Average Cost of Wedding Weekend for Guests?

[DisWishes720]

Hi Everyone!

Just for my own peace of mind...I had really been wanting a Disney wedding my entire life. With the new developments in our wedding plans, I feel like Disney could actually still be in the mix. There is just one issue...my father is concerned that a wedding in Disney may be too expensive for our guests. Just on average, do you know around what your guests paid for things like hotels and park hoppers, and possibly how much the whole weekend cost for them? I know we can offer them value, moderate, and deluxe hotel options at a discount, but I think he is more concerned with the total cost in general. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[CharacterFan]

It depends on the time of year. I'm going to use rack rates, becasue I have those handy.

During Disney's Value season:
A 2 night stay at Pop Century would cost: 185
A 3-day park hopper is: 279 for an adult
Food on Average is 40 a day per adult

During summer season
A 2-night weekend at Pop would cost: 281
A 3-day park hopper is: 279 for an adult
Food on Average is 40 a day per adult

 

[sbsteel]

You're going to hate this answer, but here it is: it depends.

Factors to take into consideration:
- what season you're going (value, regular, peak, holiday)
- how long they're staying
- airfare vs. driving
- if they get park hoppers or not, or if they don't get any tickets at all
- where they eat - counter service, sit down, bring their own food

There really is no ballpark figure as every guest is different, but the things I listed above should help narrow it down. You know your family so you can take it from there.

 

[tiggersam00]

I actually have a lot of guests who are not doing any park stuff during the wedding weekend... shocking i know, but hey at least they wanna still come right!

Anyways I agree with OP's it does depend, BUT here are the averages so far for my guests....

For a couple... in value season when our wedding is

$189 2 nights at POP
$209 airfare on Delta from BOS to MCO per person
Park Tickets at people discretion
$40 food per day per adult.

So in total without park tickets it is about $767 for 3 days 2 nights... however, a lot of people are making a vacation out of it, and most people ar staying for 4-8 days on average... only 2 couples we know of that are only staying 2 nights and that is because they live in FL anyways... HTH

 

[disbridemimi]

Some of our family members have time shares they are using, and others are renting a house at Windsor village which is really affordable.

Like any vacation, people who want to make it cost lest have a LOT of options there are tons of places to stay in Orlando. But to stay on property the figures that have been given above seem accurate.

I do know of one person that hired a Greyhound type bus to drive his fam from Mass to Orlando for his wedding. I heard it was a lot of fun for most of them. I dont think me & df fam could be intermingled that long.

 

[tiggersam00]

I do know of one person that hired a Greyhound type bus to drive his fam from Mass to Orlando for his wedding. I heard it was a lot of fun for most of them. I dont think me & df fam could be intermingled that long.

YIKES!!!! I could never do that! ITA with you, I couldn't deal with a huge family roadtrip before the wedding... I think it would seriously make me reconsider the whole wedding lol!

 

[DisWishes720]

It depends on the time of year. I'm going to use rack rates, becasue I have those handy.

During Disney's Value season:
A 2 night stay at Pop Century would cost: 185
A 3-day park hopper is: 279 for an adult
Food on Average is 40 a day per adult

During summer season
A 2-night weekend at Pop would cost: 281
A 3-day park hopper is: 279 for an adult
Food on Average is 40 a day per adult

Thanks for this! I know it's all basically depending on what kind of trip our guests want to take, but these numbers are so helpful!

You're going to hate this answer, but here it is: it depends.

Factors to take into consideration:
- what season you're going (value, regular, peak, holiday)
- how long they're staying
- airfare vs. driving
- if they get park hoppers or not, or if they don't get any tickets at all
- where they eat - counter service, sit down, bring their own food

There really is no ballpark figure as every guest is different, but the things I listed above should help narrow it down. You know your family so you can take it from there.

I have been telling my dad the same thing! He's a big numbers guy and wants dollar amounts of course...oh men!

I actually have a lot of guests who are not doing any park stuff during the wedding weekend... shocking i know, but hey at least they wanna still come right!

Anyways I agree with OP's it does depend, BUT here are the averages so far for my guests....

For a couple... in value season when our wedding is

$189 2 nights at POP
$209 airfare on Delta from BOS to MCO per person
Park Tickets at people discretion
$40 food per day per adult.

So in total without park tickets it is about $767 for 3 days 2 nights... however, a lot of people are making a vacation out of it, and most people ar staying for 4-8 days on average... only 2 couples we know of that are only staying 2 nights and that is because they live in FL anyways... HTH

This is great, thanks Sam! I still think it's very reasonable for a trip to Disney, and look at all the options they have!

Some of our family members have time shares they are using, and others are renting a house at Windsor village which is really affordable.

Like any vacation, people who want to make it cost lest have a LOT of options there are tons of places to stay in Orlando. But to stay on property the figures that have been given above seem accurate.

I do know of one person that hired a Greyhound type bus to drive his fam from Mass to Orlando for his wedding. I heard it was a lot of fun for most of them. I dont think me & df fam could be intermingled that long.

HAHA I don't think we could either!! I can't even imagine what kind of bus ride that would be. I'm going to try to get some more info for off site places to stay, I hear it can be much more affordable.

