Can We Get By???

[x96oun]

After paying for our hotel, car, disney passes, and flights we will have $2000USD for our 6 day's at Disney. We will bring our own lunches in our cooler to the park in our car. We will eat most dinners off site and are not HUGE souvenir shoppers. Will the $2000 be plenty of money for two of us? We just do not want to run out.

 

[newholidayx2]

sooooo what does that 2000 need to cover?

 

[scanmom]

it sounds like the $2000.00 is mainly for food and souvies. I think with 2 people, you should have plenty of money set aside. Me and DH went in Sep. 2003 and ate like it was going out of style, and we spent maybe $500.00 on food. And we did several sit-downs! Of course, we were there for 5 days/4 nites, but I think you will be fine!
edited to add that we ate ALL of our meals on site, and even had a midnight snack from Tubby's cafeteria EVERY NIGHT!!! ( BTW, DH gained 15 lbs on that trip!!)

 

[Greg]

Yes, If you are staying for seven (7) days, then $2000 would be almost $143 per day per person. You can eat very well with that much money! Have fun and don’t gain too much weight.

Greg

 

[garydeb]

My husband and I usually plan for $100 a day for our trips. We eat breakfast in our rooms but eat lunch and dinner at disney. We don't buy many souviers and always come home with a little money. Remember at counter service you dont' have to get the meals. You can just order a entree (hamburger, sandwiches, wraps). If you want fries or chips you get alot, so you can split one meal and order an extra entree. You can also aske for ice or ice water.
Have fun and don't worry!!!!
garydeb

 

[pyrxtc]

I hope it's more than enough for the two of you cuz we are bringing that same amount for 7 of us! 2 adults and 5 kids ages 15,11,8,4,1. It should get you some great souveniers!

 

[disneysteve]

After paying for our hotel, car, disney passes, and flights we will have $2000USD for our 6 day's at Disney. Will the $2000 be plenty of money for two of us? We just do not want to run out.

Our last trip in November for the 3 of us cost us about $2000 total for transportation, lodging, tickets, food, souvenirs, etc. (and that was 9 days including travel days). If you are asking is $2000 enough just for food and souvenirs, then the answer is absolutely. I couldn't imagine spending anywhere near that much. Last trip, we averaged about $60/day for food for the 3 of us.

 

[takemetoo]

I agree with Disneysteve, I couldn't imagine spending $2000 on food and souvies! Last year we bugeted $1000 for the four of us (our baby, our 3yr old, me and dh) for food and spending and could NOT spend that much. We were there 5 nights/six days and brought close to $500 back with us.

Have a great trip and do not worry!

 

[jenr812]

Can you get by?? Absolutely - and looks like you'll have a nice start to saving for your next trip to WDW

 

[ptrbryant]

Please, please tell us how you do it! I've noticed you've mentioned SkyAuction on other posts. I finally got around to checking them out...impressively low prices! Have you ever had a problem with them? Have to admit we prefer onsite at WDW, but I'll certainly give them a try for other trips.
Also, are you flying or driving? It's just DH, DS9 and myself, so I figure we should have comparable expenses. So far, for our trip this Oct., it will cost about $2800 staying at WL at a code rate for 5 nts.---if we drive, which adds another 2 hotel stays (1 each way). If SWA comes out with their $39 each-way fare, we're flying and staying the extra 2 nts. at Sand Key. I'd love to pare down our expenses even more. I DO know the Dining Plan is more expensive than our usual 1 sit-down, 1 counter service meal per day, so we're not doing that. We're also planning on buying the MYW 10-day no-exp. passes.

Thanks!
Karla B.

 

[disneymom3]

Well, I am not DisneySteve, but he and I have similar approaches. (if you don't mind my saying so, Steve--I agree with most of your posts especially those dealing with costs.)

Okay, even with a code, WL is going to be way way more than staying offsite. You say you prefer onsite, may I ask if you have stayed offsite and where?

