Everything's Going to be Different This Time 8/20-8/25 (w/pix)

[tammyandtommy]

LOL i must know I am a count to the penny kinda girl! LOL If youre sharing that is!

 

[blue_river]

Solgent - thanks for sharing your wonderful tr with us all. As a matter of fact I am interested in how much the trip cost. I like to compare it with my own especially since you "splurged" this time around.

 

[megcellent]

What a GREAT trip report - i have really enjoyed reading it! I am looking forward to your next post, as I am much like you in that I like keeping track of exactly how much things cost ... can't wait to see ...

 

[solgent]

23. How much did it cost?

Well, I seem to have attracted a very like-minded readership. We all add up our vacation expenses!

I really didn't go in with a budget. Of course, lots of the expensive items had been paid for in advance (lodging, tickets, airfare). For food and miscellaneous, I wanted to spend as we felt was appropriate and then see what my total was, and then if we thought it was too much, we could try to make adjustments in future trips.

We arrived in time for lunch on Sunday and left midafternoon on Friday. So it was five days plus. Here's what we spent:

Meals
Artist's Palette $47.57
Wegoshop $95.95
H&V $99.42
Boma $136.49
Artist's Palette $9.38
CHH $20.50
Pizzafari $18.71
CHH $20.18

Snacks
ABC comm $2.56
Goofy's Candy $5.99
2 cookies $4.02
3 ice creams $7.50

Food total $468.27
This works out to $88.35 per day for the 5 of us. We did bring some things from home, either things that we only needed a little bit of, such as tea bags, and things that I buy on sale and never pay retail for, such as Luna bars. However, we also brought some things back, such as an extra box of cereal, because it had been a buy one get one free deal, which we haven't opened yet.

Souvenirs $243.09
Includes pins I bought on eBay ahead of time. Does not include Photopass photos (I bought 3) or the cost of printing the photos I took with my camera. I consider those scrapbooking expenses, not vacation expenses.

Airfare $978.00

Entertainment
Cirque de Soleil $295.57
Park Tickets $293.76
I bought 5 10-day non-expiring park-hoppers (4 adult, 1 child) from undercovertourist for $1836. I calculate this as 50 days for $1836, or $36.72 per person per day. We used 8 of the days.

Misc (tips, cabfare, phone) $39.40

Total without lodging $2,318.09

So the key question is what value to put on the 125 DVC points needed for our stay.

a) $10 each, what I could have earned from renting them

Grand total is $3,568.09

b) $6 each, what I paid for them this year (dues + portion of purchase price)

Grand total is $3,068.09

As everyone knows, a Disney vacation is not cheap. But I think we got great value. Mousesavers.com outlines a "lowest possible" cost, "decent vacation" plan where a family of 4 pays $1,500 for a 5 night stay, but they are driving, not flying (How Low Can You Go? ). First let's subtract their $100 gasoline costs and then add another person. (It's not really that easy because a hotel room for 5 does not cost 25% more than a hotel room for 4; they can often be hard to find and much more expensive. So this is an underestimate.) Result is $1,750. Our cost without airfare is $2,090.09 Less than $350 more! If we'd gone without Cirque de Soleil we'd be very near the "lowest possible" cost. Yet our vacation was far from "decent"-- it was fabulous! So I think that we got fantastic value. We didn't spend a lot compared to objectively determined expected costs, but we felt that we were treating ourselves and wallowing in luxury. It was well worth it. It was money well spent. It was magical.

Thanks for reading!

(DD11b took this photo of me at Hollywood & Vine.)

 

[arizonacolbys]

Thanks for sharing your breakdown & your entire trip with us!! It sounds like you & your family really had a wonderful vacation together!

We leave in just 3 days - thanks for giving me something to read while I wait!!

 

[shyjade]

You are my Budget Hero!! Some unforseen expenses have turned our upcoming "budget" trip into a "buy neccessities only" trip. Thanks to your report I know we will have a great vacation no matter what!

 

[blue_river]

You're sooooo right Solgent - it is money well spent! Do you have plans to return next year? I'm so envious of the disers who go every year or even more than once a year.

 

[megcellent]

WOW! You go girl! I spent over half of that on a 5 day Disney trip for myself back in May. And you have extra park-hopper tickets left over for next time! ) I don't have kids yet, but I think you did VERY well!!!

 

[tammyandtommy]

How did you manage to spend so little at TS restaurants?
I read your report but still cant figure it out...

Meals
Artist's Palette $47.57
Wegoshop $95.95
H&V $99.42
Boma $136.49
Artist's Palette $9.38
CHH $20.50
Pizzafari $18.71
CHH $20.18

Snacks
ABC comm $2.56
Goofy's Candy $5.99
2 cookies $4.02
3 ice creams $7.50

Food total $468.27
This works out to $88.35 per day for the 5 of us. We did bring some things from home, either things that we only needed a little bit of, such as tea bags, and things that I buy on sale and never pay retail for, such as Luna bars. However, we also brought some things back, such as an extra box of cereal, because it had been a buy one get one free deal, which we haven't opened yet.

