Am I Overspending? Advice, please?

[my3kids143]

Hi Everyone,

We are planning our first ever trip to WDW, and Florida for that matter from June 26 - July 2 of this year. It will be my DH and I, DD8, DD3 & DS2.
I have read that going to WDW is expensive and can be costly but I didn't realize until now.
We had initially planned to drive from Ajax (Canada) until I found airfare for the 5 of us on Orbitz.com for $645.60 (my DS will be in lap) and since we need a car we now have to rent one.
Also, since we don't check into our Resort until the 26 and checkout is on the 2 we had to book 2 nights Hotel stay since our flights are from June 25 - July 3.

So here is my breakdown, can someone please let me know if this is to much too soon or can I cut some corners?

Bonnet Creek (purchased on eBay) 7 days, 6 nights = $900
Airfare = $645.60
Hotel for 2 nights (Priceline) = $120
Car Rental (Priceline) = $250
Disney Tickets 5 + 1 day base tix (Undercover Tourist) $670 (!!!)
La Nouba = $254.55
CRT = $140.22

Btw, these are all CAD prices.

So here I am calculating what I've spent so far and it's a whopping $2,920!!!
This is not even including the cost of food and souvenirs for the week.
I kind of wishing we should have just drove down but that's a 20 hr drive down each way and DH has to be back at work for July 5th.

Please tell me I'm not crazy and this spending is "reasonable"

 

[mrsklamc]

Did you buy the tickets already?

I think you're doing a great job. If possible and you haven't bought the tickets I'd look into seeing whether YES open enrollment is available for your dates, for cheaper tix.

 

[my3kids143]

Did you buy the tickets already?

I think you're doing a great job. If possible and you haven't bought the tickets I'd look into seeing whether YES open enrollment is available for your dates, for cheaper tix.

Hi, everything listed has already been booked and paid for, that's why I'm a bit worried now, I don't want to break the bank! LOL!

 

[mrsklamc]

Well everyone's going to have their own opinions of what 'overspending' is but considering how far you have to travel you're doing quite well. Although its more than I personally spend on a Disney vacation, it's far from the most I've seen anyone say they spent.

 

[amylynne01]

I think it seems reasonable. I personally wouldn't do La Nouba, but it's already paid for. I think you can save on souvenirs by giving each kid a souvie allowance. Let them window shop for a few days, and then they can decide what to buy with their money. Maybe buy them each a Disney gc with their allowance, and once the money is gone, it's gone. I know I'm not going to have trouble with my girls with souvies because they'll be young (3 and 1 when we go) and we just won't go to stores.

Just one quick question. Most airlines allow for lap babies under 2 years old. Are you sure your DS can be in lap over 2?

 

[my3kids143]

I was having 2nd thoughts about La Nouba with the kids but I hear it's excellent and something the kids would enjoy as well, plus I've always wanted to see a Cirque show. My DS actually won't be 2 until September
and my youngest daughter won't be 3 until August, but I just rounded them off

 

[amylynne01]

I was having 2nd thoughts about La Nouba with the kids but I hear it's excellent and something the kids would enjoy as well, plus I've always wanted to see a Cirque show. My DS actually won't be 2 until September
and my youngest daughter won't be 3 until August, but I just rounded them off

Gotcha.

 

[triciari]

I think it looks fine. Don't obsess about it, just enjoy your trip!

 

[4Seasons]

I also think you are doing quite well.
You should be able to control your food costs with a little planned grocery shopping (since you will have a kitchen in your condo) and taking advantage of coupons for local restaurants (each building in bonnet creek has a rack in the foyer with coupons, at least mine did).

I'll be there on business during the same time!

You are doing great!

 

[mermaidwannabe]

I think you are doing great especially when you consider how much you would spend at a deluxe Disney hotel plus your airfare is great! We had to spend $1800 on airfare for our family of 5 and that was a good fare from here that I had to jump on. I'm not even going to post here what we are spending total because I don't want to see it in print myself.

 

[englishteacha]

Seems OK to me. For our first vacation, we let the travel agent do the basic planning. For our trip in 2006, I did it myself, and I became obsessed with finding a bargain. I don't think we'll EVER get a trip that cheap again! Now that you've gotten the hang of planning a trip, next time you can seek out more bargains.

Personally, I've always stayed away from Priceline because I like to know what I'm getting into. I hate surprises. (I could have killed my sisters for giving me a surprise bridal shower!)

Here's a basic rundown of my costs for 2 adults:
Condo 8 nights offsite: $450
airfare: $400ish
car: $220ish
tickets: 9 days left on no expiry park hoppers with WP and more (paid for in 2007), will use 4 days
2 Give a Day tickets
Food: $450 (some offsite, some onsite, I will not cook in the condo! It's vacation!)

