How much $$ for 7 day trip?

[Buzz's_girl]

Just wondering how much is enough. It will be me, DH, and 3 kids. We have a few character meals planned, and I am planning on charging to the room for those...but what about for most other meals at counter service and spending money etc.

The smaller the credit card bill when we get back, the sooner I get to plan the next trip. (plus we just paid them off, so I am trying to be good!)

 

[the kabuki]

With our family of five, the entire trip to WDW usually ends up costing about $4200. That tixs, meals, airfare, rental car, hotel, soveniers, eveything.

 

[WaltD4Me]

Not trying to be nosy, but I'm just curious. If you take out airfare, tickets and room out of that $4,200 -- how much is left spent on food and souvenirs ect?

A friend of mine is trying to plan a trip for her family of five, her DH will cover the airfare, rooms and tickets, but she has to come up with food and spending money. I've been working out a guideline for her, but since I've only traveled with kids (my nieces and nephew) where I didn't have to pay for everything, I've haven't ever had to figure out the cost for a whole family.

Lisa

 

[golfgal]

If you go with a meal plan, they you won't have to worry about paying for food as you go. Many of the Character meals are included in the food plan. If your kids are 9 and under, the meals are a great deal, $10/day/kid. You can spend $1500 or $15,000, it really depends on how you go. If all your kids are over 3, then you either need to get 2 rooms or go for one of the rooms that will accomodate 5, which gets to be expensive. You also have the option of staying offsite, but then you don't have room charging privilages and you can't use the meal plan. There are 5 of use and we are staying at AKL. We had to get a deluxe room at $300/night with a postcard rate. The standard savanah room is $160/night with that same postcard rate. We are planning on spending about $5000 for the 5 of us with airfare, hotel, tickets, food and soveniers (which I don't buy much of anyway). Kabuki, where do you usually stay when you go?

 

[Disney Fool]

Figure that ice cream is $2.50 to $3.00; a bottle of water is $2.00; add in various other snacks or candy, and you could easily spend $10-12 a day per person for these items. Counter service: a hot-dog is $4; with fries and a drink, you could spend $8 to $10, depending on what you order. Factor in toys and gadgets for kids (of all ages, including the adults!) as part of your daily spending. Or, make a rule that each child gets to spend money on one or two items on the last day of their trip.

 

[princess aurora]

We usually spend btw $4000 - $4500 for the whole trip (family of 4 - flight, rooms, tickets, food) About $1000-$1500 on food and souvenEARS.

 

[shirleyb]

It really depends how you plan to eat. The character meals are pricey, but they're also a lot of fun. When we went last time, we had two character meals (Chef Mickeys and Cindy's castle) but otherwise ate mostly counter service, and I think pizza in the room a few nights. We ate breakfast in the room every day -- I packed PopTarts, yogurts, etc and we each took at least one bottle of water to the parks each day. If you're willing to do that kind of thing, you can keep your food costs down.

As far as souveniers, that's really an individual thing. Some people buy lots of stuff, some hardly any.

 

[the kabuki]

If you go with a meal plan, they you won't have to worry about paying for food as you go. Many of the Character meals are included in the food plan. If your kids are 9 and under, the meals are a great deal, $10/day/kid. You can spend $1500 or $15,000, it really depends on how you go. If all your kids are over 3, then you either need to get 2 rooms or go for one of the rooms that will accomodate 5, which gets to be expensive. You also have the option of staying offsite, but then you don't have room charging privilages and you can't use the meal plan. There are 5 of use and we are staying at AKL. We had to get a deluxe room at $300/night with a postcard rate. The standard savanah room is $160/night with that same postcard rate. We are planning on spending about $5000 for the 5 of us with airfare, hotel, tickets, food and soveniers (which I don't buy much of anyway). Kabuki, where do you usually stay when you go?

We stayed at POP. Looking over our receipts, we spent about $2400 for tix, air, rental & hotel. So about $2000 was meals & soveneirs. We have 3 kids(ages 11,7,3) so the oldest was an "adult" price. Airfare was $160pp coming from metro airport, michigan. Rental car was a minivan.

We ate brkfst in the room, (stopped at Walmart when we arrived), and had lunch & dinner onsite all at sit down restaurants. Did 3 character meals. Bought all drinks, water, snacks at Walmarts, not the parks.

Good tip for kids' soveniers, give them a certain amount of money, the older ones had a $100, to spend as they like. Plus they had allowance from home that they brought with them.When it's gone, it's gone. no whining for stuff everywhere we went. Plus, they were real scrooges when it came to spending their own money. We did get each of them a sweatshirt from us.

