It's only $300 a day! That's cheap for a vacation..

[nicolemomof4cuties]

I love Disney but I will never say that it is cheap. Without free dining a trip for us would be 610.00 a day including airfare. With free dining it would be 420.00 a day. That is still expensive. Of course that is because we are a family of 6 and only 2 places on site will accomodate our size.......

 

[Crystal824]

For me, it is not the price of the rooms, tickets, and DDP (if you aren't lucky enough to go during free dining).

It is the other things that really add up especially the sourveniors, tips, other extras, and transportation to Disney. I know you don't have to buy sourveniors, but it can be hard not to get something and the items in the stores are often very expensive. Tips you really have to do; that isn't so much optional; other extras like snacks (if you want something other than DP or you want popcorn and a drink); if you want to play a round of mini-golf. I know these costs can be controlled but it really does add up for a family. Not to mention to cost of transportation these days.

 

[In a hurry]

You aren't thinking very hard.

Camping - once you have or can borrow camping supplies - nearly free.

We are going to the lake in a few weeks - a friends six bedroom "cabin" - cost, gas and food.

We stayed in a friend's Villa on the ocean in Mexico a few years ago, cost - airfare (got a great deal), rental car, and food from the market (oh, and lots of rum from the market).

A few years ago we went to San Francisco with the kids - stayed in an inexpensive hotel, I went as part of a business trip, so car rental was taken care of - cost: cheap hotel, trolley and Alcatraz tickets, food, airfare. A friend gave us passes to the Monterey Bay aquarium.

I can book, today, an all inclusive in Jamaica for my family - with airfare for $186 a day per person. I can go cheaper if I want to stay in a worse hotel. That was without shopping around - its possible that Cozumel or the DR is cheaper.

For us, Disney is an expensive vacation - and we own DVC so much of the cost is already sunk.

Now, a lot of what we do is take advantage of opportunities - but that is what free dining is. If you can go during free dining, that's sort of like having a friend with an oceanfront Villa in Mexico.

We go many places that are less expensive. I would never pay that amt. even to go to disney. We've spent 3 weeks down there for a family of 6 and spent about $2500 + stuff. We always get condos, because we like to spread out, and I can't stand eating every meal out. Too much rich food.

 

[DVC Sadie]

You aren't thinking very hard.

Camping - once you have or can borrow camping supplies - nearly free.

We are going to the lake in a few weeks - a friends six bedroom "cabin" - cost, gas and food.

We stayed in a friend's Villa on the ocean in Mexico a few years ago, cost - airfare (got a great deal), rental car, and food from the market (oh, and lots of rum from the market).

A few years ago we went to San Francisco with the kids - stayed in an inexpensive hotel, I went as part of a business trip, so car rental was taken care of - cost: cheap hotel, trolley and Alcatraz tickets, food, airfare. A friend gave us passes to the Monterey Bay aquarium.

I can book, today, an all inclusive in Jamaica for my family - with airfare for $186 a day per person. I can go cheaper if I want to stay in a worse hotel. That was without shopping around - its possible that Cozumel or the DR is cheaper.

For us, Disney is an expensive vacation - and we own DVC so much of the cost is already sunk.

Now, a lot of what we do is take advantage of opportunities - but that is what free dining is. If you can go during free dining, that's sort of like having a friend with an oceanfront Villa in Mexico.

ITA!

I also think it depends on the % of money a person/family is willing to spend on a vacation. Of course when the income is more then the % of cash on hand for any vacation is more. I think some people need to compare apples to apples.

Anyway, all I'm saying is that WDW can be a very expensive vacation for some and can also be very frugal for others.

For us a WDW vacation costs as much as a cruise or a AI vacation because we do not choose to go during free dining.

 

[Lisa P.]

I don't get how people say Disney is so expensive... we are ONLY paying $300 a day. That's it. Our 6 night, 7 day vacation for FIVE people with MYW tickets, food, and of course hotel rooms at POR is $2052....Heck, I can't think of a cheaper vacation???

As Crisi said, there are lots of cheaper vacations. Just depends on what you want.

...we only do this type of vaction every 2 to 3 years. Some people go on some type of trip every year, which may only run them $1000-1500, but add those up for 3 years, and you have a 7-10 day stay at Disney.

