Need a reality check

[robr]

I'd like to purchase a Disney trip (florida) for the family for Christmas. Maybe 4 or 5 days. My kids are 5 1/2 and 7. I've only been once and recall that that may be young to have the necessary stamina, but my wife makes the point that when they are older, Disney will lose 'the magic' it would have for them now.

We have friends that are very poor that somehow go every year and after looking into the costs of everything, I certainly can't understand how they can do it. I have a budget of around $2000 for airfare (from Boston), lodgings, park tickets and food. The cheapest I've been able to set this up is around $3K without food. Is it realistic to be able to do this in a $2K budget?

Thanks for any advice on costs and ages.

 

[SmilingGrump]

As for your concerns about your children being too young for Disney, our oldest just turned 7 and she's been to WDW 3 times now, our youngest (almost 4) has been there twice. They both talk about it constantly. Will your children remember your trip when their in their 20s? Probably not in great detail, but they will remember some things about it and you will definitely remember the smiles and joy it brought them.

As for your budget, it seems a bit small as park tickets alone will eat up a large chunk of it. Staying offsite and getting a rental car will certainly help. So will packing your own lunches and/or snacks for the parks and eating your breakfast and supper offsite. Meals and snacks in WDW are not cheap by any means (though lower then most county fairs) but there are deals to be found (check out the tips on the boards here as well as over at Mousesavers)

As for your friends, different people prioritize things differently. It sounds like they make some big sacrifices in their day to day lives in order to be able to go to WDW every year. For them, those sacrifices are worth it. For other people, maybe not.

I know my family wonders how we can afford what we do, but we just prioritize differently. We don't eat out very much, we buy things on sale (and then in quantity), and (when we built our house) we did as much work ourselves as we could and called in a lot of favours. Meanwhile, they have their 1-2 Starbucks a day ($6-12/day), eat out for lunch ($20/day), and eat dinners out 2-3 times a week ($30-60/meal). Add that up and it's $9500-22000/year ... now I don't know how they do that!

 

[At World's End]

I think this is the perfect time to plan a trip. Your kids are still at the ages where they will experience "the magic," and they still want to hang around with Mom & Dad. My oldest is 8, and I know we won't have too many more years of that!

As for budget, there are so many options available. I highly recommend the budget board for tons of ides. Some examples:

1) Stay offsite in a condo with a full kitchen during the offseason. We paid $65/nt for a 3br/3ba townhouse 2 miles from the parks last January. It allowed us to make a few quick and easy meals at home, eat offsite and have leftovers available, and have ice cream bars at home every night instead of spending $4 each at the park. This made up for the cost of our rental car ($201 for 10 days).

2) If you want to stay onsite, take advantage of the free dining package when offered.

3) Another option for staying onsite cheaper is to rent points from a DVC member, or look on ebay.

4) Look in into the YES program for discounted tickets. Just know that you can't use the YES tickets in combination with the Free Dining offer.

If at all possible, I would look at extending your trip to at least a week. The cost to add more days to your tickets is very minimal after 4 days, and you will be really rushed to see the park in that time period. After spending all of that money, you don't want everyone to be grouchy because you are rushing all over the place trying to see everything. And try to go off season to avoid the crowds so you spend less time in line and more time enjoying yourselves.

Your friends who don't have alot of money probably find that their time at WDW is the most enjoyable vacation for their family and the money is worth it to them. My DH and I have travelled all over the world (before kids) and we are planing our 3rd trip to WDW because we just have so much FUN there as a family. Those memories will last a lifetime and are definitely worth the investment.

 

[BMC423]

First, you say you want to go during Christmas... is that a must? Trust me I do understand the appeal of going during the holidays it really looks beautiful, but it also more expensive. Also from what I hear it is very, very crowded. If this is your first time going as a family but something at a less crowded/ expensive time would be better.

Second, you mention your children's ages 5.5 and 7 imo their age is perfect. My son is 2, and we took him on his first trip this past March. A lot of our family and friends told us that he was too young, that is was about us and not him. Sometimes it's hard to explain things to people who refuse to understand, but the truth is we took our son because he loves Mickey Mouse. All kids under 3 are free when it comes to parks, and buffets. So my son enjoyed his first time at Disney and we enjoyed seeing him all excited. He also got his 1st haircut there which was something that I really wanted.
The previous poster is right your kids might not remember everything but I'm sure something will stand out. You and your wife on the other hand will remember it all, and will have some very sweet memories of your family. Remember to take lots of pictures and videos (thats how you remind the kids later).