 

[cobbler]

Well I decided just this last trip to start keeping tabs on what I spend each trip and so on and so forth. Here is my breakdown, it may have things that don't pertain to you but you might get an idea. We have 2 adults a 3 year old and 8 year old.

Food = 635 this was breakfast in our room everyday except one Chef Mickeys bfast, it did include a character lunch and the luau and one extra character breakfast for me.

MVMCP tickets were 136

Souvineers were 800. This was mostly those pictures they sell, a couple of MVMCP items, some clothing. For some reason we really spent a lot on souvineers this time around?? I guess those 13 pics add up. And honestly I can't remember all the things we bought Guess I will have to break this catergory down farther in the future.

Gas = 211 (we drove from MI)

Toll road = 6

Hotel on the way home =78

Misc = 16 (this was snacks and junk on the way home)

Food on the way home = 43 (fast food and a sit down restaurant

Misc activities = 38 (horseback riding for hubby and pony rides for the kids)

Hotel room = 496 (spent 9 nights at a value resort with AP discount of 49/night)

Tickets = 1493 (annual passes for the whole family

So we dropped about 4 grand for a 9 night trip

 

[sarahandhannahsmom]

We purchased a package for the room, tickets and meals. After careful consideration, we have alotted $100 a day for incidentals. This should buy a snack for all 4 of us (you get one snack per day per person with the meal plan) and souveniers. It worked well for us last time. Basically we all got $25 per day (albeit there were days where I shared some of my money to help buy souveniers). Sometimes the kids saved their money from one day to the next. My then 6 year old save all her money except some incidental snack money and on the last full day she had accumulated about $150 to spend on souveniers. The 4 year old blew all her money every day and enjoyed every minute of it.

 

[dolphindan1]

The past 3 years its been close to 4000....for 8 nights at a all star resort tickets to Disney, Universal, and Sea World....Lots of shopping....Plus we drive down about 7 hours.....Sorta planning out next December trip....trying to be out numbered on going on a cruise....I want to go Disneyworld they wanna go Carnival cruise....32 year old man wanting to go to Disney over the wife and kids.....LOL....I am trying to make the cruise out to be more expensive since I do all the planning....

 

[Idahomom]

For our family of 6, our 6 night stay cost us..gulp.... $6000. Worth every penny though! We could have spent less I'm sure, but went a little crazy with souveniers. We decided after buying plane tickets, parkhoppers and hotel room we weren't really going to be looking at prices (to a certain extent). This is the biggest vacation we've taken since having kids and now that they are all at ages where they will actually remember the trips we take we've decided on one big trip a year. Next year it's Maine, CT & NYC!

 

[Buzz's_girl]

Wow, thanks for all the input. I already have APs thanks to a LOOOoooong trip in August (it was cheaper to buy the APs, we were there for 17 days), and now I am sneaking this trip in! We got a great deal with AP rate at WL, and that is paid for. Also, airfare is all set. So I guess I should have asked the question in a different way. I cannot do the meal plan, since I would lose the AP rate...and I already have tix, so I was wondering how much I would need for meals and toys and stuff. I am figuring 200 a day. I think I will charge (or debit) the character meals...since those a more expensive. Hopefully by the end of the week, I will be able to pay anything I do end up charging.

The reason I am asking is that I am not expecting the heat and humidity this time, I think we ate less in August because it was TOO HOT!!! (We did drink a TON of water though....5 bottles at 2.50 each...almost 13 bucks a pop!!!)

Thanks again to all those who shared what they paid...I really appreciate it!! DH loves Disney, but not necessarily paying for it, so the less I have charged, the sooner I can book the next trip...if I plan far enough in advance I am hoping to get 2 rooms at the POLY!!!!

 

[anb163]

Gosh yall spend a lot of your trips. We go almost every year and hardly ever spend over 2000. Last year it was just over 1000 for a 6 day trip. This is for a family of three with a value resort, tickets, and we dont buy many souveneirs. We ate a lot in the room, maybe one meal a day in the parks.

 

[dolphindan1]

Tickets alone are usually just over a 1000 dollars hotel is about 650...

 

[Crazy Kanga]

I am happy for you guys who can spend that much, but I am married to Dave Ramsey's evil twin, so we have to go on a much tighter budget. For our 6 day 7 night trip in June we will spend about $2300 total including room, tickets, food and souvenirs.(Family of 4 and we drive down and only eat out 1 meal a day). We have done it this way every trip and still manage to have a great time. We get a CM discount on the room(Pop Century) from a friend, take food and cooler for breakfast and lunch in the room, and don't buy a lot of souvenirs. Just another perspective.

