Budget Mousesaver Article

[FoodLover]

I've enjoyed reading the comments here. I'm particularly interested by the folks who say they are not impressed with the $1000 plan and think they could stay longer on that amount of money.

My article had one specific goal: to figure out if a family of four that had ONLY $1000 available and NO prepaid anything (i.e. no free airfare, Annual Passes, restaurant gift cards, etc.) could actually put together a WDW vacation that would allow them to go to all 4 parks.

Seriously, if you can beat my budget, I would LOVE to hear how! Keep in mind the following guidelines:

- Admission to all 4 parks for 2 adults, 2 kids (ages 8 & 10)
- Hotel stay for 3 nights in Peak Season
- $100 gas costs
- 3 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 2 dinners, 2 snacks and one meal on the road
- $80 for souvenirs

Do the math and you'll quickly find the whole problem is admission costs. Yes, with a 3-day Hopper Plus, you could stay longer, spend more time in the parks and the whole trip would be much more enjoyable. But you're not going to be able to do the trip for $1000, because the tickets alone would cost $643.32.

Add the gas, souvenirs and 5 nights in a 2-star Priceline hotel at $30 a night and your budget is gone. Once you pay for meals (even off-site) you're going to be closer to $1300 or so. Is it worth it to pay the extra $300 and stay two days longer? I think so. But if you don't have the $300, the "How Low Can You Go" plan offers a possible solution.

Actually, it's possible to shave my plan down to $900 or even less, and I explain how in the article. I picked $1000 because it's a nice round number and it allows a little "leeway" for some extras (like eating meals in the parks) that make the experience more enjoyable. I mean, if you have to do two parks in a day, do you really want to leave the property to eat?

My next project will be to do what I consider a more realistic budget trip, for a 6 or 7 night stay. I think that will be a lot of fun!

Mary
MouseSavers.com

 

[***tink386]

I'd love to see a budget for at least 4 days, and for those of us who live to far away to drive Thank you for all the tips!!

 

[rigs32]

Mary -

I started this thread, but i do want to say that I love your site.

I agree that there are items that could not been made cheaper, but I think something a lot of us noticed were the places where the budget was exceeded - extras not totaled, etc.

Things to try in the future -
1) Maybe have the family peruse the menus online before leaving to know which restaurants will give them the best bang for their buck - with or without vouchers.
2) Figuring out the value of time lost or gained in trying to save money. (i.e. Will you recoup the cost of a rental car on a short trip by not taking buses?)
2b) If the family stays someplace with a full kitchen, will the money saved on food offset the increased travel time and time outside the parks. Maybe the cost of an on site home away from home resort (renting DVC points?) vs. a standard room.
3) Free plans for non-park days (DTD, Bob Jackson at POR, campfire at FW)
4) Maybe a spirit of Disney trip in which a family goes to WDW and stays on site, but doesn't actually go into the theme parks. How does it compare?

Maybe even a competition between families to keep their budget down? I know these all cost $$$$, but they're just ideas.

Keep up the great work! It's with the help of your site that I've been able to decrease my WDW budget.

 

[FoodLover]

Originally posted by rigs32
1) Maybe have the family peruse the menus online before leaving to know which restaurants will give them the best bang for their buck - with or without vouchers.
2) Figuring out the value of time lost or gained in trying to save money. (i.e. Will you recoup the cost of a rental car on a short trip by not taking buses?)
2b) If the family stays someplace with a full kitchen, will the money saved on food offset the increased travel time and time outside the parks. Maybe the cost of an on site home away from home resort (renting DVC points?) vs. a standard room.
3) Free plans for non-park days (DTD, Bob Jackson at POR, campfire at FW)
4) Maybe a spirit of Disney trip in which a family goes to WDW and stays on site, but doesn't actually go into the theme parks. How does it compare?

Maybe even a competition between families to keep their budget down? I know these all cost $$$$, but they're just ideas.

Lots of great ideas there, and believe me, I'm thinkin' about 'em all!

I'm puzzled by this: "something a lot of us noticed were the places where the budget was exceeded - extras not totaled, etc."