2-3 weeks vacation over 2-3 years for the same price as 1-1.5 weeks vacation, once in 2-3 years. ??? Isn't this validating their point of how expensive WDW can be?

Well, I think WDW can be expensive, especially if you don't do your homework... You can definitely do it cheaper than a lot of people do it.

Definitely!!!

...we went to San Francisco with the kids - stayed in an inexpensive hotel, I went as part of a business trip, so car rental was taken care of - cost: cheap hotel, trolley and Alcatraz tickets, food, airfare. A friend gave us passes to the Monterey Bay aquarium.

We recently returned from a 2-week trip to CA - 2 nights in Yosemite, 4 nights in San Francisco, 1 night in Monterey/Big Sur, 2 nights in San Simeon, 5 nights in Oxnard/Ventura w/LA sightseeing.

5 adults, airfare, airport parking, rental mini-van, gas, timeshare costs, hotels, food including mostly restaurants and a little eating-in, tons of sightseeing & attractions, souvies, the works... under $5,000 for the 5 of us for the full 2 weeks. That's under $360/day, under $72/day/person, for a "trip of a lifetime" that we're not likely to repeat - because with 3 kids (ages 19-17) in college, we consider $5,000 a lot of money. The added airfare and rental car makes a big difference for us.

A cruise vacation is not cheap for us either. Once you add together the cruise tickets, port fees, typical gratuities (!), just one special excursion or tour, airfare, parking at the airport or cruise terminal or transfers... it actually adds up to a lot more than at first glance. At least that's been our experience. Frankly, squeezing a family into a tiny stateroom w/ one bath is no fun and paying for two staterooms puts the cost way out of range.

 

[Princess Jenny]

We went to WDW in Sept 07 with free dining and airfare and it came out to $890 p/p. for 8 nights/9 days. We are a family of 5 and stayed in POR. I really didn't think this was a bad price considering all the stuff you get with it. Lodging, food, airfare, and park tickets (hopping with waterparks). We also only go every 2 years. We really would love to go again next Sept. and I have been saving every week for it, but I don't know if we will make it since we live in RI and the airfare seems to be off the charts. When we went in 03 I got airfare for $49 each way. Now its about $150 each way.

I have to say, we do not buy a lot of stuff for the kids. We give them $50 each and tell them when it's gone, it's gone. I find they don't spend it so fast when its their money

 

[Lisa P.]

We timeshare, using cheap resale weeks that are strong traders. We like to eat out cheaply at least once a day on vacation adding to our grocery/food bill and we eat at a nicer restaurant at least once toward the end of a week. We do save some by eating in, mostly easy stuff or convenience foods. If we're on a very tight budget, we get fewer days of sightseeing admissions and/or watersports and we spend more time at the resort using free amenities. Here's what we normally spend on a typical week's vacation, 2-3 times a year:

Beach:
$550 - Timeshare Maint Fees (2-3 BRs, week) and Exchange Fee
$200 - Gas & Stops, incl a meal stop on the way home
$110 - Food/Groceries, above usual home/food budget
$150 - Nice Dinner Out
$225 - Sailboat/Kayak Rentals and/or Water Sports
$300 - Other Sightseeing, Admissions
$000 - beach, pools, ping pong, pool tables, games & tournaments - free (!)
$100 - Spending
$115 - Kennel/Dog Sitter at Home
$1,850 = Total Costs, 1 week, 5 people

Gatlinburg TN or Williamsburg VA:
$550 - Timeshare Maint Fees (2-3 BRs, week) and Exchange Fee
$100 - Gas & Stops, incl a meal stop on the way home, add $100 for VA which is further for us
$110 - Food/Groceries, above usual home/food budget
$150 - Nice Dinner Out
$100 - Sailboat/Kayak Rental, add $100 if it's whitewater rafting in TN
$675 - Theme/Water Park Passes & Parking, at least 5 days
$000 - pools, ping pong, pool tables, games & tournaments - free (!)
$100 - Spending
$115 - Kennel/Dog Sitter at Home
$1,900 = Total Costs, 1 week, 5 people (either TN or VA)

