No idea how much $ I should save

[Mom2kmta]

I came here looking for some deals on my sisters upcoming trip and found myself bitten by the disney bug in the process. We have no plans of going for at least the next three years because we'd like our youngest to be five or six by the time we go. In the meantime we're scrimping and saving trying to get our house paid off and put an addition on. I know my husband is going to have a heart attack when he sees how much a trip to disney for all of us is really going to cost so I was thinking I should start putting a little money away here and there over the next few years and hopefully be able to pay for everything without taking money out of our savings. The problem is I have no idea how much to save. I know there are a million factors but could anyone give me a ballpark figure to shot for. If we're a little short that's OK, we can always take some from the savings I just don't want to say "honey we're gonna need $7000" because I have a feeling we won't end up going if I have to do that.
So here's a little info about us...
We're a family of 6
We'll probably fly from the Albany NY area
We'd stay for 7 days
Will stay onsite
We'll eat at the parks and I'm sure we'll do a least a few themed restaurants
And I'm sure I'm going to have to get a few small things for the kids.

Right now I'm thinking I should shoot for $6500 or so. Does that seem about right? Thanks so much for any help you can offer.

 

[sydneysmom]

it might help you alot to go to Disney's website and go through the steps to plan a vacation....put in the dates of the month that you think you might go (since the rates will be different for peak / value / etc). You can then price out staying at a deluxe, mod and value w/ each of the dining options.
I did that when we were planning... I was kind of a pre-planning freak. I made a spreadhseet w/ 3 of the deluxe hotels and the prices w/ reg dining and then w/ deluxe dining and then adding in the park tix. Then you kind of have a really good idea of how much everything will cost you in total. that helped us budget because there were no real surprises. (the price went up a little when the year changed but nothing too significant)
The other thing is, once you've got that all mapped out, and you know where you feel most comfortable, you can then map the discount "trends" and see when Disney MAY offer free dining, or buy 4 nights / get 3 free or the 20/30/40% off room discount. Obviously there's no guarantee that Disney will offer any discounts, but you can get some idea and that may sway the time of year you go or maybe even bump you up in hotels or dining plans.

But I know that pricing out on the Disney website proved invaluable for us. When we did get a discount (Thank you Disney Gods ) I knew what the trip was going to be almost to the penny before we called to book our trip. The good thing too is that you can make payments online (and then pay in full before 45 days) so that it's not so big of a hit at once. I love paying a little at a time and chipping away at it.

Good luck with your planning !! Be sure to check in on the "codes and rates" boards to see what discounts might be out there.... also, check the resorts boards to get ideas on hotels.....

 

[WizardLarz]

$50/ week = $6500 after 2.5yrs

 

[CherylA]

I would think if you're slightly flexible about dates and trying to be budget concious that you could do it for about $5500. You'd need to fly in and out on the days when airfare was cheapest, take advantage of whatever discounts Disney is running, maybe rent DVC points or get two value rooms. Don't go crazy on shopping... If you saved 6500 that could only be better but I don't think you'll NEED that much.

 

[gillenkl]

Fort Wilderness Cabins sleep 6 and you'd have your own kitchen. You could have gardengrocer deliver the food to your cabin and save money by cooking your breakfast and dinner. Nice themed pool, pony rides, campfire, etc....
I'd skip the water park option because your kids are still young and park hoppers. That would save you some money there. I'd also skip alot of those expensive character meals and just plan on doing one. Looks like you have 4 kids under the age of 6 and it might be alot of handle for them and you.

 

[Mom2kmta]

Thank you all so much. That gives me a good idea of what I should be saving. I've looked forward to taking my kids to disney since they were born so I definitely want to save up and do it right!

 

[Lex87]

$50/ week = $6500 after 2.5yrs

Or.. for the fanatics $100 a week savings (that's a lot of missed coffee at Starbucks) with a $5200 budget would have you there yearly!!

I just can't get enough Disney!

 

[lisaross]

i think that sounds about right..

we r a family of 4 - the 1st time we went for 9 days and spent about 4000 or so stayed at a moderate and had free dining..

2nd time we stayed in disney 7 days and universal 4 - probably spent about 5000 or so. again had free dining..

i plan for years in advance as well - right now saving for a cruise in 2011.

i open a separate account and make automatic monthly payments as well as other extra $$ that gets deposited into this account..I would not want to take out of my savings...i like to save and plan!

I came here looking for some deals on my sisters upcoming trip and found myself bitten by the disney bug in the process. We have no plans of going for at least the next three years because we'd like our youngest to be five or six by the time we go. In the meantime we're scrimping and saving trying to get our house paid off and put an addition on. I know my husband is going to have a heart attack when he sees how much a trip to disney for all of us is really going to cost so I was thinking I should start putting a little money away here and there over the next few years and hopefully be able to pay for everything without taking money out of our savings. The problem is I have no idea how much to save. I know there are a million factors but could anyone give me a ballpark figure to shot for. If we're a little short that's OK, we can always take some from the savings I just don't want to say "honey we're gonna need $7000" because I have a feeling we won't end up going if I have to do that.
So here's a little info about us...
We're a family of 6
We'll probably fly from the Albany NY area
We'd stay for 7 days
Will stay onsite
We'll eat at the parks and I'm sure we'll do a least a few themed restaurants
And I'm sure I'm going to have to get a few small things for the kids.

Right now I'm thinking I should shoot for $6500 or so. Does that seem about right? Thanks so much for any help you can offer.

 

[moongirl]

you could also:

1) Get a Disney rewards credit card now and earn points for Disney cash. Three years worth of charging may really add up.
2) Ask for airline certificates or Disney gift cards as gifts for every occasion: birthday, Christmas, anniversary, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, etc. Really milk it!
3) Ask relatives to give gift cards for the kids also. My kids get way too much stuff from way too many relatives. Many of them would be happy to give the easy gift of a Disney gift card to a little one who already has tons of stuff.

If you were interested in renting DVC points - I would be with a family of 6 - you could also purchase 7-day park tickets this year at the 2010 price. This may work for this scenario because:
1) you can add a dining plan onto a DVC reservation so you don't need tickets as part of a package to get the dining plan.
2) tickets are non-expiring and can always be upgraded if you decide to add hoppers or WPF&M. Right now, you get credited for the current price as long as you have used the ticket at least one day. This could change but worse case scenario is you'd pay the price difference to the current price. Still, you'd be paying some now and it wouldn't be such sticker shock when the rest of the trip payments come up.

 

[honeydiane1953]

Between 6 to 7 thousand dollars.

 

[Mom2kmta]

Thanks again everyone! We do have a disney card and I've been saving all my change for the last 5 or 6 years so that will help me chip away at the cost too. Thanks