 

[DisWishes720]

Thank you guys so much for the help! I've been trying to tell my dad that it can differ in price from person to person depending on what kind of trip they want to take...unfortunately he is a huge numbers person and wants it all out on paper.

Another questions, do you think that you were asking too much of your guests to take the trip and/or have any of them complained or could not come because of the "inconvenience" (as my Dad likes to call it) ?? I know people do destination weddings all the time, it's hard for him to wrap his brain around this one .

 

[tiggersam00]

I would just give him the cost of disney vacations vs the wedding discount wedding prices... maybe seeing the savings would help him see the value. And FYI the discounts for hotels are about 30% off rack rates for delux, 20% for mod and 15% for value... also a $20 discount on park hoppers. HTH

 

[sbsteel]

Thank you guys so much for the help! I've been trying to tell my dad that it can differ in price from person to person depending on what kind of trip they want to take...unfortunately he is a huge numbers person and wants it all out on paper.

Another questions, do you think that you were asking too much of your guests to take the trip and/or have any of them complained or could not come because of the "inconvenience" (as my Dad likes to call it) ?? I know people do destination weddings all the time, it's hard for him to wrap his brain around this one .

I get the numbers thing, but it really depends on the type of person coming because it's something DF and I discussed. For example, I have an aunt that is coming and is sharing a room with another aunt, neither are buying park tickets and just want to relax. Other side of the spectrum, my cousin and her husband and kids are staying for a week, getting park hopper plus waterparks, dining plan, the whole nine yards. Their trip costs are going to vary greatly!

I don't think it is too much to ask - no one is obligated to be there. If they come, if they don't, they don't. (Of course, the more the merrier!) Both of our families were surprisingly receptive and are using this as an excuse to take a vacation. Besides, the people that would complain about the "inconvenience" are going to be the same people to complain about something else if you have a wedding at home.

Good luck convincing your dad!

 

[Lindsay22]

My father had similar concerns (and our whole fam is from nj as well). I let him know that no one was required to attend other than the bridal party. If someone couldn't or didn't want to spend the money and not come that was fine by me. As far as I know, no one complained to me or to my family about the cost or the inconvience.
We had a Sunday wedding and many of our guests flew in Saturday morning and flew home Monday afternoon. I think that most of our guests did Downtown Disney or hung out by the pool... only a handful got park tickets. Remember, no one is forcing them to go into the parks and spend the extra money. I kept my eyes open for cheap flights or Disney packages and let my guests know what I found.

 

[tiggersam00]

I don't think it is too much to ask - no one is obligated to be there. If they come, if they don't, they don't. (Of course, the more the merrier!) Both of our families were surprisingly receptive and are using this as an excuse to take a vacation. Besides, the people that would complain about the "inconvenience" are going to be the same people to complain about something else if you have a wedding at home.

Good luck convincing your dad!

ITA! People who complain will always complain no matter what you do. So just forget about them, I have a few complainers and I don't even pay attention to it (this keeps my sanity in check as well!) And you are not forcing anyone to get on a plane and fly to WDW against their will!

We invited 225 and it looks like about 165 are making the trip (about 75%). From what I have learned WDW weddings will have a higher number of attendees then non disney destination weddings. I think the reason is because there are so many options for familys which makes traveling a lot more justifiable.

 

[tiggerrifficheidi]

I think it's impossible to separate the wedding from the vacation. I understand some people would not take the vacation if it wasn't for the wedding, but that doesn't mean they're not going to enjoy themselves and have a good time. For that reason, I don't think you can factor park tickets.

You could go to a family wedding in NY and CHOOSE to buy broadway tickets to make the most out of the trip, but that's not a wedding cost.

Additionally, even though I strongly recommended against staying off property, "the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World" recommends some really inexpensive hotels near Disney...if you're just looking for a place to crash. They've reviewed some that were $50 a night (or less) that were well recommended. And I also heard that with the economy the non-Disney resorts are having a bear of a time filling their hotels and are offering amazing deals (check out www.mousesavers.com) So you can get even better deals. In reality, Orlando seems to be a very inexpensive place to vacation right now.

I agree with everyone who has said someone is going to find a reason to complain...but the logic just doesn't support it anymore. For one, no one lives within 30 miles of ALL their friends and family anymore, so any wedding is a "destination" for someone!

 

[lurkyloo]

...the logic just doesn't support it anymore. For one, no one lives within 30 miles of ALL their friends and family anymore, so any wedding is a "destination" for someone!

Amen to that!

 

[tiggerrifficheidi]

Amen to that!

Welcome back!!!

 

[acwinsett]

If your dad's a "numbers guy", I may be able to help a little. I designed an Interactive Budget Planner for our wedding guests to use to estimate their travel costs and, with a little tinkering, you can adapt it for your own wedding guests. It's a Microsoft Excel workbook.

Here's a link to the file:

Disney Budget Worksheet

The first tab is the worksheet, and the other tabs contain the lookup tables for the dropdown menus. You may certainly replace our resorts with the ones you have chosen for your room blocks.

Hope it helps!

 

[zdesiree]

WOW! This is great. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.

 

[DisWishes720]

Thank you so much for that!! I'm going to play with fake budgets all night! Hopefully this is exactly what my dad needs.

 

[rumrunnergirl]

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