Could you help me figure out the best way to go.

[Bugsmom73]

We would love to return to WDW in January of 2006 with a dear friend of ours who is paying her way, of course. We will buy a few meals for her to thank her for helping with the kids etc. Our trip is to be 7 nights, 8 days.

This is our current plan and budget: 3500 for everything, including spending money.
Food- 1000.00
Airfare- 500-600
Tickets - 700 Park hopper MYW
Souvies- 500
Hotel - 600

We do have triple A so that would be at least a small discount. We had originally planned 5 nights at POP(2 rooms one with a fridge) and 2 nights in one room at AKL. How can I shave more money off of this? We really want to go and do not want to use our CC. Would staying in a 1 br villa be a possibility? We would be willing to rent points. Ages of travelers are 32,31,29, 4 and 2. The 2 year old will still sleep in a crib.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

In all honesty, I think that parts of your current budget are fine but there are some areas that are a little optimistic.

I think that the food budget for 2 adults & 2 children is more than adequate. Even if you factor in one or two sitdown meals that include your friend, I think you'll be okay. We budget $125/day for a family of 2 adults & 2 juniors with no problems. You could probably budget $100/day for your family and still be alright.

You're going to find it hard to fly 4 people for under $600. That's $150/RT ticket, including taxes and fees. And by 4 people, I mean two adults and two children. The 2yo will need a ticket. Most airlines require children over the age of 24 months to pay for a seat. With fuel costs rising rapidly, by January you will probably see that those great $49 one-way fares that some airlines are currently offering will disappear.

Your ticket budget looks good for MYW hoppers w/expiry for 2 adults & 1 child. Your 2yo will not need a ticket. Based on today's prices on Ticketmania.com, you're right in the ballpark with a $700 estimate.

Souvenirs can always be trimmed back if necessary. If things are looking tight, make your first cuts here. $125 per person is quite a bit of money to spend on souvenirs. It can be cut back to $100 or even $75 per person if need be.

The room budget is where I have real questions. Is your friend actually paying half of the hotel fees? By my estimation, with a AAA discount in January, your total room costs would be almost $1200 and that does not take into consideration any hikes in the room rates for 2006.

• 2 nights at AKL during value season (even with the 15% AAA discount) is going to cost $433 based on this year's rates ($199/night before AAA discount, $25/night extra adult fee, 11.5% hotel tax).
• 2 rooms at an AllStar ($77/night before AAA discount, 13% room tax) for 5 nights during value season will run another $696.
• Add another $10/night plus 13% tax for the fridge for 5 nights.

If you have to pare back costs, then consider staying at the AllStars for the entire stay. AKL is eating up 1/3 of your hotel budget in just 2 nights. You might want to save it for another vacation.

Staying in a 1-bedroom villa will run about $1600 if you rent points from a DVC member at $10/pt, based on the January 2005 points chart for OKW. You would need even more points for BWV or BCV. You would be spending more for the room but you would have the luxury of laundry facilities, more space and a full kitchen. You could offset higher cost of the villa by taking money from the food budget and preparing more meals in the room. But doing this wouldn't change the bottomline, it only shifts your spending around.

I hope you're able to make the trip happen for both yourself and your friend.