Do you know the real cost of your vacation?

[peanut1967]

I tend to tell myself that it isnt as much as it really is....and I definitly dont tell DH all the costs.

But do we really know the real cost, including buying the bits and pieces for the suitcase, new clothes, I think by the time I have finished I could well be looking at £7,500 thats somewhat scary, I justify it with the fact we dont go every year and this will only be our 3rd visit and our last visit was in 2004 but its still a lot of money.

I have rented dvc points for 1 week and told my other half that I got it so much cheaper than it would have been if I would have booked the same accomadation...which in fact is true...but if I would have kept the whole 3 week booking in the off site villa we are staying in I would have in fact saved £800...but my dream was always to stay in AKL...so the chance came and I took it:dance3:

So do you know the real cost, do you 'hide' some of it for the greater good.

Angie

[ADP]

Although our costs fluctuate trip by trip I have a very good idea of what we spend. It also depends on what we plan on doing; for instance the podcast cruise budget was a little different than our typical budget. Our typical vacation costs are below.

For a family of 3 - 2 adults and 1 child for 8 nights.

DVC Accomodations - $0
Airfare, Southwest or Airtran - $450
Park Tickets - DVC AP renewals - $1000 divided by 3 trips per year = $333
Transportation - Magical Express & Disney Transportation - $0
Food & Drink - with TiW discount - $600
Souveneirs & Discretionary Spending - $400

Total Cost - $1,783

Of course, this does not take into account what we paid for our DVC membership.
In my opinion our Disney vacations Are a bargain compared to some other vacations I've looked at. But, please don't say that too loud.

[OKW Lover]

True cost?


Priceless. :thumbsup2

[ADP]

True cost?


Priceless. :thumbsup2
Great answer Jeff! :cool1:

[kab407]

True cost?


Priceless. :thumbsup2

Could not agree more Jeff.

[PrincessBelle39]

I'm going with the priceless answer. I don't really want to know the dollar amount. I know the last trip was around the $35,000-$40,000. This one was supposed to be on the cheap, but some things haven't fallen into place and as it will be our last trip for a while, we are trying to make the most of it. So I'm not adding it up.

[tlcoke]

My last trip to Disney last fall was in part the result of a conference I was attending. I found the DIS last summer and managed to cut my trip costs by about $1000 based on tips and discount codes I found here on the boards. I totally agree with Aaron that a Disney Vacation is one of the most affordable vacation options out there whether you are a family or going solo, though most people think Disney is an expensive vacation destination.

[cocowum]

I'm going with the priceless answer. I don't really want to know the dollar amount. I know the last trip was around the $35,000-$40,000. This one was supposed to be on the cheap, but some things haven't fallen into place and as it will be our last trip for a while, we are trying to make the most of it. So I'm not adding it up.

Holy cow! $35,000?!?!? :scared1::scared1::scared1:

[safetymom]

I have said it many times that Disney is less expensive than going to the shore for a vacation. We loved going to Ocean City MD before we found Disney. I can go to Disney much cheaper than a week at the beach.

[spokanemom]

Holy cow! $35,000?!?!? :scared1::scared1::scared1:

I thought that too! And then I saw that they are from Australia. Makes more sense now. My DH would keel over dead though! :rotfl2:

[Stitchmistress]

My last vacation at Disney ran me about $5,000 including airfare. However, we stayed at the Grand Floridian. Could I have gone cheaper? Of course. However, I chose the more luxurious hotel, b/c we haven't been in a while, and we are not one of those families who "are never in the room". We used our room and the hotel amenities a LOT. I am one of those who would rather go less often and stay in a deluxe hotel.

[firsttimemom]

the worst part for us is coming back and picking the dogs up from the kennel. Well, picking them up isn't the worst; it's paying the bill...

We pay about $52 a day for the 2 dogs plus end up getting suckered into an extra $5-10 a for extra playtime/cuddle time. then if they're there > 5 days there's a mandatory bath at howevermuchtheycharge per dog.

For a 7-8 day trip that really adds up.

