I'm trying to get an idea of what a vacation will cost us

[Shelly888]

I know it is different for everyone, but was hoping to get some ideas, so I'd know what to expect. I am thinking about buying a small resale at OKW of 70 points. We would likely go either every other or every 3 years(if that is possible between borrowed and banked points).

I think the dues on this are around 400/year

I was thinking of getting 10 day non-ex tickets for us(I think this would make the most sense if we went every other year).

Then I was wondering about food. What do most do? I guess I'd be looking for a combo of convienence and cost. We might eat a small breakfast, have lunch be our main meal if paying out of pocket, and then a small dinner. Not sure really.

I need to have things worked out in my head before approaching DH about this as he isn't as in love with the mouse as my oldest son and I are.

Thanks.

 

[chalee94]

I think the dues on this are around 400/year

currently more like $350 but they will increase pretty much every year.

I was thinking of getting 10 day non-ex tickets for us(I think this would make the most sense if we went every other year).

10 day base ticket non-expire (non-hopper) are about $525 now for adults at maple leaf tickets. have to assume these will get more expensive also.

Then I was wondering about food. What do most do? I guess I'd be looking for a combo of convienence and cost. We might eat a small breakfast, have lunch be our main meal if paying out of pocket, and then a small dinner. Not sure really.

this is variable. if you eat breakfast (and sometimes a light dinner) in the villa and don't eat a lot of table service, this can be reasonable. but it's up to you.

edited to add: a 70 pt OKW resale will cost around $5000. it would work well for every-other-year trips, but if you were thinking every third year, i'd stick with renting. every-third-year is doable with banking and borrowing but it does increase the risk of lost points.

 

[RumpleMom]

Could you manage getting an annual pass and scheduling your trips 11 months apart?

The DVC discount is $100 off the annual pass and $125 off of the premium annual pass.

You then skip a year and do what your husband prefers to do.

 

[dmoore22]

There are so many variables to consider. Does your DH play golf? We have friends that go each year but their DH seldom goes to the parks. He practically lives on the golf courses, World of Sports and ESPN Zone. Hence he usually gets a pass once they're down there should he decide to do a park or two. From our experience, regarding cost, it has made our visits more affordable between the DVC, AP, and Disney Visa discounts. Our costs are comparable to what we spent staying at a Value resort yet the accommodations are so much nicer plus our visits are twice as long. When we bought we were a family of 8 (5 girls, 1 boy) and had to get at least two rooms for each trip. For us DVC was a wise choice.

We did buy a resale that included a year's banked points. Then we found an add-on in which the seller paid the first year's maintenance fees. We find that we often have points to bank each year just from starting our membership with banked point s to use. Now that we are almost empty nester's we visit at least twice a year and throw in a long weekend once in a while.

 

[P-elmo]

Since you mention cost, I assume budget matters. So ...

I was thinking of getting 10 day non-ex tickets for us(I think this would make the most sense if we went every other year).

We bought 10-day no exp tickets last year and wanted park hoppers. When we then checked prices, I think it was only about $30 more per ticket to add the "water park and more" option. This option which gets you into either water park or disney quest 10 times (and it doesn't have to be (and if you're on a budget shouldn't be) the same days as you visit the parks). We added this on and think it is a very cost-effective way ($3/person - can't beat it!) to make a day off from the parks still have a fun activity for our family.

One visit to Disney Quest or the Water Parks separately will cost more than buying the 10 visits when you add it onto the no-experation ticket!

 

[thepops]

One other thing on the food budget is to have a big breakfast (if your family are big breakfast eaters) grab a snack around noon time and then have dinner right at the end of the lunch time (so you have an early dinner at lunchtime prices).

 

[dmoore22]

It's difficult to determine what a stay will cost 3 or 6 years from now but you can use an educated guess.

Visit http://www.mousesavers.com/wdwtixdiscounts.html which provides links to various ticket discounts including The UnderCover Tourist and Disney World Moms Panel, an official site operated by Disney with advice from a mom's point of view.

Visit http://allears.net/tix/tickethistory.htm for a history of ticket price increases to get a handle for what the cost of admission media may be in the future.

If you plan on eating in the resort/parks you can visit http://allears.net/din/dining.htm to view the menus and the prices. Or, if you have an iPhone download the free version of Disney World Wait Times, Dining and Maps by Undercover Tourist from the iTunes Store. It also has the menus with prices from the parks and resorts.

If you plan on eating in your villa, and you buy groceries off-site, we have found the cost has been about the same at Publix as what we pay at home. You can buy some groceries at Conch Flats but you will be paying for the convenience not unlike at a Seven-Eleven.

