check my numbers!?

[davgr]

i am planning a romantic/anniversary trip for my boyfriend of 2 years. (i'm paying...what a great GF i am right?!) it will be 5 days long. i want to focus on hitting great places to eat and keeping things super romantic! but, i am a college age student and don't have unlimited funds, so i want to make sure all my numbers are in order before i go to pay for something and have $0 left in my bank account!

we plan on staying at all star music and doing the "fun and sun" package - we will be going in one of the first few weeks of june. per disney, this will cost $1456.01. since our trip is longer, we don't really need park hopping, so i'm leaving it at that flat fee. i am also not doing the dining plan since the places i want to go don't really fit in super well with it.

my dad is a frequent flyer on southwest, so i can get the tickets for free!!! southwest gives you 2 carry on bags, so we don't need to check baggage, since neither of us are heavy travelers. we will be flying from bwi to orlando, if that matters.

i haven't actually made any adrs yet, since i want to get the dates ironed out (it depends on whether or not i get a certain summer internship) but ideally, these would be the places that we go, along with approximate prices. neither of us are 21, so alcohol doesn't factor into these prices, which is nice! i'm definitely trying to overestimate.

day 1: lunch at qs somewhere, dinner at citricos - approx $132
day 2: lunch at teppan edo, dinner at la hacienda - approx $170
day 3: lunch at sci fi, dinner at bluezoo - approx $205
day 4: breakfast/brunch at rainforest, dinner at morimoto - approx $135
day 5: lunch at qs, dinner at the plaza - approx $80
= approx $722 on food. i would also probably add on about $150 to account for random snacks or somewhere being more expensive than anticipated.

overall, i'm anticipating the "basis" of this trip to be about $2328. i also expect to drop extra money on souvenirs/snacks/random stuff, bringing it up to maybe $2500. ideally, i would like to spend less than $3000 on this trip, so if i'm calculating everything right this should be great, but i want to make sure that i'm accounting for everything and calculating food prices relatively accurately.

thanks so much !!

 

[kniquy]

Does he know about this trip or is it a surprise? If i were you i would not offer to pay the full boat myself. Very nice of you, but if you have been dating for 2 years it should be pretty equal give and take. Plus my guess is that both of you are in college so both with limited income. If this is a trip you both want then both chip in. It is a great place to celebrate!!

If your dad chips in and uses the points for flights, that is a big help. See if your BF would pay half of the fun/sun package (i'm guessing that includes room and tickets). It sounds like your estimate for food should be reasonable but maybe bump it up to an even $1000 - don't forget about tips and if you do get a few snacks in between. You should be able to keep it under your goal of $3K.

 

[Keacc]

If it bothers you or your boyfriend, don't go the first week of June because that is traditionally "Gay Week".

Southwest lets you check 2 bags per person for free, so why not check them rather than drag them all over the airport.

Transportation from and back to the airport? Are you using DME?

 

[davgr]

Does he know about this trip or is it a surprise? If i were you i would not offer to pay the full boat myself. Very nice of you, but if you have been dating for 2 years it should be pretty equal give and take. Plus my guess is that both of you are in college so both with limited income. If this is a trip you both want then both chip in. It is a great place to celebrate!!

If your dad chips in and uses the points for flights, that is a big help. See if your BF would pay half of the fun/sun package (i'm guessing that includes room and tickets). It sounds like your estimate for food should be reasonable but maybe bump it up to an even $1000 - don't forget about tips and if you do get a few snacks in between. You should be able to keep it under your goal of $3K.

he does know but this is something that i want to do for him for most of our relationship he has paid for everything (he has definitely spent more than $3000 on me!!) and i want to be able to give him something! if it comes down to a price thing i'm sure he would be able to pitch in, but i'd rather pay myself if at all possible. plus, knowing him, he's going to offer to pay for a couple dinners once we are there. so it won't be 100% on me!

we are both in college but i work 2 jobs on top of classes and live with my dad, so all of my income is disposable (or should go into savings...)

my dad would be happy to give me points. he travels through work so all of his flights are free but he ends up with a LOT of extra random points, so there's not really anything to do with them when i told him about this trip, he was like "don't even worry about the plane!"

If it bothers you or your boyfriend, don't go the first week of June because that is traditionally "Gay Week".

Southwest lets you check 2 bags per person for free, so why not check them rather than drag them all over the airport.

Transportation from and back to the airport? Are you using DME?

ha! i did not know that but it definitely won't bother either of us. that will have to be the week that we go if i get my internship, but if i don't, we will go later in the month. i won't know until next week!

also did not know that you can check bags for free through southwest...can you tell this is the first trip i've ever planned by myself? and yes, we plan on using dme.

 

[kniquy]

First week of June would probably be a good time to go because I know at least the schools in the northeast are still in until late June. So i think you would miss a lot of the summer crowds. Keep us updated on your plans. I would actual say try and grab some dining reservations now and then you can cancel and adjust as you get closer. I would hate for you to wait and book your trip in April and there be limited options. One thing some one mentioned to me here when deciding dining reservations was to choose places that you couldn't get back home. I was going to do la hacienda but there are a variety of Mexican restaurants around home. there aren't Moroccan so we ended up choosing spice road instead. It is overwhelming all the dining options.

Is this your first Disney trip ever? or just the first trip you are planning yourself?

 

[davgr]

Is this your first Disney trip ever? or just the first trip you are planning yourself?

i grew up in jacksonville (although i live on the eastern seaboard now) and my mom is a disney fanatic, so i've gone to disney probably upwards of 15 times? the most recent being april of 2016. but i have never paid and my mom has always planned the whole thing. i'm super grateful for how much money she apparently spent on me!

la hacienda is a bit of a placeholder: that's the epcot day, so really any of the mid-tier TS places in epcot would be fine for dinner that night. i would go anywhere except probably coral reef (because BF is not a huge seafood fan) and monsieur paul (because i can't afford it LOL). i am also trying to branch out from le cellier because i have been there like 4 times. if you have any recommendations for TS dinner in epcot i would definitely take them!

 

[kymom99]

Our first trip was at the end of gay days. It can be really crowded but they have a schedule at certain parks for each day. I was worried about the crowds at first because I had no clue this was going on. Luckily it was ending as our trip began because I didn't know to plan around it. You can google it and plan for it. This year it is may 30-June 5

 

[danygirl]

If you haven't joined the landry's club do it now. It is $25 to join but they credit it back the first time you use the card. Plus you get a $25 discount in your birthday month. You can pick any month for your birthday so pick the month of your trip. So $50 credit at rainforest cafe or tree for $25. Card holders get priority seating - you don't have to make a reservation.

 

[Alexle2007]

You could also consider restaurants that are in the Epcot area since you'll be able to get back in the park and it is an easy walk on boat ride to get to them. There are lots of choices like the Yachtsman Steakhouse, Captain's Grille, etc...

 

[kniquy]

We actually really enjoyed coral reef )and the atmosphere is pretty cool too) and that was where my husband had one of the best steaks, so they do offer more than just seafood. I'm not a seafood person and from what i can remember i probably ordered some sort of chicken dish. This was a couple of years ago so it might not hurt to go on the restaurant board of this forum (they are very knowledgeable) to investigate the restaurants a little more and get some feed back on what you are looking for. Just be flexible with your dining times and you should be able to find something. Even if you don't get what you want for reservations then check the day before --people have to cancel the day before or they will be charged. This is why i suggest book what you can now (this maybe frowned upon but you can make say 2 reservations for the same evening (not overlapping) then as you sort through your plans cancel what you don't need).