Solo Travelers...How do you afford Disney?

[Dashzap]

Ebay. I buy my park tickets from ebay, again use ebates. A lot of times people will have to cancel their vacation and want to get rid of the tickets. i save $20 to $50 doing so.

How do you do that? I thought tickets were nontransferable?

 

[Texans_loyal]

How do you do that? I thought tickets were nontransferable?

Some people get free tickets from competitions or buy them from 3rd parties. Those tickets are not linked to an account or name. Just ne wary of expiration dates

 

[BrianL]

How do you do that? I thought tickets were nontransferable?

A ticket that is purchased and not part of a package could be transferred until it is first used. Once used it is associated with that person forever. Also, I think once linked to an MDE account it can't be changed to another MDE account, but it can change the person it is assigned to within that account until it is first used.

 

[Shock13]

OP here...seriously love all the responses and advice by everyone!

 

[Accident]

Also, I think once linked to an MDE account it can't be changed to another MDE account, but it can change the person it is assigned to within that account until it is first used.

No, if the person it's linked to in the MDE makes their own MDE the ticket will follow them. When I was at the park with my daughter, it became a pain for her to be able to see the app from her phone, especially when going some time alone during hte trip. she just made an MDE account, we linked each other and the ticket moved right over to her account. I could still see it because I paid but she could see it also.

 

[Alexsandra]

I had fixed dates! End of August. There are deals out there!!! Some Agencies have specials during Labor Day. If you google it you can find it.

Yep I got the same labour day deal for my husband and myself. Staying at the Poly for around $220 a night! Love it!

 

[katmu]

I do have a good job, but I still watch my money so I can afford to travel.

These are some of the things I do more specific to trips:

• The only credit card I use is a miles card. I am also a student and I even put my tuition on it but immediately transfer the funds from checking so I get the miles. Same with bills like basic cable, internet and cell phone. Internet and cell phone at home are partially reimbursed as they are required for my job.
• For my trip in September, I am staying at BC as I've always wanted to stay there but I've always been scared off by the prices. I booked through CheapTickets when a Disney room discount was available, plus the CheapTickets discount and also used ebates.
• I bought my theme park tickets using the Mousesavers newsletter link through UndercoverTourist to save about $80 off the tickets.
• I pack snacks for in the park, usually protein bars or little Ziploc bags of dried fruit or cashews. I bring a water bottle from home and some of those flavored water drops. I do still buy a few sodas but don't buy alcohol. The alcohol is more because it can sometimes give me migraines than because of budget.
• I generally plan where I'm going to eat in advance so I have a good idea of my meal budget. For my last trip to Disneyland, Target still had pharmacy rewards so I bought Disney gift cards with my red card debit plus the extra 5% off from pharmacy rewards for a bit less than my food estimate. Now that there are now longer pharmacy rewards, I'm debating if I will still get a gift card or two to save the 5%.

Some more general related budget things:

• My sons are now in their 20s so I don't have those expenses.
• My mortgage is fairly low as a percentage of my income, around 15% pre-tax.
• I generally only buy a car every 5-6 years. I bought a 2 year old car last time with 27K miles instead of buying new.
• For clothes, I try to shop consignment and ebay 1st before going to the mall. I have one consignment store near me that I have really good luck with finding pants for work for around $20 or so in new condition.
• I do use some coupons but don't spend hours per week working on it. Some of our local gas chains have coupon codes that they text out. I use Cartwheel at Target also.

 

[10MoreMinutes]

Sometimes going to WDW once or twice a year means bringing people with me to split the cost of a resort (like we did in May...4 adults split the cost of a Lion King suite at AoA) or staying at a value (like we did in January 2016...3 adults stayed at POP). And if I want to stay in a deluxe, renting DVC points is a good option (this is what I'm doing on my solo trip in January 2017). I'm close enough to drive to WDW (it's only a 4-ish hour drive), so I don't have to deal with airline expenses.

I work at a job I love, but that doesn't exactly pay well...it's enough for me only because I'm single with no kids and I live in a very energy-efficient apartment. I afford my Disney habit mostly by using my yearly holiday bonus from my employer to pay for tickets and resort. Then I save during the year for food and souvenirs by putting a bit of money every month into my savings account, using coupons, and saving change and not cashing it in until right before my trip. I'm also very much a planner, so generally I know exactly where I'm eating, what I'm eating, and how much it's going to cost for every meal before I go.

 

[Ratsmith]

I've only done a solo trip once but found a lot of ways to trim costs.

The Disney affiliated hotels in the Disney Springs area have some reasonable rates and most if not all offer free shuttles to the parks.
Not to mention Disney Springs itself is easy to get to on foot.
There is a grocery store just off the Disney Property where you can stock up on water, pop(soda), snacks food you can make in your hotel room and the area has plenty of fast food options.

As for travel start checking out airline prices and vary your dates to see what kind of deals you can come up with.
There is an Economical Airline called Allegiant that I occasionally find really cheap prices on that flies out of Sioux Falls. (Closest bigger city to my town) Last time I went my round trip cost under $250.

If you plan multiple park days the cost per day at the parks goes down as well.

Once I pay off my student loan I'm considering picking up an annual pass which will make multiple trips a year worth it more.