How much do you pay for a Disney World/Universal vacation?

[brooke789]

We spent about $2,000 on tickets and $2000 for our room for 2 week trip for 5. We're hoping to only spend another $2,000 on food and sourvenirs and anything else needed for the trip once we arrive. So, maybe $6,000 for a long vacation!

 

[Darcy03231]

We did 10 days in Orlando in August 2015. While there were 6 of us, I only paid for airfare & passes for 4. The other 2 were friends of my young adult children and they paid for their own airfare & passes. I spent about $5000. This included airfare, rental car, gas, annual passes to SeaWorld and Universal/IOA, private pool home, food (both restaurants & grocery store), and some smaller attractions such as mini golf, Titanic Experience, movies, etc. My mom and I also went to Blue Man Group for her birthday.

 

[mom2rose&john]

EXPENSES DESCRIPTION
752 JET BLUE
308 SOUTHWEST
1,532 DISNEY TIX - 4 day park hopper with water park and more. We didn't fully utilize the and more items.
855 ROOM - MAIN FEES AND TRANSFER FEES
357 CAR
1,167 FOOD - GROCERIES & DINING OUT
203 MISC
500 SOUVENIERS
431 COCOA BEACH HOTEL
205 KENNEDY SPACE CENTER
140 KAYAK


Total = $6,450

179 PER PERSON PER NIGHT FOR 9 NIGHTS/10 DAYS

The above is ours from our Disney/Cocoa Beach vacation from 3-20-16 to 3-29-16. In Orlando we traded our timeshare for Sheraton Vistana Resort and in Cocoa Beach we stayed at Hampton Inn. I don't include the initial cost of the timeshare because we have had it over 15 years and the accountant in me determines it's full depreciated. Misc. includes parking fees at the airport and Disney parking and tolls with some other items I can't remember. We took Jet Blue from Buffalo to Orlando and Southwest on the way back using our SW point to offset the cost. I also had a $100 gift card at Rainforest Cafe that is lowering the food expense.

 

[yeahdisney]

This will be our trip next year 4 of us and my sister who will pay her way.

DH and my tickets. Done got 10 non expiring. Paid 803 a piece.
Kids 2 tickets done. Bought with rewards and a bit of cash. I think around 350/2
Sister she needed one day ticket 106. She has a two day ticket left.
Water park everyone has a ticket for that.
Flights hopefully 1000 x four then hers.
Food will be discounted disney gift cards, rewards, earned visa rewards and the weekly groc budget. No character meals. Maybe 50 cash a day.
Universal 375 ish x 2 nights maybe one night buena vista if we land at 11pm.
Disney room 2 bedroom for one week our points.
Universal tickets hopefully from USSSA

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

For 7 days - 4 1/2 at Disney and 2 1/2 at Universal it's used to be around 7,000.00 for all 4 of us. I'm currently working on a budget for a June trip that my husband wants me to look into and with the price increases on tickets and room costs it's going to run around 8,000.00. That is for a AoA suite at disney and a kids suite at Universal.

I don't think that's too bad - it's in line with what we spend on any vacation.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We are a family of 4, drive 2 days each way (from Missouri).

Spent 8 nights both trips, both offsite. 4-day premium YES tickets in 2012 = 7 total days in parks/water parks. $3,200 including travel costs.

2015 Universal for 4 days, 3 at SW/Aquatica and a stop at Georgia Aquarium on the way down. Similar total.

Gas was WAY more in 2012 (higher price plus bigger car), offsite stay more too. Food & tickets slightly higher in 2015.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

Just did a 10 day/9 night trip with our family of 4. Stayed at CBR in a preferred room. We are 4 disney adults, and did the dining plan and 9 day hopper tickets. I used airline points to fly us down, so that saved us close to $1400.00. All in all, we spent right at $6,700.00 out of pocket for the trip.

 

[sunshinemelody]

It's amazing to see how different everyone's payments are; I've always wondered what everyone else was paying and how they're getting better (or sometimes worse) deals. But, to answer the question!