Orlando/Universal:
$550 - Timeshare Maint Fees (2-3 BRs, week) and Exchange Fee
$300 - Gas & Stops, incl a meal stop on the way home
$110 - Food/Groceries, above usual home/food budget
$150 - Nice Dinner Out
$100 - Sailboat Rental
$550 - Theme Park Passes & Parking, at least 5 days
$000 - beach, pools, ping pong, pool tables, games & tournaments - free (!)
$100 - Spending
$115 - Kennel/Dog Sitter at Home
$1,975 = Total Costs, 1 week, 5 people

Orlando/Disney World/DVC:
$645 - Timeshare Maint Fees (2-3 BRs, week) and Exchange Fee and Disney Resort Fee
$350 - Gas & Stops, incl a meal stop each way
$110 - Food/Groceries, above usual home/food budget
$150 - Nice Dinner Out
$100 - Sailboat Rental
$1,160 - Theme Park Passes & Parking, at least 5 days
$000 - pools, games & tournaments - free (!)
$100 - Spending
$115 - Kennel/Dog Sitter at Home
$2,730 = Total Costs, 1 week, 5 people

There's no getting around the high price of Disney admissions. Comparing apples to apples (same kind and quality of accommodations, same eating style, same number of days of entertainment and watersports, etc.), Disney is indeed more expensive. Disney food is overpriced but so is food in any theme park and in most tourist spots.

If you need airfare to FL but not to local vacation destinations, that's another add-on.

If you're able to find cheaper priced but comparable accommodations at other destinations (or more expensive), that makes a difference too.

There are just so many variables. But I think the Disney admission media "sticker shock" makes people very conscious of the expense of a WDW vacation. As others have posted, it's possible to enjoy fun family vacations for half the price of these. By selecting a nice place closer to home with fun, lower cost activities (state parks w/waterfall hikes & bike trails, beaches, nearly free museums), our vacation budget has been cut in half in tight years. With a non-Disney trip, especially in a timeshare condo w/kitchen and fun resort amenities, this is much easier to do, IMO.

 

[livie1205]

how did you get 360 a day with tickets our tickets to the park cost at least that much

ok I lied I jsut went to check and its like 360 each for the whole trip its like 52 a day

it is 360 a day x 5....our whole package was 1800.00 oh we did not get 5 days of tickets, we always take 2 days for free days to do other things.so that is not for 5 days of tickets just 3 days and I am getting fl resi tickets so I only pay full price for 1 day of tickets...

 

[faindrops27]

Disney is expensive. I know for our upcoming stay 2 adults, 2 kids 4, and 6. Pop century for 13 nights is 2200. Not to bad. But, add on transportation from Long Island, NY roundtrip which is roughly 1000. Then 450, in tips, plus extras, and it easily becomes, a not so cheap destination. You can go to an island, or a cruise for less.

 

[livie1205]

as long as you do your homework you can do wdw at a decent price...I have never ever paid rack rate.with my 360.00 per day that is with a 40% code (i have got a code every single year for the past 11 years) at AKL club level with ddp and 1 day tickets (we upgrade to fl resi tickets,saves tons of money) AND WE ALSO GO LOW SEASON...makes a big dif on room rates.

 

[Pigeon]

I find WDW vacations to be very expensive for my family. First of all, I have no interest in going someplace as hot as Florida in August. Uggh. I can stay home and swelter in place just fine. I want to go to FL when the weather in the Northeast is cold. So, free dining, or any kind of deal is right out.

Dh is a high school teacher. We can only go on school vacations, which are not suprisingly the time Disney jacks up its prices. So do the airlines. If it were just the kids in school, I'd pull them out in a heartbeat, but with teachers, that's not an option.

I could plan tons of cheaper vacations that are also very nice. The problem is that we do like our occasional (every 3-4 years) Disney.

 

[hercamore]

I wouldn't say Disney is cheap.

You also have to factor in the cost of travel to Lake Buena Vista. For some of us, it's almost as much as the rest of the expenses.

ONe reason we don't go to Disnney that much.


herc.

 

[ajk912]

Maybe I missed it but how are you getting there and how far away do you live? Are you flying or driving? Rental car or not? Just trying to get an idea of the true cost, thanks. I agree having free food really cuts down on the cost and that's something other resorts/destinations don't offer.

I live in Richmond, VA, so about a 12 hour drive. We briefly looked at flying, but it's much cheaper to drive. It won't cost us more than $400 to drive, if even that much. I should have included that in my totals!

 

[mskayjay]

Length of stay and party size definitely makes a HUGE difference. DH and I are going for our anniversary Aug/Sept for 8 nights at WL. We are doing MYW with FD.

Our "package" is $2502.26.
Our airfare totaled $438.
We will use ME for transport back and forth
Anticipate a bill of roughly $125 for wegoshop for water, soda, liquor
Figure roughly $75/day in tips
Another $100/day for beverages/food not included (at $15 per cocktail that adds up quick!) but sure you can remove that if you want.

Now that doesn't include some little extras I want to do for him.....tuxedo berries, a parasailing ride, etc. and yes, those are extras you dont' have to include as well but, if I add up just the other things that is just shy of $4500 for 8 nights (we arrive late day one and leave early last day so the actual "park" days is only 7 days). So that is $2250/person or $321 per day or $650 for two of us. I dont' know that I consider that cheap. If I take out the cocktails/extra food that drops it by $400/person. I dont' know what it would cost us to cruise but I don't think it would be that high (could be completely wrong!).

We are tremendously fortunate in that our airmiles will cover most of the trip for us but that is not the norm.

 

[speedyf]

I guess it depends on "how you do" Disney. We are 2 adults and 1 child.

We usually stay Value for around $90 per night with a AAA discount....but, you could get rooms much cheaper offsite. (about $630)

We always go for at least 7 days to get the "value" of the longer ticket. We always do a base ticket because we can hit all the parks in a 7 day period without having to hop. (about $650 for tix)

We don't do the Dining Plan and mostly eat counter service with a character breakfast thrown in. We budget $100 per day for food and "stuff". We try to hit places like Columbia Harbor House (fried fish), Flame Tree BBQ (bbq pork sandwich), China Counter Service (orange chicken bowl).....to get away from eating burgers, chicken tenders, and pizza every day. (about $700)

We usually fly for about $180 per person round trip, but it may be cheaper for us to drive now (about 12 to 13 hour drive). We can drive for about $150 each way since we have a fuel efficient Camry. So...around $300 to drive, but we usually try to get a deal on flights for around $500 to $600.

So...we usually average around $2400 for a trip...which is about $343 per day. We could do it way cheaper if we drove, stayed offsite, ate offsite (or prepared meals in a condo).

In contrast, we just did a trip to Houston (6 hour drive). For 4 nights, it cost us about $1100. That was $275 per day. We did the waterpark, space museum, Kemah boardwalk, and hit an Astros game at $11 per ticket on $1 hot dog night. We ate mostly chain restuarants (IHOP for breakfast, Joe's Crab Shack, Chineese Buffet). We even brought a picnic lunch for the day at the waterpark....and I still ended up spending $1100.

So...I really think it depends on what you like to do on vacation. If you go to the beach and just hit the beach every day, I'm sure it will be cheaper than Disney. If you go to the beach, but hit a water park, aquarium, putt-putt, go-carts, etc every day....then, I think it ends up about the same.

Speed

 

[Conway733]

What is affordable to one person, may not be to another. $300 a day for five days is more than a week's pay for me.

 

[mytwinklestar]