I know Steve really likes renting a house and we prefer to go the villa route. The most we have ever paid is $87 a night for Cypress Pointe in a two bedroom villa with full kitchen etc. Wait a minute--thre was a quick trip a few years ago where we paid aobut $150 a night at the Vistana Resort. We always eat breakfast in our villa (or the car if we are running late) unless we have a PS for a character breakfast. Lunch is usually counter service unless we are leaving close to midday and then it is back to the villa for easy mac or sandwiches and a swim in the pool. Dinner is usually in the parks either sit down or counter service depending on the day. However, if we ate lunch in the park and didn't take a break we are usually ready to leave by dinner and either eat--yes, at the condo--or go to an area restaurant. Basically we are looking at an average of one onsite meal per day, sometimes two. We do bring snacks but very willling buy bottled water, pop and popcorn or mickey bars.

We have three kids. In 2002-2003 we went to WDW 3 times, and our total for all three trips was $3700 including everything. (We drive) Now, I had two under three years at that time, so add at least $600 for those two plus a couple of buffets. The rest of us had annual passes. We had a fabulous time, never felt deprived and also didn't get sick of restaurant meals or all have to pack into one room for a week at a time with no space to spread out.

For our next trip, we are planning to buy the 10 MYW no expiry tickets and will use them for two trips so half of that is $790. Then we will actually get a timeshare exchange, but I will bump up the price to $70 a night for an average of $490. (I have never paid that much on Sky Auction, but we'll be generous.) $300 to drive round trip. And we average about $40 a day for food for all 5 of us. I am throwing in an extra $150 because my boys will be bigger by then so let's call it $450. That is $2050 for a family of 5. The older two kids will have their own spending money, the youngest one will get a couple little nothing type souveneirs and DH and I don't shop much though DH needs a new Disney hat.

 

[ptrbryant]

We actually have never stayed off-site! In fact, we've always stayed at WL at a rate of about $129/nt. WDW is our ONE big vacation of the year and DH and I both really love to feel pampered by our surroundings for one week a year. Everytime I've looked into condo rentals, they look attractive and clean, but I haven't seen any that have a "luxurious" look to them (except for Vistana Village? I was going to book there once, but they couldn't guarantee a non-smoking accomodation. DS has asthma and cannot tolerate a smoke-scented room!) I'm open to suggestions!

Thanks,
Karla B.

 

[LovePug]

$2000 for 2 people for 6 days?! I can't imagine spending that much for just food and souvenirs. Even when we stayed onsite on our last trip (which really increased the price for food), we didn't spend anywhere near that for 3 of us. We didn't do sit-down meals every day, but we ate at CRT for dinner, had a character meal for breakfast and did the Fantasmic Dinner Package. Maybe if you eat at places like that every day...

 

[disneymom3]

Karla--thanks for your answer. I always wonder how people who have never stayed offsite can say they prefer on. LOL--I just know I couldn't form a preference if I hadn't tried both. For what it's worth, we have stayed at the Poly and much prefer the Vistana Resort. (We've stayed at the Villages too, but prefer the Resort.) Another one that comes to mind for luxury is the Hilton Grand Vacations Club. There is a Marriot property too though those two may not come up on Sky Auction, I don't know. We are spoiled as DHs parents have a timeshare that they rarely use so we get to trade with that. (Which makes me realize that price above is wrong for us--woohoo!) A good way to find out about the resorts that are timeshares and may come up on Sky Auction is to go to www.rci.com and do a resort search. You don't have to sign in to do it and there are sometimes reviews of places that are really helpful.

Anyway, I can see the appeal of staying onsite and probably would at least more often or for part of our trip if I didn't have three kids. Disney is really not very large family friendly, you know? (And compared to many of my friends, I have a small family!!) I just can't justify the money I would have to spend to get a room for 5. That WL rate is great--maybe DH could sleep in the car!!

 

[ptrbryant]

Just to see what's there and, really, to think of accomodation for other trips, too. On our first WDW trip, I thought the whole on-site magic thing was a bit over the top and booked 2 nt.s at WL and 3 at the newish Marriott Residence Inn nearby. We arrived with DS sick and feverish. We went straight to our room and about an hour later, the ElectricWater Parade went past our balcony. I don't know if it was the timing of that kind of "maigcal" moment or not wanting the hassle of packing up and going to a different hotel, but we cancelled our off-site hotel and stayed the whole trip at WL. Now, I'd have a really hard time convincing DH or DS to stay elsewhere!

