Budget Question

[FeistyDisneyMom]

Helping a friend plan a potential Halloween time vacation in 2024. Trying to estimate a good budget for them - family of 5, will have 2 adults and all 3 kids will need kid's tickets. Thinking 3 day hoppers + one party, and 2-day universal tickets. Staying offsite for 6 nights - considering a split-stay to be onsite for Universal at the beginning or end (they are crazy major HP fans, and I think the HP part is actually more appealing to them than anything else). Probably eating QS or at house for most of the meals. I'm so used to budgeting for my larger and older family, I don't want to scare them with too big a number

 

[Steven G]

If they are big HP fans, you may want to consider 1 day universal, and 1 day Warner Brother Studio Tour. As well, at least in my opinion, unless the Universal Studios park is REALLY busy, you can really get almost everything done in 1 day, if you rope drop.

Note that at Universal around halloween is Halloween Horror Nights on some days, which will probably be too scary for younger kids.

Otherwise, it seems like a good plan.

You'd have to consider:

Plane Tickets
Car Rental
Place(s) to stay
Tickets
Food

 

[felice]

They might want to make use of online sites such as Grubhub, which (in the Anaheim / DL hotel area at least) do deliver to the hotels, down to bringing food to individual rooms. This can work out cheaper than using restaurants - and most of the restaurants are usefully included within those who do the deliveries. It's probably best if they can take a small laptop with them, to order the food online - although I'm sure they'll take telephone orders too. The range of food is also good - it isn't just burgers and pizzas either; the choices are widening quickly as time goes on.

 

[Steven G]

you can also use 3rd party sites like undercover tourist to save some money on the tickets, for a family of 4, you may save around $100 or even more on all the tickets.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

They will probably drive, which takes care of the airfare and rental car, but of course gas prices might make flying a decent alternative!

Does 1-day universal with staying 1 night onsite make sense to get the express pass? Or does it seem unnecessary? The WB tour sounds like a winner too for their family.
Would 2-day hoppers make more sense if they are also doing the hard ticket party? I don't feel like it is a huge savings, and would never consider it for my family (we're actually doing 5-day hoppers for our trip in June), but I'm trying hard not to project my own priorities onto them!

I am highly recommending rope-drop, especially since right now their kids go to bed very early (7pm). They will all be 2 years older by then, so hopefully staying up a bit later to enjoy the nighttime shows! They may have another adult joining them (me or grandparents) to watch kids so they can do a date night.

 

[katyringo]

We are a family of 4 and our 6 night trips with airfare, hotel, tickets, genie +, with oogie boogie bash (based on last year prices) and some special meals and a good amount of spending $ is in total around $8000.. they need to keep in mind the universal stickers are pricer than just adding days at Disney.. also additional transportation costs.

 

[Steven G]

If the budget is there for it, I almost always recommend the express pass at universal, you actually have two options for it (one time per attraction, or unlimited).

I'm not a big fan of 2 days at disneyland, no matter how slow it is, you will still feel rushed. 3 for me is the sweet spot, but obviously some like more.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

We are a family of 4 and our 6 night trips with airfare, hotel, tickets, genie +, with oogie boogie bash (based on last year prices) and some special meals and a good amount of spending $ is in total around $8000.. they need to keep in mind the universal stickers are pricer than just adding days at Disney.. also additional transportation costs.

Thank you for sharing . That sounds very similar to the options they are considering, only with the universal tickets added. One day + express pass sounds like the right idea for them, so I'll include that in the budget.

For DLR, the only way I'd consider the 2-day instead of 3 is if their hard ticket is for a different day. I.e. they use their 2-days on thurs/sat and do the hard party friday night (or whatever the days work out to be). But maybe even then it would feel rushed. I've never done a hard ticket event before, so that part is a big uncertainty for me. I know the mix-in time is often VERY crowded. Lots to consider - but happily plenty of time to think about it!

 

[Steven G]

I've only done the halloween party once at DL, and if your priority is to see characters and get candy, you will be waiting in some long lines (mainly for the characters).
However, the rides themselves tend to have quite short lines, especially as the night goes on. You should definitely wait an hour or so after the day guests are supposed to leave, before even trying attractions, as the day guests will still be around, due to wait times.

 

[SFMommy]

For the Warner Bros. tour - keep in mind that they only allow kids ages 5 and older. Sounds like this family might have some kids younger than 5 years old.

