Is this a possible budget for a group of 7?

[katmiller79]

Im loosely budgeting $3000 for our family of 6 + 1 grandparent to go to WDW.
We planned last year BUT .. oops we have another baby , another
Shes 6 months old currently. We would like to go in october -december time frame.
putting her at a year old. Other kiddos are 8,9,10 yrs old.
There will be 3 adults, 3 children ,1 baby

We plan to drive there from Texas in our minivan. (my FIL will fly, but we are NOT budgeting that in).

Is it doable to stay on site etc with this budget?
any tips?any advice is appreciated.

 

[tkme4ard]

honestly I don't think so. Even if you stayed in the family suite for 250 a night it's stetching it. Tickets alone are a chunk.
are you wanting to go for a full 7 days/6 nights?

 

[tkme4ard]

okay 279 x adults (the 10 yo is adult priced) for 6 day park hopper = 1116

kids x 2 = 480

room 250 x 6 nights for value family suite 1500 (not including tax)

that's 3,000$ right there. not including meals, souvineers, extra things like MNSSH, gas, hotel stay while driving etc.

 

[kejoda]

How do you feel about camping?

Are you opposed to staying off site? Or doing a split stay-some off and some on?

Is your FIL planning on rooming with you? Will he be helping with cost?

 

[katmiller79]

FIL is footing the entire bill lol
okay wow! so any off site suggestions\??
We are planning a 4 day /3night trip we have 4 days of driving on top of that (2 there,2 back)
how should I budget for offsite? where is the best place to buy tix and for hotel costs? thanks!

 

[Darcy03231]

We had nine of us last year and I found it was less expensive to rent a private pool home. With taxes and everything it ran us about $100/night. The added bonus was the full kitchen so we could eat quite a few meals in, which saved alot. We froze water to take with us to the parks each day for more savings. You will have to factor in parking fees at $11/day while you're there, but you will find its much less expensive than staying in a hotel. I used www.vacationrentals.com to find my house.

 

[nessz79]

I think 4 days/3 nights is another story. Maybe someone can give you a new estimate, but I think that makes a big difference.

 

[jenrein]

We had a family of 5 go in April last year and we spent over $5000 with tickets, staying at a moderate resort with the dining plan. I dont think you will get too far with $3000 unless you find some really good deals somehow! Good luck

 

[brymolmom]

Skip the park hopping to save a ton with that many tickets being purchased. And since you're driving - bring a big cooler and stock it full. Bring a smaller, soft-sided cooler that fits in the stroller (assuming you're bringing one for oops-baby ) to put all snacks, drinks and lunch in for all your days at the park - sandwiches, etc. This will save you a TON on food and drink costs - even a bottle of water for each would be over $10 each time!

I think for that small amount of time -you should stay onsite if you can. Quicker to/from the parks.

Also - for souveniers - plan now and start watching Big Lots, Walmart and Disney Store for sales - you can pre-purchase a couple new things per kid and give it to them when you get there to lessen the need to buy the overpriced things onsite. Then, maybe you could have each of the older kids earn disney dollars between now and then to buy their own stuff. That will take care of souvie $$.

 

[Rylee]

Im loosely budgeting $3000 for our family of 6 + 1 grandparent to go to WDW.
We planned last year BUT .. oops we have another baby , another
Shes 6 months old currently. We would like to go in october -december time frame.
putting her at a year old. Other kiddos are 8,9,10 yrs old.
There will be 3 adults, 3 children ,1 baby

We plan to drive there from Texas in our minivan. (my FIL will fly, but we are NOT budgeting that in).

Is it doable to stay on site etc with this budget?
any tips?any advice is appreciated.

Hotel -
The cheapest on-site option for your family, is 2 rooms at a Disney Value Resort. Request connecting or adjoinning rooms and they will do their best.

$99 per night 10/2 - 11/29
$82 per night 11/30 - 12/18

Weekends can be higher priced, as with holidays and the surrounding days. If you or your FIL have AAA, you can receive a discount on the room. *You do not need AAA at the time of booking, but will need it when you check-in. Call to see if a AAA rate is available for your dates and resorts.

Tickets -
4 adult & 2 kids (10 and over is a Disney adult) Magic Your Way base tickets = $1,204.

Check undercover tourist for a slight discount on tickets.

_____________________________________________

3 nights in a standard room at a Value Resort @ $99 per night, including tax = $337 times (X) 2 rooms = $674.

Rooms @ $674 (includes tax)
Tickets @ 1,204 (Plus tax)
_______________________
Total $1,878 (plus tax on tickets)

Approximately $1,000 left over to budget for food and travel expenses.

You can lower the hotel cost by traveling during Disney's Value Season and getting a nightly rate or $82, and/or by using a discount... AAA (10-20 percent, depending on the time of travel) or watch this site or the mousesavers site for discounts to become available.

$99 with a 15% discount = $85
$82 with a 15% discount = $70

Also, if Free Dining is offered, consider changing your dates to receive this discount.

 

[tkme4ard]

Rylee that's great advice (about switching up dates for free dining)

I didn't think that TX to FL was a 2 day trip? I know we have friends that drove from San Antonio and did it in 1 day.

also check out www.hotelkingdom.com for great deals on condos

 

[KibbyCat]

I didn't think that TX to FL was a 2 day trip? I know we have friends that drove from San Antonio and did it in 1 day.