Third, as far as budget goes Disney is expensive (not as expensive as before) but you have options. We really wanted to go back in 2012, our son has been asking to go and well we would love a trip back as well. But, when I did the math about a month ago it way beyond our budget. My husband told me to keep checking and if I could find the hotel room for under a 1000 for 7 days 6 nights then we could do it. The recently announced a Spring sale and yes I found a deal we discussed our options. This is the first time we are paying for a third person... so we decided no park hoppers, no dinning plan, and we haven't booked our flight yet waiting for deals.

As the previous poster mentioned your friends who seem poor might just be frugal or have other priorities. IMHO you should speak to your wife and your kids and see what their expectations are, and crunch some numbers. You might find ways to save money there are tons of tips and tricks. Here are some the ones I can think of from the top of my head:

1. As I stated before are your dates flexible?

2. Airfare or Driving... obviously if you are traveling in December I recommend flying because you wouldn't want to get caught in a snow storm.

3. Hotel Type- you can stay at an offsite which could be cheaper but sometimes the value resorts are just as cheap if not cheaper and you can use Disney transportation.

4. Food - Disney food is not cheap, neither is the dinning plan. In their defense their portions are HUGE! If you don't have big eaters I would recommend having breakfast, a snack for lunch and dinner, or something small for breakfast, big lunch, small dinner. Also many people ship water, juices, and other non perishables down to their resort which eliminates the cost of buying things there.

5. Ask your friends for tips, most people love to share their Disney secrets (if you can't tell by the size of this post)

7. Do your research... these boards are great and there is a lot of information in here.

8. If you plan on putting your trip on a credit card use your Disney Rewards from Chase... if you don't have one get one. The give you a bonus for signing up normally and there is no interest for a Disney vacation for 6 months which is nice. Also you get a discount at some of the shops there.

I hope this all helps... sorry that its very lengthy.

 

[NOLA_Tink]

I'd like to purchase a Disney trip (florida) for the family for Christmas. Maybe 4 or 5 days. My kids are 5 1/2 and 7. I've only been once and recall that that may be young to have the necessary stamina, but my wife makes the point that when they are older, Disney will lose 'the magic' it would have for them now.

We have friends that are very poor that somehow go every year and after looking into the costs of everything, I certainly can't understand how they can do it. I have a budget of around $2000 for airfare (from Boston), lodgings, park tickets and food. The cheapest I've been able to set this up is around $3K without food. Is it realistic to be able to do this in a $2K budget?

Thanks for any advice on costs and ages.

When are you going? My advice is to stay at Pop Century (a value resort) & get the dining plan. If you can swing a moderate hotel, we especially love Caribbean Beach resort. Make sure you sign up for Disney's Magical Express (it's free transportation & luggage care from the airport to your hotel) & don't rent a car b/c you can use Disney's free transportation to all of their parks, water parks, & Downtown Disney. Your kids are a perfect age for Disney! If breaks are needed, you can always go back to the hotel for naptime or pool time in the middle of the day & head back to the parks later. Also, check Disney's website for "Special Offers" because they often offer room discounts or free dining.

 

[robr]

thanks for all the advice. just came back from the ER and I'm not at 100% right now (pneumonia) so will need time to digest and follow up on some of the suggestions here. I definitely do NOT want to go at christmas. I just want to buy this as a christmas present. I want to go whenever it's cheapest (but preferably by march). My dates are completely flexible.

I was looking at ticket pricing, and you guys are right the costs between say 4 and 7 days aren't much... I just don't think I could personally deal with Disney for 7 days straight. I'd have a hard enough time with 4. I think it would be OK if the kids were old enough to send off on their own, but at the age our kids are, it's very draining to walk a park with them all day... We've been to other parks for a full day and my wife and I were so exhausted. I'm trying to picture doing that for an entire week straight!

 

[BMC423]

Hope you feel better soon! So a couple of things... from you latest post I get that your not as Disney enthusiastic as the rest of us on here, and thats ok of course. I only say that cause planning can be very different when you are a Disney lover than when you are going because its something you want to do for your family.

You mention you don't want to go during Xmas but want to go before March... that does not really leave you a lot of time plan but it can be done. January is usually a off peak month. Feb. is not bad either but I suggest you don't go during Mardi Gras as I have done this and all of Louisiana seems to there.

