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

[RebYork]

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?

 

[StirlingSilver83]

We are a family of 4 and usually are there for 7-9 nights. We have never done universal because my kids are still too little for it I think, so we usually stay at Disney. We only stay at the deluxe resorts because we like the amenities better than the values or the mods. We usually spend between 8-10K this includes the resort, tickets, dining plan, souvenirs, gas (we drive down from NJ), the in between hotel (we don't drive down in 1 shot, lol), and any extra expenses that we may incur. We only go down once a year though and make the vacation count, lol. Vacations now a days are not cheap...we could probably go to Disney for half that price if we didn't stay deluxe, but my theory is if you are going to plan a trip to Disney you might as well go all out, LOL. We have so far stayed at the Contemporary and The Grand Floridian. We took this year off from Disney because we had a big expense come up and just couldn't afford both, but next year we are planning on doing The Polynesian. I want to stay at a new resort every trip, thats my goal. Then hoping to stay either at Beach Club or Wilderness Lodge in 2018, either 1 of those resorts would be my next choice! I tried to get my hubby to look into DVC, but he's a math guy and he said to come out ahead where DVC is actually saving us money we would need to spend 5K every year on a Disney trip for like the next 10 or 15 years. He doesn't like thinking that far a head and its the what ifs that get him (what if we skip a year, what if we decide to vacation some place else, what if...what if...what if...). I just don't think he understands the whole timeshare thing...I told him thats fine if he doesn't want to get involved with DVC, but he can't complain about how much our trips to Disney cost anymore, lol...he told me that he wouldn't, but we shall see, LOL...I think next year when we are in Disney again I will have him stop by the DVC booths in 1 of the parks and have him talk to someone face to face and make a determination then, lol...I honestly think spending what we do each year to go on a vacation is ridiculous, but we love Disney and our kids love Disney so we do what makes them happy, lol.

 

[rsagusti]

This trip we are doing 3 nights at Universal (off property) and 6 nights on Disney Property (moderate), family of 4, with park days, hoppers and dining plans and plane tickets. We are at $5300, and then I had some gift card savings of $400 so $4900 before souveniors

 

[Narnia_girl]

The variables are really so great depending on family size, distance traveled, touring styles etc... Even from trip to trip it varies for us but I do try to save as much as possible using a variety of techniques (gifts cards, Swagbucks, etc...)

I tried to get my hubby to look into DVC, but he's a math guy and he said to come out ahead where DVC is actually saving us money we would need to spend 5K every year on a Disney trip for like the next 10 or 15 years. He doesn't like thinking that far a head and its the what ifs that get him (what if we skip a year, what if we decide to vacation some place else, what if...what if...what if...). I just don't think he understands the whole timeshare thing...I told him thats fine if he doesn't want to get involved with DVC, but he can't complain about how much our trips to Disney cost anymore, lol...he told me that he wouldn't, but we shall see, LOL...I think next year when we are in Disney again I will have him stop by the DVC booths in 1 of the parks and have him talk to someone face to face and make a determination then, lol...I honestly think spending what we do each year to go on a vacation is ridiculous, but we love Disney and our kids love Disney so we do what makes them happy, lol.

Your husband might be happy to know that Consumer Reports pretty much agrees with him. They did an examination of timeshares, using DVC as the example, and determined that owners will lose money for the first 12 years, then there are few years of breaking even and finally, I think around year 15, that it starts saving some serious money.

Edited to add: I reread the CS story and correct what I said above. According to CS, "By the end of year 13, there’s no more catching up to do. The balance tilts firmly in favor of ownership."

 

[FreesiaE]

Hahaha, it is not cheap! We are doing our first Disney trip for a family of four . My brother and parents will be coming, but they are picking up their own tabs. I am big with the thought of really enjoying vacations, but making smart choices. We will be renting a house for 6 nights and each party will owe approx $275. Food for travel and at the house I would guess will run $300 for our portion. I'm going to try and bring some food items with us in the car. We will try to eat at the house at least dinner everyday and most breakfast meals. Simple foods like burgers, bbq, salads, etc. Gas down and back will be about $150 if prices hold and our mileage holds up. Maybe $40 in tolls (?) If we decide to break up the drive trips with a hotel we will use Hilton points to pay for our hotel. My brother is military and can get us the discounted tickets to WDW (which is why we are doing 4 park days not 5). These are $196 a person. We may purchase one at military general discount since he can only get 6. It's still a good deal for us. I have prepurchased Disney t-shirts, water bottles, stuffed animals, and light up wands via clearance the Disney Store in person and online. I bought an autograph book on Amazon. I also found a Cinderella tank dress at a second hand store for my big girl. I think I've will have spent $100 on these items. I'll pack gummy snacks, etc for munching while we are at the park. I have some gifted STarbucks gift cards for a few smoothies. My kids will be thrilled with junk food, even from home! Our splurges will be Akershus, BOG lunch, and possibly a Crystal Palace breakfast. We were given some gift cards when we signed up for our Disney Visas, so,that will help. I'm hoping we (our family of four) can manage for $2200.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

Your husband might be happy to know that Consumer Reports pretty much agrees with him. They did an examination of timeshares, using DVC as the example, and determined that owners will lose money for the first 12 years, then there are few years of breaking even and finally, I think around year 15, that it starts saving some serious money.