A good hotel that sleeps 5 that is within walking distance of DLR is the Residence Inn on Katella/Harbor. They have 1-bedroom suites with 2 queens in the bedroom and a pullout sofa bed in the living room. These rooms also have full kitchens. Which saves a lot on food, especially if they are driving and can make a big grocery run.

 

[felice]

I must say, even though my wife and I are not 'big' fans of Harry Potter by any means, we visited Universal and went into the Hogwarts area - we were quite impressed with the overall layout. With my wife not being so keen on spiders I had to warn her (when we went on the main ride) about the possible appearance of Aragog; apart from that I think she enjoyed it too The area itself is a worthy tribute to the movies though. I guess it also depends on what else the family want to see at Universal - we didn't see, sadly, much else there that we were even mildly interested in there. Universal are currently constructing the Super Nintendo World attraction, which should be open in 2023 at some point - which I would like to see, having been a fan of videogames for many years now.

 

[lalasmama]

The 3-day, 1-park tickets for a family of 5 (2a,3k) is $1590. Since they are thinking of 2024, I'd expect the tickets to go up to at least 20%, so about $1910. Party nights will be $200+ per person; flat rate despite kids. So, $1000. $2910+ for tickets (ouch).

Currently, QS kids meals are about $10. Again, I'd expect that to go up soon, so maybe $12 per kid per meal, so, assuming a shared snack, so approx $80 for the kids x 3 park days = $240. I'd expect adult QS to be a solid $20/meal per person x 2 meals/day = $80 day, so again $240. So probably $500-550 for food. Of course they cold bring snacks/meals to cut this cost, but it's really tough to skip Mickey bars/Dole Whip/churros!

Staying off-site, I'd consider walking distance. Desert Inn is about $250 per night now for a suite fitting 5 people, or $160 for an executive room (2Q, 1 pull-out). I'd expect the that to be easily $180+ in 2 years; 4 nights = $800.

So just that is approx $4200+ without the hotel for Universal. I have no experience with Universal stuff.

With early-to-bed little ones, I'd definitely do 3 days. Less rushing, more time to see stuff.

 

[chezcurrie]

Our family of 5 typically budgets 1000-1500/day not including airfare ($100pp/pd food (we have 3 boys) = $500, $3-400/night hotel (family of 5 tax right there), tickets/entertainment/souvenirs/misc the remainder.

Our Dec Universal/Disney trip was by far the most expensive as we had to pay for 1-day Universal on top of our Disney tix. I highly recommend the Garland hotel for Universal. They have a fun trolley that takes you to US in 7 min, and just an overall fantastic hotel. HTH

EDIT: the biggest savings over our budget would be on hotel and food as the others are rather fixed costs (tickets, transportation). Sounds like their kids are younger so breakfast in room and sharing meals would be a good option. We usually always do at least 1 character meal so the per day cost evens out over the length of the vacation.

 

[Chickinvic]

We are a family of 4 and our 6 night trips with airfare, hotel, tickets, genie +, with oogie boogie bash (based on last year prices) and some special meals and a good amount of spending $ is in total around $8000.. they need to keep in mind the universal stickers are pricer than just adding days at Disney.. also additional transportation costs.

That sounds like a great trip!

 

[heather913]

I think the only way to create a realistic budget is to mock plan the trip and price everything out (hotel, park tickets for both parks, food, use gasbuddy.com to estimate cost of gas, parking, food menus, etc). There are so many variables to the ways people travel. A family of 5 who drinks alcohol, wants a character meal, and room service each day will have a much different food budget than a family who eats breakfast in the room and shares counter service meals. A family staying in a 1 bedroom suite at the GCH will have a much different hotel budget than a family staying at Candy Cane Inn. None of these choices are wrong, just different. Budgets are very family-specific.
I make an Excel spreadsheet and list out all of the anticipated costs.

 

[danceintherain]

How old will the kids be? Where are they coming from?
Mornings are easier for us, because its 2 hours earlier there. The evenings can be rough, so I doubt I'd be pushing for a hard ticket event, unless I was planning a no park day the next day.....or maybe before an afternoon WB Studio Tour would work?
But I would not want to be keeping my kids out for a party, then trying to tour any park the next day.

So, I would probably suggest something like this:
Day 1: Disneyland
Day 2: California Adventure
Day 3: Pool morning and Halloween Party
Day 4: Afternoon WB Studio Tour
Day 5: Universal Studios
(ordered in whichever way makes the most sense)

I would only plan to switch hotels if they're super excited about the idea. It takes an extra level of planning and organization that can fall apart pretty easily, especially with young kids. Then they'll be without a room for several hours on that day.
I always think it's going to be a great option, then end up regretting it. Perhaps, when my kids are older, and after DH becomes more invested in our travel plans.

