Planning a Trip in 2020? Let's Share Our Budgets!

Is your package for 5 nights??? It just seems like $6200 is a lot for 5 nights. Are you flying far from MCO for over $700:scared1: each? I know you said your trip was a splurge, good for you and enjoy!!!

6 nights. (Feb. has 29 days this year.) And we live in the Midwest in a place that’s a black hole for good flights. Haha! We could drive 2-5 hours to a larger airport to get slightly cheaper flights, but ugh...no. I’ll pay the extra and fly out of our tiny airport to avoid that. I just checked, and our same flight is now going for around $130 more a ticket than what we paid, so I’m glad I snagged tickets when we did.
 
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I am staying February 20-25th with 6 adults in my room and 5 adults in various other rooms. Geez. I'm including cost totals for myself only as that's all I'm paying for.

2 Bedroom Villa at OKW - free to me. Friend's DVC
Princess Challenge - $373.10
Flight - TBD ~300
Tickets - Already have an AP. $923 if you include the cost
Food - $400 (high estimate)
Misc spending - $300

Total w/ AP: $2296.1
Total w/out AP: $1373

***I also have a hard time including race fees as part of the budget because I do races at home too, but I included anyway
 
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We are going in mid-January. Five nights at Pop. Myself, my husband and 8 year old son.

Hotel/ 3 day base ticket package - $1,753.00
Parking in home airport - $120
Direct Flights - $700
Deluxe Dining Plan - $1,150 (we are big signature dining people, so this isn't an option. It saves us $500+ every trip!)
Memory Maker - $160
Airport/other food - $200
Gifts/souvenirs - $600 (We're asking for Disney gift cards for Christmas).
Ubers/Lyfts - $100 (likely zero after my husband's rewards.)

$4,000-4,800ish. We are paying for all of the hotel/dining plan with discounted Disney gift cards, so 7-12% off.
 
We are going August 2020 and staying for 12 days. We are a family of 4. My oldest will be a disney adult on this trip so tickets are for 3 adults and 2 child. We might try and go for a full 2 weeks but then hotel and budget might change. I budgeted everything at rack rate and hoping for a good discount with my travel agent. I am also hoping to save around 15% by using discounted gift cards, cashback etc.



Beach Club $5374
10 day Ticket w/PH (3 adults, 1 child) $2424
Food $3000 ( most likely will be less once I have a better idea of where we will eat)
Reusable Mugs $76 ( not sure if we will get these but since we are staying for a longer time so it might make sense)
Dessert Party $290
Grocery Delivery $100 ( for water and some snacks)
Souvenirs $800
Laundry $10.00
Tips (non dining) $50
Housekeeping $55
Memory Maker $169
Upgraded MB $40.00
Flights $200 (hoping to either cover all 4 tickets with points or the majority depending on airline)
Total $12268

Still debating on possible getting one annual pass as it looks like it may end up saving us some money but won't decide that till later. I would like this to be closer to between $9500-$10000 for total budget.

We also might spring for MNSSH but will decide on that as we get closer to the trip.
 


Planning a trip August 13-25, 2020

$3700 Room, 10 day tickets w/ park hopper and free dining (already booked through bounce-back)
That is a great deal. I am looking at the same time frame and I can't even get a room for that price, let alone tickets and dining.

I was just there end of August and totally forgot to look into bounceback. (Just there for the opening of GE so it was hectic.) I didn't think they would be offering BB for a year out. Kicking myself now.
 
We've had a big trip in late Aug 2020 penciled in on the 'calendar' for years. We like to travel the two weeks before Labor Day when most of the country goes back to school. DD will start High School next year (faint) and I just realized we'll have to consider sports schedules in our planning so maybe it will move a bit.

We are planning 2+ weeks but we will drive (for the first time) and sightsee on the trip down and back so not all of it will be at WDW. I know we want to stay at a Cabin at FW. We will probably do a split stay with a Value Resort. Our last 3-4 trips have been Deluxe and I really think my whole family will be happy going back to a value, weird I know. It might all change if extended family decides to come too.