[summerlady]

I like "priceless"! :thumbsup2

Lessee....7 nights at POFQ for two adults and one child with quick service dining plan and 6 days of non-hopper park tickets: $1981. Airfare from Newark Liberty was right around $600. About $500 in spending cash for the week. Maybe $200 for shorts and t-shirts, etc. before the trip, but I would've bought that stuff for the summer anyway. I spent $27.06 for a one day rental car from Alamo to go visit my sister, good deal that, and about $20 for gas. About $3330 for a fantastic week!

[Herkemer]

We've just returned from Orlando and I kept extremely detailed records on what all we spent. I'm actually a little shocked at how much it ended up being total for 3 days at Universal (including 2 nights at HRH) and then a 10 days (3 free) at Disney.

I used an iPhone app called Jetset (its made for business expenses), every time we spent any money at all I would open the app and log it. This includes a daily breakdown of hotel/ticket costs, food, snacks, souvenirs, everything we spent money on the entire 16 days. It lets you email a CSV file or push the data to Google Docs so you can see the breakdown.

The interesting thing is that the Disney portion is almost right in line with my planning spreadsheet. The trip as a whole ended up being a little more than we planned because we added some fairly expensive options, for instance Illuminations cruise, Blue Man Group, staying at HRH instead of an offsite hotel, taking friends to Hoop Dee Doo, etc. All in all I think we did well though.

What I'm really looking forward to, once I recover from the 1100 miles we drove the last 2 days, is figuring out if we came out ahead by not doing the dining plan. I think its going to be close.

[Minnie Lor]

I budget it from the dinner out the night before our flight to the tips that we leave Mousekeeping. Food is hard to budget without dining plan but I'm usually close. For two adults flying out of KC for a week at WDW with a rental car has run from $2600 to $2200. Amazing thing is each time it gets cheaper and not more expensive. I've learned budget tips and tricks. :thumbsup2

[Becx N Gav]

I tend to tell myself that it isnt as much as it really is....and I definitly dont tell DH all the costs.

But do we really know the real cost, including buying the bits and pieces for the suitcase, new clothes, I think by the time I have finished I could well be looking at £7,500 thats somewhat scary, I justify it with the fact we dont go every year and this will only be our 3rd visit and our last visit was in 2004 but its still a lot of money.

I have rented dvc points for 1 week and told my other half that I got it so much cheaper than it would have been if I would have booked the same accomadation...which in fact is true...but if I would have kept the whole 3 week booking in the off site villa we are staying in I would have in fact saved £800...but my dream was always to stay in AKL...so the chance came and I took it:dance3:

So do you know the real cost, do you 'hide' some of it for the greater good.

Angie

You have to factor in the money you save at home too - the electricity, water and gas you aren't using (if your house is left empty) as well as groceries and gas costs going to/from work etc. Then there are the things you may buy as well anyway - I'd say clothes aren't just for vacation, in fact buying them in the USA is generally cheaper :thumbsup2

Any sort of vacation won't be 'cheap' unless you want to go camping (and then you have to buy tents and sleeping bags etc.)

I agree with what others have said that the experience is priceless! Even if you went to all the theme parks here in the UK Disney has that special something :goodvibes In fact a WDW vacation (hotel and food) costs are generally equal or less than the same amount of time at DLRP, it's just the transport that is cheaper.

Holy cow! $35,000?!?!? :scared1::scared1::scared1:

I thought that then I saw they were from Australia :rotfl: I can imagine the flights from there are pertty steep :scared1:

[Bornteach]

I budget each time we go and try REAL hard to stick to it.

We are headed to the world in two weeks and here is our breakdown:


DVC accommodations: Free
Air far from Boston: (4 people) $300 ( We used air lines for one way and then I used YAPTA to find when it was the cheapest)
Rental car: $300 for ten days (still working on getting that cheaper)
Food: $500
Souveniers: $400

I hope to stick to it!!


$1,500 total!

[TSWJan78]

I budget each time we go and try REAL hard to stick to it.

We are headed to the world in two weeks and here is our breakdown:

Rental car: $300 for ten days (still working on getting that cheaper)

I hope to stick to it!!


$1,500 total!

