and to be sat at a computer at a certain time when the restaurants became available for our stay, as they become booked up within minutes! Same for Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. All the planning and research made for an easy holiday while we were there though, so was worth it.

Fair enough, but it's really not necessary to spend anything like that much, even if there are six of you. For many people a self catering villa and a shop bought lasagne and a bag of salad for dinner is absolutely fine and they don't see it as 'not a holiday'. Or a basic motel and eating each night in a budget buffet restaurant, of which there are many. Not the nicest, but for some people it's the only way they will afford to do Orlando, and no-one goes there for the food anyway. Even in more upmarket establishments the food is still going to be on a similar theme, albeit better quality.

And while going for 2.5 weeks is lovely, again it's not strictly necessary. You could go to Florida for 10 days and still have a great time, manage to do almost everything with the occasional morning or afternoon of downtime, which is absolutely essential to stop you all losing your minds. A week would be pushing it and unless you have the stamina and determination of a marathon runner you are going to have to make some compromises and miss out on some things. For very young children I wouldn't recommend a schedule that's too packed. It's utterly exhausting. Better to do less and really enjoy it than do everything and have a really stressful experience.

As for not wanting to spend time planning and shopping around for better prices and planning your trip out on a spreadsheet, I'd say anyone who wants to tackle Disney and Orlando without a spreadsheet is a fool. Preparation and forward planning is the only way to get the best out of it. Pitching up at 11am after a lazy breakfast and expecting to enjoy the Magic Kingdom during a 40 degree August day is utter madness. It will result in nervous breakdowns for adults and children, probably divorce, tantrums, frustration and disappointment.

We bought a book called something like 'Do Disney Or Die'. Admittedly it was donkey's years ago, but I'm sure there is still a similar thing available and it was absolutely invaluable in helping us plan and get the best from our trip. And yes, spreadsheets were involved and we were flipping thankful for them.

It cost us 20 grand last time we went, but we did a deluxe Disney hotel (beach club) for two weeks, all the signature restaurants and generally we only ever fly Virgin Atlantic premium economy or upper. We also went partly in the Christmas holidays.

You can save a lot of money if you don't do the Disney resorts and stay on I.Drive or in a villa, or fly indirect. Also go off peak.
You can't avoid the fact it's a long flight and park tickets cost a bomb whenever you go.

But you can do it for a lot less than £20k.

Your holiday sounds like the one we would pick, I hope you had a super time.

yeah you can do it cheaper, but you have to want to compromise.

This

I don’t that tbh. US holiday planning groups seem as busy as ever. We’re planning on going this year and next (not Florida), the political situation hasn’t caused us to pause at all.

You can do it for far less than you think. Booked a year in advance, flight out with Virgin was via Atlanta which then is only another 1hr flight to MCO. Flight back was direct. Booked with Travel Republic. Stayed on I-drive. Family of 4. Easter 2024. We only did Universal this time not Disney as kids are older now. We paid just under £3500 for flights and accommodation. The same holiday with Virgin was about £6k. I know people who have gone to the Canaries etc and it has cost them more.

It’s always disingenuous to only quote flights and accommodation though, a canaries holiday is usually a package that’ll include food, you’ll still have thousands to pay on top of that £3500 by the time you’ve added food and theme park tickets. And yes of course only doing universal is much cheaper, when most people are talking about a Florida holiday they mean Disney included.

I'd love to know how you did it for a quater of the price! We paid over £9k for our trip last September/October for 2 adults and 2 teens staying at a moderate Disney Hotel. This didn't include food/transfers/Lyfts/tickets to Universal

Same here, we've been three times to Orlando and twice to Paris. Paris is very much the poor relation but you only know that if you've been to both and can make the comparison. If Paris is all you can stretch to because it can be done for 2 or three days and you can camp nearby, or drive over, instead of needing long flights and a week in a hotel or villa as a minimum, then you will still have a really great time and its totally worth doing.

We never needed to operate on a tight budget and our Florida trips all cost an arm and a leg but they were worth every penny. We've done both villas and the official Disney hotels. Enjoyed them both, but on balance we preferred the space and flexibility of a villa with a pool to having hotel rooms, even if they came with restaurants on site and a snazzy pool that was bordering on being a water park. The villa option offered proper R&R and a bit of space from one another so we could decompress after a hectic day. We never stayed in any non-Disney hotels, so I can't comment. But again, unless you've been to better and can compare, then it will be absolutely fine and you'll still have a really great time.

I would never try to suggest to someone that they couldn't or shouldn't attempt it on a tighter budget. It's absolutely doable but it will take careful planning and obviously a few compromises. It's a fantastic, unforgettable holiday however you do it, providing you plan well. The only thing I will say is that if you can only afford to go once, then wait until your youngest is at around 7 or 8. Our three children were at different stages each time we went, so each holiday was different in terms of what they were able to do and how we got the best from it.

Under threes will get very little from it and won't remember much. They will slow everybody else down, need more rest breaks etc. 3-5s will get plenty out of it, but will still need a lot of rest breaks, get tetchy and tired, too hot etc. 5-8s will get far more from it, and cope better but still get overwhelmed, as do we all at any age to be fair. Only the 13-20 age group seem to be on the Columbian Marching Powder and can cope with any heat, any queue and keep going for a 12 hour day without losing their shit. If you have a split age group you can allow the over 14s to go off and do their thing in the parks (maybe with one parent if they would otherwise be on their own) while you cater to the younger ones at a slower pace. Once they are all over 8 they are generally old/big enough to go on most rides, but also young enough to still be captivated by the shows and the characters in costume etc., whereas older teens might be less fussed about those.

Did it twice when children were younger. Different spending habits and focus on what you want and save?

Many people spend money on things that could be cut back on or stopped if you are motivated enough and want to. Spending on takeaways, coffees, excess clothing, tattoos, fake lashes, fillers, smoking, save it instead etc. Or, wasted money, check where savings can be made and it adds up. To me these things are unimportant, to others important , just different choices.

I could possibly afford it but I am not a splurge on big holidays type. I spend money on decent food, heating and kit for hobbies so kayaks and paddle boards. It’d take a lot of scrimping for years for me to pay for Disney. I’d rather have a higher standard of day to day living tbh. Different people have different priorit

It’s significantly more expensive than pre Covid. My DH and I managed to afford it when we were at uni and regularly up until 2019. Pricing up the same holiday as 2019 now at it’s around £3k more. We won’t be able to go now until our little one is around 4/5 - the longest gap I’ve ever had in almost 40 years between Florida trips

It’s a different world on here..

It's not. It's the same world as the one you inhabit, it's just that you see more experiences and snapshots of the lives of people who live very differently to you by reading MN. It works both ways. You surely understand that there are people with plenty of money for whom expensive foreigh holidays are the norm?

In the same way that I understand, even though I don't have personal experience of it, that some people use food banks and can't afford a carpet for their bedroom let alone a 25k holiday to DisneyWorld.

It was purely just to give an idea. And no the canaries etc holidays I know people have gone on mostly have been self catering. Yes, tickets are more. And no, not always Disney depending on the age of your kids.
Like I say, just to give an idea.