It depends on where in TX she's driving from. TX is so large, it takes almost 1 whole day just to get out!

Since San Antonio is south, all you have to do is jump on the interstate, and you can breeze through 4 states on the gulf coast in a matter of hours. But from Dallas, you have to go all the way down through Louisiana first, which adds several hours on to the trip. And coming from the Panhandle or West Texas would take even longer. Not to mention that she's driving with 4 kids. Including an infant who can't spend 12 hours cooped up in a carseat. She's smart to break it up into two days, so that they can rest at a motel halfway through.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To the OP: I'm curious to see what you decide. Our family is also 2 parents, 4 kids (and have also considered taking a grandparent along to help with baby), and we've been having a tough time planning our Disney trip on a small budget.

 

[jennifermae]

where in Texas are you?

 

[katmiller79]

LOL its a 16 hour drive. but DH and I are breaking it up into 2 days driving 8 hours per day roughly. we plan to stay overnight somewhere along the line so our kids (ie. the baby mostly) wont have a complete meltdown by the time we get there lol/ or on the way back.
We are not factoring our :
gas expense
the overnight stay TO and FROM (2 nights) WDW
or food budget.

Dh and I are covering our gas and the layover stays.
The food budget is not factored in due to Ive got to break it down as far as per meal and where we will be staying too. (ie microwave breakfast etc.)
I am planning on budgeting one character meal IF possible.If we stay offsite I gotta see if I can get that in.

So that knocks a chunk out.
Im working on figures to put on paper to show my FIL so we can set our dates in stone AND book our room/tickets etc.
Thats why Im working up a budget at the moment.
Thanks everyone so far!

BTW Im in the dallas area ~

 

[myprincessgirlisa]

i had 10 but paid for 8 & room/tickets at a moderate the 1st week of dec for 6 days was over $4000 (not including food)

as many people here have said...there are lots of ways to cut costs

did you go to disney.go.com & price it out a few different ways to see what you come up with...thats usually where i start to get an idea
http://bookwdw.reservations.disney....rocessEngine?startOver=true&gatewayID=landing

 

[katmiller79]

i had 10 but paid for 8 & room/tickets at a moderate the 1st week of dec for 6 days was over $4000 (not including food)

as many people here have said...there are lots of ways to cut costs

did you go to disney.go.com & price it out a few different ways to see what you come up with...thats usually where i start to get an idea
http://bookwdw.reservations.disney....rocessEngine?startOver=true&gatewayID=landing

Thank you for the link Im checking it out now! I appreciate everyones response and help! This is my first FAMILY trip lol so Im a bit of a newbie
My previous trips were winged by my mom and dad LOL they just up and decided to go .

 

[FayeW]

Personally, if I were spending 4 days driving I would plan on staying 5 nights, at least. Here is my plan. Leave right after work on Friday, drive the 8 hours if you can. Drive remainder on Saturday, arrive mid-day or early evening. Relax and settle in. Park days Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thurs. Drive home Friday and Sat, have Sunday to rest up to start the new week.

I would rent a 3bdrm condo at Windsor Hills. www.floridasunvacationhomes.com has several 3 bdrm condos for $89. per night for the time you are planning to travel. Some of them have 2 sets of bunk beds in one of the bedrooms so you, hubby, and baby could share the Master suite (King bed), FIL could have his own room (ususally a Queen bed) and the 3 older kids could share the double bunk room. There is room for everybody to spread out and get some quiet time, full kitchen and laundry facilities, and the cost would be somewhere around $650 or so including tax and cleaning fees. You are driving anyway so staying offsite is not a big deal. With the savings in accomodation, plus the savings from being able to prepare breakfasts and have snacks or other light meals in the home, you would easily be able to stay the extra 2 nights.

Another option is to rent a condo through www.skyauction.com. For a full 7 days it will cost you about $400. Now, I know you aren't staying 7 nights, but you could check out early and it would still save you a ton of money. You can get 2 or 3 bdrm units, the cost is the same for each (just depends on what is available when you book. If they have 3 bdrms you can book that). We have used skyauction 3 times and love it. (This year we have chosen to book directly with Windsor Hills because we are staying for 9 nights, and the skyauction rentals are only for 7 days.)

Sign up for the newsletter at www.mousesavers.com. Every month (on the 15th) you will get the newsletter emailed to you. Inside is a link for special discounts through www.undercovertourist.com. We used the link and saved money of the cost of our tickets. I don't remember how much we saved but something makes me think it was about $100 for the 4 of us.

You can do it on your budget, but if it were me, I would stay offsite to be able to stay a couple of extra days. It is an awfully long way to come so you might as well get the most bang for your buck!

 

[jennilouwho]

I second the condo idea. We stayed at Windsor Palms last time with my parents, instead of onsite and loved the extra space + extra money saved. It was really close to the parks. I was suprised how fast we'd get there. Just don't forget to factor in parking costs then. We had a three bedroom and paid $700 for 10 nights!

 

[KibbyCat]

Kat,

We are also from the Dallas area, and plan on driving down in two days. Someone suggested to us to rent a home/condo to save money, and purchase an annual pass for one of our kids so that we get free parking at the parks. Don't know how much this would save over just buying a regular ticket, but if it saves $11/day plus gives discounts for other things, it might be worth looking into.