How much is too much to spend on a disney vacation?

[nataliesdaddy]

But our thoughts are this will be our DGD's first trip, and possibly her only -plus since I am a breast cancer survivor, and the threat of a reoccurence never leaves, we plan to travel now - while we can.

yeah - I share your sentiments - never had breast cancer, but my time may or may not be short and you're right ... travel while we can.

 

[nataliesdaddy]

If you truly can't afford your vacation so much that you're stressing out and yelling at your kids to HAVE FUN when they're tired becuase you know you'll never get there again and can't afford it even this time...then it's too expensive. I don't think small children can make themselves appreciate "once in a life time" vacations any more than "regular" vacations ... they are going to be themselves, no matter if what you're doing is cheap or expensive. (If they always take a nap from 2 to 4, they are going to need a nap from 2-4, even if you're in the MK.)

I'll express a different viewpoint from the posts above me. For all you parents who run up credit card bills and sacrifice a great deal to take your kids on Disney or any other vacations, I'll say this: Maybe you should re-think this. My parents were children of the Depression. They were both from large, poor families and literally never had a vacation growing up. Becuase of that, we always went on vacation. Sure, we drove and stayed at Motel 6s and cooked in the room, but we always went on a vacation. BUT, my parents rented a house all while I was growing up...they couldn't afford buy a house until I (the youngest) was 20 years old because they didn't have the money for a down payment earlier. When I look back on it, I think it was foolish to take a vacation every year...it would have been much wiser to have skipped a few years to save money for a down payment on a house. They would be much better off in their retirement if they would have skipped a few vacations and bought a house and invested money.

I know my parents were trying to give us the nice childhood they never had, but I don't know that it was the best decision.

thats a good thought

 

[lsteadman]

spendin $1 more than you financial means allow. If you have to struggle to pay the "vacation" bill when you return home. Then you spent too much!

I would never go in debt to take a vacation. All of my vacations are pre-paid prior to leaving or cash available to cover all expenses.

 

[nataliesdaddy]

spendin $1 more than you financial means allow. If you have to struggle to pay the "vacation" bill when you return home. Then you spent too much!

I would never go in debt to take a vacation. All of my vacations are pre-paid prior to leaving or cash available to cover all expenses.

here here

 

[DVC Jen]

You don't even wanna know how much we spend. If you consider our monthly DVC mortgage and dues as well as boarding our pets it is probably around 7500 for an 17 day trip (13 days on actual vacation and 4 driving).

We will charge maybe 700 tops the rest is all cash. That 700 will be paid off within a few months. We don't own fancy cars. We could have a larger home (but this one will be paid off in 7 years and the payment is very easy for us to make). We don't have a huge clothing budget. We do have a great 401K. We also have our own personal priorities and know what is important to us. That is our big WDW trips.

Each family is different and needs to decide for themselves if the trip is worth the cost. If you are stressing then maybe you shouldn't go. In your heart you know what is right for you.

I know that tomorrow may never come. It didn't for my parents, it may not for me. So I want to prepare for the future but still enjoy the present. We have been very very blessed and are able to do this and have our magical vacations.

 

[zdad]

Our trip this year is ~ $9200 for the four of us. This is for everything...

6N/7D @ WL
2 nights in Daytona Beach Relaxing
4N/5D @ HRH (Universal)
MYW Dining
Park Hoppers Plus (5 plusses each)
Airfares
rental cars
Lots of fun money.

Now we planned this over a year ago, and did not do a vacation last year, so we could "go large" this year. So figure this is two equivalent vacations @ ~$4600 each.

BTW - it's an all cash vacation. No credit cards used, except to confirm ressies.

 

[dan-tot]

Now if you spent your money on a time share you would save money.LOL
I spend about three thousand the last three or four years, but that is a min. You could spend as much as you can think of. If you can't afford to go and do or get what you want while at Disney without thinking of the cost then you shouldn't be there. It is ok to save for the trip and to look for deals but not to the point where you are eating a balony sandwhich for lunch instead of experiencing one of the resteraunts or the counter places in the parks.

Dan-tot

 

[PatsGirl]

My kids and I do a "major" vacation every year using my tax refund for the most part. I usually budget $1000 pp/week and if we don't have to fly (like to Orlando) we can get two great vacations but we somehow almost always end up at Disney, lol. I don't think $2500-3000 is TOO much but we also scrimp most of the year for this/these vacations. Then again, don't kids really prefer grilled cheeses, hot dogs, and pancakes? So my idea of scrimping is their idea of a great meal!

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Our trip this year is ~ $9200 for the four of us.

Wow, that's awesome you can do that. Our budget just DOES NOT allow DH and I to spend that type of money on vacations. However, what we do spend, we still have a WONDERFUL time!!

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

I am spending $2400 for our upcoming trip, for me and dd5 and dd1. This is for air ($500, which is twice what we should have spent), Resort (POR for 8 nights shared with sister $350), rental van for week ($250 with gas), Food ($500, which is a HIGH budgeted amount) and APs for DD5 and myself ($800).

When we go back in November/December, it will be DH, myself and the girls. We will spend LESS than that, as we are most likely staying at POP Century and won't need Park Passes, flights should cost less as well.

