How much do you spend on your vacation?

[DisneyStarWisher]

Tickets: $698.60
We are going every other year for about 6 nights each trip. Next year, I'm planning on buying the 10-day PH with No Expiration and Water Park Fun and More added. That's actually 20 days of fun!!! These tickets will cost us $2095.80 for the 4 of us (with Mousesavers discount); however, I plan on making those last for 3 trips, so that's $698.60/trip. The more you go, the less likely you are to want to be at a park every day.

Food: $159.76
We do the Dining Plan. $39.99/person x 4 = $159.96/day x 6 = $959.76 total. We have a Disney VISA that we use to purchase EVERYTHING--except gas. We usually have around $600 worth of rewards on it that we use to pay for dining. We also usually save at least $200 on expenses that we would normally spend at home, such as groceries, entertainment, and gas. I put that into paying for the Dining Plan, too. So basically I pay $159.76 for food for the 4 of us for the whole trip.

Transportation: $0
We drive from Kentucky--about a 12 hour trip. Even with my gas-guzzling SUV, we only spend about $250 for gas. I have a Marathan credit card that I use to buy all my gas. In turn, I get $25 Marathon gift cards. I immediately use those cards and put the money I would have used to buy the gas into my vacation savings, thus paying for all my gas to get to WDW! I also have a car at Disney, so no need for a rental car.

Lodging: $0
I own DVC, so as a PP said, that's a sunk cost. (I don't count it, but if I did, my stay next year will cost me $1400--including initial buy-in and MFs.)

Souvenirs: $0
I don't buy souvenirs. I'm not a person that needs to collect things. My photos (which I take myself) are my souvenirs. My kids like souvenirs, but they have to buy them themselves. That's what their allowance is for.

Other Entertainment: $200
The only other entertainment that is a must is MNSSHP! It's worth every penny!!!

So my total is $1058.36 Not bad, huh?

 

[pixie08]

We are only 2 adults but it varies per trip depending on if we need to renew AP's, if we do the meal plan or if we are doing DDE (and signatures). This trip (June)is a group trip so for the 2 of us...

Flight from NYC $600 (for both
Town Car to airport ($60)
AP Renewals.. $700
DDP (basic @ $40 pp per day) $560
Grocery Delivery (breakfast, water,snacks etc)$50
Gratuities $150
Drinks & Spending money $300

So we are looking at around $2500 for 2 adults. That is because we have to renew our AP's this trip but usually it is less. Tickets would cost around $550. This budget allows us breakfast in the room (and once or twice at a CS), lunch at a CS, a Disney snack, dinner at a TS, adult beverages and some souvenier money.

If I wanted to save more money I would ditch the DDP, buy more groceries and eat more in the villa...but we usually just get a studio as for now it is just the 2 of us.

 

[LSchrow]

upcoming 8day trip for DD & self:
r/t airfare $460
rental car (from dolphin, using DME)$160
groceries $100
dining, drinks (we plan on doing mostly CS & eating in villa, maybe one TS) $300
incidentals (tips, etc) $50
gas $40
lodging free (DVC)

we have passes, & DH is driving us to airport so no additional.
i'm sure we'll come in under $1000. & most is already paid for: using GCs i've saved up to pay for on property meals, etc, airfare is paid.
the only charges to go on my CC (abot $300) will be the rental car, gas, & groceries

 

[plymouthmom]

Trip we did in January for our family of 6.

$1400 on air, from MSP to Orlando, quick stop in Indy- would do it again in a heartbeat, cute airport.

$1582-park tix, WP and More, no hoppers

Approx $1200 on DDP- not sure of exact price. We have 3 boys who eat a ton, and a little girl catching up to them. For us, it is a good deal.

$80- Garden Grocer for breakfast stuff for villa and beer and wine.

$900- souvenirs, clothes and yes.....the bar bill . We hit the Turf Club bar almost every night for martinis....that adds up!

Would like to cut that down next trip but not planning one for a couple of years.

 

[Sunshine22]

We always drive from NC (approximately 10 hours drive time) which saves at least $1100-1400 airfare and rental car. Friends took the Amtrak Train to Disney and also saved $$ vs. airfare.

