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

[Grapicosoda]

I own and run my own Greenhouse wholesale business seasonally, and my Husband is a Regional Sales Manager with a Security Equipment Company. We don't' stay deluxe all the time, but every 6 years or so save to splurge and stay at our dream deluxe resorts. I would love to stay at all the resorts once. Our favorites so far, have been Pop, AOA, and Animal Kingdom Lodge. So a little here and a little there.

 

[cruiser21]

I think you’re understimating the vast amount of people from all walks of life who go to WDW. More people stay offsite than on-site as values are even to expensive for the majority. Average household income is barely $60,000 in this country, not to mention others who come from countries even worse off than ours, so paying $500+++ on one night at a hotel is a lot for most people.

Yes I do understand that that's why I asked, but this is a board where people can afford to vacation in Disney World. Also many people on here take vacations that cost a lot more then a trip to Disney World.

 

[TheBigErn]

My name is Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht. Seriously, we do ok and stay either at deluxe or moderates depending on a number of variables. Like others have said, buying points is a pretty good deal. If deluxe is out of your price range, don't sweat it; other levels are nice too. There's no bad resort on property.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I bought DVC. In 2002. It was easier to afford then. I'm neither Mr. or Mrs. Thurston Howell III.

But before that we'd have 2 or 3 people splitting a room if going deluxe. I would't shell out for GF for anything. Still have never stayed there.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I'm neither Mr. or Mrs. Thurston Howell III.

Wow. You are dating yourself there. Hehe

 

[lylone]

I am a data analyst and my husband is a customer service rep. We book far in advance and have never paid rack rate. Always get discounts on rooms. We also only vacation twice a year and Disney is usually the pricer one. We also don't eat out, go see movies or spend money doing other things. We don't drive fancy cars or live in a large house. It's all about priorities. We work to pay for vacations. They are our presents for working so hard through out the year.

 

[Chaoticsweetness]

I work as a receptionist/Vet tech assistant at a very busy clinic. I save up money to be able to splurge on a deluxe. Last year was moms birthday spent at GF Sugarloaf CL. It's expensive. If we are going to stay overnight or a couple of days we either stay off property or moderate.

 

[MacMama0930]

I feel like my husband and I are extremely blessed. Both coming from extremely humble backgrounds and no college degrees, we make a great living for ourselves. I just looked it up and apparently were in the 2% nationally. We don’t have a fancy house, we don’t wear fancy clothes or expensive jewelry. We try to save and plan for the future and we spend most of our disposable income on “doing” things instead of buying things. We try to live by the “only one income rule” - meaning fixed bills, monthly expenses, etc should stay within the budget of one our incomes (allowing a lot of wiggle room if one of lost our job or something). This creates a lot of FUN money. And while traveling with kids, I can hardly put a price on convenience. So I try tend to purchase upcharge because I find they make the trip less stressful.

 

[WDWSimz]

Normally, the way we would take our big vacation was to use our tax refund. Sadly, our children are grown and we no longer get the child tax credit. LOL. I am an Admin Asst. and my husband manages a flooring supply store. Over the past 8 years, we experienced a devastating tragedy and have had to overcome some difficulties that resulted from the tragedy. We have not had a vacay during those 8 years, and it's been 10 years this year since we have been to WDW. Although it is not a struggle now financially, I didn't think we would be able to afford a Disney vacation again. Last December we had a life changing situation that now affords us to live debt free. My husband surprised us last month when he told me and our girls that we would be going to Disney for our Christmas present, during Christmas, and staying at the Poly! He knew it had always been a dream of mine to see WDW decorated for Christmas, and our situation has made it where that dream is coming true! And, I get to bring my best friend with us! I am so stinking excited!
I hope that now we will be able to come every other year.
Anyway, that's my story of how we are staying deluxe.
I should add that on our 2 previous trips we stayed at a deluxe and a moderate.

 

[Anthony1971]

Both my wife and I are both Gofor Extraordinaires.
We started out as Gofors put in the hours, time needed and most important learned to follow the book... as you learn the book you may at some point be offered the opportunity to show people above you can enforce the book and go higher from there however by default makes you one of the people in a company that people love to dislike... always be careful as what you you wish for and want to achieve in life as looking at a higher position may not always be something you want or will do well at for any many reasons to many people.
As far as choosing what to spend money for on vacation... Some people who have high paying jobs will choose to stay deluxe some will choose to stay at value or somewhere in between -- My CEO recently went and stayed at one of the Disney springs good neighbor hotels-- Know people whos goal is to accumulate as much debt as they can before they go as they own nothing for the banks to take when they go but could of if they chose too..... it is a choice not how much money you have or do not have.... There is no book that says you should own and do this when you make this... if your priority is staying at Disney Deluxe resorts than adjust other parts of your life to do so....

 

[bryanb]

I'm in my late 20s and I'm now a marketing manager. I've only stayed in a Deluxe Disney resort once, and that was five friends in one Wilderness Lodge bunk bed room... one of the friends being a cast member with a generous discount. It felt like we were at camp... a very nice camp. My other visits have been offsite, Swan, Dolphin, moderate, and now sometimes value resorts. The Swan and Dolphin were when I found rates under $200 (cheapest time was $120 including resort fee!).

I don't typically stay Deluxe because of the $400+ per night for a standard room. Even in New York's Midtown or near London's Leicester Square, it's not so hard to find great hotels in prime locations for half that price.

I totally get where OP is coming from though. I consider myself already lucky to afford a Premier Passport (to the point where I don't bring it up with friends), which I thought was crazy extravagant until I heard a peer was staying in a Poly club room for 11 nights, fully loaded with dining plan and party tickets. The cost of the hotel can change a vacation's price very quickly.