 

[snowglobe girl]

Me and DH usually end up spending about $2500 - $3000 including gas, hotel (POP), food, and lots of stuff! We usually stay a week - but I also use the Disney dollars from my Visa card, which helps a little. Had around $150 when we went last year.

 

[zdad]

Wow, that's awesome you can do that. Our budget just DOES NOT allow DH and I to spend that type of money on vacations. However, what we do spend, we still have a WONDERFUL time!!

This is way unusual for us too. But like I said we started saving over a year ago. also, this is likely the last big vacation before oldest DS heads for college.

My dad was a penny pincher, but as his health was failing, he told me "Spend the money wisely, BUT spend it !"

 

[drakethib]

Well if we were rich, my wife and I could probably wear the numbers of off our Disney Visa, but we are not, so we keep it in budget.

We are DVC members so we are going pick up a few groceries and save some $$$ as well eat a little better.

With the flights, food, and tickets, we proably will spend under $2K for one week (keep in mind that our lodging is paid for).

We usually don't splurge wildly, but we don't short ourselves either.

 

[Trish100]

I have read this thread with interest as I was also unsure how much spending money to take. We are travelling from Northern Ireland (me, husband and 6 year old son) so the last thing I want is to run short! I'm not a believer in credit cards (too easy to spend money you don't actually have!) so I am trying to stick to $ and travellers cheques. We have all our accomodation, car hire and theme park tickets paid for so we just need for food (and we're not big eaters in our family I have to say), gas and shopping. So far we have around $2500 for a 2 week holiday and I hope to raise that to around $3500 before we go. That seems to me like a ridiculous amount of money but yet a part of me is still panicking that it's not going to be enough. Have I lost my mind? Surely this is plenty?? I don't want to be scrimping on a budget (God knows we do that the rest of the year!) but I also don't expect to go completely daft either. We were kind of reckoning that most of your days are paid for so you're only really paying for food and souveniers. I'm lucky that my 6 year old is really careful with money - if you gave him £5 to spend he would end up leaving with nothing that buying rubbish! What do you guys reckon - too much, too little or just about right???

 

[disneysteve]

Here's my answer to the original question. It is too much if you can't afford it. If you have to charge it and take months or years to pay it off, its too much. If you have to sacrifice more important financial obligations to pay for it, its too much.

Vacations are great things, Disney and elsewhere, and we take them as frequently as we can, but only because we are financially able to do so. If we didn't have the money, we'd stay home. No vacation is worth going into debt. It simply isn't that vital. I know someone will tell of a dying kid's wish trip or something like that and perhaps that would be an exception, but for the average healthy family, if you can afford it, go and have a great time. But if you can't afford it, watch your spending, save up and go when you have enough money. We could never enjoy our trip if we knew we were spending money we didn't have.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Ours is pretty much like $6,000 minimum for about a week. This year we bought paps for the 5 of us and we only stay in a deluxe, we eat one good meal a day, need 5 airline tickets, plus transfers from orlando and also limo back and forth to airport here in NY, also this time we threw in a day at universal. Our 3 ds were good, they dont really ask for souveniers, their extras are game room money usually. We were planning on a fishing trip, but they didnt behave well, so good bye to that. Our next trip will be in dec. for dh conference so that room will even be paid for for part of the trip, the tickets will be paid for, dh airfare is paid for, so we will get off good next time.

 

[bridget]

As long as it is paid for before we get there, I"m happy

We are at $1455 right now with 6 nights at POFQ for 2 adults 1 child (2 years old). That includes Park Hopper, meal plan and MNSSHP. I do not have airfare! I was hoping to keep the trip under $2000, but airfare fight now out of Kansas City is $1000 for 3! YIKES. We probably will spend less than $50 on souviners.

2 years ago for $1350 we stayed 5 nights w/airfare at Universal Studios Royal Pacific and park tickets. It was one of the best vacations ever!!!!! Food was expensive, so that's why are doing the dining plan.

 

[powellrj]

we are doing a "budget" trip this year because we just went 8 months ago and had more of a deluxe trip that time. We are looking at just under $2,000 for our family of 4 including airfare, car rental, condo, food and extras. Theme park tickets are leftover from other trips so thats a huge part of our budget we don't have to worry about this year.

 

[JFrey4240]

I think we plan pretty well to keep the total cost down. That being said we are DVC members so our accomodations are technically paid up front. We buy annual passes and work it so that we get three weeks out of the year. I scope out cheap airfare and cheer when I find something under $200 and scream when I find something for $150. Food and shopping we are careful but don't hold back that much. We tend to eat one sit down and one counter service meal each day. We buy snacks for the room and enough things to make sandwiches and quick bites back in the room. I think with enough planning you can make it affordable.

 

[dvcgirl]

Well, to answer the original poster's question: It's too much when you put your trip on a credit card and need to pay it off. It's also too much if you pay cash and aren't making contributions to your children's college funds or retirement plans. I really do believe that we've become a society that feels entitled to living the good life. And by no means is Disney a "budget vacation". Yes, it can be done for less money if you stay off-site, or in a Disney budget hotel, but there are vacations that are far cheaper than a trip to Disney.