For our trip last month, we redeemed our Disney Visa points for a $715 Disney rewards card.
We redeemed Greenpoints from Lowes Foods Grocery Store Program for an additional $600 in Disney gift cards (saved points up for several years).

Since we were not DVC owners (soon to change), with our above savings and the "Stay 4 nights, get 3 Nights + tickets" free, we booked Club Level Magic Kingdom View at the Grand Floridian for 7 nights. We upgraded our park tickets to park hoppers. We ate well, splurging on a few nice dinners (e.g. California Grill and Narcoosees), a few more casual dinners (Sci Fi, Mama Melrose, Liberty Tree) and a character breakfast at Akershus. We are a family of 4 with daughters 13 and 11 (no savings). Even with the Buy 4Nights/Get 3 Free, the gift cards, and the rewards card savings, this was still an expensive trip! We actually paid out of pocket $5500+ (including hotel, tickets, gas, and meals), and we shared 1 bedroom with 2 queen beds and not much room!

We decided to buy into BLT where we could save money over the long term and still have the conveniences of the monorail, great proximity to Magic Kingdom, access to restaurants at the Contemporary, (Polynesian and Grand Floridian via monorail) and more living space with two bedrooms (or one bedroom with kids in living room area).

With the DVC, we will save money on accommodations and food (breakfast and snacks in room vs. restaurant or paying for Club Level). We won't have to wait until there is a pin code offered to us or a special deal to get the type of vacation we want. In the past, the deals were not always offered when we wanted to travel! With our DVC purchase, we can get a great room with one or two bedrooms and decide whether or not to splurge on restaurants, entertainment, shopping, and upgraded park tickets without paying a fortune each time we travel just for the room (with our travel preferences, it won't take long to break even on our 200 point DVC purchase).

 

[In Luv with Disney]

We try to budget our trips as much as possible! We buy 10 Day Park Hoppers with Water Park Option and we add the NO EXPIRATION option. Those tix will last us over a few trips...especially the PLUS options!

We only go to the main parks for about 4 days each trip. We get the DDP, which costs my family $100 a day. We drive down from NY, which cost us $250 in November Round Trip. We buy a meal on the road, but keep snacks and drinks stocked in our car. We don't buy many souveniers AT ALL.

We just bought DVC so staying on site in Deluxe Accomodations will be MUCH cheaper than renting points or even staying Value.

 

[Eventer98]

For our upcoming June trip we still have AP's so no cost there.

Our flights were the highest we have ever paid at $600/2 (we have never paid more then $450)

Room-no cost

Wegoshop will be about $75

Golf for DH about $100

DDP for two adults and 1yo (he eats like a 3yo so we get him the plan!) $725

tips on meals $100

Photopass (split with a friend) $50

Souvenirs $50 (just gifts for people taking care of our dogs)

OOP meals $100

cash for misc. tips $50

Total is $1850

 

[kjkelley]

It is funny to see this thread, since I just got done adding up the money spent for our trip that we just returned back from on Sunday.

Our family of four visited TUES-SUN @ BCV, SUN-FRI @ VERO BEACH and FRI @ ALL STAR MUSIC and we spent $2400 for 12 nights. We did drive down from Michigan. Did not do the dinning plan (i.e. first time in three years without), but still tried to eat 1/2 of the time at TS and only bought $39 of groceries @ Vero for Breakfast & kids lunch. The above also includes 2 adult + 1 child "7d park tickets with fun + no expiration" (i.e. we went 3d @ parks and 1d water park). The other child used up some extra tickets we had from last year. We spent around $400 on souveniers. I was trying to keep it around $2000, so + $400 was not too bad. Hope this helps!

 

[Disney_Daddy]

We live a little over an hour away from WDW and are a family of 5.

Our trips are usually three nights or less. Last Saturday we made a quick (booked same day) trip to BWV. One night, no parks. Played in the pool and ate pizza off-site for dinner. Total cost was about $100 including gas.

When we stay for multiple nights, food is far and away our biggest cost. We budget about $100 per day. Eating breakfast in the room, as well as bringing most of our beverages (water & diet coke) really helps.

