Need Help Making a Budget

[etwinchester]

Ok all you DIS fans. I'm in the process of planning my first family vacation for just the three of us. We went in 2003 but with the rest of my family (10 people) and my grandmother paid for mostly everything except tickets and when we ate out. She also paid for most of the rental house offsite.

I'm planning a trip in 2008 (too far away for me) for DH, myself, and DD, who will be 8 by then. I would like to stay onsite for the VERY FIRST TIME (YEAH) at Cornodo Springs for a 2 week period in March. Later if I can afford it, maybe upgrade to Poly.

Anway, how much do you budget for:

* Resort
* Meals
* Car Rental - we like to visit places offsite as well
* Airfare (PA to FL) - first time flyer and scared
* Tickets - would you get a 10 day pass if your staying for 2 weeks just incase we want to go for some 1/2 days.

I know this is well in advance, but if I can set a rough budget, I'll know what to put back a month or how much to set aside from tax time. I'm so excited to plan for this for just us. The only vacation we have alone each year is Knoebels so planning this BIG one without the rest of the gang will be FUN...

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[cbrfan]

I have to admit 2008 is a ways out, but half the fun's in the planning! My suggestion would be to start by reading the boards here on the DIS. Another good site is allears.net. The more information you can get the better off you are. It will at least give you an idea of how much prices are increasing each year. If you know you'll be staying for at least 10 days I think you'd be wise to purchase an annual pass. Then you could come and go to the parks as often as you wish. And if you decided to make a second trip within a year your tickets are already paid for. Annual passes are also where the best room discounts seem to be. If you decided on the AP and you happen to have the money I would start purchasing the AP's. You'll receive vouchers that you activate when you actually get to the parks. So you could pay today's prices and have that out of the way by the time you go.

 

[etwinchester]

Thanks. I know it will be $$$ so it gives me plenty of time to save up and knowing what to put back would be a BIG +.

I know that I won't be returning for a couple of years afterwards. My husband is a Shop Manager and he's lucky to get off for 2 weeks at a time. I won't go to disney for less than 2 weeks. It goes by too quickly and there's too much to see/do. I'll have to check into AP as my plans are for March 1-15, 2008.

Can't wait... If anyone else is a family of 3 and visits for 2 weeks, please let me know what your budget might consisit of.

 

[EthansMom]

Well, here are some rough estimates in todays dollars...

Meals: $125/day should cover breakfast, 1 sit-down & 1 counter service meal per day, with room for a snack or two along the way.

Resort: currently about $150/night (full price, regular season), not including 11.5% tax. Can get a decent discount with AAA and possibly a better discount with AP (if available).

Airfare: No idea, but you may want to consider driving down. We're driving down from CT for about $250 in gas/tolls, $150 in 1 night hotel stay on way there and 1 night hotel stay on way back, & about $200 for dining on the road trip. Could probably have flown for cheaper, but not flown and gotten a decent sized rental car. In fact, may use some old Marriott rewards points for the hotel coming and going to get travel costs down even less.

Tickets: The ten day park hopper might be a good option. But you may also want to look at the Annual Pass (at least for one of the adults).

If you can get the annual pass rate on the hotel, you could save up to 40% off the full price (rack rate). You don't currently need to have an annual pass in hand in order to book the room at the AP rate, just need it at check-in. You can also get a discount on other things at WDW -- like 10% off at the DTD store World of Disney. Also, currently, if you get an AP, you can purchase a Disney Dining Experience (DDE) card ($50), which entitles you to 20% off at most sit-down restaurants and a few of the counter service places. Some quick calculations showed that purchasing just one AP would save my family roughly $80 on one week-long trip. Since we plan on going three times in one year, we decided on APs for all three of us (minus the baby who doesn't need a ticket).

SeaWorld and Universal also offer discounts for AAA members, so you may want to get a membership. You can also book your WDW resort at the AAA rate and then change to the Annual Pass rate (if available) when it is released.

Also, check out http://www.mousesavers.com and http://www.allearsnet.com for more help with your planning.

Sorry, if I haven't been much help with the budget, but prices could change quite a bit in the next three years. I hope I have been able to give you some direction!

 

[etwinchester]

Thanks. That is a help. I really want a rough idea just to starting getting a decent budget going. I'd rather have most of the money saved and have to scrape it all up.

Driving is DEFINATELY OUT. DH won't drive again...that was his stipulation for our next trip!

I'd rather get there in 2 hours and have all that extra time as well. He'll just have to push or carry me onto the plane, that's all...