I was Wondering to all the Vertans of Disney World Vacation

[MyGoofyfamilyandme]

What would be a good budget for a 10day Magic your way vacation. See we have the Magic your Way 10day Vacation for December of this year for Xmas we will be there for a long time. We also have theDisney Dinning plan too so how much money do u think would be enough for the whole disney vacation? we have a 2yr old and 6month old (at the time of vacation she will be 6 months)

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

If you stay at POP, std. view, arriving Dec. 19 or earlier (Value Season), you can do the vacation for just over $2000 (not including transportation costs or souvenirs).

This would include 10-day MYW Base passes (expiry) for 2 adults. You would not be able to park hop. PI, DQ and the waterparks would not be included. And the passes would expire 14 days after their first use. The children would not need passes.

It would also include the dining package.

If you were to wait until Dec. 20 (or later) to check into the same room, the cost of your trip would jump to almost $2500 because your visit then begins during Holiday Season. One trick to gettiing an awesome room rate for Christmas is to check in during Value Season. The room rate on your check in date is applied to your entire stay!

Another hint: If you have AAA, book the package thru your AAA travel agent. You'll get an additional 20% off the room portion of your vacation package if you're booked to start in Value Season. This would bring the cost to about $1900.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

This varies widely from person to person! For a trip that long, it is hard to say. One thing that Disney is great at is marketing. There is lots of stuff to buy EVERYWHERE! In theory, you COULD spend $100 a day per person, without breaking a sweat (Okay, so maybe you would sweat a little if you were spending that much per day in extras)...but you could also get by on a lot less than that. You could, in theory, get by without spending hardly anything beyond the dining plan.
If you think your kids would hold on to them, you could buy each kid a small Mickey on the first day (or whichever animal they like), and let them carry it around each day, that way you wouldn't have to buy something new each day.
However, if you've never been there before, you'll most likely be tempted to get each kid something new each day (or at least an item from each park). There are plenty of items to be had in the $10-15 dollar range, so that is a fairly reasonable budget for kids as young as yours.
(Costumes will set you back about $50 plus, if you get all the accessories, and there are also plenty of items in the $20-25 range too. A "first haircut" complete with pixie dust, certificate and "first haircut" Mickey ears will run you $17 in the MK)
You could look at Disney Direct to get a ballpark idea of what they charge for items...
Another strategy to consider, is spending much of the last full day at Downtown Disney. There are quite a few shops there, and you can find much of the Disney merchandise there in a fairly consolidated location. (One notable exception is items from the world showcase) So if you hesitated from getting certain items earlier in the trip, often you can find them there. Plus it is a good place to find items for anyone back home. (Just don't buy chocolate and store it in the trunk of your rental car, like we once did...)

Last, there are also lots of snacks to be found everywhere. I think with the meal plan you get fed fairly well, but some of the Disney snacks are very tempting too, and some of them may go above the meal plan you have. One item you should not miss is the Premium Mickey ice cream bar! The Dole Whip is another popular favorite (Adventureland) WE are also partial to the Toll house cookie/ice cream snadwich. Then there are many treats to be had in the WS....(See what I mean about marketing?)

 

[lovesdumbo]

In theory, you COULD spend $100 a day per person, without breaking a sweat (Okay, so maybe you would sweat a little if you were spending that much per day in extras)...but you could also get by on a lot less than that. You could, in theory, get by without spending hardly anything beyond the dining plan.
If you think your kids would hold on to them, you could buy each kid a small Mickey on the first day (or whichever animal they like), and let them carry it around each day, that way you wouldn't have to buy something new each day.
However, if you've never been there before, you'll most likely be tempted to get each kid something new each day (or at least an item from each park). There are plenty of items to be had in the $10-15 dollar range, so that is a fairly reasonable budget for kids as young as yours.
(Costumes will set you back about $50 plus, if you get all the accessories, and there are also plenty of items in the $20-25 range too. A "first haircut" complete with pixie dust, certificate and "first haircut" Mickey ears will run you $17 in the MK)