We are going to Vero in a couple of weeks. Fuel will be about $100 and I've budgeted $100 day for food. Not sure if that will be enough, so I added another $25 per day to the "misc" category on the budget.

As far as park admission, we purchase the Florida Resident seasonal pass. Cost is roughly $1000 per year for the five of us and we average about 25 park visits per year.

 

[kimberh]

We are staying at AKV Concierge for the second time for 5 days, so this will be a little different for costs breakdown. We will eat breakfast and most snacks at the Concierge lounge.

1. Room 0
2. Tickets... buy 10 day non expiry, these are 3 years old. This will be the third trip... tickets were about $400. so I would say $150. per trip.
3. Sunrise Safari $110.00 for 2 people
4. We eat one Table Service meal per night, $ 55-60 value. $300. for 5 days
5. We bring a case of water and cokes from home... value $25.00
6. gas $155.
7. Gifts for grands... $100.
I would say about $ 800.00 I use the Disney Visa to pay for all this. I have already made the rewards transfer to my card. I have bought new park tickets for my next trip or if I use all my days on these. I don't remember what is left. One of our Christmas trips just used 2 days.

 

[MARY-IN-OH]

We are staying at AKV Concierge for the second time for 5 days, so this will be a little different for costs breakdown. We will eat breakfast and most snacks at the Concierge lounge.

1. Room 0
2. Tickets... buy 10 day non expiry, these are 3 years old. This will be the third trip... tickets were about $400. so I would say $150. per trip.
3. Sunrise Safari $110.00 for 2 people
4. We eat one Table Service meal per night, $ 55-60 value. $300. for 5 days
5. We bring a case of water and cokes from home... value $25.00
6. gas $155.
7. Gifts for grands... $100.
I would say about $ 800.00 I use the Disney Visa to pay for all this. I have already made the rewards transfer to my card. I have bought new park tickets for my next trip or if I use all my days on these. I don't remember what is left. One of our Christmas trips just used 2 days.

This is the way to do it!!! Good job!

 

[PinkTink63]

Each year it varies somewhat. We usually go for about three weeks and spend about five days away from Disney.

This year so far:

Airline tickets for 3: $672 (used part miles and a $50 companion ticket with Alaska Airlines)
DVC AP's: $1107
Groceries: $200-$250 Approx. (what we have spent in the past)
Rental Car: $230-$265 (10-14 days of our trip. Don't know about this year! We may be cutting our car rental time!)
Extra Points: $770 (had to rent extra points for 5 nights at VB instead of our usual stay away from Disney, which we usually spend about $1000)
Spending money: $1000-$1200

Total: $3979-$4264

It does add up! Next year it won't be as much, because we will already have our passes. We only take the one vacation per year, so we try to make it good! We used to only stay in moderate resorts before buying DVC.

 

[Anal Annie]

I am amazed that some get airfare for less than $200 each. We never see that here in Milwaukee. (At least I haven't seen it.) Flying out of Chicago may be our only option, but we have to drive 90 minutes to get there! I am also frustrated with paying for DD who never eats anything! She is always charged the child rate (she's 9 now), but next year as an adult, it will be a BIG problem. Any ideas on how to go to a character meal with a 10 y/o who won't eat a thing? Our character meals were $800 this last trip!

First, we easily have an hours drive to any of our airports that we use so 90 minutes would not be that big of a deal if it saved me 1/2 on the airfare!! I wouldn't have a problem doing that at all to save several hundred.

Second, $800 for character meals?????? Holy Bat Cave!!! We never ever did more than 1 character meal per trip and now DS is turning 12 next month and we've sorta stopped doing them at all. We did our last one when he was 10 and he really wasn't that into it any more...the only smile we got was with Mickey. So you WILL outgrow that phase...and I would definitely be cutting way back on that anyway. We always eat breakfast in the villa now - that is the cheapest, easiest meal to cut costs on.

Third, our DS eats like a bird...like I said, he's turning 12 next month and he seriously only weighs 65 Lbs - and that's if you weigh him right after he eats!! Since he is a "Disney Adult" for tix and food this is one reason why we don't do the DDP. We can eat much cheaper on our own by just winging it. We do about 2-3 TS meals during a week and the rest are CS. We avg. about $10 pp for CS meals. That way DS can either eat from the kids menu or the regular selections.

