It cost us nearly $4000 to go to DL...

[Lizzybear]

Sorry.... People from the UK are not allowed to complain about prices because with the current exchange rates your $1100 flight is only going to cost you like £10!

It definitely makes visiting the US more cost effective than Europe.. (not necessarily cheaper but better value for sure)

 

[Disneyanajc]

AAA package August Trip 2008:

The price for this trip~
Five nights Disneyland Hotel Two Bedroom Suite
Five day park hoppers (4 adults-1 child)
Character Meals:
1-Breakfast for 5
1-Dinner for 5
$5596.00 (paid) Worth it…to us it is.

Price does not include:
Transportation
Meals
Fantasmic tickets

Souvenirs (Disney Vista rewards…covered!)

We know we could do our trips cheaper…been reading ‘Dis’ney boards for years…
But for us it isn’t a Disney Vacation unless we are at the Disneyland Hotel…
We have tried GC and PP and they are nice and beautiful… Just not what we like…
This is what we love; this is why we save…DH all the way!

 

[sweetmonkey]

Our WDW trip Jan 2008 (off season, free airfare*) cost us $2071 with AAA for:

$1868 (Prepaid through AAA)
-6 night Port Orleans French Quarter (We LOVED it there!)
-dining plan including 3 character meals and one dinner at California Grill with fireworks viewing
-6 day NON Park hopper passes
$79 - T-shirts for 5 days each including ink cartridge and transfers (See the Creative DISigns boards for ideas!!)
$25 - pre-purchased Disney paraphernalia form Dollar Tree (See below)
$99 - PhotoPass CD

This was for 2 adults and 1 child (DD-3). We had breakfast with Jojo, Goliath, Leo, June (Playhouse Disney at Hollywood and Vine- Great!), Breakfast at the Castle with Cinderella and the other princesses (Very Nice! - cost 2 restaurant dining credits), Dinner at Akershus Castle with Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, Pocohantas, and Aurora (Also nice, but pictures are not included- extra $35 which MIL bought.)

We did not purchase anything in the parks except for one Christmas ornament and it came off of our Disney Rewards card. We had about $60. (Disney Visa gives 1% back on all purchases in the form of Disney Dollars- a great deal if you plan Disney trips.) Each Day we came back to the room for rest/nap and when DD and DH would leave, I set out a "present" from the characters from the next days itinerary - an invitation from Cinderella to join her at the castle laid out with DD's costume and some special stickers, a couple of zoo books for the Animal Kingdom day and a letter from Simba with a stuffed toy, etc. Our daughter carried them around and thought they were her special gifts from the characters. It seemed to work great for small children - probably not so great for teenagers LOL!

We are hading to DLR in August and again flying free.* We are staying at HoJo and going to the parks 3 days:

$495 - HoJo Deluxe Queen Disney room for 3 nights (Mousesavers Discount)
$465 - 3 day Park Hopper with 1 MM (tickets from ARES travel)
$75 - Pre-paid dinner at Ariels Grotto (though ARES travel)
$150 - Other meals (estimate?)
$75 - Souvenirs and T-shirts
$97 - Car rental

Estimated total : $1357

* We (me, DH, DD-then 2) flew to Hawaii last summer on American and volunteered to be give up our seats on the way back. They put us up in a hotel in Waikiki and provided transportation and gave us $400 (x 3) each the first night and $500 (x3) the second night. So we made $2700 in vouchers to extend our Hawaiian vacation. If you book the fullest flights and leave yourself some flexibility on days, you can earn good rewards from the airlines for giving up your seat. You will not have your checked luggage though, so keep extra changes in you carry ons if you are thinking about trying it! This next trip I booked a seat in 1st on frequent flyer miles because it was 5000 miles less than the same flights in coach. Hubby and I will be trading seats half way though to swap who is sitting by DD. This is the last of our free vouchers but we have gotten a LOT of miles with them in the past year. (A trip to WDW for 3, half of a trip to INDIA, and a trip to DL)

 

[DangerMouse]

We are definitely budget travelers. We've never spent more than $1,000 on a DLR trip and normally are more around the $600-$700 range.

