Cost of Disney Family Vacation

[pad406]

When I saw the original post, just thought $10k, I wish. But yet again the old airfare is coming into place, plus we can't travel at off season and get free dining or nice 40% off room booking. Add in that I'm not flying 6,500km to stay for a 6-10 day holiday, we're into major money. Not complaining, flights to anywhere we really want to go are going to be in the same range, and we all love Disney so it's a no brainer. Wish we could go multiple times a year but I'd say once every 18-24 months is the best we'll manage for the moment. So onto the costs

Flights for 2A & 2C, $4,000
18 nights in BC, $13,000 (incl DDP 3A 1C (DD will be 10), 21 day tickets)
Car Hire $1,000
Dog Kennels $1,000
Total without any spending money $19,000

BUT, it is 18 nights, so average per night $1,055

Say we did 9 days
Flights for 2A & 2C, $4,000
9 nights in BC, $7,170 (incl DDP 3A 1C (DD will be 10), 14 day tickets)
Car Hire $500
Dog Kennel $500
Total without any spending money $13,170
Average per night $1,463

Therefore it's more economical to go for longer!

So for us it's very easy, unfortunately to spend $10k. Sure we could stay in moderates or values, but it's our holiday. We like to take our time and relax on holidays, smell the roses etc, we don't do commando in the parks, kids too young for that, and when it costs so much to get there

If we were in the US, within a 10 hour drive say, I've no doubt we'd stay value or moderate for shorter periods and go more often, but thats not an option for now.

 

[Aliceacc]

Also, keep in mind that once you have more than 4 people in your family, the price rises dramaticallly!!

 

[Scarlett81]

For us, we've always wanted to try a one time all out GF splurge. Prior to that we've never spent more than $4000 on a Dis vaca, and typically it was more like $1500 (drive to FL or use skymiles and stay with relatives).

My hubby would've loved to go an island or europe this year...my health wouldn't allow for that right now, so we compromised (if you can call it that) on a long trip at Dis in a deluxe hotel, with plenty of time for relaxing (long trip, adding to the cost), that the whole family would enjoy. I did not want to leave the kids home for this years vacation-they're the reason we're celebrating in the first place.
Hubby is a part time travel agent. I've been to Europe and all over the Middle East...it is not easy for a family of 4 to go anywhere overseas for under ten grand unless you are using skymiles, staying with relatives, staying in an obscure off beat location, cruising, or leaving the kids home. If you want your whole family to go anywhere...its just expensive.

Its never ceases to amaze me when we say oh we'll just go on a simple trip-nothing fancy...Man nothing is cheap anymore. The BEST thing about disney is that good deals on airfare DO come along! Disney does have special offers and pins! You can drive there-Can't drive to Paris! You really can stay there at whatever budget you have, and you can build a different trip each time with a different theme or need.

 

[TheIncredibles!]

Our vacation right now is around $4k JUST for airfare, rental car and park hoppers. That does not count any money we will spend on food and other things nor does it include the cost of a room since we are DVC members.

 

[pjhootch]

Wow. I agree that if I had 10K to use for a vacation, I wouldn't be giving it to the mouse! We haven't been to Europe for 20 years (since our twins were born). We plan to go next year since we can go just us two adults. Even then we'll probably spend some time with family and friends in Ireland and England to make up for the hotels in Europe.

We have always managed to keep our Disney trips on a fairly streamlined budget. We fly if we can get a good deal, but as a family of 5, for MANY years it was cheaper to drive in our little 40 mpg Saturn. Even with 5 of us we've never gone over 3K for a trip. I do count every little penny of what we spend into my vacation budget as well.

I think this next trip is going to break the 3K mark, even though there are only 4 of us going. I am at 2900.00 right now, which includes direct flights for four, 5 nights at CSR w/free dining, a rental car for the 5 days, and 4 day non-hopper tickets. Tipping at restaurants is going to break 3K, and we are also going over to Universal for day so the kids can do Harry Potter.

We don't buy souvenirs- with one exception. I think we all have a Disney sweatshirt or two, some of them are many years old. When we misjudge the weather and get overly chilled, we will break down and buy a Disney sweatshirt. They last for years and are the only souvenir we ever bring home.