I just ran some real basic numbers to know how much I need in Disney gift cards:
We are a family of 5 (4 Disney adults)


Lodging: 6 nights FW Cabin/5 nights Value - $4050
Parking: $200
Tickets: 10 day PH+ - $2825
One day ticket at Universal $900 - I don't think I can justify this. Not enough new stuff since we were last there. Hagrid's will just have to wait.
Dining: $3500 (just a rough estimate off the Dining Calculator, that is crazy)
Groceries: $200
Souvenirs: $500

travel expense on the road: rough estimate until we know what we want to do - $650
 
We (hubby and I) are now planning a trip to DL in Anaheim for May 2020! May 16-23. I am very excited about this since DL is by far my favourite. We live closer to WDW now (we were from the West Coast originally - Victoria, BC) so that is where we normally go, but I far prefer DL.

So far it is costing (in US dollars):

Flights from Ottawa to LAX $708 (plus seat selection was another $70)
7 nights at Anaheim Discovery Inn & Suites $725
Round trip super shuttle from airport and back $74

At current exchange rates it is about $2,100 Canadian. We will have to add food and Park Hoppers to that. I'm hoping for some kind of Canadian deal on tickets before then.
 


We also have plans to go to the Gymnastics Olympic Trials in June. The tickets are the big expense there, we are waiting to see if we can get a group rate. I’m budgeting $250 gas, $250 room, $1000 tickets, $300 merchandise, and $200 food. 2k is a lot for such a short trip but it will be worth it.

$588 tickets (bought today)
$175 gas my estimate was way off and this includes a healthy pad
$250 room booked (Hilton employee discount)
$300 merchandise budget
$200 food budget
——
So I’m down to $1513 for the long weekend
 
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We are planning a May 2020 trip (as long as the military cooperates with us 🤣). It will be for 7 nights and there is 2 adults and 2 kids (12 &10). The hotel and ticket prices are based off the current military promotions. So we might have increase in those items.


Hotel- Pop Century standard room plus the parking fee- $1220 (with military discount)
Tickets- 6 day military tickets with hopper- $1200 (changed from a 5 day ticket to the new 6 day ticket)
Food- $1,600
Gas- Driving from VA- $180
Spending money- $500 (should be fully taken care of by rewards dollars and gift cards from family)

Total: $4,700
 
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I haven't told the kids that we're going yet, but it'd be nice to have a place to keep track of things. We're planning for the very beginning of June, leaving the day after our last possible emergency (snow) day that we could possibly have to make up. I work at my youngest two kids' elementary so I can't bet on not using those days and skip out early like I would have in past years when it would have just been the kids! Darn.

We're a family of 5 staying at Shades of Green and arriving May 29, staying until June 6. I built in a few extra days of relaxation since we'll only have the 5 day military PH tickets. Then we're moving to Universal, hopefully taking advantage of the military package there and staying at Royal Pacific to get the EPs. DH has foot/knee/back problems so I'm trying to plan relatively relaxed park days so he's not in too much pain. The 3 night, 4 day tickets that come with the military package will hopefully allow us to take things a little slower and let him relax. I haven't actually made it over to ITT yet to book or even get concrete info on that package, so I'm basing this all on internet research.

Airfare: $1500 (guessing - always fly SW and I'm hoping for $300 or less per person when flights are released)
Shades of Green: $990
5 day PH tickets: $1300 ($1285 right now, but assuming a slight increase for 2020)
Food: $1500 at Disney (that may be high, but I'd rather plan high than low, we'll buy GCs ahead of time and eat at SoG some days)
Universal Package: $2185 (includes hotel and tickets)
Food: $900 at Universal (totally guessing here, shorter time, but I have no idea yet where we'll eat or what we'll spend and I'd rather be safe)
Uber: $150 (no ME, so need to go from MCO to SoG, SoG to RP, and RP back to MCO, guessing about $50 each way for an XL)

Haven't factored in parking at the airport yet, or boarding for the dog because I don't know if the dog will board or stay with a neighbor and parking tends to depend on how spendy we feel and which lots are full.

Total for tickets, hotels, food, and transport: $8525.

Total feels painful looking at it now, but considering that it's over a week and half and we're 5 people, it's not too bad. I also don't think we'll spend THAT much money on food, but since I'm planning on stocking up on GCs, it can be used for souvenirs too.
 