*grabs Disney notebook and clears throat*

Trip Cost (2 Adults, 10 days):

• JetBlue - $520.40 (inc. flight protection)*
• Spirit of Aloha, C1 - $152*
• Universal Tix (3 days) - $400.42*
• Offsite Resort - Free (Aunt's Timeshare)
• Rental Car & Gas - $330
• Backstage Tales Tour - $180
• Disney Tickets (6 days, PH & WP & More) - $834
• MNSSHP Tickets - Est. $160
• Parking Fees - $160
• NASA - $106.50
• Souvenir Spending (FOR ME) - $500
• Food Budget - $1250
• Trip Insurance - !?

Rounding to $5K, as I suspect the trip insurance will be in the $300-range. I'm sure we could do a whole lot better for another trip, but that's OK. We budgeted $6K on this trip and we would've come in with much more than this, but, MNSSHP and the AK Tour and Trip Insurance threw a wrench into that budget, but, hey, we're well within it, right?
*Completed Payment

Do folks buy their NASA tickets before going down or just buy them at the center?

 

[valerie160]

Family of 6 staying at a moderate resort for 2 weeks. I purchased an AP for myself and 10 day tix for everyone else, plus food, TIW card and airfare we are coming in around 8-9k. Wanted to do Universal, but that would have added an additional 2k . Maybe next time.

 

[Vijoge]

We're taking four granddaughters in January and right now it's looking like this:
Airfare $2000
AofA Family Suite $1674
Park tickets (6 days-no hop) $2090
Food and misc $2000
Water Park (hopefully) 371
_____
$8135

Of course, it's always possible a room discount might be announced (a GOOD thing) or it might be too cool for the water park (a BAD thing) or we could even catch a air fare sale, but I'm not counting on any of these things.

 

[BCV2003]

We have DVC so I feel like we get a lot of value for our stays. Our DVC has been paid off for a few years now so approximately $1,000 a year for dues, We have bought 10 day non-expiring passes in the past and are 1-2 days into our last pass. I typically have enough SWA rapids rewards points so it's really just the dining plan and incidentals that we have to pay for. With DVC, it's cheaper for us to go there than anywhere else. Plus, I like to stay the deluxe resorts.

Considering that we purchased from Disney over 13 years ago, we paid less than half of what points are being sold for today. The one things with DVC at least in the past was that it holds it's value. I can still sell my DVC today and get almost what I paid for it back (minus the dues that I have paid over the years of course).

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I absolutely envy all of you taking 8+ day vacations! I'm sitting here like, how?! We're taking our first 10 day vacation and DH is getting SO much flack from work! He's missing 6 days of work and they are NOT very pleased. Over on the cruise boards everyone's suggesting staying in Vancouver for at least 2 or 3 days and I wish I could- but we're already taking too much time off!

Happy for you all but gosh darn it I wish DH had that leniency!

 

[HM]

It's amazing to me how much money it takes for a vacation. My wife and I have estimated that we will spend between 7 and 8 thousand dollars for our 8 day vacation. We are staying 3 nights at Hard Rock and 5 nights at AoA. We are planning on buying some things at a grocery before we check in and having our breakfast in the room. Most our cost will be park tickets, meals, and plane tickets. How much do y'all spend on Orlando vacations?

We never do Disney and US/IOA in the same trip. It costs so much more to buy tickets for a short period of time for two parks. We either do Disney for five nights or US/IOA for five nights. Room rates also get better (stay more save more) at the US resorts if you stay longer.

Because we've cut back from a full week to five nights, our costs are cut back. For the four of us we try to stay closer to $3000 more or less (we don't fly, so that helps).

 

[5kidsmommy]

I've repeatedly looked at adding Universal on to one of our trips but I just can't justify the cost. I have teenagers that love roller coasters but they have no desire to go. I'd love to go for the Harry Potter stuff but no one else is interested. Maybe one of these years.

 

[HM]

I've repeatedly looked at adding Universal on to one of our trips but I just can't justify the cost. I have teenagers that love roller coasters but they have no desire to go. I'd love to go for the Harry Potter stuff but no one else is interested. Maybe one of these years.

We planned a trip to Orlando that skipped the main Disney parks back in the mid 2000s. We did a week at Marriott World Center. Had three day passes for US/IOA, went to Seaworld for 1 1/2 days (we could add a full week at the gate to our one day ticket for nothing back then), and a day at Typhoon Lagoon. We visited Downtown Disney and a meal at 'Ohana that trip. We learned that we really liked the other parks that we'd been missing.