 

[katyringo]

This

I think the only way to create a realistic budget is to mock plan the trip and price everything out (hotel, park tickets for both parks, food, use gasbuddy.com to estimate cost of gas, parking, food menus, etc). There are so many variables to the ways people travel. A family of 5 who drinks alcohol, wants a character meal, and room service each day will have a much different food budget than a family who eats breakfast in the room and shares counter service meals. A family staying in a 1 bedroom suite at the GCH will have a much different hotel budget than a family staying at Candy Cane Inn. None of these choices are wrong, just different. Budgets are very family-specific.
I make an Excel spreadsheet and list out all of the anticipated costs.

this is what I do. I even peek at menus. I then add 10% to my food budget for good measure- also for table service don't forget to calculate your tips of at least 20% into your budget. I always build my dream trip and then start to cut things out to get to a number I feel good about.

If you wanna see my crazy, the 8000 budget I mentioned above is broken down below and has a bit of a cushion..

$2800 hotel/ticket package for the anahiem hotel for 6 nights, 5 day 1park per day tix with genie + (yesssss I got a good deal)

$600 estimated for oogie boogie bash for 4 people

$1200-1400 Southwest round trip flights from Omaha to SNA (if you are a Sam's member you can get $500 SW gift card for $450)

$200 rental car

$200 BBB (please please come back)

$100 droid for the boy

$100 lightsabers in Tomorrowland

$320 world of color dessert party

$260 Blue Bayou Fantasmic lunch package

$250 goofys kitchen and tip

$300 princess breakfast for 2 and tip

$125 lamplight meal with tip

$200 kids souvenir money (us adults don't get a "set amount" hehehe)

breakfast for 7 days: $200 ($30 a day)

9 QS meals at $60per per meal: $540

snacks: $75 per day: $525

I probably estimate high on snacks and QS, but it's Disney. I also realize someone else looks at my budget and thinks it's nuts. Note my cheaper hotel, but that's because as you can see we like to do the special things In the park. We don't go often so when we go we tend to spend more.

 

[Chickinvic]

This


this is what I do. I even peek at menus. I then add 10% to my food budget for good measure- also for table service don't forget to calculate your tips of at least 20% into your budget. I always build my dream trip and then start to cut things out to get to a number I feel good about.

If you wanna see my crazy, the 8000 budget I mentioned above is broken down below and has a bit of a cushion..

$2800 hotel/ticket package for the anahiem hotel for 6 nights, 5 day 1park per day tix with genie + (yesssss I got a good deal)

$600 estimated for oogie boogie bash for 4 people

$1200-1400 Southwest round trip flights from Omaha to SNA (if you are a Sam's member you can get $500 SW gift card for $450)

$200 rental car

$200 BBB (please please come back)

$100 droid for the boy

$100 lightsabers in Tomorrowland

$320 world of color dessert party

$260 Blue Bayou Fantasmic lunch package

$250 goofys kitchen and tip

$300 princess breakfast for 2 and tip

$125 lamplight meal with tip

$200 kids souvenir money (us adults don't get a "set amount" hehehe)

breakfast for 7 days: $200 ($30 a day)

9 QS meals at $60per person per meal: $540

snacks: $75 per day: $525

I probably estimate high on snacks and QS, but it's Disney. I also realize someone else looks at my budget and thinks it's nuts. Note my cheaper hotel, but that's because as you can see we like to do the special things In the park. We don't go often so when we go we tend to spend more.

That sounds lovely, and very special. I don't get to go often either (it has been since 2016 for DL, and 2019 for WDW), but I'm still kind of a cheap-*** lol. I would splurge for an After Hours party for sure if there is one during my next trip since I like the ability to get on lots of rides with little wait times.

 

[chezcurrie]

$200 rental car

I think I am most impressed by your rental car cost! Our fam of 5 needs at least a large SUV or minivan (luggage). Our Dec 2021 10-day rental was 5x this (thankfully I used pts for it!) Well done you!!!!

 

[katyringo]

I think I am most impressed by your rental car cost! Our fam of 5 needs at least a large SUV or minivan (luggage). Our Dec 2021 10-day rental was 5x this (thankfully I used pts for it!) Well done you!!!!

It's just for one day! We will land early am and are going to go to the beach before we got to Anaheim.. we will rent and return the car the same day!! That why it's *only $200