How do people my age afford to go to Disney so much?!

[erc]

Or have children early and have them out of the house in your 40s while you still have energy, time and money. LOL. There is no wrong way.

In theory that is a great idea. I'm seeing a lot more young people that are having a hard time getting out of the house. More than in previous generations.

 

[erc]

If you have zero debt other than reasonable mortgage/student loan (pay off credit card balance every month), max out 401(k) at work, max out yearly IRA contribution, then I say visit WDW/DL as much as you want.

So only after you contribute $25,500 to your 401K and IRA can you visit WDW? SMH...

 

[Meglen]

Or have children early and have them out of the house in your 40s while you still have energy, time and money. LOL. There is no wrong way.

Legit cant wait for this time in my life!

 

[crisi]

Or have children early and have them out of the house in your 40s while you still have energy, time and money. LOL. There is no wrong way.

Or save like crazy and work like crazy to establish yourself in a career before you have kids in your 30s and go to Europe with them when you are in your 40s and making good money. Then when they are in college, you can continue to travel. Which is what we did and are doing. Last year it was London, Amsterdam, Sydney and Tanzania.

 

[punkin]

Or save like crazy and work like crazy to establish yourself in a career before you have kids in your 30s and go to Europe with them when you are in your 40s and making good money. Then when they are in college, you can continue to travel. Which is what we did and are doing. Last year it was London, Amsterdam, Sydney and Tanzania.

And that's perfectly valid also.

 

[erc]

Or save like crazy and work like crazy to establish yourself in a career before you have kids in your 30s and go to Europe with them when you are in your 40s and making good money. Then when they are in college, you can continue to travel. Which is what we did and are doing. Last year it was London, Amsterdam, Sydney and Tanzania.

People need to realize that the median family income in the United States is $60K. I have two kids in college and because I make a pretty good income, I am expected to come up with at least $23K a year to pay for them. Most families with kids in college that I know are not taking European vacations. If you are, and you started with nothing, then I congratulate you, well done. I started with nothing, make a good income but there is no way I can afford travel to Europe while my kids are in college.

 

[kymom99]

People need to realize that the median family income in the United States is $60K. I have two kids in college and because I make a pretty good income, I am expected to come up with at least $23K a year to pay for them. Most families with kids in college that I know are not taking European vacations. If you are, and you started with nothing, then I congratulate you, well done. I started with nothing, make a good income but there is no way I can afford travel to Europe while my kids are in college.

Funny you say that. I have one in college. I draw a teacher pension and work part time. Some of my friends are single with no kids or have grown kids. They were hounding me in a friendly way to join them in Europe this summer. I told them there is no possible way I can go to Europe at this point in my life.

 

[ldo]

Europe is not that $$$. If you get a good flight price or fly on FF miles, Europe is no more than other places. Our family of 4 usually stays in a hotel that costs about $200-250/night and spends $100/day on food. Of course, not luxury hotels, but perfectly fine places. For example, We stayed at the crowne plaza at Venice airport for 120 euros and took the train into Venice. No view and a 20 minute train ride. But a quad room was 1/3 of the price of the places in historic Venice. Sorta like very offsite at wdw.
If you took airfare out of the calculation, we found that a week a Disney Paris is less than at wdw.

 

[kymom99]

Europe is not that $$$. If you get a good flight price or fly on FF miles, Europe is no more than other places. Our family of 4 usually stays in a hotel that costs about $200-250/night and spends $100/day on food. Of course, not luxury hotels, but perfectly fine places. For example, We stayed at the crowne plaza at Venice airport for 120 euros and took the train into Venice. No view and a 20 minute train ride. But a quad room was 1/3 of the price of the places in historic Venice. Sorta like very offsite at wdw.
If you took airfare out of the calculation, we found that a week a Disney Paris is less than at wdw.

I can't speak for others here, but in my case, my friends have more discretionary money to spend. So it can be awkward traveling with them and saying I can't afford this or that. I'm already going on a cruise with friends, some of which are very well off. They wanted balcony rooms and I made it happen. But that's as far as it goes.

 

[ldo]

Yep. I totally get that. My friends spend almost double on a balcony cabin while we get a cheaper cabin. They order a $ bottle of wine at dinner and we don’t. And we’re not likely to be renting the lovely $6k/week villa they stayed in. We’d rather economize to travel more. But you can’t really do that in a group.
I’d also pay my kids tuition 1st.