Have you used the Mousesaver Alamo codes? http://www.mousesavers.com/alamo.html What we usually do is take ME to the hotel and then rent from the Alamo at the Car care center... we also return there so we can use ME and don't have to worry about our luggage either way. Sometimes we also save a day or two and use Disney transportation. Alamo will offer a free shuttle from anywhere on Disney property and the codes we use offer a free 2nd driver plus you can use them with the cupons. Good luck!!

[zendisney]

We were working on this very thing last night. I had a wonderfully brilliant idea: Why don't I drive with dd3 to Orlando because the rental car is going to cost us a small fortune? My dp and I were trying to see if we could break even on the deal. Trip minus car rental minus plane fare etc. I think we did break even of course we didn't add in the cost of time; which may or may not be an issue. I don't mind. I think it can be overwhelming to look at the bottom line but we enjoy the trips and think it is worth every penny. Hey we can eat pb& J on the road for lunch and I stay at hotels that serve breakfast so we save there too. Good post!:wizard:

[exwdwcm]

I think we are looking at like $28k for our upcoming Dec trip- that is for 5 rooms at WL (courtyard view) for 10 nights (11 adults, 3 kids), plus dining plan and park hoppers. We also bought photopass CD and MVMCP (12/15) tickets already. We plan to pay for hoop dee doo out of pocket too. My parents are footing the bill for us (so generous!!!), but we plan to pay for the out of pocket expenses. It is a dream vacation for us and we consider it well worth it. We got flights on AA for about $350 a piece, direct from DFW. When souveneirs and all are added in and possible van rental, i bet we will near the $35k mark between all 14 of us, but that's about $2500 a person for 10 nights/days at a deluxe with flight, transportation, food (including one sit down a day) and park hoppers. Not too bad at all in my opinion! Well worth the memories we will make.

[Hpyhiker]

Our normal trip to WDW is 14-20 days and we visit each spring and fall. We camp at Fort Wilderness Resort which is generally less expensive then other options. Premium campsite cost, depending on the season, range from $50 to $90 per night. Golf cart rental is another $50 per day. These are very general costs but are in the ball park. We regularly use a Disney VISA Rewards card throughout the year and then use the earned rewards dollars for almost all of our dining and some shopping. If I need to, I use the same rewards card for any additional purchases while at Disney. Those new rewards earned are then used for our next trip. Park ticket costs are based on the number of days we plan to visit the parks, usually 3-4 times during the trip. I guess we should include travel expenses which include gasoline plus a couple of nights traveling. Our real savings come from being able to use the motorhome as our base. We prepare many of our meals in the MH saving mucho dollars.

At least once each year we bring the grandkids plus a parent. Now that gets expensive! That is just part of our "fun expenses" and I wouldn't trade those experiences regardless of the cost. They're only kids once!

Do we spend too much? Probably. Will we stop visiting WDW? Absolutely not. I'm a 68 year young Disney fan (is that an abbreviation for fanatic?) and don't plan to change.:thumbsup2

[spaddy]

This is an interesting thread because I was just commenting on how our Disney vacations seem to be the cheapest.

We just went to Baltimore and went to the aquarium and rode the Duck Tours. The price for these (2) thing for three of us cost us more than using 1 day off of our non expiring park hoppers. I always feel like the cost of the Disney tickets are very expensive, but when you compare to other activites it is really not that bad. For about $120/day for the three of us we can have a really great day at Disney.

I always include the cost of DVC dues when I figure out our cost, but at only $600/year it is not that bad. I would consider staying off site, but paying $12/day for parking really burns me. I know it is a very small portion of what I am paying, but paying that much for parking just kills me.

I have not tried the dining plan since it changed, but I always thought that was a very good deal. Without the tip being included I am not sure if it is such a good deal anymore.

[DSNY4ever]

Ugh, I try not to think about how much our trips really cost. The worst part is that I work on contract and so I get no benefits (no vacation or holiday time off), so when I leave that is just straight money lost. So although I budget and calculate out every dime of our trip, I try not to remind myself that I am going a week unpaid... :sad2:

[TXYankee]

I don't think DVC points are "free" lodging.

If there is a plan like that, please let me know!!!:hippie:

[goofy57]

True cost?


Priceless. :thumbsup2

Jeff, could not agree more it is Priceless:dance3: