help with my budget....realistic??

[rlilly79]

I am planning to take my mom, myself and four children ages 13,9,7 & 2 with us. We are going down Dec 26th til Jan 6th. Got the condo at a great rate and plane on dong a lot of cooking there. So I figure


TOTAL COST FOR:

condo and meals in $1100

Tickets for all of us to DW for 6 days no hop $1600

Tickets for discovery cove $1500

Brunch with Mickey $190

Gas to an from NC $250

Food on the road $75

OK so there is a rough draft of what I have figured in so far to my preliminary budget. It is just a rough draft. I was Hong some of you vets could help me out. I will tell you this, we plan on doing one more meal, rain forest cafe most likely but that's all. Souvenirs will be bought but on a minimum. My budget goal was $7000 and was wondering if that would be plenty. Any help or advice would be great!

 

[danceintherain]

I am planning to take my mom, myself and four children ages 13,9,7 & 2 with us. We are going down Dec 26th til Jan 6th. Got the condo at a great rate and plane on dong a lot of cooking there. So I figure


TOTAL COST FOR:

condo and meals in $1100

Tickets for all of us to DW for 6 days no hop $1600

Tickets for discovery cove $1500

Brunch with Mickey $190

Gas to an from NC $250

Food on the road $75

OK so there is a rough draft of what I have figured in so far to my preliminary budget. It is just a rough draft. I was Hong some of you vets could help me out. I will tell you this, we plan on doing one more meal, rain forest cafe most likely but that's all. Souvenirs will be bought but on a minimum. My budget goal was $7000 and was wondering if that would be plenty. Any help or advice would be great!

It looks good to me.
The only additions I would make is gas for while you're in Orlando, and parking at the parks. Even if your condo has a shuttle service, you may find that you want to drive some.
Otherwise, I think you have just about everything covered.
With what you have listed, you have under $5000 planned, which gives you a $2000 buffer.

 

[kalc12345]

The only extra I see would be parking at the parks unless you plan on using a shuttle. Also you may need more for gas.These days you never know what gas prices will be.

 

[Bete]

about the food budget. With six people, I don't think it's enough. You didn't break down the cost of condo and the cost of meals in the condo. Even if all of it was for food, I don't think $100/day is enough for 6 people. We don't know what the condo cost portion costs; so, I don't know your exact budget for food. I guess it depends if you have a big breakfast (usually cheaper meal) and if you eat twice a day, not three. Also, if you cook meals by scratch or not. The parks can be a very tempting place for snacks and drinks.

Gas prices will go up during the holiday, especially in a tourist area. Parking fees to the parks are about $15/day.

Make sure you bring your own stroller for the two year old. You don't want to be caught with a rental cost for the stroller. If you can bring any food in your car, I would do it from home.

Also, make sure you are not paying a cleaning fee for the condo and that resort taxes are included for the condo. If you have that in your calculation then you are okay. Read the fine print.

 

[SaraJayne]

Depending on how much the condo is, you'll probably have to increase the food budget. If you're buying food at the parks, just a CS meal for six people can end up being $75+.

Also, parking at the parks and gas while there.

It's the most crowded week of the year at Disney between Christmas and New Year's (almost daily park closures due to capacity), so make sure you have a plan of action.

 

[HM]

I'm not sure the ticket cost is correct. Shouldn't that be higher? Check again.

 

[SaraJayne]

I'm not sure the ticket cost is correct. Shouldn't that be higher? Check again.

I just checked WDW website and for three adults/2 kids 6 day tickets, it comes up to $1442 with taxes and fees. So her estimate is actually a bit high.

 

[Mic]

I just checked Undercover Tourist for ticket prices...It is around $1365 for five 6-day base tickets (3 adult/2 kids). There's the money for Rainforest Cafe!
The gas estimate is about right...we spend $250-280 a trip in my 2004 Suburban. My 2010 Hyundai Elantra costs only $150 a trip...I drive it if we have less than 4 people, but it gets a little tight during the 9-hour drive with more than 3 peeps.

 

[goodeats]

I wouldn't think you could/would eat ALL meals in your condo. Maybe that's what the $2K buffer is for, but I would definitely plan for at least one QS meal a day in the parks plus the occasional take out dinner.

 

[Darcy03231]

We went with 9 people and stayed offsite in a condo. We spent about $500 on food for 16 days. Don't forget that you'll have to buy everything - salt, pepper, ketchup, mayo, salad dressing, etc. (at least we did). I also purchased a crock pot when we got there at Walmart for $20 and it was well worth it.

Keep in mind that you are traveling during one of the busiest weeks of the year. Without park hoppers, if you leave the parks for a meal, you may not be able to get back into the park you exited if it meets capacity.

We went in August and what we found worked best for us was to get up early, have a big breakfast and hit the parks for opening. We went back to the house for a mid-afternoon break and a big meal and then went back to the parks at night. Since it was so hot we really didn't eat in the parks, just snacked. We also brought in our own water, which helped save money too.