Thanks for this information, lol...I relayed it to my hubby, and he was all proud of himself, and basically told me that DVC would cost probably more than what we usually spend at Disney, lol...he said if you finance it the finance charges are crazy expensive and then you have your annual dues on top of that...oh well, he's the math guy, lol

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

We are a family of 4 and usually are there for 7-9 nights. We have never done universal because my kids are still too little for it I think, so we usually stay at Disney. We only stay at the deluxe resorts because we like the amenities better than the values or the mods. We usually spend between 8-10K this includes the resort, tickets, dining plan, souvenirs, gas (we drive down from NJ), the in between hotel (we don't drive down in 1 shot, lol), and any extra expenses that we may incur. We only go down once a year though and make the vacation count, lol. Vacations now a days are not cheap...we could probably go to Disney for half that price if we didn't stay deluxe, but my theory is if you are going to plan a trip to Disney you might as well go all out, LOL. We have so far stayed at the Contemporary and The Grand Floridian. We took this year off from Disney because we had a big expense come up and just couldn't afford both, but next year we are planning on doing The Polynesian. I want to stay at a new resort every trip, thats my goal. Then hoping to stay either at Beach Club or Wilderness Lodge in 2018, either 1 of those resorts would be my next choice! I tried to get my hubby to look into DVC, but he's a math guy and he said to come out ahead where DVC is actually saving us money we would need to spend 5K every year on a Disney trip for like the next 10 or 15 years. He doesn't like thinking that far a head and its the what ifs that get him (what if we skip a year, what if we decide to vacation some place else, what if...what if...what if...). I just don't think he understands the whole timeshare thing...I told him thats fine if he doesn't want to get involved with DVC, but he can't complain about how much our trips to Disney cost anymore, lol...he told me that he wouldn't, but we shall see, LOL...I think next year when we are in Disney again I will have him stop by the DVC booths in 1 of the parks and have him talk to someone face to face and make a determination then, lol...I honestly think spending what we do each year to go on a vacation is ridiculous, but we love Disney and our kids love Disney so we do what makes them happy, lol.

I would suggest you rent DVC points at Polynesian for your next trip. It will probably save you money and it will let your husband see what DVC is like. DH and I just had our first trip as DVC members. We bought at Polynesian and are really happy with our decision, but we started small. We got enough points to go every other year and will add on more points in the future.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

The variables are really so great depending on family size, distance traveled, touring styles etc... Even from trip to trip it varies for us but I do try to save as much as possible using a variety of techniques (gifts cards, Swagbucks, etc...)



Your husband might be happy to know that Consumer Reports pretty much agrees with him. They did an examination of timeshares, using DVC as the example, and determined that owners will lose money for the first 12 years, then there are few years of breaking even and finally, I think around year 15, that it starts saving some serious money.

Edited to add: I reread the CS story and correct what I said above. According to CS, "By the end of year 13, there’s no more catching up to do. The balance tilts firmly in favor of ownership."

This was if the timeshare was financed. The break even point was much faster if you paid cash, if I remember. I don't have the article in front of me though.

 

[DVCcurious]

I tried to get my hubby to look into DVC, but he's a math guy and he said to come out ahead where DVC is actually saving us money we would need to spend 5K every year on a Disney trip for like the next 10 or 15 years.

If you paid retail from Disney at like $170 per point that would be correct. But if you buy resale it's much quicker to benefit. I recommend you start reading the DVC board on this website to learn more about resale.

For example, you could buy a Bay Lake Tower resale for about $120 per point. A studio in July is 19 points for standard view. The Contemporary in July is $385 for a garden wing (not in the A shaped main building).

So to buy 19 points for one night you'd spend $2,300 on the contract (19 * 120), then you'd pay dues of $5.50 (or so) per point each year = 104.50.

So each year you pay $104.50 in dues for one night instead of $385 for the garden wing room, but you paid $2,300 up front to buy the points for a total break even of 2300/(385-104.50) = 8.1 years. If you looked at a cheaper DVC resort (old key west, saratoga springs, Boardwalk, Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge) your break even would be closer to 6 years.


