Is this my goal?

[runsandjumps]

Trying to figure out what it's going to take to get us from Seattle to WDW for one week with two days at universal studios. 10 days total.

There are 2 adults, three young kids- 7.5, 6 and almost 4. With potential for another family joining us.

I was thinking January 2014
Staying offsite at a 1 or 2 bedroom place and renting a minivan.

I know WDW doesn't compare to DLR so I am feeling overwhelmed at the cost. When I sit down to do the math, it looks like 10k.

Can I do this less expensively? I wish I had someone with WDW budget experience show me the ropes and hold my hand the entire planning process- which is why I am asking everyone here.

Could I make this happen for closer to 6k? Or should I just wait until 2015 when my savings has grown to accommodate my wants.

 

[pigletto]

I think your air travel is going to be steep and I am not sure what you could do to bring that down. I would watch for flights the minute they open. As far as offsite accommodation .. I KNOW people can help you save on that around here and hopefully they will come along shortly. Start pouring through the threads, especially on the Orlando hotels and attractions boards and read through the thread about Bonnett Creek. It will have the space you need and is technically on property it is so close to Disney so you can't beat the location. You could cook breakfast and maybe some dinners in your condo and that will save a bunch.
Sign up for mousesavers and you can get a link to save on Universal and Disney tickets. It's not a huge savings but I think it would save you around 100 total on the right tickets.

There are many different ways to do this and cut corners and I think you can make it happen for under 10,000. We fly from Canada, go when there are promotions and savings and always manage to stay under 5000 for 4 of us so I think you can do it.

 

[theworldneedscolor]

We are a family of four flying from Oregon, and hoping for two days at Universal and four at Disney. It seems ridiculously expensive, I'm not sure how we will do it

 

[JessB320]

We fly from washington as well. We got an Alaska airlines card and use points. With a family of seven we have flown to Orlando three times now, and spent less than $1000 on airfare each time. Also we pick Disney or universal each trip and don't do both on the same trip. With the way the tickets prices are structured it really costs too much for us to do both in a trip.

 

[LJSquishy]

I live in Spokane. My husband and I did 7 nights at WDW at Coronado Springs Resort (Moderate) with 8-day park hoppers plus one of those days was at Universal Studios w/ park hoppers. We paid rack rate for the room but got "free dining". We stayed in Feb of 2012 and paid $3,000 including flights. Our total cost for just our room (7 nights) was $2142.94 and free food. Our flights round trip put us just at the $3,000 mark.

Someone here will be able to tell you if you are likely to have either a room discount or free dining offered during your travel dates.

I can't imagine you spending $10,000 on a week-long trip even with your kids...that seems way too high of an estimate, especially if you are staying off-site...how much were you factoring in for flights?? We did not rent a car but even with your van rental and having more in your party than us it shouldn't cost more than $6k I don't think.

 

[runsandjumps]

My original estimate was for cabins at fort wilderness ( I think) with DDP. I had a Disney specialist help me. She factored it in as a package deal . But all these threads got me thinking there has to be a less expensive way to do this and still enjoy the experience without a huge hassle.

I want to do universal since as someone mentioned, the flights are going to get me so I might as well do more in one trip if possible.

 

[pigletto]

Well there's a number of things to bring that original estimate down. For one, there should be some sort of discount that can be applied from Disney. In the past there's been free dining sometimes, though that may be phasing out. There should be a discount on the room portion or a package deal for that time frame. It will probably be about summer time before it comes out but keep watching the Disney website special offers section. Secondly, you don't have to stay in the cabin. You will all fit into a Port Orleans room as some of them are designed for 5. That will be considerably less room, but less money as well. Also price out 2 value rooms if you want to stay onsite.

 

[Brer Shay]

I can't comment on your flights, but you can do this for less than 10K

You can absolutely rent an offsite house for less than $1500 for 10 nights, probably closer to $1000. Seven day premium tickets this summer for two Disney adults and three Disney child will be $1800, a 2 day ticket at Universal for the same will be $570. Minivan rental for 10 days will be less than $750. You have alot of control over your food budget, especially with having a full kitchen. Even if you eat out all the time, $1200 should cover you. That's roughly $6K on the high end, probably less. I can't see flights and incidentals coming up to another 4K, but that all depends on your wants.

 

[runsandjumps]

I was really hoping to do the YES program but I see they are pulling the reigns on that as well.

