How low can your trip be?

[crabmeal]

Our trip in November should come out to be around $2000.00. Is it possible to go lower or have you? We are me, DH 7 yo 2 1/2yo 10 month old.Here is my budget so far:

MVMCP $120.00
3 or 4 day MYW tickets $616.00
Gas $200.00
Hotel Room on the road $40.00
Road Spending Money $80.00
Timeshare Exchnange $79.00
Souvenirs Pictures $150.00 The kids already have $30.00 each to spend
ABBF Double Stroller Rental $70.00
Grocery Shop for villa $100.00
Food $600.00
Universal Admission $55.00

Total $2110.00

We are traveling with my parents so they will split the gas cost with us. I know they will give us money for the room which I will try not to accept but they are stubborn. We will eat breakfast in the room except for one CP meal.Other meals will be CS for lunch and TS for dinner. We are planning to a timeshare tour each to get 4 tickets to Universal for one day. We will just have to pay for DS' ticket. We aslo will have about $75.00 in Disney Rewards. So did I budget good or should I up it?

 

[umaangel00]

In march, we spent only 1300 but it's only dh and myself. I am not sure if you can get it much cheapier than what you have it at. Here was my budget.

Condo: 380
Tickets: 400
Hotel rooms there and back: 90
Food: 100
Gas: 200
Misc: 50

Here is my budget for when we go again

Condo: 380 (unless my parents go and than its 190)
Tickets: 566.62
Food: 200
Gas: 200
Honeymoon Pictures: 295
Souviners: 100
misc: 100
Total: 1841.62

 

[sk!mom]

How many days total? I can't really comment on your food bidget without that info. Other than that, your budget looks good to me. I would cut the souvineer pictures if you need to go lower. I don't care for them and prefer to take our own. You could bring your own stroller to save a little more.

 

[crabmeal]

We will be there a week doing the parks 3 or 4 days plus MVMCP plus 1 day Universal.

 

[umaangel00]

Unless you really WANT to go to universal, I would cut that out. I was just there and I didn't like it at all.

 

[Desnik]

Seeing the ages of your kids, I would cut out the day at Universal. Really not much for them to do there. Definately not worth going through the hassel of a timeshare tour!! Also, why not bring your own stroller? The baby would be much more comfy in his/her own stroller. You will also need a stroller to get around your resort and DtD if you go, not only in the park. That could save some money. If you have a double at home. Also, pack a cooler with drinks and/or food for the drive. Saves money. Also, drive straight through. Sounds like you'll have enough drivers. That will save you the money for the hotel en route. Where are you driving from? What type of vehicle? We just drove from NY and din't spend $200 for gas. It was more like $150 round trip.

 

[Debbie Jean]

Seeing the ages of your kids, I would cut out the day at Universal. Really not much for them to do there. Definately not worth going through the hassel of a timeshare tour!!

I would agree.
Any chance they could give you Seaworld tickets for the timeshare tour? I think your kids would enjoy it a whole lot more... and if they're happy, Mom and Dad are happy!

 

[crabmeal]

Thanks for the advice. We're driving from NYC area and I know I overbudgeted for gas but with prices going up, who knows what will happen by then. We will be driving a Sienna and I won't have space for the stroller. We will be packing a cooler for the van but somehow we end up spending $ on the road anyway. We can't drive straight through on the way there because my Dad will be flying in. I'm okay to drive during the day but I don;t feel comfortable driving at night.And I know my mom won't want to drive either. On the way home Dh and my Dad will share the driving.

Universal is my Dh and DS's pick. We went there last year one day and they enjoyed it. My DD also loved the water play area and meeting Barney. So it's a must do for them.

 

[EthansMom]

I also agree that Universal is more for older kids.

You could purchase your WDW tickets from a reputable discounter like http://www.ticketmania.com. I'm not sure if the prices in your budget were for the MYW with park hopping or not, but from Ticketmania you could get tickets for 2 adult and 1 child for less than your budget is showing. If you get 5 day MYW expiry with no park hopping, it would be $555 for the three tickets and if you added park hopping, it would be $647. Note: you could always get the no park hopping tickets and then if you need/want to hop, you could go to Guest Relations and pay the difference to have park hopping added. So, if I were you, I wouldn't waste my time doing the timeshare pitch -- instead, I would buy the 5 day MYW with no park hopping, saving you $616+$55-$555=$116.

Also, the strollers at WDW are a hard plastic and are more sized for toddlers and bigger kids. I would take your baby's regular stroller or purchase a lightweight stroller for the trip. Also, I would take an umbrella stoller for the toddler.

Instead of buying the souvenir pictures, I would go to Target or Walmart and buy some film for my own camera. I would plan to buy one or two souvenir photos that were especially good photos and would process my own photos after we got home. Actually, I use a digital camera so I don't have to pay to process lots of bad photos -- can just have the good ones printed.

I hope this helps!

 

[can'twait]

Desnik:

What part of NY are you from and how long did it take you? We are flying in Oct, but I'm curious if driving is doable, maybe for next time.

Thanks

 

[EthansMom]

Desnik:

What part of NY are you from and how long did it take you? We are flying in Oct, but I'm curious if driving is doable, maybe for next time.

Thanks

We drove from Danbury, CT in April -- took about 22 hours, including stops for diaper changes and restroom use & stops for lunch. On the way down, we stopped for the night at a hotel. On the way back, we drove straight through. It might have been easier if the kids had been older or if DH was willing to let me do some of the driving.

Next trip, we'll be flying.