As far as the length of your stay...I am guessing here but is your logic 4 days = 1 park per day? This while doable IS completely exhausting especially with younger kids. If you go for lets say 7 days you can break up your trip. For example You go for 7 days and buy a 6 or 5 day pass... you can break up your park days. You could have half days or even an off day. That means you will have time to do other vacation things such as relaxing by the pool and waking up late. I think its very nice that you want to do this for your kids, but remember it is a vacation for you as well, they will enjoy it much more if you are enjoying it too.

 

[robr]

Forgive any typos. I'm now in the hospital and only have my phone with me.
My 4 day logic was based on how much I thought I personally might be able to survive . I have one amazing memory of Disney. I was 12 the first time I went and it was awesome. I went twice after that briefly. Once just for a couple of hours when I had some time to kill between a cruise return and a flight out. All I remember is crowds and I tried to go on one ride (haunted house mine shaft or something like that) and I waited for 1.5 hours before realizing once you pass thru the external wall of the structure it was still another 2 hour wait. That's ridiculous. I hate waiting more than I hate crowds . I'm thinking back on A few months ago when we took the kids to storyland in NH. One day very draining on both my wife and myself. One kid wants to go here another there. Constant Bathroom stops for my daughter and disgusting bathrooms. A lot of stuff closed.

In any case that's the sort of baggage I'm carrying around when think o theme parks and why I mentioned 4 days. I don't even feel a compelling need to hit every park. I wanted to surprise my wife too but maybe I'll suggest we get 3 passes instead of 4 and she and I can alternate days. So we each get a break and go the 7 day route. I'd feel bad about missing out on seeing some of the wonder in the kids (are the character breakfasts actually inside the park) but I know me and I will turn into a grump sooner rather than later if im pushing thru crowds or waiting in lines over 10 minutes which turns my wife into a grump and dont want to ruin an amazing experience for the kids. After march might be ok but being from Boston people here tend not to leave between spring and fall because we want to stay while he weather is nice. April and may aren't necessarily nice though. It was still 40s and rained constantly thru June this year.

 

[BMC423]

Have you tried for a price quote yet? The have a spring special going on, jut go under tickets and packages and from there choose special offers.

Also, what a suggest you do without ruining the surprise is have a conversation with your family about disney world. Maybe mention that someone you know will be going and you wanted to know what they thought about the rides there. Chances are they are not going to want to do everything.

That ride you were talking about was the haunted mansion. While I can certainly understand about those kind of memories... I remember being 12 and standing online for an hour just to ride splash mountain, things have gotten much better. Granted there are still lines and the occasional long wait but with fast passes and interactive queues things are a different now.

Also remember Disney is not your regular theme parks, no offense but you seem to have a negative outlook on the whole place, and I understand as a child you had that not so favorable experience. But thats the beauty of it... if you go to Disney without some sort of a plan and just plan to go to the park do the rides and whatever else you will be tired and grumpy and probably create the same memories you have now.

If you take the time to plan and give everyone a break not just you and your wife it will be a much enjoyable vacation. Kids get tired at Disney too, it can be very overwhelming especially during a first visit.

I'll give you an example for us its not worth it to go for four days because we have a 2 year old. So we know that our days won't be as jam packed as they used to be before the baby. We pick our top 3 things we want to do at each do and then 3 more that we would like to try to do. That is our goal 3 maybe 4 or 5 things each day thats it. Whatever else we can do is a bonus. When it was needed we would go to back to the hotel for a nap or a break. You're kids are older so if they need a break you can easily sit in one of the family care centers which have air conditioning, a couch, and a tv just for family breaks.

For some people going to Disney and taking breaks or only doing half day at the parks is a waste of money but to us its not because we are enjoying it.