 

[snoopy5386]

stay offsite - Bonnet Creek is fantastic and offsite vacation home rentals can be amazing too.

skip the park hoppers

get single day tickets for Universal, again skip the park hoppers

eat offsite and cook a little, much, much cheaper

Have you and hubby apply for Southwest cards (if SW flies that route). Each of you get 50K rewards points so 100K total. That will cover a significant amount of your airfare. Go with another mileage card as it suits your needs if SW doesn't work for you.

 

[bumbershoot]

One of the things bringing your total up is buying tickets to both Universal and WDW. I don't think you should drop either, but you do have to be aware that the bulk of the expense in a ticket is in those first couple/few days, and you're buying two "sets" of those.

The Fort Wilderness cabins are pretty expensive; but then again, they probably hold your group. BUT if you're going offsite for Universal and will have a vehicle, it seems you won't want to eat all meals on Disney property, so having the dining plan for that whole time makes little sense. Even just a night or two out at Sweet Tomatoes (a lovely buffet place with nice fresh food and non-Disney prices...they are part of the Souplantation company, and they are similar to Zoopa (but WAY better, and not suddenly closed like the one at Southcenter!) across from the DTD area) will lower your food costs a bit.


If you're staying offsite, you'll be paying parking every day at WDW unless someone gets an Annual Pass. At Universal, either staying onsite and parking at the hotel OR staying offsite and driving in, you'll be paying to park no matter what, unless someone gets a Preferred or Premium Annual Pass.

When *we* go to Universal, we stay onsite. The Express Pass benefits are really very good. But I'm not sure how many people can be in a non-suite room there. If you wanted to find out, a great website to see all 3 onsite hotels is this. If there was the glimmer of a thought of staying onsite, as times goes by you can play with the code APH in the code box on that site, to see if they have AP rates and what that might do for you (AP rates come and go by the way).


There's no great way to give all the various possibilities of lowering the costs of a trip, but that's my overview.



Oh, and airfare can really vary! My advice is to book with an airline that allows for changes without fees if the prices goes down. Southwest, Jet Blue, even Alaska all allow you to get credit without a fee if the price goes down. And be sure to sign every family member up for the frequent flyer program of whatever airline you use, so everyone earns miles for the future.

 

[BobbyBudnick]

Trying to figure out what it's going to take to get us from Seattle to WDW for one week with two days at universal studios. 10 days total.

There are 2 adults, three young kids- 7.5, 6 and almost 4. With potential for another family joining us.

I was thinking January 2014
Staying offsite at a 1 or 2 bedroom place and renting a minivan.

I know WDW doesn't compare to DLR so I am feeling overwhelmed at the cost. When I sit down to do the math, it looks like 10k.

Can I do this less expensively? I wish I had someone with WDW budget experience show me the ropes and hold my hand the entire planning process- which is why I am asking everyone here.

Could I make this happen for closer to 6k? Or should I just wait until 2015 when my savings has grown to accommodate my wants.

You could do it for around 6k. I'm bored so I just did a quick look at current prices.
Flights round trip $1700
A 10 day condo at bonnet creek $900 or less
7 days of Disney park hoppers $1770
2 days of universal $670
That's what it would cost for middle of jan this year. So might be higher in 2014.

 

[Marionnette]

You could do it for around 6k. I'm bored so I just did a quick look at current prices.
Flights round trip $1700
A 10 day condo at bonnet creek $900 or less
7 days of Disney park hoppers $1770
2 days of universal $670
That's what it would cost for middle of jan this year. So might be higher in 2014.

I like your numbers but I think $6K to cover it would be a little light.

The OP still needs transportation from MCO to Bonnet Creek and back. That's around $150-$200 for a family of 5. Plus tip for the driver. If they decide to rent a car, they will spend a lot more for it AND have to pay to park at the theme parks to the tune of ~$14/day. Oh, and refill the tank before returning it... If they don't rent a car, they will have to rely on the shuttle at the resort.

Then they need to eat for 10 days. They might be able to make it on $100/day if they're very careful with their spending. It would really depend on what kind of appetites they have and whether character dining is high on their list of priorities. $20 per person per day is not a lot when it comes to Disney prices! Thanks another $1000 right there and we haven't even budgeted for souvenirs or emergency spending (like, oops! I forgot my phone charger or Mom lost the camera on RnR!).

I would say that you need to budget AT LEAST $7K and try to set aside more if you want to really feel comfortable when you're spending money during your stay. It's not relaxing to vacation if you're constantly worried about whether you will have enough money toward the end of it.