 

[kymom99]

Yep. I totally get that. My friends spend almost double on a balcony cabin while we get a cheaper cabin. They order a $ bottle of wine at dinner and we don’t. And we’re not likely to be renting the lovely $6k/week villa they stayed in. We’d rather economize to travel more. But you can’t really do that in a group.
I’d also pay my kids tuition 1st.

It’s not so bad when splitting the cost of the cabin with a friend vs. paying for the whole thing for my husband and me. So there’s that. But I do have a friend with a kid in college who had to decline going on the cruise because of those responsibilities. My son won’t have loans. I am working to help him get out of school debt free. He’s my only and it’s the way I want it.

 

[crisi]

People need to realize that the median family income in the United States is $60K. I have two kids in college and because I make a pretty good income, I am expected to come up with at least $23K a year to pay for them. Most families with kids in college that I know are not taking European vacations. If you are, and you started with nothing, then I congratulate you, well done. I started with nothing, make a good income but there is no way I can afford travel to Europe while my kids are in college.

Yep, started with nothing. Very middle class. We never vacationed when I was a kid - other than visiting cousins. And my husband came from a bankrupt single parent household that got assistance. But my parents put three through college without loans. We all took jobs that allowed a much higher than average income, sacrificing what we wanted to do for jobs that paid well. So did my husband when he graduated. We worked 50 hour weeks, saved diligently and invested. Regular promotions because we were at work all the time. Waited to have kids until we could "afford" them. Kept two careers going even with young kids. Spent far less than we earned, never drove new cars, and now have two in college with no loans and no aid - and we can afford to go to Europe because college was saved for - there isn't any tuition dollars leaving our pockets, it comes out of the 529s. (And as was said, Europe isn't that expensive - its a $600 plane ticket to London, for us its a $400 ticket to Disney). My husband did get an unexpected inheritance after our kids were born - which helped, but the vast majority of it was us - my brother in law got the same inheritance and was bankrupt within four years. Now I'm semi retired in my 50s, and my husband has his dream job and works from home - and both of us are in good enough shape to do the things we would have done in our 20s.

Both my sisters can tell similar stories.

 

[LAS2AMS]

People need to realize that the median family income in the United States is $60K. I have two kids in college and because I make a pretty good income, I am expected to come up with at least $23K a year to pay for them. Most families with kids in college that I know are not taking European vacations. If you are, and you started with nothing, then I congratulate you, well done. I started with nothing, make a good income but there is no way I can afford travel to Europe while my kids are in college.

Some random thoughts:
- Average income is irrelevant, we need to focus on discretionary income. Real income = the total income you earn; disposable income = real income - taxes; discretionary income = disposable income - necessary expenses. An average family with a real income of $60K in Ohio will have a much higher discretionary income than an average family in Caifornia.
- European and other international travel can be inexpensive compared to traveling to WDW, if you're flexible with your travel dates.
o If you live near a major city and wait for the right sale, flights to Europe cost significantly less outside the peak summer months. I regularly see London and Paris, for example, for $250-$500 on full-service carriers. You can find a well-located room - near transit, not the city core or local attractions - for less than $100 in both cities (again, off peak). A room should be the base for your exploration, not the focal point of your trip .
o From major gateways, flights to Asia can be inexpensive year-round if you wait for the right sale. Either drive or fly a budget airline to these gateways. Last fall, we flew from Los Angeles to Phuket on Singapore Airlines (considered the best airline in the world) for about $400. We stayed at the Hilton Phucket for about $45/night - in a partial ocean view room - which included a huge breakfast buffet that resembled more of an international brunch/lunch buffet.
o Flights to major Mexican and Caribbean beach destinations can be cheap if you wait for the right sale and travel off-peak. Two years ago, we flew from LAX to Punta Cana for about $400pp. We stayed at Dreams, which is an upscale all-inclusive resort, for about $75/night for four people. Last spring, we parked at the San Diego side of the Tijuana airport and flew to Cancun for $100pp. We stayed within the Hotel Zone at a nice timeshare-style hotel for a weekly rate of roughly $500. It was across the street from a 7-11 -- beer and soda were about 60c per bottle.

It helps to "think outside the box," be flexible and plan early! Happy travels.