On topic: we go once per year for a week in July and we spend

$1,800 airfare for 4 people
$200 cat sitter
$120 taxi to/from airport and our condo
$1,200 park tickets ($600 DVC annual pass X 4 people / 2 trips)
$750 DVC dues for the points we own

about $4,000 total

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Our all time high was $3400 for 7 nights for 4 Disney adults in 2010. We did 4 park days, 2 water park days and a day at Sea World.

off site condo (Vacation Village at Parkway)
drove from Virginia
had some splurges (Chef Mickey's, Hoop De Doo, Akershus), QS meals, off site meals and in condo breakfasts

Our last trip was $1200 total for 2 Disney adults - 4 nights/5 days All Star Sports, team bus down and back from Virginia, 3 day hoppers, QS dining plan. Some of DD's trip was covered by team fundraising, and we got team discount rates for the whole package from Disney.

I have 10 day no expire hoppers with WPF&M that I'm saving for other trips. It has become a game for me to see just how low I can get a trip to cost. I hunt Disney discounts, churn Disney gift cards, trade our timeshare, etc. Disney is usually an extra vacation for us so it doesn't get much of our regular vacation budget.

 

[eeyoresmom]

Thanks for this information, lol...I relayed it to my hubby, and he was all proud of himself, and basically told me that DVC would cost probably more than what we usually spend at Disney, lol...he said if you finance it the finance charges are crazy expensive and then you have your annual dues on top of that...oh well, he's the math guy, lol

If you are staying in a deluxe and going every year you would definitely save money buying DVC. To buy the newer resorts ( GF/Poly) direct from Disney is where Consumer Reports is probably basing their figures. If you buy an older resort (okw/SSR/ AKV) re-sale you will save sooooo much money. You can then try to trade out to any resort you want to stay in at the 7 month mark. Disney vacation club points are so easy to rent out if you decide not to go one or more years. I rented out about 1/3 of my points this year through a DVC rental agent. It took 36 hours from the time I emailed them with a request to rent and the money being in my papal account. Those funds are paying for my annual passes and food for 2 trips.

 

[lisaross]

We are doing the split stay later this month... Airfare - 6 nights moderate, 5 park days - 3 nights at universal RPH - 3 day park to park - I figure with food taxis etc about 8,000.00.

 

[Southernmiss]

Family of 6 Disney/Universal Adults going to both in May...

5 nights at the Cabins at Fort Wilderness (30% spring promo discoung) and 5 day park hoppers
4 nights at Cabana Bay 3 days park to park with express pass at Universal
1 pro soccer game
gas, groceries and food
About $8,000
Less 5 years of saved Disney dollars $1500
Less saving 5% using Disney gift cards bought at Target
Time with family.... Priceless

 

[powellrj]

I think it will end up being a little under $2000 for 2 adults to go to food and wine for a week. That is about what we spent last year. I tried to keep it around $1500, but it creeped up.

 

[minorthr]

We did Universal last year for less the $1500 for 3 people 4 nights staying at Royal pacific plus park tickets. I think we paid another $600 for airfare.

Our Disney trip this year which includes 2 separate stays at disney before and after a disney cruise is well in excess of $9000 and everytime I turn around it is climbing

 

[hsmamato2]

Fun thread from the Theme parks board.... there's usually a 'how much' thread per year...
http://www.disboards.com/threads/how-much-is-your-2016-disney-vacation-going-to-cost-you.3466603/

 

[hsmamato2]

Also, we've done Universal and Disney in one trip before.... it's always more $$ than just one or the other....esp. Disney but they are priced so that the best savings is if you stick with one or the other...longer tickets = less $ per day cost....that said my next trip in Spring is 4 nites/5 days onsite for 4 people...total oop cost is approx. 1k- but we're planning on at most one major park day,maybe none and just relaxing!

 

[Hikergirl]

When I priced a Universal/Disney trip for 4 the total was going to be about $4K. It was for the Harry Potter vacation special, staying onsite at Uni for 4 nights and one day at MK, and airfare. Food, other than what was included with the HP special would be extra.

 

[5kidsmommy]

5 of us are going on our next trip. It will be about $5500 for a week at Fort Wilderness. That includes gas driving down, a couple nights of campgrounds during the traveling, park hoppers for 7 days, a week at the campground, and food and groceries.

It won't cost us that much out of pocket because I'll have gift card savings on that ranging from 5%-12% plus whatever free cards I get on swagbucks. I figure my out of pocket will be about $4500.

 

[UncleMike101]

Eight days at a moderate resort and seven days in the parks, food, travel, and a few souvenirs comes to about $4000.00.
Which is about $1500.00 per year less than we've saved each year since we stopped smoking over five years ago.
Vacation is a much better way to spend our money.