My WDW trip - What I budgeted vs What it actually cost.

[Marionnette]

This was inspired by another thread How much is your 2022 Disney vacation going to cost you?

I thought that it would be an interesting twist to see how close everyone comes to hitting their targeted budget.

So, let the prognostications, calculations and speculations begin!

 

[Marionnette]

I still haven't worked my entire budget out for our November trip. For one thing, Southwest hasn't posted a schedule for our dates yet. For another, I'm not sure how long we will be staying. What I do know is the following:

• We will use airline points to pay for our tickets. Checked bags will be free whether we fly Southwest or American (I have an American-branded CC)
• We will stay DVC at Disney but will book at least one night at Universal to get 2 days of Express Passes. We might use CC points to pay for the room.
• We will rent a car in Orlando and will use a shuttle to get from our house to our home airport and back. I'm not sure whether we will use CC points for these or not.
• We have old tickets for Disney and Universal that we will use for park admission.
• We will order food and beverages from a grocery delivery service to cover breakfasts, snacks and an in-room "happy hour"
• We will use discounted GCs to pay for casual dining in the area and for Disney TS meals.
• We have to pay a dog sitter and pay her well for the nights that she stays with our dog. The dog has special needs and requires a special kind of person to stay with her.

Once I iron out more of the details, I'll be able to post a budget. I'm hoping to keep the OOP cash costs down to under $3,000 total given that much of the trip will be covered with points and old park tickets. I'll edit this post to reflect our budgeted costs.

Round trip ground transportation home <-> local airport with tip = $500

Rental car estimated cost is $540.16. That's for a mid-size, Emerald Aisle for one week thru National.

Tolls = $35

Gas = $60

Loews Portofino Bay Hotel. 2 nights, 2 adults. 86,669 CSR points.

Self-parking at Universal for 2 nights - $56.

Universal tickets for 3 days = ? Sunk cost. They've been sitting in a drawer for several years.

American Airlines. 66,000 points + $22.40 for 9/11 fee. Non-stop flights. Free first checked bag, free seat selection and boarding group 5.

2-day Disney base tickets from 2013 = $197 × 2 another sunk cost

1 night Christmas Party tickets @ $225x2 (best guess and not even sure we will go) = $450

5 nights DVC using points - ? (still haven't decided which reservation we will keep, points are a sunk cost)

Dog Sitter (7 nights @$60 plus tip) = $550

Dining, alcohol, groceries = $1200

Souvenirs = $200

 

[tasha99]

Usually things are about on budget for us, but once I booked a very short mother/daughter trip to Disneyland to use up some points. We stayed in a studio for 2 nights at Grand Californian, and whoa--not having a kitchen really threw me. We spent way more on food than I had thought. Usually, I cook in the villa and we have some special meals out, but this was every meal. Just made me realize how much we usually saved by getting a 1 or 2 BR (but often we have more people, and I didn't have many points for this trip).