Dec 2014 we went to US/IOA staying at Hard Rock and learned we really liked being there onsite. So much so that we got APs and went back for Spring Break 2015 (RPR) and then my DD and I went again in July (for her birthday. at CB) and again in Dec 2015 (offsite) before the APs ran out. Great trips. We basically skipped Disney altogether. (although DD and I went to DHS one day since it was the Osborne Lights last hurrah).

 

[bearzabout]

I think the best way to save money in Orlando is to rotate through the parks every other year. If you buy annual passes for either Disney, Universal, or Seaworld/Aquatica/Busch Gardens and do two long trips per pass (one one year, the other the next before the pass expires), it significantly lowers the daily cost to see each park. The next year, pick a different park system and vacation there for two years fitting the second in before the pass expires. Then switch parks again. By seeing each park system every 5-6 years, there are plenty of new attractions to see.

To save money on lodging, we rent timeshare condos on Skyauction for $250-$350 per week for up to a 4 bedroom unit. A car is critical so much money can be saved by eating off site. Renting cheap timeshares offer a great opportunity to travel on a budget. Remember that they are all over the country so destinations like Vegas and Williamsburg can also be a real bargain. They may not be as nice as the Grand Floridan, but if we can stay 8 weeks for the price of one week on site, I'm a happy camper. As prices for everything go up, saving money on lodging can be the difference between still enjoying the Orlando area or not going at all.

 

[brooke789]

I absolutely envy all of you taking 8+ day vacations! I'm sitting here like, how?! We're taking our first 10 day vacation and DH is getting SO much flack from work! He's missing 6 days of work and they are NOT very pleased. Over on the cruise boards everyone's suggesting staying in Vancouver for at least 2 or 3 days and I wish I could- but we're already taking too much time off!

Happy for you all but gosh darn it I wish DH had that leniency!

We're doing a 2 week trip. 10 days off work. I feel a little guilty b/c it is a very busy time and the week we get back (we drive back on Sunday and go to work on MOnday) is going to be crazy busy. I'm going to have to do so much work ahead of time to take those two weeks off.

I do earn about 15 days off per year (in addition to our holiday and sick leave), so I still have a week left. We have to get special permission to take over 30 days in a calendar year. But under that is nothing special. I just put in for it 13 months in advance!

 

[katclicks]

We are a family of 4 and went on an 8 night trip last March. We spent all 8 nights at POP. Our airfare was free, my husband was traveling for work full time-so this was a nice perk. We had a 6 day park pass, we did not get hoppers. We did the dining plan. Our total package was right around $3500, I forget the discount we got. I used my target debit to buy Disney gift cards so we saved a little money that way. I had $500 spending money, $200 budgeted for tips, and each daughter had about $75 in gift cards for their spending money they had gotten from family as Xmas gifts. I packed Luna bars and z bars and few other snacks, we didn't not pay oop for any food.I was pretty pleased with that budget.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

We're doing a 2 week trip. 10 days off work. I feel a little guilty b/c it is a very busy time and the week we get back (we drive back on Sunday and go to work on MOnday) is going to be crazy busy. I'm going to have to do so much work ahead of time to take those two weeks off.

I do earn about 15 days off per year (in addition to our holiday and sick leave), so I still have a week left. We have to get special permission to take over 30 days in a calendar year. But under that is nothing special. I just put in for it 13 months in advance!

My husband pretty much gets the same amount of time off as you. He has so many sick days he lost count. He took one a little over a month ago to drive to his sister's for the birth of his first and only niece/nephew he'd ever have (we all went) and he's still getting flack for it. He has the time off, he's just afraid to take it.

 

[brooke789]

My husband pretty much gets the same amount of time off as you. He has so many sick days he lost count. He took one a little over a month ago to drive to his sister's for the birth of his first and only niece/nephew he'd ever have (we all went) and he's still getting flack for it. He has the time off, he's just afraid to take it.

I wonder if part of it is that his time off carries over. Ours does to an extent, but for annual leave (for example) you lose anything over 45 days you have come January 1st. So, not actually pretty common for the people who've been around forever to end up taking the entire month of December off b/c come 1/1 they lose everything they earned for the year.