So other than our condo, our prices are pretty much in line with yours. If anything, ours costs more because we paid almost $1000 for our tickets in 2007 and have only used one day of them...so that day is a $1000 day thus far! [The per day costs drops dramatically, though, when you figure in 10 park days and 10 waterpark and more days came with the passes.]

 

[my3kids143]

Seems OK to me. For our first vacation, we let the travel agent do the basic planning. For our trip in 2006, I did it myself, and I became obsessed with finding a bargain. I don't think we'll EVER get a trip that cheap again! Now that you've gotten the hang of planning a trip, next time you can seek out more bargains.

Personally, I've always stayed away from Priceline because I like to know what I'm getting into. I hate surprises. (I could have killed my sisters for giving me a surprise bridal shower!)

Here's a basic rundown of my costs for 2 adults:
Condo 8 nights offsite: $450
airfare: $400ish
car: $220ish
tickets: 9 days left on no expiry park hoppers with WP and more (paid for in 2007), will use 4 days
2 Give a Day tickets
Food: $450 (some offsite, some onsite, I will not cook in the condo! It's vacation!)

So other than our condo, our prices are pretty much in line with yours. If anything, ours costs more because we paid almost $1000 for our tickets in 2007 and have only used one day of them...so that day is a $1000 day thus far! [The per day costs drops dramatically, though, when you figure in 10 park days and 10 waterpark and more days came with the passes.]

Wow, I'm surprised because I thought everyone would say I'm spending way too much! I wanted to buy the Waterpark tickets but adding them on makes the tickets so much more expensive than they really are. My DH and oldest DD love the waterparks here in Canada so I have a feeling we will add it on at the gates. My DD8 has been asking to go since she was 4 years old and she has no idea that we are planning this so I really want to make it a memorable trip for her, hence the CRT lunch. And I refuse to cook while on vacation, so that's not going to save me anything

I'm kind of regretting bidding on Priceline but I can't cancel now so oh well...
Considering I got our 1st night at the Country Inn for $40 + taxes and our last night at the Marriot for $50 I can't really complain, it's either that or sleep at the airport

 

[Brancaneve]

As my DH always says, it's the little things, not the big ones that can break the bank. It looks like the big ones are covered, so now focus on how to avoid all the little purchases made throughout the day. Maybe a stop at the grocery for water bottles and snacks?

 

[Carl Fredricksen]

Looks okay to me. We are staying onsite at a Value, no La Nouba, no CRT, no airfare, no car rental, and we still came in around $1700 excluding food and extras.

So I'd say you're doing very well IMO. Enjoy your trip!

 

[VAfamily1998]

I wanted to buy the Waterpark tickets but adding them on makes the tickets so much more expensive than they really are. My DH and oldest DD love the waterparks here in Canada so I have a feeling we will add it on at the gates.

If cost is an issue, maybe just send your Dh and DD to the waterpark while you do something fun with the younger kids?

I think your budget looks great!

 

[Jennifer in MI]

I agree that your budget looks great. I don't know many people who get out of WDW for under $3000!

I agree with the PP who said to watch the little things. Souvenirs really add up. Plan ahead how much you'll spend and DON'T go over it.

Good luck and have fun!!

 

[Alesia]

I was having 2nd thoughts about La Nouba with the kids but I hear it's excellent and something the kids would enjoy as well, plus I've always wanted to see a Cirque show. My DS actually won't be 2 until September
and my youngest daughter won't be 3 until August, but I just rounded them off

I don't think you'll regret La Nouba.

The thing with budgeting for a trip is that you can always do it cheaper, but at the expense of not getting to do things you want to do. Only you can decide which things are important to you and which aren't.

 

[tinkermom23]

If cost is an issue, maybe just send your Dh and DD to the waterpark while you do something fun with the younger kids?

I think your budget looks great!

That's what we did. DH took DS10 to the water park while I took DS3 & DD3 to DHS. We did all the things DS10 would have been bored with like Playhouse Disney and autographs from Little Einsteins. It worked great!

 

[laurafergie]

I think your budget looks really good. The only thing that would concern me would be the Priceline hotel. The hotels tend to give King rooms to the Priceline customers - so a call to the hotel may be order to request a double room.

 

[3boymthr]

If it makes you feel better our expenses for a family of 5 last year was $4,500+

Now my kids are older but: we drove, didn't have any extras, no WP, etc.

So I think your budget looks great; I wish mine had been that low.