Budget for once in a lifetime Christmas trip

[AnnaKat]

IF you have $10K, $12K, $15K or $20K to splurge on a 7-day Deluxe stay that is during Chrismas decoration season, THEN you could purchase say 100 resale DVC points and enjoy the week after Thanksgiving, or the 1st week in Dec., EVERY year . And you could still sell it or rent the points out! With all the future savings on room costs, you could then enjoy signature dining, tours--whatever!!

 

[kiford]

The week after US Thanksgiving up until the last two weeks before Christmas are a relatively low season. Everything is done up for the holidays, it's less busy, less expensive and you can still be home for Christmas with family. That's our favourite time. If you want to stay at the GF, you might want to consider one of the outer buildings. The main building is Club Level which may or may not work for you. It doesn't for us because we like to eat at other restaurants and spend most of our time at the parks. You'll want to look at pricing and your eating patterns to determine whether Club level with its included food but higher price versus outer buildings (which are lovely) and paying for all food is better.

If you do outer building in the earlier part of December, you can get rooms for a lot less than $750 a night and use the difference for food and tickets. The main building may be closer to the monorail, but some of the outer buildings are close to the pier at GF which will also take you to MK. We often do that instead of the monorail or buses. In any event, the outer buildings aren't that far from the monorail and buses.

 

[Disney Khi]

That sounds like a great idea... one question: When does the week after Thanksgiving start? I know that sounds silly but I would guess Thanksgiving weekend (Thursday to Sunday) is still very busy. I know airfares can stay high until the Monday or Tuesday after Thanksgiving. So did you arrive the Sunday or Monday after?

We got there on the Sat night after Thanksgiving and stayed for 8 nights. We drove so we didn't have to worry about airfare. It was a great trip. Good luck with your planning!

 

[DinahInWonderland]

I think whoever mentioned the Platinum Plan for a one time splurge is on the right track. When my husband and I Honeymooned in Disney we did a split stay at GF and AKL. For the GF stay we were on the Platinum Plan and switched to the Premium Plan for AKL. It was nice to have all the extras like cirque included, it might not get you the best bang-for-your-buck value when you compare it renting DVC points and booking everything else separately, but it did give us a bit more motivation to do thing we may otherwise not have like the fireworks cruise, spa services, etc.
I believe all together our 10 day trip cost in the ballpark of $1000/day give or take a few hundred dollars and this was also 6 years ago. We bought DVC that trip so I haven't looked at the packages since. Though I'm sure the value of them has gone down in recent years as most Disney "deals" have.

 

[Hagrid xox 65]

We're doing a modified 'trip of a lifetime' the week following Thanksgiving I rented DVC points at the contemporary. I bought 5 day hoppers discounted through tickets at work (and before the price hike). I used an awesome Dining Plan calculator which confirmed that the dining plan will save me money (5 QS and 5 TS/character meals). For US it doesn't get much more luxurious than that!!

 

[Nancyg56]

Unless you are invested in Christmas week, and you said that you are not, I would look at the first two weeks in December, which are generally much more reasonable in price. I would figure out my budget BEFORE I planned because it is very easy to add on and then try to figure how to make it work. I like to make my budget work rather than the other way around.

Now I also know you wanted Main Building in the Grand, and I bet that is fabulous, but during the Holidays that building is going to be very busy, so personally, I would choose an outer building I would also book the DxDDP so that my dining options would be pretty darn perfect.

 

[matheke]

That sounds like a great idea... one question: When does the week after Thanksgiving start? I know that sounds silly but I would guess Thanksgiving weekend (Thursday to Sunday) is still very busy. I know airfares can stay high until the Monday or Tuesday after Thanksgiving. So did you arrive the Sunday or Monday after?

We just did this this past year. It is crowded through the Saturday after Thanksgiving then it was as if everybody left that Sunday.

 

[strat68]

Relaize that these various Plans (Platinum and Premium) are expensive and will you have the time to get your money's worth using the services they provide. WDW Today did an analysis and if you tried to maximize the use of services you were left with about 2-3 hours a day to tour the parks. This included all the time dining at table service restaurants as well.

Obviously and extreme case but keep it in mind.