You can have a great trip with outgoing crazy. On my DD's(3 1/2) first trip I bought an autograph book, Mickey baloon and a few $3 plastic toys. On her 2nd trip (4 1/2) she asked to buy something the last day and picked out a Mickey pen. Last year I bought her a stuffed Nala, her DBro sun glasses and Incredible toys ($12), and her Dsis a Tink visor (too expensive!) and stuffed flamingo. I also bought a Peter Pan ride vehicle toy ($6). I just got back from a trip with just DS(4 1/2) and had to bring home "surprises" for the girls. I bought DD(6) Pooh & Tigger shaped pens ($4 each) and a Pooh puzzle keychain ($5). I got DD(2) a plastic Pooh ($3?) and Tigger ear headband ($10 ouch). I went a bit crazy with DS who was with me and got Space Shuttle toy($4?), Buzz ride vehicle($6), Buzz ride photo ($20???), Match box car ($3?), Buzz cup($4ish with juice), 18 pressed pennies ($9), pressed penny book ($6).

 

[jgates]

Depending on how far into the 2's, the two year old is, Mr. Potatohead might be an excellent souv. I think he runs $18 or so. The best place to do him with the most selection is the big toy store at DTD (the end down by the Rainforest Cafe I believe). Your little one might not have the patience to sit and stuff Mr. P's behind but he could pick out the trinkets he wanted. If you did this early in the trip, each day he could 'dress' Mr. P in a new manner depending on where you were going that day. You can fill a massive amount if you fill up the inside of the potato too. So many people stuck the potato in the box and then crammed things in around. However, after DD picked out all of the items she wanted (and it was a TON!!! ), we sat down and spent a while arranging, stuffing inside the potato & the box and she ended up with tons of different outfits! One of her friends even took Mr. P to the babysitting clinic she went to as an idea for kids. If the oldest is a girl, you could get one of the Disney girl dolls with an outfit or two - she wouldn't be old enough to play with them yet, but they could stand on a shelf and changing the outfit often would bring back memories. They probably had those there, but we picked up ours in one of the stores middle of the left side of Main St. USA.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I totally forgot about the pressed pennies. Your little ones will probably be too young for them, but we (adults) kind of got into collecting them. I love finding them in the bottom of my pocket book (Where I dump change), every so often. They cost $0.51, and you get the fun of making them. If the 2 year old is closer to 3, she might be old enough. Plus it's really fun finding the machines. They are tucked all over the place. (One of my favorites is the firehouse on Main St. with 101 Dalmations' Penny Press)

 

[lovesdumbo]

One of my favorites is the firehouse on Main St. with 101 Dalmations' Penny Press

I'll be on the lookout for that one! I found the pennies a great way to get my DS out of the stores when he'd start asking for something and the 51 cents was a lot less than anything else I could get him. It also kept him going around the world at World Showcase. I also used it as a reward for good behavior and he was really GREAT about only getting 1 at a time and about putting it in his book so it wouldn't get lost-then he could look at all of them in the book.


My youngest will be 32 months when we go in Oct and she's a bit young but I know she'll want to do it with her siblings. She's pretty good about not putting things in her mouth but the book will help with that too.

 

[MyGoofyfamilyandme]

ok we are staying at pop century the vacation is all paid for but pi is included an dq is too me and hubby used to work there as wdw college program interns my daughter will be 3 in january. this is our 2nd time going. I'm excited we also have the dining package too so that cuts back on food cost i was thinking of getting there customes from toys r us but i think 2000 grand would cover for souviners and such we are with AAA I do thank everyone for there insight me and hubby read them all we are leaving dec 15 by train we would arrive on the 17th our tickets start on the 18th to dec 27 i believe and then we are going to our time share around that time i'm super excited to go my oldest loves mickey and sticth lol

Thanks Everybody
lol group hug