 

[dmband]

I would never pay 10k for a Disney trip
In 2010 we spent approx 2500-3000 for a family of 4+ at mod six nights
My 2012 is going to cost approx 3700 for 5+ at deluxe six nights

 

[honeydiane1953]

I have flown , driven used DP and paid OOP. I DO stay in deluxe but no matter how I figure it the cost 5000. dollars

 

[RoyalBlunders]

Not shocked either when you stay deluxe for more than a week. Would I do it? Heck no. For us a WDW vacation isn't about fancy anything so we are perfectly fine scrunching 5 into POR or staying off site.

I have and do spend more than 10 grand on vacations quite often however they are to Europe. To me that justifies the amount of money. We spent 2 weeks in France last summer for about $12000 for the 5 of us (including airfare). This coming summer will be 8 nights in Paris and 3 in London and the budget is currently the same.

Everyone has a ceiling and everyone has to decide what works best for their family travels. I could never pay $400/night for deluxe when I only pay $240/night for a 2 bedroom apartment in the heart of Paris. Too me that's complete highway robbery but to others it's their dream.

I would like to hear more on Paris as well. We have been considering Europe but just not sure where to start. (especially since Barbie Fashion Princess came out...our five year old asks if we are going to Paris about once a week) We would love some help

 

[Scarlett81]

I would never pay 10k for a Disney trip
In 2010 we spent approx 2500-3000 for a family of 4+ at mod six nights
My 2012 is going to cost approx 3700 for 5+ at deluxe six nights

How are you breaking down $3700 for deluxe six nights? Thats not including tickets, or food?

 

[ThreeTinks]

Dec 2008 - POR - two adults three kids for 8 nights with park hopper tickets and dining plan $3200
June 2009 - Pop - 1 adult three kids for 6 nights with the kids stay/play/eat free deal $1400
Jan 2010 - Poly - 2 adults three kids for 7 nights with dining plan and regular tickets $3500
Oct 2010 - CBR - 1 adult two "adult" kids 1 regular kid for 7 nights with free dining and regular tickets $2100
Jan 2012 - BWI - 2 adults 2 "adult" kids 1 regular kid for 7 nights with free dining and regular tickets $4100

We drive down so no airfare or car rental and we really don't buy hardly any souvenirs. So the price we pay for our package is pretty much what we pay. Maybe $300 to include tips at meals and a few little trinkets. If we had to fly there is no way we could go very often.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

I would like to hear more on Paris as well. We have been considering Europe but just not sure where to start. (especially since Barbie Fashion Princess came out...our five year old asks if we are going to Paris about once a week) We would love some help

Sent you a PM.

 

[mkoerner]

Every year I look for different vacation options for my family, which includes 6 adults and a 4 year old. Each year I find Disney to be the most affordable option that has something to please everyone. Airfare tends to be the costliest factor. We used to spend less than $4500 for everything, but as our family has grown, costs have gone up. This is why we bought DVC and it has already paid for itself with the number of trips taken since purchasing.

 

[EvangelineG]

Another Canadian here who isn't shocked at all at a 10K trip. Reading this thread is making me feel a little better about our budget. It's a lot of money, but we sure could have spent more!

For our upcoming trip we'll be travelling with a group of 10, and need lots of space so we're staying offsite at a 6 bdrm villa. For our family of four:
Airfare from central Canada
11 nights at 6 bedroom villa (split between 10 ppl)
1 night at Loew's Royal Pacific (mostly just to get early entry into WWoHP!)
6 day WDW park hoppers
2 day 2 park Universal tix
Kennedy Space center tix
Full size vehicle rental (split between 5 ppl)
Gas, tolls, parking
Groceries for at the villa
8 TS meals, 6 CS meals + snacks
and a very modest souvenir budget is coming to about $7000

I'm sure we'll end up spending a little more, but we'd like to keep it as close to 7K as we can. I have worked hard to keep the budget down without giving up what I feel will make the trip special and comfortable for us. This will likely be a once in a lifetime WDW trip, and is our first vacation in 3 years.

Those of you who live within driving distance sure are lucky!

 

[dmband]

How are you breaking down $3700 for deluxe six nights? Thats not including tickets, or food?

I booked 3 rooms with discount for under $1800 each
CR Garden wing Garden view

Food for us is pretty cheap since my kids are young and we generally eat at quick server overall
Tix we get at undercover tourist and usually go for 10 day on exp so it's cheaper in the long run/per trip

 

[meredith1]

I think a trip to WDW is expensive. We are doing a 5 night stay for three people, CR/MK view, MVMCP tickets with DxDP and airfare from DFW and it was near 5 grand.

