Estimating cost of first trip

[LuckyDuck]

My husband and I are planning our first trip to Disney World for next spring, either last week of April or first week of May 2010. I'd like to go ahead and make a room-only reservation (makes it seem more "real" to me), but my husband would like me first to give him a good estimate of what our trip is going to cost all together.

I'm not sure what is the best way to come up with a good estimate. I went to the Disney website and used the quick quote tool to get an idea. Of course, I had to use dates for this May (I used May 16-22, just a random 6-night period, which is how long we will probably stay). I also had to select All-Star Sports instead of POP, which is where we really want to stay.

So...I know that rates could change, that special offers could come around, that I might be able to shop around for airfare, etc. But does $2720 sound reasonable for the following:

-2 adults, 2 kids (ages 8 and 2 at time of travel)
-standard room at value resort
-6 day magic-your-way ticket plus basic dining plan (no water parks or hoppers)
-airfare to and from STL

I'm figuring we'll need another $500 (is that enough?) for tips, spending money, etc, which would put our total cost around $3200. Does that sound about right?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Sounds great. Although just figure out when Easter is next year and avoid that week. End of April is the vacation week for schools up North so the airfare tends to be higher in April than May.

The ticket prices typically go up in August every year so I would double check your info then but I think you have a pretty good estimate there.

Now just keep your eyes peeled here for deals. I spent 9 days at AKL with Savannah View last Sept for cheaper than your estimate but I had a code. Just keep watching out for them.

good Luck!

 

[LuckyDuck]

Sounds great. Although just figure out when Easter is next year and avoid that week. End of April is the vacation week for schools up North so the airfare tends to be higher in April than May.

Let's see, Easter next year is April 4. We're looking at going probably either April 24-30, or May 2-8. Should there be much difference in those two weeks as far as crowds go?

 

[RMAMom]

Welcome to the Dis LuckyDuck!

I would go with May because the farther from Easter/Spring Break you are the better IMO. I don't think your spending money is high enough especially for your first trip but I am a spender so that could be me.

I also think that you may be able to do it a little cheaper with a code or discount. I would hold off booking and start keeping my eye out for a discount.

 

[noahdove]

You have lots of time for your little ones to ask for Disney Dollars for Christmas, birthday etc So that in itself will cut down on spending. Also, there are usually better flight deals on a Wednesday than any other day of the week I don't always have to have " lots' of spending money, as the trip to me is the biggest memory/souvenier that I can keep Like the other person said, don't book as of yet because the codes will come out. I know you want the reality of it, but, saving a couple of hundred dollars will be money in your pocket. In the mean time, get a few unofficial guide books and go thru them with your little ones...order the DVD, just spend time on the Disney site itself..read all these helpful boards and dream..oh, yeah, get a notebook and lots of stickeys...I keep my little need to check out stickeys and shove them in a folder, then when I have too many, I reorganize...good luck and happy planning

 

[Lori1960]

I would try and save $3700 cause you dont know if the prices will be going up

 

[LydVader]

We booked our trip on the 4/3 deal

 

[absmom2]

Not sure about total trip cost as we usually stay in a moderate but this will be our second year in a row flying out of STL. We have been able to get airfare for $190 per person last year and $185 per person this year. Those costs are for flying Sat/Sat and Sat/Sun. Airfare could've been a little cheaper if we would have taken connecting flights instead of a direct flight. Hope that helps! Have fun planning!!

 

[TinkerBrie]

Think about things you may need to spend $ on before trip

Thats true!!! The before the trip stuff adds up quickly!!!! I don't think $500.00for spending cash during the vacation would get me too far, but we are shoppers! We also needed some things from Garden grocer for the room and that was another $50.00.

 

[WizardLarz]

Using the price estimator at Disney.com ,your vaca with DDP is priced between $2012 - $2114. Add on Air ,maybe $200 p/p, and your around $2900!
I'm with Lori1960. $3700, gives you a good cushion. That way if you get a deal like the buy4 get3. you'll have bonus money that will buy more Disney fun!