 

[teentoddlermom]

Wow!!
You are a budget wonder!

I thought I was doing well because we got "free dining", but of course the room was rack rate!!

I think your food budget is small!!
We are not big eaters (except when we get the DDP), but it seems to me that you did not eat that much!
The thing I like about the DDP, even when it is not free, is you pay in advance, so when you're on vacation, the only added cash out of your pocket is souveniers and assorted small tips. So no big visa bill to face with the post vacation blues.

I'm really impressed with your cost control, thanks for providing inspiration to spend less next time!

 

[solgent]

How did you manage to spend so little at TS restaurants?

We only went to two TS restaurants. They were both buffets, so there was a fixed price. Non-alcoholic drinks are included. DH doesn't drink alcohol at all and I do so only a few times per year; I didn't drink alcohol during this trip.

Hollywood & Vine: 3 "adults" (myself, and DDs 11a and 11b) at $23.99 each and 1 child (DD7) at $11.99. That's about $84, plus tax and tip came to $99.42. DH did not go into the parks with us so he wasn't at this dinner.

Boma: 4 adults at $25.99 and 1 child at 11.99. That's $116, and we paid $136.49 after tax and tip.

What surprised me is how little I had to spend on CS meals for myself and the girls in the parks. I definitely was expecting that we would buy more food than what we actually did. What can I say? My kids have very small appetites. I promise we don't starve them!

 

[solgent]

To shyjade, tammyandtommy and arizonacolbys,

Have a WONDERFUL trip!

 

[solgent]

I think your food budget is small!!
We are not big eaters (except when we get the DDP), but it seems to me that you did not eat that much!

I don't want it to seem that I'm presenting our food budget as something that people should copy or that someone is extravagant or wasting money if they spend more. No way. This is just us, how we like to do things. Your mileage may vary!

We had a kitchen in the room, which was one of the reasons we wanted to join DVC. I just really, truly, would rather eat a bowl of yogurt and sliced banana in the room for breakfast while the kids watch cartoons with their bowls of cereal than go out for Tonga Toast or anything else, and the rest of the family feels the same. Boma was great but I don't want to eat like that every night even on vacation.

That said, I am contemplating getting DDP next time. (Yes, blue_river, we are already thinking about next year!) The plan would be, stay in a regular room (no kitchen) for Fri and Sat nights when DVC rooms require many more points. We'd get 2 days of credits, which I think could feed our family for three days (Fri through Sun) because we would share CS meals. The credits are good until midnight on the check-out day. So we'd have a couple of days of restaurant experiences. On Sunday, we'd move to a DVC resort and get groceries for the kitchen and we could then enjoy our simple home-cooked meals.

 

[teentoddlermom]

Another good idea, about using the DP when staying non DVC! You can definitely stretch out the credits! DDP gives really too much food!

 

[icelady]

It was wonderful reading your trip report and your pics are great. Thanks for posting your budget breakdown. Next week at this time we will be down at the World and hope to have as good a time as you seemed to have. THanks for posting the trip report.

 

[mousebit]

What a well-done trip report! THANX so much for sharing your adventures with us. Really enjoyed the pics and the budget tips. You have proven that it is possible to indulge in some of the finer things at Disney without busting the bank. And, yes, your girls are lovely.

 

[mikamah]

Great trip report. Your girls are beautiful. Sounds like they get along great. And I love your pics. I think I may pick up the photography book you reccommended. It was great to see the itemized cost. We are taking our first trip with my son this year, and I'm trying to budget how much I'll need for food and souvenirs. Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

I just finished your TR tonight and I must say that I really enjoyed it! It was fun seeing someone who is as thrifty about things as I am! It's nice to know I'm not alone!

Glad you enjoyed SSR. We've stayed there several times now and also really enjoyed the resort.

 

[solgent]

Thank you everyone for reading and for the nice things you've posted about my DDs and my photos and my words.

Last week my DD7 (actually, she's had a birthday since our trip, so she is now DD8) asked, "Do you know what my favorite thing at WDW was?" I sure was interested to find out!. She named four things: the hot tubs, the water slide, the king size bed, and the bubble gum she had on the plane! Since the first 3 of her top 4 had to do with the resort, I was glad all over again that we'd decided to go with on-site DVC or deluxe accomodations from now on.

We're still listening to the Disney songs and it still gives me a lift to hear "A Whole New World" or "I Just Can't Wait to be King" or "Under the Sea" or "I'll Make a Man Out of You" or one of our other favorites.

 

[mommykds]

Your girls are beautiful! Thanks for taking the time to post your report!