 

[Mom&RN]

I agree with previous posters that extending your stay to 7 days would be well worth it. I understand your feeling like that would be too much, but remember when you went to the theme park in NH it was for one day and I'm sure you felt compelled to "pack it all in" which makes for an exhausting day. I've been taking my son since he was 7 and we love it. My first trip was myself my 7 yr old son my 5 and 8 yr old nephews, my sister and my brother in law. All the kids had a blast. When you are there for longer you will actually have a much more relaxing time. You can get up in the morning and go to a park and then take a big break in the afternoon to swim and relax back at your resort then you can go back to a park in the evening if you want to for a little night time fun, such as fireworks. You will find it is much less exhausting than you think it will be. The afternoon break is a MUST and all the Disney resorts have great pools, most with "kiddie" areas.
The benefit to this is that you and your wife can have some time to relax while the kids splash and play. Also, there is so much at Disney that is geared to be fun for many ages so I think you will find that you won't feel the need to split up with the kids very often to keep them both happy. Check out the deals - if you are flexible on time you can get some GREAT deals in January and early Feb. If you belong to AAA they have good discounts also. Check out the budget boards and also check out the website mousesavers. Good luck and have fun!

 

[robr]

My wife dropped off my laptop... whew....... again good advice, thanks. I like the idea of planning a few things... I think having a plan and my wife and I being agreed up front that we can be flexible but only if everybody is fresh enough to be flexible would work well.

And I *DID* have an amazing experience as a kid. But I was 12 and took off by myself. I spent much of the time riding up front in the monorail with the driver and in the hotel arcade (we stayed at the contemporary). I loved the friggin monorail. Riding in the front was my favorite 'ride' at disney and pulling into the polynesian was a nice view. I remember after that I wanted to be a monorail driver when I grew up, hahaha!!

 

[elainesj]

We did a trip in Jan 2011 for 10 days for $2500 - this included tix for the 4 of us, free dining, and room at Pop Century (a value resort on site). It was fabulous...but we ARE Disney nuts.

Right now Disney is offering a FREE dining deal on selected dates: http://bookwdw.reservations.disney....CA&promotionCode=fy12dineCA&market=fy12dineCA

So your budget would be:

Value Resort: $85 x 4 = $340
Food: FREE (Or for a few hundred you can upgrade to the dining plan with table service for character meals)
Tix: 5 day base ticket for 4 ppl = $1028
TOTAL: $1368

Voila....a 4 night, 5 day trip for well under your $2000 budget.

You could make it a little more relaxing and extend your stay for a few extra days to have non-park "Rest" days in between for very little more.

To stay 6 nights and keep your 5 day park tickets, it's just an extra $170 or so.

I highly recommend you pace yourself and know what you like.

If you don't like lines, it could be well worth your time to learn how to beat the lines (For us half the fun of Disney is because we don't have to wait in line since strategies are very effective here, much more so than any other amusement park I've been to). Either use a touring plan from touringplans.com, easywdw.com, get a TA who prepares customized touring plans for you, or tourguidemike.com. These are very small investments ranging from free to $20 and are worth their weight in gold.

If you don't like touring a park ALL day long (and many people don't), then do 3/4 days and take lots of breaks at your resort. If YOU'RE happy, your family will be much happier.

And stop BEFORE you get too tired. I have a bad habit of going, going, going...even past the point of exhaustion. And then no one is happy and what's the point? So I try to be strict with myself. Someone on here always says, when it's not fun anymore, we STOP.

 

[robr]

Line strategies... who knew? You guys aren't including airfare though (that's approx $1000), so now that I know how much park tickets are, $2000 isn't going to cut it unless we pitch a tent outside and live off PB&J .

 

[Swissdog2010]

Sorry to hear about your illness. Makes trying to plan a vacation a bit of a chore. Please don't make the mistake of comparing WDW to any other theme park. Yes, it can be exhausting but it doesn't have to be. There is plenty of information online for you to figure out ahead of time what you want to do and then if time is left, do a little freelancing. If you stay on property, a good strategy is to get out early, go until around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, then go back to your resort, relax, and head back around 5-6 pm for the evening events. I won't speak much to the cost as we are DVC members and use season passes some I'm a little disconnected but there are ways to get discount tickets so look into that. You kids are the perfect age to enjoy whats going on as long as they are driven to do everything. It's the tired kids that generally create issues and tired parents who react poorly, so try to break up your day. As to cleanliness, you can't beat WDW. Having issues of my own that sometimes result in multiple restroom breaks during the day, in the more than a dozen trips to WDW i have NEVER had an unpleasant experience in that regard. You made the frist smart move by coming here for advise. Take the next step and research, plan, and add a dash of common sense. There is so much there that you won't likely see it all, so give some thought to what you really want to see and experience and make that your priority. Be flexible and if something is close or you miss it, take it in stride, there's lots of other things to do. And never be afraid to ask question, both befor and during. Perfect strangers will be happy to offer a suggestion or share their experience. It happens to us a lot. Good luck and let us know how things go.