 

[magicaldisney11]

Hi...my 2 cents...go with the May dates over the April dates! You can still book room only, so you know you have it in hand and then if/when the codes come out then you can change it. I changed mine three times when new codes came out and it was easy. For us this May...POFQ 3 adults and one 9 year old (they are not really all adults just thier pricing is,lol) for 9 days/ 8 nights, park hopper and DDP it cost me $3500, flights were $890, tips for DDP meals and mousekeeping, etc. $178 total for that, out of pockets meals and snacks $300. Total cost before souviners...almost $5000 (crap I didnt know I was spending that MUCH) But you know what? It is cheaper than 5 years ago,lol when we went for less days at a moderate. We spent over $5000 without food,lol.

 

[amywhite11]

We are 2 adults, DD3 and DD1 from Chicago.
My total trip budget started at $3200 including, food, souveniors, airfare, etc.
Every time a discount came out I would reevalute what the better deal was. Our Sept trip will be $2500 total, now.

Use gardengrocer.com to budget groceries
Use allears.net menus to budget eating in the parks
Use laughingplace.com to budget for souveniors

Good Luck and Have Fun!

 

[imprimouse]

I'd pay a little extra and get park hopper added to your tickets.
and we never get the value out of DDP as we don't have a table service meal each day.
on average, the 3 of us will spend $3500 overall (inc. airfare & souvineers) for a 6 night stay @ POP

also, i'll add that while it is good to have a budget in mind, don't enter the parks trying to pinch pennies.

 

[dizneechic]

I'll agree with everyone who says go in May. Spring vacation for us up here in the North East is April 19-22nd, so those extending their stay will be cutting into your 1st set of dates.

 

[The Hendies]

There was a posting a few months back that gave a formula like this:

# of people going X the # of days X $136.48 + $200.32 divided by 2.35 X the number of TS meals minus $194.65 X 2. Then throw the calculator away because it is nearly impossible to figure out what you'll spend when you get there!

Really, there are little ways to save that will add up quickly. Buying bottled water 4 - 5 times a day, buying souvenirs before checking out more shops, sharing meals, and so much more. We have done it for as little as $75 a day for all 5 of us once the tickets have been purchased and the logging is paid. (We can and do eat cheap when we need to!)

 

[oddBotkins]

I'm thinking budget $3,200.00 before the spending money. Then if discounts show up your ahead of the game.

 

[turtlebean]

I would maybe plan on a little more spending money. We are going on our first trip in 2 1/2 weeks and this is what our breakdown came to:

We are staying at POP and got the 4/3 deal, MYW base tickets+ the DDP. My family consists of DH, Me, DS 5 and DS 2. That package came to 1800.00. We are flying out of Maryland, so I don't know if it's cheaper or not. I was able to find tickets for $54 each way on Southwest. So for the flight it came to 500.00 w/all the fees and everything.

So we spent about $2500 total on flight, hotel, tickets and meal plan.
My goal is to budget about $100 a day for souveniers, breakfast, etc. Though I did save up additional $1000 for the extras. My plan is to only buy the boys 2 souveniers each and they would have to use their Disney Dollars for whatever else they wanted. They each have about $60 each in Disney Dollars to spend. I'm also planning on bringing some things for breakfast so we don't have to eat out a lot either.

I would sign up on the email list for airlines now. When I had originally booked my trip the cheapest airfaire I found was $59/each way on Airtran. Southwest was by far the most expensive at over $1000 for all 4 of us roundtrip. When I finally had the money to book my flight I was looking at paying about $800 round trip for the 4 of us. I forgot that I had signed up for Southwest's email and saw they sent one for a special of $59 each way. Which at the time was a really good deal. When I finally logged on to their site I was able to get it for $54, even better. If it wasn't for that email, I probably wouldn't have checked them again since orginally they were so expensive.

 

[jrc-elpaso]

You might want to re-think using the dining plan. My DH and I are going in September for 10 days and I ran the numbers both with and without the dining plan. Then looking at the menus for the restaurants we want to go to I made a spreadsheet with a list of the things we would probably order at each one. I came up with a savings of only $45 for the whole 10 days if we had the dining plan. Plus a couple of the TS restaurants we are interested in aren't on the plan. And I can't imagine us always wanting dessert, etc. at every meal - we'll probably share one more often than not. So we're not getting the dining plan. I always budget high on things like meals, souvenirs, etc. so we have the money if we need it - but we usually come in under budget so we bring money home.