My family of 5 is going to Maui in September for 10 days and flights/condo/car rental & excursions is just at $4,000. I'm hoping I enjoy Maui as much as we love DLR!

 

[brenda1966]

We've taken a few super cheap trips to WDW. Part of being able to do that was travelling in the off-season. Now that DD is in school, we are really not able to do that. We have to go either during spring break (pricey) or summer (too hot for WDW, but hotels around DL are inflated) or fall break, which offers okay hotel rates (WDW considers it "regular" season).

for those that are able to take really cheap trips, is it because you drive? For us, depending on what we pay for airfare, we feel we have to make it count by staying in CA longer and doing more which increases overall costs.

 

[Jenn1116]

Wow! A lot of big spenders here!! But DL is so worth it. Last rip myself and two of my friends with ur one child each spent 1500 on a package: 4 nights at La Quinta (2 Queens and a couch) and 5 day hoppers. So for myself and DD, the cost was $500, plus $400 in spending money which I used on food and souvenires and gas to drive there and back (about 8 hours/way).

For our December trip, I am taking my parents with us and expect total costs to be about $1800. We'll be staying at Hojos so hoppers and hotel for the four of us will run about $1100.

 

[sydangel68]

Quote:
Originally Posted by sydangel68
Our airfares from Australia for the 3 of us are $6,000 alone. That's USD. Given we are paying so much, it's just not worth spending a good amount of time at the parks. So we have 5 days at DL and then 2 weeks at WDW. The WDW part is suprisingly economical as we have timed it to fit in with the free dining offer they are having.

I can't wait, 3 whole weeks of Disney and only 7 weeks to go!

Wow... now that sounds like an epic vacation!!! Just curious how long ago you booked your plane tix? Make sure you check out Sea World and Universals while in FL. 2 weeks of mouse on top of 5 days in CA will lead to insanity!

We booked the plane tickets almost a year ago. We got it all quite cheap as normally it is about $2500 each just to LA. Then another $500 each for Orlando. We were able to use AA miles for the LA - Orlando flights.

3 weeks of the Mouse won't be long enough. The only extra thing we plan to do is Kennedy Space Centre for DH. Otherwise it will be all Mouse. Sea World will have to wait another time.

We are travelling with a 4yo and everything takes twice as long. So really it will be like 10 days if it was just the 2 of us. Our last trip to DLR saw him completely obsessed with the Pooh Bear ride, he rode it 34 times in a row!!! Seriously in the end the CM just let us stay on as there was no real queue anyway. We figure we will be spending alot of time in line if he wants to ride TSMM twice

Cheers
Angela

 

[PoohBear1988]

i'm another aussie, its costing my boyfriend and I $8000 for:
- airfares
- 15 nights in anaheim
- 14 day disneyland pass each
- universal studios day tour
- an LA Tour
- bus transfer from anaheim to Las Vegas
- 3 nights in Las Vegas
- airfares from Las Vegas To LAX
- all transfers to/from airport
- travel agent fee ($200)
we also purchased travel insurance for around $500
I already have $2000 for spending money, and hopefully by the time we go, so will my boyfriend. I just cant resist buying US dollars at the moment considering the exchange rate! (last time i went it was around 50c-60c Australian to the USA dollar, and how its practically on par!)
its a lot of money, but we have been saving for ages, and its for my 21st birthday! we saved alot of money on airfares by having a stop over in fiji (all other airlines were about $1000 more expensive each due to it being peak season in Australia for travel to USA)
but, Disneyland is sooo worth it!!

 

[OurDogCisco]

We are definitely budget travelers. We've never spent more than $1,000 on a DLR trip and normally are more around the $600-$700 range.

My family of 5 is going to Maui in September for 10 days and flights/condo/car rental & excursions is just at $4,000. I'm hoping I enjoy Maui as much as we love DLR!

