Is it worth it?

[Gill H]

Nope. We don't earn much and it took us several years to save up for each of our WDW trips (and also our Japan trip and our forthcoming California trip - neither of which were as long as we would have liked, because we had to stick to a realistic budget).

We don't have kids so I suppose there isn't the stress of 'got to take them before they get too old'!

[DisneyDaffodil]

We have never been high wage earners, and I’m not sure if we can ever afford a WDW holiday again. We fortunately saved up a few times pre-covid and felt we were very fortunate to go. We now still have 2-3 holidays abroad each year, to much cheaper locations, and have a very old touring caravan which we leave on a site in Pembrokeshire which we are lucky enough to visit several times throughout the summer.

However, we drove a 10 year old car until last week when we changed it for a 8 year old car with half the mileage of our old one. We also don’t prioritise our home very much, keeping it clean and tidy but not spending a fortune on furniture or home improvements but doing what we have to when necessary, often by doing it ourselves. We don’t buy designer clothes, gadgets or spend much money on coffees out or takeaways. But, we save and budget for our holidays and if we didn’t have the money then we’d choose cheaper alternatives or go less often as we wouldn’t go into debt for a holiday.

[Nanna Frozen]

I think some USA citizens are more comfortable about carrying credit card debt ( not all of course) .

[signtalker]

Nope ,we don’t get into debt for any holiday , or any other thing, if we can’t afford to pay for it we don’t have it , don’t understand it , only possess a credit card for an emergency never use it , never racked up any debt on that either .

I like to sleep easy at night lol ( and plan lots of holidays )

Jules

[Smilesonfaces]

We don’t get in to debt for anything let alone a holiday. Credit card is paid in full every month, car was bought cash 10 years ago. We don’t earn big wages but live within our means.
I feel bad enough as it is when I come back from holiday I couldn’t cope with then having to pay for it !

[Pep]

No our only debt is our mortgage.
Each to their own though.
I'm self employed so can't guarantee money coming in regularly. Maybe I'd be different if I had a contract and a regular salary a good pension to look forward to.

[Jabbles]

Each to their own. I put around £5K of the total on a credit card, which I’ve balanced transfer at 0% for three years. Not ideal but I can deal with. Otherwise the rest was savings. I don’t know many families our age (early 30s with two kids) that pay entirely upfront. I’m on just shy of £100k a year btw... drive a 6 year old car and own almost half of my house. I don’t think there’s a right way to do it. Crippling yourself with debt would take the shine off the holiday though. Americans love credit cards though.

[sam7]

I would 100% save up to go, even thought its lots of money - however I have never had most of the add ons. I wouldn't get into debt for a holiday though, but many see putting things on credit cards as normal and do that rather than save. Each to their own

[neatfrk]

Absolutely not worth it, and I can tell you this American has never done it.

I have only two rules before holiday. 1) trip is is paid for lock, stock & barrel, and 2) house is cleaned from top to bottom. Any variance to those...not sure I'd be able to completely enjoy the vacation.

[Gelatoni]

Would hate to come back from a lovely holiday, then have to pay for it while in the post-Disney blues! I'd want to be booking the next one, not still paying the last one.

But everyone has their own preferences and would be quite comfortable post-paying. Say it was a last minute trip and it could be paid off in one pay check afterwards. I guess that might be different.