Cost of Disney Family Vacation

scrapquitler · Mar 30, 2015

saskdw said:
I got the idea for this thread earlier today when a handful of people expressed disbelief that someone spent $10k on a Disney vacation. I was shocked that people were shocked...lol

We wil be at DW this Dec for 14 nights for the 3rd time in 4 years and its always the better part of $10k. There are 2 adults and a teenager in our party, cost looks something like this:

Airfare from western Canada for 3: $1,950

Magic your way pkg, 14 nights waterview at CSR, 10 day park hoppers w/waterparks and more, Free Dining plan: $4,713

Passes for 3 to Seaworld: $225

Other activities, other food, spending money, souvenirs over 15 days: $1500

That brings us to a very loose total of: $8,388

Without free dining you can add $2k to that total easily and if we decidied to stay at a Deluxe resort your at $15k in a hurry.

Not sure why people were shocked that the poster in the other thread spent $10k on their vacation? For most of us Disney isn't a weekend getaway its a major 10-14 day vacation.

Last year we split 8 nights at CSR with 6 nights at Hard Rock Universal and it was $10k when the smoke cleared.

Interested in hearing others thoughts on this.

We do it less expensively, but that's just because I hate to spend extra for a hotel. We are going in two weeks. Flying from CT, We are staying at Pop for 5 nights, 6 day tickets for 3 adults (2 adults and a 12 year old). We'll probably spend about $700-$800 on food, another $500 on souvenirs, tips, alcohol, etc. for the adults. Our trip will cost us approximately $3500.

Fortunately for us, we are going because DH has a work conference that week, and we are going early to make it into a vacation. We are all flying down together, then once the conference starts, DH will be moving over to Boardwalk where his conference is and he'll fly home alone several days later. His airfare will be reimbursed by his company, as will our mileage/parking at the airport, his meals and park tickets during the conference days and three nights at the Boardwalk will all be paid by the company as well, so that will save us some.

The times we went as a family of four we always went for 10 or 11 days, we flew down, stayed off site, rented a car, ate some meals in the room, did some days at Universal and some at Disney and those trips cost us in the ballpark of $5000-$6000. Definitely only an every 3 or 4 years thing for us, not an every year thing. If we lived within a 6 or 8 hour drive, we'd probably go a lot more often...I could see us taking advantage of annual passes, staying off site, eating in the condo and going twice a year, but when the airfare gets added in, it's just too much, and the 24 hour (straight thru) drive is too exhausting for us.

bostonsnana · Mar 30, 2015

I got my trip down to about $1500 per person. Room, 10 days park hoppers with water parks and more, dining plan and airfare. Doable.

lustergirl · Mar 30, 2015

Not surprised at to what people pay for their vacations. Disney is expensive if you are staying somewhere that is expensive. I would love to stay at AKL or the POLY but go through ticker shock when I see the prices. For now I will settle for a value or moderate, such as CSR.

BlackMagicWoman · Mar 30, 2015

I'm going for 8 days and spending about 6k on two adults and a teenager.

KristinaRN · Apr 1, 2015

mb187143 said:
For 3 adults last year at the poly for 6 nights/7 days with 7 day PH tickets and dining (We got a 40% off room only rate, upgraded with tickets and paid for ddp), plus RT airfare from PHL to MCO, we spent a total of $2875.

Would you mind sharing the breakdown? I cannot figure how you spent $2875 for 3 adults, PH tickets, room at Poly (even with discount), ddp, and airfare...it just doesn't add up
Thanks!

jenrose66 · Apr 1, 2015

saskdw said:
I got the idea for this thread earlier today when a handful of people expressed disbelief that someone spent $10k on a Disney vacation. I was shocked that people were shocked...lol

We wil be at DW this Dec for 14 nights for the 3rd time in 4 years and its always the better part of $10k. There are 2 adults and a teenager in our party, cost looks something like this:

Airfare from western Canada for 3: $1,950

Magic your way pkg, 14 nights waterview at CSR, 10 day park hoppers w/waterparks and more, Free Dining plan: $4,713

Passes for 3 to Seaworld: $225

Other activities, other food, spending money, souvenirs over 15 days: $1500

That brings us to a very loose total of: $8,388

Without free dining you can add $2k to that total easily and if we decidied to stay at a Deluxe resort your at $15k in a hurry.

Not sure why people were shocked that the poster in the other thread spent $10k on their vacation? For most of us Disney isn't a weekend getaway its a major 10-14 day vacation.

Last year we split 8 nights at CSR with 6 nights at Hard Rock Universal and it was $10k when the smoke cleared.

Interested in hearing others thoughts on this.