Maui is fabalous... However, it is a VERY different vacation from DL as it is very slow pace and expensive. The food there cost a fortunate. If you have a Costco card... I'd definitely stop there on the way to the condo. Most people worry about throwing food away since Costco is bulk food but you'd be surprised. For example you can buy a box of granola bars at the grocery store for 5.99 and get 6 in a box or you could buy a box of 30 bars at Costco for 10.99. Even if you don't eat them all it is a savings.

Also, you get a Safeway/Vons Club card to use at the grocery store. We also tend to eat out at lunch time and grill meat & burgers for dinner...

It is a lovely place and fun...

Back to your regularly scheduled programming..

 

[makthompson]

I don't think we could ever stay off-site. I just love having the Disney magic all throughout the trip- even when we head back to the room for a break or for the day!

it's not the same if you dont have the TOTAL DISNEY EXPERIENCE!

You should seriously look at becoming a DVC Member.....we did in 2004..
first trip to wdw cost us almost 10K 6 adults and 1 child.
second wdw trip 3 adults 2 children was almost 5k.
we just got back from GCH where we stayed 5 days and paid of course...nothing...
tickets were 488 total for 4 of us + food
pm me if you want more info....it's a great deal!
Angela

 

[DangerMouse]

it's not the same if you dont have the TOTAL DISNEY EXPERIENCE!

You should seriously look at becoming a DVC Member.....we did in 2004..
first trip to wdw cost us almost 10K 6 adults and 1 child.
second wdw trip 3 adults 2 children was almost 5k.
we just got back from GCH where we stayed 5 days and paid of course...nothing...
tickets were 488 total for 4 of us + food
pm me if you want more info....it's a great deal!
Angela

You honestly didn't pay nothing for the GCH. I mean, DVC itself is quite expensive. . .

And I have stayed on-site and off-site at DLR, and personally, I prefer the TOTAL DISNEY EXPERIENCE more when I stay off-site and have more money to spend on Disney experiences inside the parks, or even better, have money for additional trips throughout the year. When I have stayed on-site, I've just come away feeling. . . well, robbed.

 

[jencav5]

You honestly didn't pay nothing for the GCH. I mean, DVC itself is quite expensive. . .

And I have stayed on-site and off-site at DLR, and personally, I prefer the TOTAL DISNEY EXPERIENCE more when I stay off-site and have more money to spend on Disney experiences inside the parks, or even better, have money for additional trips throughout the year. When I have stayed on-site, I've just come away feeling. . . well, robbed.

 

[brenda1966]

There's no such thing as a free vacation. I'm sure the DVC is nice, but it's not free. It costs a lot of money.

I consider the hotels/motels on harbor to be "onsite". At DL, onsite has a whole other meaning. Would never stay "offsite", meaning, more than walking distance away.

 

[makthompson]

well here's the deal. the amount that i would have spent on the next few trips i put for the DVC membership to pay for it...so all i have to pay are the annual dues. but no money actually came out of my pocket to pay for those 2 rooms for 5 days.
when you have people talking about 6k trips...we only paid 13k for the first dvc we bought. then we bought another one for 13k. so we have 300 points for 50 years.....the annual dues are taken out of our account automatically every month...dont even miss it.

 

[DangerMouse]

well here's the deal. the amount that i would have spent on the next few trips i put for the DVD membership to pay for it...so all i have to pay are the annual dues. but no money actually came out of my pocket to pay for those 2 rooms for 5 days.
when you have people talking about 6k trips...we only paid 13k for the first dvc we bought. then we bought another one for 13k. so we have 300 points for 50 years.....the annual dues are taken out of our account automatically every month...dont even miss it.

That's awesome if you are in that kind of financial position. But, I don't think a majority of the people here could say they wouldn't notice $26 grand coming out of their bank account, even if it's in monthly increments. That's a lot of money.

I don't think people are spending $6k on just accommodations (which is what DVC provides). Most people who are spending that kind of money are spending a large portion on airfare.