Six years ago my H and I spent our 2.5 week honeymoon in France (Paris, Beaune, Burgandy) and Italy (Florence and Rome) with everything first class...Mind blowing hotels. It was about 15 thousand. So, yeah, Florida is expensive. I'd rather go to New York at Christmas for this kind of money.

 

[saskdw]

Lots of interesting comments and opinions. Thanks to everyone for participating. For us, we want to stay for 14 nights, we don't really want to rent a car, and we really love the feeling of being sub-merged in Disney (on-site). Budget wise, I guess we have an upper middle class income. Meaning we can afford luxury's, but we are not "rich" by my definition of rich.

We considered many options. We looked at all 3 levels of resort, we considered bonnet creek Hilton, we looked at DTD hotels and nearby vacation homes. The reality for us is after considering all those options it always leads us back to a Mod resort with the FD promo. Without FD we would have seriously considered the bonnet creek Hilton. To stay Deluxe for 14 nights would have added $4k-$5k to the trip, not sure we would have enjoyed those resorts that much more to justify the cost. To go value with QSFD and upgrade to regular FD would only save about $1k, not worth that compromise, so Mod resort for us. We would have considered a split stay, but the last check- in day for FD is Dec. 15th, so the only way to get FD for the whole trip was to stay at one place.

 

[canadianmom2three]

Budget wise, I guess we have an upper middle class income. Meaning we can afford luxury's, but we are not "rich" by my definition of rich.

We considered many options. We looked at all 3 levels of resort, we considered bonnet creek Hilton, we looked at DTD hotels and nearby vacation homes. The reality for us is after considering all those options it always leads us back to a Mod resort with the FD promo.

I could have written this part myself - except with the recent news that 2 kids need braces, and oldest DS just found out about a great opportunity to go on a school sponsored trip to FRANCE!!! we are feeling just a tiny bit less luxurious right about now

We ended up getting really lucky, and booking the FD promotion when it was Dec. 17th, so we are staying the 17 - 26th at POR with 8 day park hoppers (and the free dining of course!!) in standard rooms for $3500. The main difference for us is that we are a family of 5, so airfare is always the dealbreaker. We live right on the border in SW Ontario, so we will be driving down (DH wants to go straight thru, I'm lobbying for stopping). If we could have snuck the kids out of school a bit earlier, I would have loved to make it down the beginning of that week, instead of the end to miss some of the crowds, but a week seems like a lot, now that the oldest is in high school

We're headed further south after we check out, and staying a few days with the grandparents before we head home, so I figure with travel expenses, souvineers and etc. our budget is about $5000 all in. We'll see I guess...

 

[mommytothe3cs]

We are very fortunate in that we could spend over $10,000 on a trip to Disney but we would never, ever do it. It just does something to me psychologically because for me it's just not practical. We love Disney but we try to keep our trips under $7000. We do stay in a 1BR villa at the BLT but we won't go unless we have free dining. Our trips are usually just 5 nights too. Our two older kids go to private school and tuition is not cheap. The price of our church preschool for just 3 hours a day for our youngest isn't cheap either, which is insane! I'm a big planner and honestly I would much rather spend $6,000-$7,000 on a trip to Disney and put the other $5,000-$6,000 we could have spent in our kids college fund. We would much rather be able to pay for their college than go all out on a trip to Disney. They might not thank us for it now but they sure will when the time comes .

 

[padawans]

We are very fortunate in that we could spend over $10,000 on a trip to Disney but we would never, ever do it. It just does something to me psychologically because for me it's just not practical. We love Disney but we try to keep our trips under $7000. We do stay in a 1BR villa at the BLT but we won't go unless we have free dining. Our trips are usually just 5 nights too. Our two older kids go to private school and tuition is not cheap. The price of our church preschool for just 3 hours a day for our youngest isn't cheap either, which is insane! I'm a big planner and honestly I would much rather spend $6,000-$7,000 on a trip to Disney and put the other $5,000-$6,000 we could have spent in our kids college fund. We would much rather be able to pay for their college than go all out on a trip to Disney. They might not thank us for it now but they sure will when the time comes .

7000 for a 5 night tripThats way more per day than spending 10,000 on a 2 week trip. I think I would rather spend the extra 3 grand and get 9 more days.

 

[osugal]

If I were spending 10,000 on a vacation - I'm sorry but it wouldn't be to Disney. I'd be traveling around Europe. I love WDW but I wouldn't spend $10,000 to go. But, I know its different when you're coming from Canada or someplace that makes it difficult and expensive to get to.