If you were spending $5000 on a Disney vacation...

[Philadisney]

i would take DBF and a week at poly, week at GF, week at WL, and a week at AKL. and buy an annual pass, and eat at all the wonderful & fun restaurants i have never tried but have always wanted to (cali grill, flying fish, & coral reef to name a few!!!) (we have no kids, so $5000 would go a lot farther for us than for some of you folks!)

 

[mill4023]

I too read the thread title and thought WOW i'm spending way to much!! But there are 5 of us (2 real adults and 2 disney adults plus 1 child). My budget for this trip is $4500. We are staying 10 nights offsite for $85 per night for a 4 bedroom house - not bad!!, 7 day park hoppers, 1000 for food, 200 hotel down and back, 400 for gas and we are going to Sea World one day. That leaves a little extra for spending money. The kids will have their own spending money. I have tried and tried to do this cheaper but it's so hard!!
But...we went for the first time last year and now we are all hopelessly addicted!!! Even DH really wants to go back! So I'll be pinching pennies and clipping coupons..but we ARE going!!
Kimba

Growing up on the west coast, I went to DL a lot, but never had the chance to visit WDW. So last year was also our first visit and I'm definitely addicted. It was so much fun, especially getting to share it with my own kids. We all had such a good time that even after 9 nights and 7 days of theme parks, none of us wanted to come home. Even DW, who's not nearly as big of a Disney nut as me.

I know what you mean about the money though. I can't believe how much we are spending, but when I look at our budget, I don't see anything extravagant. The only thing I feel like we could cut back on are the 4 nights at POR and the food budget. But I really don't want to. We loved POR last time and for us, part of the fun of being on vacation is being able to eat at lots of great places. I could shorten our trip, but with so much on our itinerary, I need a couple of rest days.

 

[nicolemarie]

We are pouring in money by the gazillions!! Thanks for all the replies. We are a family of 4, DH, me, 7yo DD and 4yoDS. We only want to stay about five nights - we are pulling a 2nd grader out of school with the teacher's blessing - and we drive from GA so no airfare. I think $5000 will be PLENTY for everything we want to do. Lots of great ideas, though...Thanks!

 

[RobInBigKC]

we need to find a way to get rid of the commercials advertising Disney for $1500. No way that our family can manage this, but he keeps saying "See it can be done."

I'm pretty sure that amount refers to a value resort stay during the value season and covers room and parks admission only. So it can be done as long as you don't eat and don't have any transportation costs to get there!

-- Rob

 

[vicceja]

Hi!

$5000 - I think it all depends the size of your family and where and what you do at Disney. We definitely go over $5000 every time we go. We've been staying at the deluxe resorts and do many other activities with the kids such as Pirate Cruises, Family Magic Tour etc. Also, feeding everyone at the world is very expensive too. BUT IT'S ALL WORTH IT!

 

[DisFlan]

We are pouring in money by the gazillions!! Thanks for all the replies. We are a family of 4, DH, me, 7yo DD and 4yoDS. We only want to stay about five nights - we are pulling a 2nd grader out of school with the teacher's blessing - and we drive from GA so no airfare. I think $5000 will be PLENTY for everything we want to do. Lots of great ideas, though...Thanks!

Maybe not if you stay at a deluxe. If you're planning on a value or moderate, you might be okay. It depends a LOT on your dining habits, too - meal plan, no meal plan, lots of TS meals or not. Or lots of souveniers, shows, extra things etc. They add up fast. No airfare is a big help, but remember that most people spend more than they think they will.

Don't plan on cutting it too close - leave yourself a lot of wiggle room. We've spent a lot more than $5000 with just one kid. Snacks, stuffed toys, monogrammed Mickey ears, Pirate cruises...it's hard to say no.

DisFlan

 

[psiprez]

......I'd be out of my ####ing mind!!!!

I'd take the cash and spend it on TWO Disney vacations.

 

[kfeuer]

WOW, I'm amazed how much some of these vacations are costing. I'm really glad there's lots of ways to do Disney, because if it cost $5000+ we'd never get to go!

The budget on our last weeklong trip was approximately $1700. We live close enough to easily drive, and got a great deal on a 2-bedroom condo ($209 for the week). We had one table service meal a day, and mostly ate back at the condo for other meals. This kept the food budget down while still allowing us to eat at some nice places (Cape May, Biergarten, Kona Cafe, etc.).

Anyway, I digress. To answer the original question, although I dream of staying at Beach Club one day, I want to do it without the kids. With the kids, I'd rent an offsite pool house for 2 weeks (I love my kids, but do not enjoy sleeping with them). We'd go to each park at least twice, and maybe check out Sea World. That still probably wouldn't cost us $5,000. In truth, if I had $5000 to blow on a vacation I'd go on a 7-day Disney cruise. I can get us to WDW cheaply, but there's not much I can do about the cruise fares.

 

[ryanmilla]

First I would book 6 nights with my DVC points. Since we have APs, tickets are taken care of. I would spend $500 on airfare during slow time for me, DW, DD, and DS. Save $1000 for food and souveniers.