But, it's just 3 of us. My best friend and cousin has 5 children and when she's asked about suggestions for their family, I actually do recommend off-site. I think if you have more than 3-4 children, it would be just too confining---and it's hard to get adjoining rooms when none of the kids are teens yet, etc.

Thanks again!
Karla B.

 

[jenr812]

Disney is really not very large family friendly, you know?

That just hits the nail on the head. IT is so frustrating that they haven't thought ahead to be more accomodating for larger (or AVERAGE!) sized families. It just seems logical that they would have made some rooms in each resort able to accomodate 6 instead of 4. If they charged more for that larger room it would still be better on the wallet than having to get 2 rooms But I guess that's their plan huh? LOL They get two rooms for one family! Ah well, at least this year we don't have to worry about it!

 

[disneysteve]

Please, please tell us how you do it!

No need to beg .

I think I tossed the tally sheet I wrote up after we got back but I've got the figures from my credit card statement since we charge virtually everything to rack up reward points (yes we pay the bill in full when it comes).

3 of us - Me, DW and DD-9
Drove from NJ

Gas: $200
One hotel nite each way: $125 total
Week in 2-bed, 2-bath condo at Orbit One thru SkyAuction: $260
Park passes: 3 5-day hoppers (2 adult, 1 child): $745
Food: $550
Parking at Disney $40
---------------------------
Total: $1920

Add in a couple hundred more for stuff like souvenirs, boat rentals, photo processing and any little stupid stuff I forgot and that brings the total up to about $2200 for the week. So can you see why I couldn't fathom spending $2000 on food?

This was our first time using SkyAuction and we loved it. The place was incredible. If you want to get an idea of what we got for $260, I've got pictures here:http://community.webshots.com/user/disneysteve

Next trip we will definitely buy 10-day MYW no expiry tickets. We'll use half next time and half the time after, just like disneymom3 mentioned. That alone will save us hundreds of dollars. The new tickets are so much cheaper than the old ones. I'm really surprised Disney did that.

A few other quick tips. We always eat breakfast in our room. We drink water (tap, not bottled) most of the day. When we do get a soda, the 3 of us share one large. We share food at almost every meal. We eat some meals offsite. In fact, we have some favorite restaurants offsite that we really look forward to getting back to each trip.

Are our trips any less magical than someone who stays onsite? You'll never convince me of that. And I have stayed onsite 8 times: Contemporary, Fort Wilderness, Caribbean Beach and All-Stars. In fact, I think are trips are so much more special to us because we aren't stressing over how much money we're spending and we have wonderful spacious accomodations where we get to relax and unwind each day rather than being on top of each other in a regular room. Plus, since we don't spend much, we're able to keep going back at least annually. I'll take the annual budget trip over the every 3 year luxury trip anytime.

 

[disneymom3]

Hey, Steve--loved the pictures! Thanks for sharing them.

And again, I agree with your philosophy--I have no stress about $$$ while being able to put my kids to bed while DH and I stay up, watch TV, have some grown up beverages or what have you. THAT is a vacation!

 

[ptrbryant]

And thanks for the pm...I'd been looking earlier today and thought that you'd left the thread!
Okay, the 2 things where my budget varies from your's are 1. Transportation. We've always flown, but that adds about $700 more to the budget (unless there's a SWA $39 each way deal). This year, we're finally considering driving...hey, if you can do it from New Jersey, we should be able to do it from Bowling Green, KY (about 1 hour north of Nashville). and 2. Accomodations. Wow! That really makes a huge difference, in spite of the code rates at WL. I've got to keep thinking about this.
BTW, we also have breakfast in our room (none of us like a heavy, big breakfast anyway) and use Brita-To-Go bottles for water in the parks.
Interestingly, our food budget is $560 and souveniers/misc. spending $240.00. Sooo, it looks like trans. and hotel/condo are the flexible issues here.

Thanks for the info!
Karla B.

p.s. The condo looked really attractive!

 

[disneymom3]

Karla--You are already half way there!! LOL! We drive from MN with three young children (well the oldest is 8 and she is a breeze in the car.) You can do it!!! And then you will also have your own car which will make it easier to stock up on drinks, breakfast items and what ever else you need even if you do stay onsite.

Of course, for $39 airfare, I would strongly consider flying!