 

[minkydog]

Our least expensive trip was one we took Jan1-6, so it was value season.It was me & DH, DS-then 15 and DD-then 8,bought park-hoppers for 5 days. We drove down from Altanta, so we didn't incur any on the road hotel expense. We stayed a POR, packed a cooler for breakfast & snack foods and ate one big meal in the late afternoon every day. The kids had saved up their Christmas money for special souverniers and Granny kicked in $100 to cover a special character meal. All told, it was right at $1900 (budget:$2000). Not exactly cheap and I'm sure we could have cut corners even more, but I think it would have made the trip more troublesome. As it was we had a blast and came in just under budget.

Our budget for our Thanksgiving trip is right at $2400(we're taking Granny with us!) for a 6 night stay at FW, brekkers at the camper,TS meal every day, & park-hoppers for all 6 of us. We are cheap and easy to please.

 

[Desnik]

We live in Goshen, NY, about 1.5 hours north of NYC. Our best time so far has been 18 hours with our 2 kids.(including stops) We didn't stop to eat at a sit down place. Had breakfast, snacks and drinks in a cooler in the car. Ate lunch/dinner (fast food) in the car. Longest time was 24hrs, this past trip. DD(7yo) and DSIS(13yo)seemed to have to use the bathroom every hour!!

When I say drive straight through, I don't mean through the night. We have done that twice now(we drive every year)and I hate it. The best was leaving at 4am and driving straight through. That's when we did it in 18hrs. DH and I take turns driving, usually switching every 3-4 hours.

To the OP? Do you have one of those cargo carriers for the top of the car? I couldn't believe how much stuff we fit in it! It worked great for all our bags, including the stroller! We have the hard type. Got it at Target.

 

[Desnik]

Oh, I really never wrote what my budget is:
This is for our upcoming trip in Nov.
It will be myself, DH, DD(7yo), and DS(2yo)
Hotel(DVC members)
Gas $150
On the road spending money $50
Food $600
Tickets $591.25 (trading in our old park hoppers with 2 days left each 2 adults, 1 child to all AP's with DVC discount)
Groceries for villa $50(mostly drinks, breakfast items)
Souveniers $200
Total: $1641.25!!!

We save all our change and cash it in every year before our trip and use that as souvenir money. DD saves her allowance for her "must haves".

 

[becca011906]

I haven't really wrote out our buget yet either... let see
Resort- $0 (bonnet creek time share gift)
Tickets- $704 5 day disney ticks
Gas - $250 (drive out to the beach one day)
Food/snacks on the road - $50 (w/ cooler in the car)
Food at walmart - $50
Food at the parks - $200
Souveniers :$150

WOW that's only $1404, not bad! Thing is i'm sure we will spend more then this! LOL have much more then is saved so that's good!

 

[Ozymoe]

Things to do at Universal with your little ones:

...Barney...Fabulous (but remember, toddlers can be scared of characters)
...Woody Woodpecker's Kid Zone...even teens like this place, but it's really made for toddlers on up.
...Curious Georgetown (Curious George water play area/but can also choose to stay dry)
...Fieval's Playland (My girls are telling me they loved this when they were little, but I don't remember it lol)
...Animal Planet (this is a live animal show and it is really entertaining for all ages)
...ET (ours didn't, but some kids do find this scary)
...Shrek 4-D (we didn't think this was scary)
...Nickelodeon area has family games that are fun for all ages
...There is also a 3-D cartoon adventure attraction, it used to be with the Jetsons and the Flintstones but it's with another animated character now...sorry, can't remember who offhand)
...Your 7 year old will probably like Men In Black if he goes with his dad...you should try it too if he likes it...there is a baby swap area with this one. (it's a target shooting video game with aliens...very intense...like Buzz Lightyear on steroids!...not for your 7 year old if he is on the shyer side...have dad take a spin first to determine if this would be too intense for him.
...I also have a feeling the Horror Makeup Show will really entertain your family (it's funny, not scary and interesting to boot).

These places are all on the Studios side of Universal...on the Islands of Adventure side is Seuss Landing...and this is a large, really great area with several rides designed just for toddlers on up...with a super play area that our family enjoyed with toddlers as well as teens. I personally like this side very much, but other than the (large) play area, there is not much for a 2 1/2 year old, much less a-one-year-old, to do...but I think that statement holds true for almost any themepark.

 

[can'twait]

Thanks Desnik. I figured that would be ugly! We got round trip airfare for all FOUR of us for $600, which is the reason we are going in Oct. The last time I priced it out, airfare was $2000 for all of us. Yikes!

 

[sweet maxine]

My budget at present is at $556 for a week in October. Here's how it goes

Condo---$264
Airfare--$170 (2 r/t tickets to Orlando from DIng)
Rental Car--$122 (1 week, intermediate)

I haven't included food or groceries yet, but on our trip in May we ate in our condo most of the time from a $35 grocery trip to Super Walmart. I don't really buy much in the way of souvenirs unless I shop at the outlet malls. We try to do as many free and inexpensive things so that we can do more than one trip a year. We will probably have a character meal on this trip, but we also eat at Golden Corral with a coupon for a "big meal". I also haven't allotted money for gas, so that will probably add about $20 more to the total. Still, I'm on the really low side for a whole week. We have leftover tickets from previous trips, so no need to buy new tickets.

 

[MEM]

Our budget for later this month for me, DH, DS10, DD 9 is $2,000 firm:

Airfare from Boston $600
Park Tickets 0 (have APs)
3 nights at POFQ 330 (Ap rate)
5 nights at Swan 550 (educator rate)
Tiffany one-way to MCO 50 (using ME from MCO)
Food, tips, etc. 470

Very tight, but I made a bet with DH that we could do this for 2 grand.
We will be eating breakfast in the room and sharing counter service meals.

 

[PA DISNEYLOVER]

I don't think that $300 for gas is to much. We drove down from Philly in June and spent about that maybe slightly less. I did price line for a room on the way down and got it for $28 ( Days Inn, Florence SC ).