How much do you spend a year on Disney vacations?

[Sophie's Mom]

We have been going to Disney steadily since 1987. On average about two trips a year. A few years ago I attempted to add up (roughly) what we had spent going to Disney over the years. Not counting the price of our DVC or the annual dues - I could have purchased a really nice house in the area to retire in!

 

[Mikie]

Yikes...wondering if I'm missing something. Budgeting 8500 for fam of 6 (3 adults, 3 kids). That includes flights, hotel for 2 nights at beach first, rental car, 2 rooms at a value for 8 nights and 7 day tickets with free dining. Also 1 day at the dark side. It PAINS me that 1 day at the dark side is so much compared to what adding a day at WDW would be but my sis wants her kids to see the transformer, minion, and ET ride. I might try and talk her out of it tho.

Hmmm, I first thought that seems pretty high compared to my family if 5 (3 disney adults, 2 kids) for about $4500. But we fly free (frequent flier) and don't rent a car, no beach days, extra hotel @ beach, no "dark side" day, and we only pay a portion of our second value room (Sister travels with us & we pay a small portion for our oldest DD to share with her) BUT we are paying for dining. Maybe it's not so out of whack once you add your extras, one more person and maybe your flights and my dining pretty much offset each other.

 

[practicallyperfect77]

Hmmm, I first thought that seems pretty high compared to my family if 5 (3 disney adults, 2 kids) for about $4500. But we fly free (frequent flier) and don't rent a car, no beach days, extra hotel @ beach, no "dark side" day, and we only pay a portion of our second value room (Sister travels with us & we pay a small portion for our oldest DD to share with her) BUT we are paying for dining. Maybe it's not so out of whack once you add your extras, one more person and maybe your flights and my dining pretty much offset each other.

I've got 1800 budgeted for flights and I think the dark side is around 660 with all the taxes. I'm hoping I can find some 1 day tix on eBay tho. My niece and nephews have never seen the ocean/beach so we need to fit it in. Since there are 6 of us we more than likely have to get 2 rooms a night unless I want to sleep non a pull out couch with my nieces feet in back. Doesn't sound like too much fun. =) I upped the dining plan too but we wanted to do character meals so in my opinion this made sense vs paying out of pocket. I had a spreadsheet somewhere. =) But yeah....it's a lot of money, but all worth it to see Disney thru a child's eye.

 

[tinktinktink]

6 nights at pop family of 3 with 5 day park tickets and free dining though I did upgrade is 2100.00. That is not including the cost of gas driving from NC or any extra meals we will Pay for.

 

[momto3boysillbe]

Last year we spent quite a bit but we can't do it every year. We kind of went all out on a spring trip staying in a villa at the beach club, 10 day tickets, lots of souvenirs, food....it all added up. I never totaled it but I guesstimated we spent around 8k and then we went again that fall but had free dining so we only spent around 3k I think. This year we're not sure if we're going to make it so I guess over the last few years it averages out to around 4-5k a year.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Family of 4, all adults in Disney's eyes. We go every two years or so. Our trips have cost between $2300 (with our no expire tickets) - $3500 (with 5 day + WP tickets). I buy Disney Gift Cards to cover food for the whole 2 years between trips - about $500 a year. We usually stay in our timeshare which ends up being about $570 a week. No Expire tickets with hopper and WP were paid for 4 price increases ago and factored into the above budget.

While I NEED my Disney fix, I like to vacation at lots of other places so I can't give Disney too much of my vacation money!

 

[alicia080979]

Scary to try to add it all up. We avg 2 trips a year and last year I'd guess around 6k and this year we are spending closer to 7 or 8K. Ugh...makes me want to start keeping track and thinking about all the other things I could do with that money each year!

 

[starsweeper]

We are a family of 6 and take 3-4 day trips each year during MNSSHP while visiting family in FL. It's cost us about $4500 for a Deluxe room, MNSSHP tickets for 3 of us, park tickets for 4 of us, 3 character meals, driving from KY last fall. In 2015, we'll have to buy 6 park tickets, more MNSSHP tickets and rent DVC or stay at AoA, so the cost will go up.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Most years zero. $3,100 in 2012, will probably be more like $4,000-5,000 next time we go (hoping 2017).

 

[lurkernj]

I do go every year, but it seems like it's always a different makeup of who is with me. If DH and kids come (older teens), we usually do free dining at a mod, which will run around $4k. I've done two trips with my bff alone, so those were both under $1k since we split value accomodations. This year me and DH are running the 10 miler in October by ourselves, so it will be around $2500 (got great deals off of expedia uk for split pop/yacht club stay).

We haven't had to pay for airfare for any of these trips since we have been doing the southwest credit card thing, so these numbers are without air.