That leaves me with $3500 to plan my caribbean vacation that I will tack on either to the beginning or end of this trip.

 

[fanofdisney]

If I'm spending tons of money, I'm going all out. So may I please have $10,000?

I would like the Contemporary with the MK view, over $1,000 for one night! And I'll stay for a week or two. Every park for 2 days, all the shows, the works. And every souvenir we're even remotely interested in for ourselves and those back home....it's bought!

 

[lustergirl]

I would definitely stay at the Poly with the dining plan, hopper option, and have first class airline tickets. Lordy don't I wish..

 

[Priorityonecb]

Let's see...our budget...for October.

7 nights @ POR
Length of stay tickets
4 night cruise and transfers....$4,000

Tips: $300 (cruise, Mouskeepers, drivers, porters)

Airfare: $800

Food and souveniers: $1,000 (we also have the VISA rewards card we will use to supplement this figure)

Sea World for the day: $300

Limo from home to airport and vise versa: $150 (actually less than paying to keep our car at the airport for two weeks)

Total: $6550

I will say, our typical vacations usually range around $2000....but this is a once in a lifetime...no holds barred trip.

 

[blestmom]

Well, with 5 kids, coming from Alaska, that's about what it costs. We've been very fortunate over the past few trips that we've gotten one part of the trip...either the airfare, the lodging, or the park tickets...for cheap. But 4 of my 5 kids are now considered 'adults,' so the price keeps going up! Still can't think of a better place to have tons of fun with my kids, though, so we make it a priority to budget as best we can. It's so cold here lately...I could really use a "Disney Fix." Thank goodness for these boards!

 

[DznyLvr2005]

We spent over $5000 on our honeymoon Disney Vacation!
Technically it was free (I sold an IRA I had from when I worked at AT&T, didn't need it since the husband is a NYPD officer and has the best benefits and pension, so the IRA paid for our honeymoon! THANK GOD, or else we would have been screwed wondering how we were gonna pay for it!!)
But anyway.. This is how we spent it...
11 nights in the honeymoon suite at the WL. I think it was about $460/night that included tickets (ultimate hoppers, PI, Dis quest)
What wasn't 'free' was food, shopping! (We bought a $560 Cookoo clock in Germany Pavilion ) So that was another, I'd say $3500 all together.... ALOT of money, but it was our honeymoon and well worth it.
TOTAL OCTOBER TIP COST ABOUT: $9000!!!!
This October we're going back for MUCH LESS and we're staying in a regular room at CSR! I think total with the dining package is $2500!

 

[Nancyg56]

I'm pretty sure that amount refers to a value resort stay during the value season and covers room and parks admission only. So it can be done as long as you don't eat and don't have any transportation costs to get there!

-- Rob

I also think it is a value. I guess if we all swore off food, stuffed all of us into one room, (DH in the bathtub because HE is the one glued to the commercial) and walked to Disney, we would be all set.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

We spent that amount, on average, a year but spread it out over 2-3 trips of about ten days each.

There are only two of us and we stay at AS Sports and eat a lot of counter serve and off site since I cannot eat that much.

We do not feel deprived (maybe depraved lol) at all since there is nothing that we cannot do, if we want.

Nice slow relaxing trips and we have a ball.

When you are retired you have a lot more time than money and it is not a bad thing at all.

Slightly Goofy

 

[IvyandLace]

When I mentioned this thread to DH (a high school teacher), his eyes bugged out and he said, "Where in the world do these people work to be able to afford vacations like that?!!" We are definitely the value resort-bring-our-own-food-and-even-stay-offsite-if-it's-cheaper type of people...can't even imagine having $5000 to spend on a vacation!!!! Wow-you are all very blessed.

Ivy

 

[skiwee1]

I would definitely stay at the Poly with the dining plan, hopper option, and have first class airline tickets. Lordy don't I wish..

I don't think you'd be able to do all that with just $5000! We are paying $3800 for the Poly in June for 10 nights. Even at 7 nights you are looking at $2600 and that is with a AAA discount. Add in park passes, dining, and first class tickets and you will need a lot more then $5000.

 

[skent10]

When I mentioned this thread to DH (a high school teacher), his eyes bugged out and he said, "Where in the world do these people work to be able to afford vacations like that?!!"

Some people work at jobs where they get paid what they're worth; some people get paid more than what they're worth. Others, like your DH , work at jobs where they aren't paid nearly what they're worth!

 

[DznyLvr2005]

When I mentioned this thread to DH (a high school teacher), his eyes bugged out and he said, "Where in the world do these people work to be able to afford vacations like that?!!" We are definitely the value resort-bring-our-own-food-and-even-stay-offsite-if-it's-cheaper type of people...can't even imagine having $5000 to spend on a vacation!!!! Wow-you are all very blessed.

Ivy

Well I can tell you how I get there spending that much... Because I barely have a savings account and when I'm older will most definately be screwed!!
Hsbnd is a NYPD officer and I'm an office manager assistant at a doctors office. Living in NYC rent for a 2 bedroom apartment (we live in a 2 family house) is $1400 a month... We have no savings!!!!!