My family of 5 can do Disney for around $5500-$6000 for an onsite stay at POR. That would include around $1100 for airfare and eating CS and that doesn't include souvineers. This is for a 7 day trip. It's a very expensive proposition. We haven't gone to Disney as a family since 2012. We are going to Universal soon and it feels quite a bit cheaper. We bought 3 child 3 park unlimited tickets an adult 3 park unlimited and an adult cheap AP for the hotel discount and the total cost was $1k even. For 6 day tix to Disney it would have been over $1900.

saraschoening · Apr 1, 2015

I wish our vacation was $10 000. Ours is costing us approx $17000- hoping to keep it at that. Heres the break down.. we are Canadian by the way.

$8500 US/$11000 CND for our package - 14 nights at POR Royal Room, three 10 day MYW tickets with hopper and water park, dining plan (normal one) 3 nights at the Hard rock garden view, 3 day tickets ( buy two get one free), transfers between disney and universal and universal and MCO, Disney Travel Insurance, and Photopass.
$1500 CND for Flights from Seattle - Delta
$3000 CND for MISC expenses - Food on travel day, universal, and 2 days in Seattle, hotel in seattle and parking for 18 days, Bibiddi Bobiddi Boutique, Car Rental in Orlando for 2 weeks, Luggage Fees, Ferry from Victoria to Port Ang, Gas, Tips, etc
$2000 Spending Money - Yes this seems like a bit but we are planning on buying our DD summer clothes in Seattle and DH and I need some new clothes as well. and then mickey ears, autograph books, penny books, epcot passports, T-Shirts, stuff for family and friends - all adds up fast.

We do Disneyland every year for about a quarter of this price.. but I am sure it will be worth every penny. We have also been saving like crazy since last Aug and have gone without a lot of the perks that we were used too but as I said it will be worth it.

UDFlyer12 · Apr 1, 2015

3 Adults May 6-11
5 day PH:1068
5 nights at POFQ with 15% Pin Code: 1086
3 RT Flights SDF-MCO: Free with Delta Skymiles
$75 per day on food/misc.: 1125
Rental Car: 118
Total: $3397
...obviously the food/misc calculation is a total guess that I would be THRILLED to stay under. Thank God I got a promotion before the trip! :drinking:

CounselorX · Apr 1, 2015

2 adults, 14 nights at Pop Century
$2,500 - MYW package with 9 day park hopper tickets, 14 night standard room, Memory Maker (free park hopper + 15% off room with PIN code)
$900 - Food. Mostly quick service with maybe 2 to 3 table service. We're also not big breakfast eaters so we usually get a muffin or cinnamon roll.
$900 - Airfare
$300 - souvenirs/clothes (Mostly for the wife

. I love the atmosphere/rides/food/vacation but I'm not big on material items)
$400 - Anything else I forgot (sea raycer rental, airport parking fee, whatever)
---------------------------------------
Total: $4,600 to $5,000
Not toooo bad for 14 nights

DWorldOrBust · Apr 2, 2015

We stayed at POR for 7 days back in Oct 2013. For my family of 3, round trip airfare from so cal, 5 day park tickets, food and souvenirs was under $3500.

I now own DVC, so this fall we will be staying in a 2br villa at AKL for 10 days! I could not afford to stay in this room if I wasn't a DVC owner.

Tippytoes1111 · Apr 2, 2015

Nov 23-30, 2014 (rough estimate going by memory):
$1200 - Seven nights LM room at AoA
$800 - Amtrak for 2 adults and 2 kids, Philadelphia to Orlando
$1300 - Four 7-day MYW base tickets
$900 - OOP food (family we were traveling with picked up some big meals like CRT, plus we brought a suitcase of breakfast food like granola bars, pop tarts to save time and money -- very loose baggage restrictions on a train, and free)
$300 - souvenirs/misc
TOTAL $3500

Dec 2015
$2400 - Split stay/ 1-night POP to arrive within discount period of travel agent, then 4-night BWI standard, includes 4-day MYW base tickets x4 +1 bonus fun day (water park, etc).
$600 - High estimated cost of driving with overnight breaks. (We're traveling to Florida for other, family reasons and are hitting Disney while there are, so we would be spending this anyway.)
$$$ - Food???
I expect to stay under $1000 for food and souvenirs. It's only 4 days. Let's say $1000.
TOTAL $4000

Judyfun · Apr 2, 2015

I seem to be at a different point in life then most of you (my children are grown), and so we all have AP, stay CL, drive, and split the cost, never do food plan but I have Tables in Wonderland.
Still I board 3 dogs so always $6000 - $8000 per trip. I do have a Disney Visa that I end up using to pay a lot of my food costs.

Lisa Mandell · Apr 2, 2015

Disney is definitely not cheap. My father (after a successful life saving heart transplant) has decided to take our family to Disney to celebrate. We are a party of 13 (2 of which non paying infants under 3). We are staying CL at GF for 5 nights, 6 day park hopper passes, with regular dining plan. As I have planned the trip I know my parents (with flights from ny) have spent over 25,000 (with cast member discount as my cousin works there).

neville04 · Apr 4, 2015

Forensicmom said:
I'm one of those people that was totally shocked when I saw the prices of a lot of Disney vacations.