 

[elainesj]

Line strategies... who knew? You guys aren't including airfare though (that's approx $1000), so now that I know how much park tickets are, $2000 isn't going to cut it unless we pitch a tent outside and live off PB&J .

Hmm....true. when I read your post, I didn't realise airfare was included in your hopeful $2000 budget.

So yes, if airfare is $1000, then its about $2368 for your trip. On the other hand, if you get an awesome deal on airfare....you could manage the trip for under $2000. It IS possible to get air tix for $150 pp....That's what I paid for my trip in Jan. It's not easy though....but take the time to look. You might get all you hope for!

E

 

[robr]

Now that I'm back on my feet and Christmas is over, I'm revisiting this.... obviously I didn't break this out as a gift for the family .

I am close to pulling the trigger I think, but I'd like to talk to a travel agent that specializes in Disney first as I want to see if they can do better and also understand what I'd be missing out on by staying off site (extra magic hours for example and ease of getting back to the hotel for resting and lunch, etc). I have a call into Mouse Ear Vacations which I saw was recommended by some here and at mousesavers.com.

But I'm at airfare, 7 days in a 1BR suite with kitchen (save some meal $$) at the Melia Orlando and 7 day tickets w/park hopper for $2700 for mid January.

 

[shine87]

If you're staying offsite remember to budget in a rental car and parking fees of $14 a day, that will add a little bit to your budget

 

[ToddyLu]

Could you perhaps fly out of another airport? DH and I drive past Gulfport to fly SW out of New Orleans non-stop. So we drive 2 hours west to fly for 2 hours east. It works for us. It is always much more expensive to fly out of Mobile and Pensacola. So if you do not fly much look at other airports and you may have a better/cheaper option even if you have to drive to the airport.

Also understand that when you drive to the MK, you pass through the WDW toll booth, get to the parking lot, take a tram to the TTC and get on the monorail...then the monorail takes you to the gate. DH and I always take the bus from AKV since it is straight to the front gate. You will be amazed at how absolutely huge the place is so we leave the driving to them--we do not have much public transportation where we live and enjoy it as part of the experience. I would recommend purchasing a Pass Porter. It is a guide book with concise information. I would get an idea of where things kinda are in the parks before going--just to save time. Like knowing that if you want to ride Dumbo, he is to the right of Main Street. That will save time too and cut down on aggrevation.

I keep thinking there would be no way I would pay $14 a day to park at Disney Parks.

 

[robr]

The hotel I'm looking at is down the street from WDW and runs a shuttle every 30 minutes. I wouldn't bother with a car rental. The travel agency really couldn't beat the price either.

 

[wishing4PA]

maybe I'll suggest we get 3 passes instead of 4 and she and I can alternate days. So we each get a break and go the 7 day route. I'd feel bad about missing out on seeing some of the wonder in the kids (are the character breakfasts actually inside the park) but I know me and I will turn into a grump sooner rather than later if im pushing thru crowds or waiting in lines over 10 minutes which turns my wife into a grump and dont want to ruin an amazing experience for the kids. After march might be ok but being from Boston people here tend not to leave between spring and fall because we want to stay while he weather is nice. April and may aren't necessarily nice though. It was still 40s and rained constantly thru June this year.

Hi! I'm glad you're working with a Disney travel specialist now. I'm sure you will get things worked out and have a very nice trip, at least for the kids, and hopefully for you.
I do want to mention that I don't believe the 3 passes idea will work though. Your pass will be for you only, your wife's for her only, etc. You can't just swap a pass back and forth to alternate days. (I don't think anyone mentioned this and I want to make sure you aren't disappointed by thinking you can do something you can't.)
The good news is, some character meals can be had outside the parks, if you are lucky. You will want advance reservations (ADR in Disney-speak), and they may be hard to get (some people book them 6 months in advance.) But your travel agent should be able to help out.
I'd check the pricing for January or February, as long as the kids could miss school, or again, work with your TA to find the least expensive, low-crowd option. When DD was in preschool, we took her out for a week before Valentine's Day, and had low crowds and very good prices, staying on site in a "value" resort. The deals this year aren't quite as good as when we went, but they are still pretty good. Personally, I prefer staying on site, even if it is a value resort, but many differ, so I think that is a matter of preference.