 

[dja14]

I think your food budget is not enough, even cooking yourself, unless you are cooking all your meals in. I would separate your condo cost out from your food budget and then see what you are left with per day.

We have a family of five and when we went a few years ago (when my 3 kids were about that age) we spent about 40$ a meal in the park. We drank water and the little one shared with someone else. I budgeted 100$ a day back then for 2 meals and a snack. We ended up eating deli take out a few nights so we ended up with 100$ left over (after 10 days)

So even if your littles don't eat much I am not sure that is enough. If your condo is under 800 with tax then that only leaves you 300$, you'd have to cook all your meals (and I would guess if you leave the parks you may not be able to get back in) and no money for snacks (if a snack is only 3$ x 6 that is 18, x 6 park days, that is almost half your food budget right there.

Also don't forget to add parking fees and tax and tip to the sit down meals. Those things add up fast

 

[ccgirl]

I am planning to take my mom, myself and four children ages 13,9,7 & 2 with us. We are going down Dec 26th til Jan 6th. Got the condo at a great rate and plane on dong a lot of cooking there. So I figure


TOTAL COST FOR:

condo and meals in $1100

Tickets for all of us to DW for 6 days no hop $1600

Tickets for discovery cove $1500

Brunch with Mickey $190

Gas to an from NC $250

Food on the road $75

OK so there is a rough draft of what I have figured in so far to my preliminary budget. It is just a rough draft. I was Hong some of you vets could help me out. I will tell you this, we plan on doing one more meal, rain forest cafe most likely but that's all. Souvenirs will be bought but on a minimum. My budget goal was $7000 and was wondering if that would be plenty. Any help or advice would be great!

As others have said, I would break the condo and food apart.

We usually stay offsite in a condo and spend very little on food so depending on the condo price that food budget is very doable.

We typically eat breakfast in the condo before we leave and pack a lunch for the park. Breakfast can be cereal and fruit or egg sandwiches. A loaf of bread, pound of turkey, cheese, and Pringles chips (they don't crush in the backpack) goes a long way and costs very little money. We also make a fruit salad a the begining of the week (bring plastic containers) to snack at the park. Also, cut up cucumbers and other veggies, and granola bars for snacks.
Sometimes, will leave the park for dinner. Typical dinners for us are fried chicken, baked ziti, taco night, grilled meats etc. It would look the following for 2A and 2C:

2 loaves of bread (sandwiches and toast) $4
1 pound of turkey $6
1 pound of cheese $6
Pringles $4
Fruit for fruit salad $10
Cheese and crackers $6
Frozen veggies $4
Meat $12
1 gallon of milk $4
Box of Cheerios $4
1 dozen eggs $3
Bacon $4
english muffins $2
Fresh veggies for snacks $8
Case of water $4
Juice and soda $10
Pasta and sauce $3

All for $90

To round it out to $100 you could get a rotisserie chicken and a box of mac&cheese and have that one night. Make chicken salad sandwiches with the leftovers. I bring the packets of mayo from home as I don't like to premix things with mayo. Also, I try to bring ahead and bring any of the spices needed for a meal. For example, if I was going to make a pasta salad, I would bring salt/pepper/Italian seasonings in a little baggie and just dump it in the pasta. I usually get the $1 salt/pepper shaker from the grocery store in FL. I love garlic so I will bring a little baggie of that. Another tip is that we freeze water bottles the night before and they double as ice for our packed lunch and when they start to thaw they are very refreshing to drink.

Hope this helps.

 

[tlh0726]

As PP stated, it is a busy time of year and park closures will happen.

I would plan on CS meals for lunch at the park or packing in sandwiches to eat.
If you leave and return to a closed park you do not have the option of going to another park due to not having hoppers.



Adding - not sure that I would spend the $1500 for Discovery Cove during that time of year. Cold, water, and me due not get along

 

[rlilly79]

You guys are all so great... I feel a lot better about my budget. Actually, believe it or not I only paid $650 for the condo for the entire stay and I only owe $500, so of that $1100 budget I was counting on $600 toward food. Being a mother of 4 I consider myself to be a very savvy grocery shopper and feed my family at home on a budget of about $450 a month so surely for $600 I can do food at the condo and have some left over for snacks at the parks too. . I agree that I figured the gas a bit too low, but I did calculate the tickets a bit too high, so that will play in. I work full time at a prison and have been doing a lot of saving for a year now but had a huge set back when I was diagnosed with a rare disease in august of this year and was put out of work and in the hospital for 2 weeks. I was out of work for a long time, blew threw all my sick leave and had to use my Disney savings to pay my bills so to say the least I panicked about my budget and even began to wonder if the trip would be out of reach. However by the Grace of God I am back on track. I had a couple of yard sales, sold a bunch of stuff on eBay and did a lot of praying! Plus the best part is my health is stabilized, there is no cure, but hey, I didn't die and I'm still going to Disney with my awesome kids so I can't complain. Anyway thought I would share that, thanks so much for all the advice and tips!