Can you explain what you mean? Every penny of their expenses was accounted for (believe me, I have the receipts!) and they were only $3.31 over budget.

That is excepting the steak dinner they opted for on the night they arrived, which was NOT in the plan. They were supposed to be eating food brought from home, which would be out of a regular grocery budget. The flaw in that plan is that my sister-in-law really doesn't cook at all (even sandwiches). They are fast-food junkies. She'd be the first to admit it!

So in some ways they were not an optimal family to test this plan. But that's actually one reason I chose them. I wanted to "torture test" the plan and make sure it would work. We all have different lifestyles and I knew they would end up deviating from the original plan a bit. I was curious to see if the plan had enough flexibility to accommodate that. It seems to me that overall it worked out. Suzi chose to use the parents' "mad money" toward hot breakfasts, for instance.

Am I missing something?

Mary
MouseSavers.com

 

[Cindy B]

I do agree that checking the menus pre trip would have saved money.

I personally hate all the restaurant food while on vacation.. I can taste the grease and junk.

I personally like the idea of being able to cook. I like sandwiches, or even as a compromise a sandwich/hoagie from the deli section of Winn Dixie/Publix. I would use my grocery budget for the week in very creative ways..

For hotels with fridge/stove options (ie DVC, etc.)
some lunchmeat (bought with coupons from Sunday paper )
some pasta/sauce (again with coupons from paper if generic weren't better price)
box mac n cheese/chicken noodle soup (my daughter loves this)
some frozen chicken breast (Weaver/Banquet)
Novelty ice cream.. there are Mickey shaped ones at the Winn Dixie in Orlando!

Even a rotisserie chicken precooked would be nice.
I would also buy some premade items

Also milk, coffee creamer, etc.

For hotels without fridge/stove options (this is more creative but doable)

Using a cooler brought from home.

I have brought.. lunchables, yogurt (Gogurt bought on sale w/coupon), pudding cups, and some kids cuisine.

I used the All Star microwave to heat up some things.. don't worry I also purchased refillable mugs as well.

I also brought microwave popcorn

 

[rigs32]

Mary -

As a poor 20something, when I go on a budget trip, I squeeze those pennies so I can splurge on stuff. For example, we share meals so we can splurge on dinner at Crystal Palace.

I guess it's just differing opinions on how budget you want to go. Did they save money? Of course. Could they have done a little better? Probably.

My DH was against budget travel at first. His opinion was that if we're going on vacation, we're out to enjoy ourselves. It took only one year of showing him how by being super budget conscious, we could still afford two vacations a year, even though we're in the lowest tax bracket. We do a group cruise with friends and co-workers every January for under $1000 (including everything) and something on our own in the summer - last year it was WDW.

I, personally, would not spend $20 on a snack for the family. If I knew people would get hungry, I'd get the meal vouchers at AK - have lunch on them, then get the ice cream to eat while traveling to another park. You save time and money. Those cone are huge, so not everyone would get their own, either. Or we'd use one for two of us. Get the ribs and chicken meal at AK to share, then DH gets the ice cream (and I get to taste) and I get a Diet Coke to quench that sweet craving without the calories.

For beverages, we carry those backpack hydration things. Fill with ice, top off with water (taps in counter service restaurants are very drinkable). Plenty of beverage, you've got a backpack for any items you're carrying, and the ice keeps your back cool.

Since many of us here are avid readers of your site, we're always looking for other ways to make those trips even cheaper.

Would the kind of trip I take be bad for some? Yeah. It does take prep work. But I *love* the planning. I have small pages (quarter sheets) of places to eat in the parks that would be a good deal for us. At lunch time in Epcot, I'll ask DH if he wants Italian, Moroccan, or Japanese. We still get a choice, but we limit out choices to the most cost effective. For the two of us, I think our food budget averaged out to ~$25 per day.

 

[seastar]

Hey Mary,

Thanks for this great article!! I also loved the one about getting the most value from a Disney Cruise.

Your website is great and has saved people so much money.
Keep up the good work!!