 

[disneyfan5]

I have me-too close to 30, DH-36, DD-13, DD-10, DS-6. On the trip that we buy our season passes, it runs higher, 1100.00, for the passes. Then we have room and board, lol, normally stay 7-9 nights, paying anywhere from 49 to 79 a night, depending on where we decide to rest our heads. We drive, so we spend around 150.00 on gas for the whole trip. Then we normally do one to two breakfast out. One at Trails end, not too high, and pretty good actually. And one char. meal of our choice for breakfast. The rest of the mornings we eat breakfast at the room or our camper whichever we are at. If we eat a big breakfast, per say the char. meal, we snack at lunch and have dinner. IF we eat a light breakfast, we eat a lunch-supper around 2, then just get a snack that evening, which works out cheapest. And better for the belly. lol. Me and my oldest daughter normally share a meal. Just depends. We almost always take in a backpack, switch turns carry it. I take in some drinks, 3 or so bottled water, with the powder crystal light lemonade, cant be beat, and good too, a couple can drinks, and a couple caprisuns, that saves us big time.. Yes we will end up buying a couple of drinks but not near as many if we didnt have the backpack. I also, bring some candy for kids, fruit roll ups, gushers, cheese crackers, etc, for just a snack.. then we normally buy us each a ice cream.. gotta love a mickey bar. But the backpack saves us money for sure.. Just wanted to help you out a bit.. We just got back from a trip for one week paying 51 a night for the campground, we had our tickets and the whole trip costs us 1500.00 for 5. And 179.00 of that was Hoop Dee Doo, not worth it in my honest opionion. wont do that again, and 150.00 disney quest. So we did good. Oh, and my kids, each have their own money for the junk they see that they want, they save before we go and take their own money. My 13 DD, works and makes 50 every other weekend, and she is very genours to her sister and brother, so they have a good amount to take with them. Which helps us out too. Any questions just ask.

 

[Buzz's_girl]

I am all for saving money . Since I didn't have to buy my APs for this trip, and we got great rates on the room and aifare the whole trip will be less than 2500. (Which is why we are going in the first place.)

I am just really unsure about the food costs. We have a bunch of PS's..Two at Crystal Palace (one for breakfast and one for dinner, not on the same night.) We have Fantasmic Dinner Package scheduled, and a PS at Whispering Canyon. Also the kids are doing the Pirate Cruise at GF (very reasonably priced IMO). But these sit down meals can be expensive....When we were there in August, it was HOT HOT HOT. As a result, I think we ate a lot less. I am hoping for 70s this trip, but without the humidity. So I don't know what to expect the kids to eat. (they are 6,5,and 4).

Last time we were at POR, and had breakfast most days at the food court...the kids split two meals three ways. DH and I aren't huge breakfast eaters...maybe a bagel...or something like that....

The kids do have a little of their own money, but since they are so young, and just started getting their allowance, they have no where near enough to cover the things they will inevitably want. (Also, we planned this trip as a surprise, AND only a few months ago.) DH and I have decided they can each get one stuffed animal type item (to sleep with) and perhaps a sweatshirt if necessary....maybe one other item each (DD's love the stationary and pencils etc.) So we are going to try to LIMIT The spending....

I have planned about 200 a day(not including room and airfare), and am hoping for a little left over when we are all said and done.

Sorry if I have repeated myself a little...just want to make sure I have planned accordingly. Thanks!!!

 

[scorp111]

Without Rooms, Tix, Airfare, Car rental, since those can vary quite a bit.

My DW and I generally allow $150 per day. We spend a lot of it on things for my DD (19 months). We usually eat 3-4 character or sit down meals at a resort per 10 day trip. In September, we ended up with some extra to spend at the end...so we bought a lot of souvenirs.

 

[babar41]

If you really want to nail down the cost of food there are web sites that list the menu's with pricing for most of the Disney World restrauants. Every year I make a spread sheet of where DH and I will be at any given time of day. On each day's sheet I have the restrauants we are eating at along with their confirmation numbers and an estimated cost. After the meal I write the actual cost in. End of trip I have an accurate accounting of $'s and a great planning tool for the next trip.

The great thing about seeing the menus in advance is you can decide if 1) there is anything you want to eat there and 2) if it works in your budget. There are some places we really love to eat that are rather pricey, so those day I will normally schedule a less expensive breakfast or lunch.

Just one reminder, when budgeting for the restaurants remember to include your tips.

Have a great trip!