 

[crisi]

Average income is also irrelevant because the population of people who are planning and going to Disney is not the population of the U.S. So for the purposes of this board, its the wrong population. Average household income in 2019 was actually $89,970. Median household income was $63,030. That's households - so it includes a significant number of single earner households. The median income for a household headed by a college grad in 2016 (other numbers are 2019) was $92k The median individual income was $40,100 - and includes people like my college aged kids, who made a few thousand dollars last year. The average individual income was $58,379 - with a high school degree - $35k with a bachelors degree - $60k, masters $70k, and a professional degree - 90k (keeping in mind that the median numbers for a bachelor's degree includes both Art History majors and Computer Science majors). Putting all those numbers together starts to paint a fuller picture. Two income households are very likely doing better, especially if both the earners graduated college - and that was what we did, we had two incomes, and lived off one of them - the other went to savings (after we got done paying for daycare).

Then get into disposable income, including cost of living. I live in a state that has relatively high incomes and a only slightly elevated COL. Statistically, that translates to more people have more disposable income. But I'm living in flyover country with -20 degree temperatures in January.

So no, the average household isn't putting two kids through college and going to Europe, but its totally possible for the average college educated two earner household in a moderate or low COL state to be able to do so - if they saved for college before college happened.

(And @LAS2AMS Phucket is GORGEOUS.)

 

[erc]

Hmm, I would say the average family I run into at WDW is an average family from Ohio. Not two 6-figure incomes. Probably closer to $80K household income. Maybe Disney has stats on the demographics of the average guest.

I work with all kinds of 2 software engineering income people. Basically making double what my family makes. When I tell them I have to fill out the FAFSA for my kids they look at me as if I am just making that word up. "You mean you didn't just write a check for the full tuition bill?" So yeah, how you live is an exponential change as income rises. So don't think that your co-workers living on one income have the same experiences as you living on 2 incomes.

 

[tzolkin]

Or have children early and have them out of the house in your 40s while you still have energy, time and money. LOL. There is no wrong way.

Yes, our lives are pretty opposite of most of our peers due to our choices in life, but it works for us.

We are 38/39 and most people that we know who are our age are right in the thick of parenting. They enjoyed their youth, are just now having babies, and will be 60 when their kids are out of the house.

Our oldest is 21, so our 20s were very busy and goal oriented (school, work, house, etc). We definitely weren't traveling or doing any extravagant spending back then. But, we are now under 40 and living a pretty free life. We are planning major life changes/retirement in the coming years, we just downsized our home, and we have been able to do a good bit of travelling the last few years.

There's no point comparing ourselves with others (either back in our 20s or at our current age). One life isn't better or worse than the other. We are just in different seasons of life at different ages.

 

[crisi]

I'd bet there are far more two income professional families at Disney than single mothers holding a retail job. Most of the people I know who go to Disney regularly - lets see - one VP of Marketing at a Fortune 500 with a stay at home wife, one surgeon, one computer programmer married to a lawyer, one cardiologist married to a nurse practitioner (none of these are me, by the way), one highly paid financial analyst, one statistician.

 

[punkin]

There's no point comparing ourselves with others (either back in our 20s or at our current age). One life isn't better or worse than the other. We are just in different seasons of life at different ages.

I wish I could like this 5 times!

 

[erc]

Search and ye shall find: https://www.streetlightdata.com/measuring-travel-behavior-disney-world/

Biggest chunk in the middle is $50K-$75K

 

[Bruggok]

Search and ye shall find: (am a newbie/can't post link) Biggest chunk in the middle is $50K-$75K

Good find. In Figure 4 if we combine the left 3 lowest income blocks, about 42% of visitors have household incomes of 50K or less. Maybe many of them are single/childless, rich/barely work, or live in low COL area - because otherwise at $50K/year income, WDW (at ~$200/person/day all inclusive) would be an expensive trip for a family. Would be totally doable if single and low COL.

Many years ago when I was single and made $50k/year, I rented a room cheaply and drove a beater car. Had no problem maxing retirement funds, ate out, went to Vegas, and traveled with friends. Later I was married with a new baby and wife with chronic illness hitting out of pocket max each year (still grossed only $50k/year), and we scrimped/saved to break even each month. So I have experienced both the easy and the rough life at this middle-low income level. To summarize, I don't see how nonrich working households that gross <$60k/year can visit WDW year after year without accruing credit card debt, skimping retirement contributions, and/or forgoing saving for kids' college.