We've NEVER taken the kids on a vacation out of the state of Maryland before and my kids are 17, 12, 10, & 7. So this is a big splurge for us and one we will never take again.

We have 2 rooms at the Wilderness Lodge, 7 day park hopper passes and the free dining. Our total for that was $6100. Plus $1200 for airfare, which is NOT bad for 6 people roundtrip. So that is $7300 plus spending money. Yikes, that scares me.

Hopefully, we're like most and couldn't afford a trip like this every year, or even every other year.

that's why we are driving- I cant stand that airfare is so expensive- we come from Chicago area- its less than 200 round trip to drive saves A LOT of money!!!... score for free dining for you guys- that will save a LOT.... you guys could also try AOA - the suites sleep 6 comfortably and have two full size bathrooms - and it would cut your cost by a lot as well

- either way you guys are going to have a blast!!!

MimiOfTwo · Apr 4, 2015

Spending just over 4,000 for 2 adults, 2 children. Six nights Grand Floridian, 6 day MYW tickets. Airfare from Birmingham AL included. I expect to spend 1000 on dining since we will do a character meal each day. So total will be roughly 5,000.

gtpoohbear · Apr 5, 2015

Our first trip in 2008 was the most expensive, around $8000 for the "official" cost, but realistically it may have been closer to $10,000. The other week-long trips we've taken have been more in the $5000 range. (And lots of short trips around $2000)

Compared to other vacations we've taken, it's really not unreasonable though. Actually, cost per day/ per person is a LOT higher on our ski trips, though we don't stay nearly as long. Partly for that reason, lol! The only vacation we can do cheaper than WDW is to the national parks.

rainboots · Apr 5, 2015

Close to $4000 for my family of 4 - 2 adults/2kids. 6 nts @ WL., standard dining, February. & airfare from Flint, MI ($120/ticket each way=$240/person)
This is my estimated price using historical #s.

tasha99 · Apr 5, 2015

WDW vacations can be moderately priced or expensive, depending on what you do and where you stay. My first trip ever, I did a split stay between Sheraton Safari ($35/night on priceline) and Coronado Springs with free dining. It was quite affordable and we loved it. All in all, I think we spent about $2000 for 2 people, for a week in hotels, the WDW package portion, Seaworld, and even Discovery Cove (I skipped the dolphin portion to save money, though my son did it). Lots of coupons and cheap airfare, Priceline and free dining while at CSR.

This year we are doing a more extravagant than normal trip. I'm estimating 13K-ish if it's 3 of us and more like 15K if DS25 comes along.

Airfare for 3: $2700 (much cheaper was available but I am weird about having my space)
Hotel w/ park and fly: $150
Hired car service: $200 est (MCO to Universal to Boardwalk to MCO)
3 nights in king/2queen suite HRH: 1800
Universal tickets: $400 (we have 2 unused from back in the $89 days, and need to buy one annual pass for our hotel discount)
Universal portion food budget: $800
Boardwalk Villas/Bay Lake Tower split stay 9 nights total, both 2BR (on our own points, but valuing at $13pp): around $5200
Food for room: $300
Food for our ADRs: $2600
Park tickets (9day hoppers/h20 park): $1260
Other (alcohol/souvenirs, unexpected expenses etc): $1000

So that's $12710--less than I'd estimated just by guessing. If DS25 comes, at least the rooms and hired car would be the same, but food and tickets would go up a lot.

It's kind of a once in a lifetime level trip for us, as DD22 is graduating from college and I think it's unlikely that we will all be able to go as a single group in the future (even now, I doubt my oldest will be able to go--the more adults in the mix, the harder it is to synchronize vacations). I see more mom and one adult child trips, or gifting my SSR DVC points to my kids as they have young families, while I use my BWV points in a studio for F&W with a girlfriend.

cerph1 · Apr 5, 2015

No doubt about it, WDW is expensive. I was shocked at how much we paid for just two ice creams last week! A small cup of soft serve ice cream was $4.50 at CBR! Imagine $9.00 for two little cups of ice cream. A whole container of Breyer's ice cream goes for about $3.00 at the supermarket at home- LOL! :rolleyes2

Liberator · Apr 5, 2015

I almost threw up when I got a quote for our upcoming Disneyland trip. After a bit of planning I saw prices for the Grand Californian about 900$ for a Club Level Standard room. I am surprised that people are willing to pay for that, but everyone has his own preferences for spending money.

I already felt rather bad for booking a room at PP at Disneyland Resort. Due to lack of landscape they lack of hotels and room categories. Glad WDW has so many choices and offers hotels rooms for a wide range of people with different spending preferences and possibilities.

I am shocked that people book 10k Disney (or other) vacations and can not pay it in full on the day of booking. That would make me nervous and I would not be able to sleep until I made a 100% payment, but this is again a preference of how and when to spend money

I also read very often about no travel insurance on this board. What? A maybe 3k vacation and no insurance..that is really shocking. There are a lot of unneccessary insurance offers, but a vacation insurance is so important

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