Disney is usually an add on vacation for us, since kids and DH wouldn't be happy if this was the only vacation (none of them love it like I do). So I need to keep my trips low if I want to go.

 

[luvmy2babies]

We have been 4 times, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014. It is interesting to look at what I've spent on the trips to see how doing it differently at different times of the year changes things. We went at Thanksgiving in 2010. We stayed 10 days in June of 2012. We drove instead of flying in 2013 and did dining OOP. 2012 and 2014 was more like how I prefer, flights purchased and a package with resort, tickets and regular dining.

I think I've averaged about $3500 to $4,000 when everything is included from flights to extras like BBB, Memory Maker and orders from eBay and Etsy. I added Pirate's League for my son this time but we did park and ride at the airport instead of terminal parking. Terminal parking is double park and ride.

If we go again next year, my daughter has requested a different resort. I'm also considering a different time of year since she is changing schools and won't be done until June 10th instead of May 22nd. I'm thinking of doing something else, perhaps a cruise in the spring.

 

[NYDisGuy]

2 people - $2000 for 5 nights at BWV and a 6 day park hopper. We are driving from NC in a car so we estimate another $200-300 for gas. Have 2 adr's and are bringing a bunch of food/water with us so will probably be around 3K after all is said and done

 

[tiggermurr]

We are a family of 4 and go to Disney about every 18 months. We drive from KC and stay at pop for 6 days. Our vacations usually total around $5,000 with all expenses. Wish we could afford more visits.

 

[Virtucomp]

The most we've spent was staying at a Deluxe with rented DVC points for six adults. $8,111 included airfare, hotel, park tickets, airport parking (2 cars for a week), Photopass plus and all meals. I save all my reciepts and total it up when we get back. Six days and seven nights. No dining plan but we had 4 table service meals.

We've also done just 2 adults with free dining at a moderate resort for about $3200 with air and tickets.

We only go once a year. In comparison, our January resort trip to Jamaica was over $4000 for two adults with air for 6 nights.

 

[Sven]

planning, buying stuff for trip, airfare, room, tickets, food and souvenirs - around $10K for 2 trips.

 

[ktate82]

We are a family of 4. We pay for airfare with our airline miles, so that is covered, and we are DVC members so book our rooms with points. From this June to next May, we will have four trips (three with the kids, one without) and two 3 day Disney cruises (one with kids and one without) and with everything will spend about $14200. That includes our DVC payments and dues for the year, 22 days at Disney World with kids, 5 days without, both cruises, meals, spending money, hotels at the airport, parking at the airport, and rental cars. If DVC was paid off, it would only be about $10000, so I can't wait till that is done!

 

[ekendall2]

2 adults and 1 infant.....Staying at CBR for 6 nights, 7 day park hoppers, quick service dining, memory maker, spirit of aloha dinner show, Keys to the kingdom tour = about 2900 bucks. Yes...thats a lot of stuff to do with an infant. Thats why grandma and grandpa are coming along this trip.

Driving from Southern Indiana to WDW and back....about $200
Hotel the night before...offsite =$80

Food on the way to WDW and home. $100 (we pack some of our own for the car ride).

Souveniers at WDW = $150 (been so many times, we dont buy a lot. I use rewards from my disney card as well. So basically this doesnt count...

I would say that its usually about $3300. In the coming years, as our child gets older, we hope to stay around that by staying at value resorts and not doing as many tours and things like that.

We usually go every other year in June, because we are teachers. We would like to start going in the fall to get some of the bigger discounts. We havent had any breaks in october until this year, as we are moving towards a balanced calendar. We are currently planning a fall trip for 2015 and cant believe how much cheaper it is!!!!!

love the thread.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

Probably under 5000 a year. I live close (2.5-3hrs), drive in (using a smartcar, great gas mileage), usually stay offsite for around $100 or less a night, have an annual, and use the military discount tickets on my husband's park entry. When we go it is generally only for a few days at a time. I'd say the biggest expense is liking to eat at signatures! I also will be going a lot by myself, which is even more affordable since I am the one with the AP. I've driven up for the day just to go to DTD before lol

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

If I add it up I might faint so I'm not going to.

Two solo trips a year plus our family trip this year adds up to alot of money.

After this year, I'll have to reduce my solo trips to one per year since my oldest is starting college in the fall. It's going to be hard to choose when to go.

 

[jensen]

We travel about every other year. We use airline miles for our flights so travel isn't included in my figures.

I remember that our first trip in 2005 with 2AD, 1CH and 1 infant we spent $1,500 for 4 days in the parks, staying at POP for 5 nights, using Disney buses and paying full price for the regular dining plan that included appys and tips.

Our most recent trip in January of this year cost about $3,500 for 7 nights at ASMo, 8 day tickets (4AD), free QS dining and a rental car.