 

[luvthemouse71]

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 nurse and have stayed at all levels. I’ve done a Theme Park View, Club Level room at the Poly, and on this next trip, we’re staying at POP.

No matter where I stay, I put the deposit down and pay week by week. I like doing that because by the time I go on the vacation, it’s paid for and I just worry about spending money and food.

I will say that I haven’t stayed deluxe in years. I can afford it, but I refuse to pay $500 plus dollars a night for a room that would be mediocre out in the real world.

 

[chelseabun76]

I work in an office. I've been saving for this upcoming trip for the last 2 years to be able to stay at a deluxe resort. The pull of the cost of a value (where we usually stay) almost got me to change a few times, but for us we only go once every 4 years or so and this is the last grandchild to turn 8 so it could possibly be my last trip... so it was go big or go home and being across from the MK has always been a dream. Can I afford it? Not really, I'm also putting my oldest daughter through University this year on my dime. But, I'll do what it takes to make this trip extra special for my mom. Next trip will no doubt be back to a value, so I'm gonna enjoy the heck out of this one. lol

I admit I'm always wondering how people can take their family to a deluxe once or twice/year, it boggles my mind because as good of money as we make as a family, we still can't do it. (mind you airfare for us way up north is quite pricey and a huge part of our vacation budget)

 

[Ntw25]

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?

Interesting thread. High salary, high stress job in Finance. I have also been very lucky to have worked in a number of places around the world in Europe, Asia and now the US. Vacations are very important to me and have been to my family too. We have always tried to add something of an education in to the trip and have been blessed to have been to some wonderful places.

Now the kids are older, my wife and I are doing what we want to do, last year we did a Halloween Weekend at the Caribbean Beach, this year Christmas at the Dolphin, the kids thought we were nuts until we told them that we are renting abig house in Orlando next year and they can come and go as they please. That was a different story.

Back to the thread. I look for deals (Caribbean under construction, Dolphin, got a great rate), but will always try to go to the upper tier of hotels if I can. I think that you will have a wonderful time wherever and whenever you go. Save or splurge. You cannot take it with you.

 

[Dis703]

I'm a school secretary and my husband does some sort of techy stuff with Verizon Wireless. Neither of us have big salaries for where we live, but above average if looking at national numbers. COL is crazy high here though. We have stayed deluxe a couple times and technically could do a little more if we wanted to, but I can't justify the added expense. I try to keep to a vacation budget and deluxe does not fit that budget. But vacation is super important so I will go without other things to make it happen. I don't spend much on clothing, car, decorating, etc.

 

[PSUGuy]

I'm a programmer/analyst in a liberal arts university in North East PA and I teach the occasional class, wifey works part time as an office manager for a psychiatrist. We're comfortable but far from wealthy, it's only since the 3 kiddos left that we started doing Deluxe. Our 'secret' is that we hit Board Walk on rented DVC points, our DVC gal has only raised her point fee once in 5 years so we're doing this on the cheap. Our nightly average rate is less than rack rate for a Moderate always, a time or 2 we got in under a Value rate.

Bill From PA

 

[lovewdwfun]

I work in middle management at a major company and spouse stays home with the kids. Depending on bonuses, I make about $180K-200K a year in a relatively low cost of living area (House was under $300K). Travel is our big splurge. We budget our money and save for retirement, no credit card debt, etc, but enjoy nice vacations a few times a year. Life is short! I have a kid with special needs and, sadly, we’ve lost a few kids in the community in the last few years. Travel and memories have always been a big priority for us. We own DVC now, which has been awesome. We love having suites.If we couldn’t afford it, we wouldn’t do it, but we stayed at Fort Wilderness on a bonus trip this year and felt a huge difference from the deluxes.

I’m not sure how old you are, but circumstances change during life. We stayed at AKL on our honeymoon and couldn’t afford Grand Floridian. We remembered looking at DVC and thinking we could never afford it. In fact, we wondered when we would be able to ever go again. 4 years later, we got a great deal at a value with free dining and took our kids, thinking it was our only chance to go. We’ve been back at least once a year since, staying at Deluxe resorts. This year, we are going on our first cruise. We are very lucky and count our blessing each day!

 

[DisneyAuntie12]

We don't go unless we can get a conference rate - those make a huge difference!

I do understand the feeling of feeling confused about how people make finances happen for Disney related stuff. Disney World is a splurge for us but pretty manageable. But then, since I like Disney so much, I looked into their Iceland vacation and realized the cost would be over $30,000 for two adults and two kids... I certainly don't begrudge anyone their vacation if they can swing that, but sometimes I'm like "Wait, am I doing something really wrong with my finances?". I mean, I've been blessed enough to do pretty well (like 'upper middle class' well, not fabulously wealthy well,) I don't waste money on designer purses or other things - would most people in my position be able to afford $30K for a family trip? Am I way behind the curve in investing, or are those trips only meant for truly wealthy families, or what? I'm not sure if I should be doing better with my finances or those trips are just geared towards people in a different income bracket or what.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I am a school librarian and my husband is a Sheriff Deputy. We don’t have any kids, so we have a little more disposable income than a family with kids. I also sell clothes that I get at thrift stores on eBay to help fund our vacations. We stayed Deluxe 5 years ago as a treat for DH’s 35th Birthday, but we got spoiled and are now planning our 6th Deluxe trip.

 

[Tinks]

We do very well.

I do have to say that staying deluxe never used to be an issue. It still isn't, but the outrageous prices now cause us to stop and re-think. We do not go as often anymore and do not find the same value for what we pay. However, we do still go.( and I feel that I'm contributing to the crazy so it makes me feel guilty!)

I often wonder that if Disney is/has been raising the prices to the point where we are questioning our sanity, how is anyone doing this?!?!