 

[HayGan]

We are staying at AKV Concierge for the second time for 5 days, so this will be a little different for costs breakdown. We will eat breakfast and most snacks at the Concierge lounge.

1. Room 0
2. Tickets... buy 10 day non expiry, these are 3 years old. This will be the third trip... tickets were about $400. so I would say $150. per trip.
3. Sunrise Safari $110.00 for 2 people
4. We eat one Table Service meal per night, $ 55-60 value. $300. for 5 days
5. We bring a case of water and cokes from home... value $25.00
6. gas $155.
7. Gifts for grands... $100.
I would say about $ 800.00 I use the Disney Visa to pay for all this. I have already made the rewards transfer to my card. I have bought new park tickets for my next trip or if I use all my days on these. I don't remember what is left. One of our Christmas trips just used 2 days.

We have a similar trip planned in January. Here is how ours breaks down...

Room - 3 nights AKV - Concierge studio - $0 (well, 52 points)
Tickets - $0 (DS#2's AP will still be valid and DS#1 and I still have tix left from other trips - if DH comes along this number will change)
Airfare - PIT to MCO on SW - est. $400 (we have a credit that we can use on USAirways so this may be less)
Parking at the airport - $24
Food & Misc - $200 (we will eat in the lounge and pick up small CS meals and have snacks inthe room)

Grand total -$624

 

[kaffinito]

Our last trip was pricey, but I didn't stay DVC.

8 nights at the Poly with 4/3 deal -$3553.00
Food (using TIW) -$1450.00
Extras (souvies and watercraft) -$800.00
Spending money - $20.00 per day per person -$480.00
For a total of -$6283.00

Next trip at the end of August:

6 nights 2bdr SSR on DP's - $0
3 nights BLT 1bdr on points -$0
DDP for three adults for 6 days - $719.82
Groceries for last three days - $75
Spending money - $20.00 per person per day - $540.00
Entertainment (Cirque, watercraft and bikes) - $250.00
7 day MYW w/ hoppers 2 adults and one child - $799.00
AutoTrain round trip - $727.24
Total for August trip - $3111.06

For both of these trips I didn't count gas or two nights hotel stay (we drive).

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

OK, so I purchased DVC in the hopes of having a wonderful resort, great room, and great vacations. I thought we could afford to go once a year. But, this last vacation cost $4700 We even had groceries delivered. Now I'm trying to look ahead again for next year, but the airline prices have doubled. With tickets, airfare, and food, I can see we will again spend way more than I hope to. Believe me, it wasn't an extravagent vacation at all. The airfare for all of us and tickets for our two girls were $1500 alone (we had purchased AP's last year). I'm just wondering if everyone is spending this kind of money or if I'm not cutting back on something. I hear about people coming more than once a year and I don't know how you can do it!

There is an identical thread on the budget board right now:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2158269

Our four day vaca at Saratoga Springs this past came to right at $900 for a family of four. That's actually a little high for a four day trip for us because we had to buy cold weather clothes that I didn't think we'd need .

We already purchased the tix last december (dvc ap's) so there was no out of pocket for us on them this trip.

We also drive (see my siggy), so it was about 3 tanks of gas up and back.

We only did two table service meals but I think we still spent too much on food and I'm working on cutting that back for the december trip-more pre-made meals I heat up in the room, I think...

One way to save money is to have the yearly trips planned so you can get two "years" in one AP. For instance, our Dec '08 trip was Dec 13-19, our Dec '09 trip is 6-11, that maximizes our usage of the AP's (plus we take a few teeny tiny trips in between that are 3-4 days).

If you drink, bring your own booze, also. The alcohol at the parks is hugely expensive. I ordered a drink on our anniversary trip last August and was *staggered* to find out it was TEN DOLLARS!!!! Don't bring it into the park with you, I just mean if you like a cocktail at the end of the day, make it yourself in your room when you get back...

I was like, I just drank a souvenier mug...

 

[decarop]

Aw comeon.
It's The World.
Who cares what it costs.
I'm going anyway.