As far as the cost of accommodations I shall assume that you have been doing your homework on the resale market. When you plan to visit and the type of accommodations you use, ie. studio, one BR, etc., will also impact the number of points you may need. If you itemize your taxes you can use that part of your dues designated as property taxes as a small deduction. The property tax is designated in the breakdown on your year end statement.

 

[Dean]

As noted, there are many variables. Here's what I'd do as a general reference then you can adjust for your personal preferences. I'll assume a studio but it won't matter much on the costs since your number of points will determine the costs, all the unit size/type controls is how many points you'll need. Using your numbers of 70 pts a year and assuming a week every other year I get the following:

• Purchase price roughly $4K SSR, I'll allot that over 10 years, the life of the contract is FAR too long due to variables and other risks. So that's $400 a year or $800 a trip.
• Yearly dues around $375 or $750 for 2 years.
• Tickets - An AP is roughly $500 ($519 I think) per but DVC members get a $100 currently, I'll use $500 which is per trip at EOY but as noted, if you stack trips, you might get 2 trips out of 1 for $250 per trip. A 10 day non exp will be around the same and should also cover mostly 2 trips, maybe a little more when you account for travel days, rain, water parks, etc.
• A 4 day Park Hopper with 4 plus options (water park, Disney Quest, etc) will be around $350 per trip but will give you a little more but will expire in 2 weeks.
• You can use the DDP charges to estimate food as I think most families can cover almost all meals in a week on the basic DDP. Assuming one child (3-9) and one junior for your children, if you estimate $1200 for a week, you should be covered. That's a DDP of $1050 for 7 nights and allotting for a couple of non covered meals and snacks for the room, etc. Of course you could cut this significantly by not getting the DDP, doing more counter service and meals in your room. Costs will go up once all are counted as adults.
• Air Maybe $400 per person, less if you can reasonably drive.

So that gives us around $5500 per trip rounded up for 70 points going every other year and assuming the ages and flying. Bare bones with driving, maybe $3500 per trip if you're careful and only do a few park days per trip. The price is a little lower if both are under 10 y/o for a while and a modest amount more when 2 kids are over 9. If there are more than 2 kids, the costs go up significantly mostly because you can't do a studio and the extra child will require air, admission media and food. Maybe another $1000 per child if flying plus extra points.

Obviously there are many variables so YMMV but this should give you rough numbers. You may want to consider less than 70 points initially and see how it goes.

 

[rentayenta]

Your vacation will cost about $1,000 more than you think. Mine always do. Seriously though, don't forget the miscellaneous category. That includes sunscreen, ponchos, batteries, souvenirs for anyone grabbing mail or watching pets (the less obvious folks), the cab you take to an ADR because you are running late, an extra round of golf, the arcade for kids, etc...all the things you end up spending money on but don't plan for.

 

[stocker1042]

Here is what the wife and I do to make our trips as cheap as possible. I think your plan is a pretty good one, especially if you are only going every other year. You can always rent out your points to cover your dues if you like.

We took a portion of our tax return and bought 10 day hopper no-expire passes. Well worth the investment as the price will only go up.

We usually do two or three small trips a year. We have a rewards credit card that allows us to usually fly for free. We put just about everything on the card and pay it off at the end of the month.

We pack two carry on bags with all our clothes, and check one bag full of food and beverages. We eat breakfast in every day. Typically, we come back to the room a little after lunch and just do a small snack and a nap. Wake up, down a few adult beverages, and go splurge on a nice dinner and some more beverages around Epcot at night.

Two adults, no kids. Once our dues are paid ($600 a year) we don't pay for flights, take the Magical Express, spend about $40 in food and drink before we leave, and then we tend to spend about $200 in the parks in food and drink-but we eat pretty well. The 10 day ticket is about $50 a day now, but once you suck it up.....I doubt you'll think about it 3 years from now.

 

[corpcomp]

We fly to Disney at least once a year from CT.

Airlines run about $900-$1100 for the three of us.

We buy annual tickets for about $1000

We use multiple Disney visa cards and generally have between 400-600 points saved up every year. That essentially pays for just about all our gifts and food, including one night out at one of the more expensive (DS refers to them as "fancy") restaurants. He is very happy with pizza at the Boardwalk.

We might spend $100 more than the points so the average 5-6 day trip costs us about $2300 out of pocket. Then again I forgot the $140 parking fee at Kennedy and the $400 boarding fee for our Golden. This also excludes the $1100 per year for the maintenance fees on the points but we have 270 points.

However, this year we are taking DS 16 to Clearwater beach for Para sailing and going to a simulated skydiving place near wet & wild. Last year we went to Universal for a day to see Harry Potter World and that was about $300 including bus transportation to get there. This was the first time we ever left Disney property in the last 13 years of going.