 

[makthompson]

That's awesome if you are in that kind of financial position. But, I don't think a majority of the people here could say they wouldn't notice $26 grand coming out of their bank account, even if it's in monthly increments. That's a lot of money.

I don't think people are spending $6k on just accommodations (which is what DVC provides). Most people who are spending that kind of money are spending a large portion on airfare.

you miss understood....the 6k for the vacation was set aside instead of taking the vacation...it's not coming out of my account... just the ownership dues...
the rooms we had would have cost $2,680 just for the room. if we only take the trip 1x a year (not including increasing room costs over the years) (which depending on how many points you have you could possibly go longer)and multiply it by the 50 years. we would spend 134,000.00 if not DVC Members. so really it is a good deal considering we only paid for both $26k.

 

[brenda1966]

OK, so it was $26 K to buy in, PLUS the annual dues? Mind if I ask how much the annual dues are?? And I suspect those will go up, multiplied by 50 years... Would like to see a figure on that.

I'm not saying it's not a good deal. It's just not any kind of a deal most of us can justify. I can't justify the cost of GC hotel.

 

[DangerMouse]

you miss understood....the 6k for the vacation was set aside instead of taking the vacation...it's not coming out of my account... just the ownership dues...
the rooms we had would have cost $2,680 just for the room. if we only take the trip 1x a year (not including increasing room costs over the years) (which depending on how many points you have you could possibly go longer)and multiply it by the 50 years. we would spend 134,000.00 if not DVC Members. so really it is a good deal considering we only paid for both $26k.

Wow! When you put it that way . . . it's like I'm losing money if I don't buy DVC!!! Sounds like you've got the spiel down but that just made my head hurt.

I've gotta chalk this one up to "different strokes. . . " or maybe it's "different wallet sizes."

 

[Sy-]

OK, so it was $26 K to buy in, PLUS the annual dues? Mind if I ask how much the annual dues are?? And I suspect those will go up, multiplied by 50 years... Would like to see a figure on that.

I'm not saying it's not a good deal. It's just not any kind of a deal most of us can justify. I can't justify the cost of GC hotel.

He has 300 points. annually you pay about $4 - $4.50 per point for maintenance costs depending on your home resort. So he is paying at least $1,200/year for maintenance costs. The maintenance fees go up 3%-4% each year so 40 years from now his annual maintenance costs should be about $5000/year. But 40 years from now it will still be like paying $1200 per year when you adjust for inflation.
DVC is worth considering if you meet all the following requirements:
- You can afford $16,000+ and $750+/year without it being a heavy financial burden
- If you normally stay in deluxe resorts when you travel (eg.. $300+ per night hotels like the onsite hotels; gch etc. etc.)
- If you travel to DL or WDW at least every other year.

 

[mommaU4]

You honestly didn't pay nothing for the GCH. I mean, DVC itself is quite expensive. . .

And I have stayed on-site and off-site at DLR, and personally, I prefer the TOTAL DISNEY EXPERIENCE more when I stay off-site and have more money to spend on Disney experiences inside the parks, or even better, have money for additional trips throughout the year. When I have stayed on-site, I've just come away feeling. . . well, robbed.

I agree. I am very rarely in my hotel room when I am on vacation and I just don't see paying a large amount for it. A hotel room is a place for me to sleep, shower and store luggage while I'm out having fun doing what I came to do!

That's not to say I don't appreciate a nice, clean, fun place, but it doesn't have to be expensive or on-site to meet those qualifications.
I'd rather save the money for other treats and splurges to enjoy while I am in the actual park, or for another trip back.

I consider the hotels/motels on harbor to be "onsite". At DL, onsite has a whole other meaning. Would never stay "offsite", meaning, more than walking distance away.

I also agree with this! I think it's even funny to hear the words on-site and off-site when talking about DL. I don't see it that way at all. It's not like in WDW where there is a definite difference. (and even there I still preferred offsite, LOL)
There are so many nice hotels with in walking distance of DL that are so much cheaper and still give great service, and accomadations.