All kidding aside - it is not a cheap trip when you consider airfare, etc.
Food is expensive at any Disney location, and not particularly worth the money. Best beet is to do what you can in the room and perhaps pack a lunch.
We usually eat breakfast (a small one) in the room and then a light lunch at the park. Dinner is usually where we pull out the stops.
We like the Yachtsman or Canada for steaks and China for obvious food.

When it comes to good food, we don't worry about the cost. If it's worth it I'll spend the extra and not be too concerned. After all it's my vacation and I work darned hard to treat myself well for a short period of time.

You mentioned annual passes - but it look slike you only went once. That's a lot of money to spend for a single trip. Might do better with park hoppers.

Anyway, I've waited nearly 2 years and promised my wife and myself a worry free relaxing rest we've earned.

Don't worry - be happy!!!

 

[clutter]

Thanks for all the wonderful replies! I can see that we are spending money that we don't need to. We definitely won't rent a car next time. We only used it for one trip to Wal-Mart I think we should have used TIW, but I wasn't sure if we could use it at all the restaurants and during Easter week. Does anyone know if it was valid during that time? Also, is the Dining Plan good during Easter week? We only go that week because the winters in WI are horrible and that's the only time the kids have off If I don't get out of WI I will go bananas! (It snowed here again yesterday!) I will check out kayak.com and other low fare sites to see what I can get. Some of you are getting incredible airfare deals! I'm already planning our trip next year and really needed the input! Thanks!!

If you only go during Spring Break, you're doing pretty well!!!

We went for 6 days between Christmas and New Years, and that cost more than our 12 day trip in the summer (it seems, anyway). Airfare is more, car rentals are not even possible (we did miss the car, we use it to get around to resort restaurants and to go to mini golf), and the CROWDS!!! (Did spring break once, too. Same story.) The only good thing was that SW did drop fares for the return on New Years Day, so I have credits for this summer's trip.

 

[thelionqueen]

:

FYI, we got a minivan for 7 days for $199 plus tax through Alamo for mid-May. (from their hot deals page) It's about $235 with taxes and fees and I imagine we'll spend about $25 in gas (that's about our average). That's $37 per day. I was able to snag a midsize SUV using my Sam's Club code for the same price, and I'm considering just sticking with that reservation since I've never in all my life driven a minivan and I choose midsize SUVs thru Alamo because I know I can get a Toyota or Nissan. (I still don't know what sort of minivans Alamo stocks. I'm guessing they don't have Hondas or Toyotas...)

Anyhow, obviously everyone's needs and experiences are different so I thought I'd give our "math."

Because we rent a car we can:
-- go directly to resorts for our dinner plans, be on our own schedule for getting to the parks.
-- go get our groceries at our leisure. I sometimes go in the evening of our first night because we're all excited to get there and it saves the hassle of storing groceries with bell services.
-- dine offsite, which isn't a must-do but it's a nice option. My son's favorite place to eat is Cracker Barrel, followed by McDonald's - there's only so many grilled cheese sandwiches we can scrounge up at WDW restaurants before he wants the only kind of cheeseburger he'll eat!
-- go get Chick-Fil-A, which is one of my favorite things that I only get when traveling since there aren't any where I live.
-- leave for the airport at a reasonable time for us, not on DME's crazy early schedule. We are in the Clear Registered Traveler Program which saves a lot of time, so we don't have to be there as early as the average traveler.

Funny, I used to be a hardcore never-leave-the-property person but as we've gone so many times, I've slowly loosened up.

We got a mid size car (off airport) for $275 (total) for 11 days which is the best I've seen (got this rate in Feb-I admit I'm an addicted pre-planner
). I TOTALLY agree with renting a car!! We go to Wal-mart, I get my nails done (chloring does a number on natural nails) we sight-see, dine at other resorts/parks, the list goes on. It saves a ton of time which equates out to real money. I love the comparison to the time you save vs. what you spend on your vacation; it truly is the epitomy of time = money.

I'm going to check out your rate and see if I can get something a little bigger, thanks for the post!

 

[Entropy]

Now I'm confused. Are we supposed to be bragging about how much we spend or bragging about how little we spend?
I can never get these straight.