We were planning a Tennessee vacation for July. We visited Disney in December 2007, and February 2008... having purchased our annual passes in December. This is the first time we invested in the annual passes. Anyway, DH was convinced that he could provide our family with a less expensive, just as enjoyable, summer family vacation in TN. I kept sending him emails with quotes from the Disney site but he was convinced. Hmmph. He was online for three days straight, hunting for a deal for the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area. He priced Dollywood/SplashCountry tickets and a one time meal at one or another of the many dinner shows. He couldn't believe the total that he kept reaching. I had given up on pushing for Disney. Suddenly, three nights ago, he comes to me... did you know we could get a moderate resort for what we will pay for a decent hotel on the Pigeon Forge strip and cheaper than any of the cabins I have found? Uh, honey... I tried to tell you. He then continued, and we already have our tickets for Disney. Uh, honey... I tried to tell you. Needless to say, we are packing up and heading to Orlando in two weeks! Woo Hoo! This trip will make me very happy because it will make my investment (annual passes) an even better deal. We are frequent visitors so we know how to use the fastpasses and EMH's. We will not feel pressed to wait in extraordinary lines for any of the rides because all except Toy Story, we have done. We can take our time and relax. (AND...DH doesn't understand that I mean business when I told him that I want to go back in Dec. before the passes run out!) This trip breaks down this way.... our annual passes have already paid for themselves during our two 10 day visits (Dec. & Feb.). The POFQ for six nights and the dining plan for two adults, one ten year old (Disney adult-UGH), and one six year old is $1720.00. We are thinking that $400 is ample for our expected gas consumption and tolls - (driving from Louisiana). $200 for tipping. Grand total is: $2320. Divide that into the seven days = $331.43 per day, then divide that by three adults (as my 10 yr old is considered by Disney standards) and a six year old = $82.86 per person, per day. Considering that this includes entertainment, meals, and transportation, that is not too bad. Dollywood/SplashCountry would have cost us more when you tally up all the costs. Being the Disney fanatics that we are, this is our first July visit... so we can now mark that off our list. Plus this is our first stay at POFQ. Oh... and the kids still think we are going to TN. We are going to try to surprise them! My ten year old will realize we are off course at some point in Florida, but we are going to try to keep his mouth closed all the way through. IF we could have still gotten the annual passholder rate for a value resort, this total would have been $420 less. I think we are getting a good deal.

 

[MO Nurse]

I don't get how people say Disney is so expensive. At all. I was trying to semi-sort of educate my MIL today when she was saying how it must be costing us a fortune to go to Disneyworld. Friends say this, too. You see this on boards, even on this one..how Disney is almost at the point of not being affordable. I don't get it. We are going in August, of course free dining is the cheapest time to go..but we are ONLY paying $300 a day. That's it. Our 6 night, 7 day vacation for FIVE people with MYW tickets, food, and of course hotel rooms at POR is $2052. That's a week with all food, lodging, and entertainment for $300- $60 a person per day. I don't see that as expensive at ALL. Heck, I can't think of a cheaper vacation???

Does anyone else hear this regularly or read it elsewhere?

I have heard this before but not only does it depend on the time of year you are able to go but also the age of everyone in your party. We are a family of 5 but my 3 children are charged at adults so it's more expensive for us. My sister and her family is going September of 09 and they are a family of 6 but it won't cost them as much because of the free dining, age of her children, and time of year she's going.

 

[Cheeseball]

I don't find Disney more expensive than any other vacation we would take.

We went to Boston one year to visit family. We had to pay for our hotel ($150 a night for 6 nights), plus gas, food, lodging to and from, attractions, souveniers, food, etc and we spent over $3000. This was Sept 07.

This Sept we're going to Coronado Springs for 8 days. We have 6 day tickets and free dining. Our package cost $1850 and our airfare is $875 for us all. We're using Disney transportation and we're only taking $300 for misc money because we were just there a couple of months ago and bought just about every souvie there was, lol! = $3025

So we spent just as much to go visit family as we are going to Disney World (which I'd much rather do!)

 

[mrsdrkwaver]

Everyone has a different perspective on affordable. Lots of people will never vacation in their lives. Lots of people think that anything above camping is expensive. Others think that 10K is cheap....

However, from my perspective, yes I think DW is 'cheap' for a family vacation. Had we booked 2A2C (over age 10), we could have done our trip in September WITH airfare included for about 2400 for 7 nights. That 2400 for 7 nights would include hotel/air/taxes/park hoppers/basic DDP.

Divide the trip by 4 people and you are at 600/person for a week long trip. IMO- that's cheap...but it's all relative to your own budget.

this is about the cost we got.

when planning this trip i planned out 6 different trips some drivng some flying and because my food is not free like disn. and I would have to rent a car if we dont drive. all the vacations came about the same. give or take 200 bucks.
our dis. trip 2 adults. pop centry free ddp and air fare comes to about 1650.

oh and its a week. now you may think its a lot more then the above quote but remember I have to pay for the same room that 4 people have to pay for and i only get to divide it by 2 out air was about 225 each round trip from IL

i planned a trip to drive to dollywood and because of no free food and gass it cost only about 200 less and that was guessing what food will cost.

for us this is a big vacation! we only do big vacations every 5years or soo I dont mind the cost so much! like others said its all relative to what you like to do and how much money you have. I know people that sent this much just ot do to wisconsin dells and thats only 2 hrs away.