Driving down from Michigan. Family of 7. February 16-March 1

Transportation $0 (paid by my company, working 2 days at Orange County Convention Center)
Hotels on the road, use Hyatt points earned on business card $0
2 nights Polynesian $0. DVC (could say $400 for dues)
7 nights Old Key West 2 bedroom (dues = $1200)
3 nights at Hyatt Place Palm Parkway $0 (paid by my company)
Food we cook in room mainly. Maybe $300 for meals/snacks/beer
We have park hoppers comped by Disney last year $0
no souvenirs or tours/activities. Just lots of pool and family time.

So that's 2 weeks for family of seven for less than $2k.
 
Love reading everyone's budgets! My BF and I (21 and 23 respectively) are going February 23 - February 29 and so far we've budgeted the following...

Hotel: $1935 - 3 nights at Caribbean Beach + 3 nights at Yacht Club Garden View. We booked via Orbitz using a 10% off coupon + Gift of Magic Offer. We might end up changing this depending on if we can snag a Priceline/Hotwire deal...
Tickets: $1070 - 7-day Park Hoppers via Undercover Tourist. We might upgrade these to AP's depending on if we plan a fall trip.
Airfare: $23 - We're using 22,000 miles + $23 in fees for both of our roundtrip flights on Delta from NYC. Yay miles!!!
Food: $650 - We will hopefully end up spending less than this. Planning on doing breakfast in the room and approx. 2-3 table service meals. We stick to water or iced tea - so don't really have to worry about a beverage budget.
Souvenirs: $200 - We're hoping to offset this cost with Gift Cards & Disney Reward Dollars that we have (approx. $300 total)
Cars/Taxis: $100 - It's going to cost us about $60 to get back and forth from the airport in NYC and then we will probably take 1 or 2 Uber's while at Disney.

Total: $3978 for 6 nights/7 days (minus $300 in Disney Gift Cards & $500 in Visa Gift Cards earned via BF's work)
 
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When we bought DVC on the resale market in early 2018, our idea was to travel to WDW each year, alternating big, park-heavy trips with resort-only trips. In April 2019, we enjoyed a huge trip, spending 12 days at the Poly and visiting at least one park every day. It was great.

Now, it's time for the resort-only trip. We live in Michigan, where I grew up, but my wife settled in Florida in her Navy family. When we moved back north a few years ago, one of our agreements was that we'd still get south, especially in the winter, to enjoy some warmth. The fireplace does tremendous work, but it can't fully replicate the feeling of warm, outdoor air.

Here's what we're looking at for this January's trip:

Trip: 7 days, 6 nights (Wednesday January 22 through Tuesday January 28)

Who: Me (33), my Wife (32), and our daughters (8 and 5)

Airfare: $871.84 (4 round-trip tickets from Grand Rapids, MI to MCO)
----- Waaaay cheaper than spring break travel from last year. We initially booked with Frontier to try an ultra-low-cost option...but then they moved our flight to a different day, we got a refund, and booked with Southwest instead. Weather permitting, we'll be at the AKL for lunch on our arrival day and splashing in the pool into the afternoon on getaway day. The flights came together beautifully.

Tickets: $0
----- British tickets offered big-time savings last year, but they were substantially more than this. I do wish that Disney would offer more of their annual passes to non-Florida residents -- I, for one, would be very pleased to have access to the Weekday Select annual pass despite my distance from Florida. We'd spend a good deal more time in the parks if we were passholders again, but with only the Platinum Pass available to us, we'll be living at the resorts and Disney Springs for this trip.

Lodging: $746.57 (4 nights at AKL-Jambo and 2 nights at BLT; 76 total points)
----- This factors in a ratable portion of the upfront purchase price and annual dues for our DVC resale contract at the Poly ($8.91 annual per point purchase price for 2018 purchase in 2018 dollars, plus 5% annual inflation estimate (given that dues increase faster than overall inflation rate) --> $9.82 per point for this trip). The 2019/2020 cash cost attributable to 76 points was much lower given that we purchased the DVC contract in cash such that our only ongoing expenses are the annual dues. This blows me away: sure, we don't get certain Membership Extras because we purchased our points resale, but at $124.43 per night on this trip, we're staying at some of our favorite places in the world. It's absurd (in a good way).

Food/Souvenirs/Misc.: $900
----- This includes groceries, meals, tips, and souvenirs. We have table service meals scheduled at Boma and Artist Point as well as some type of sit-down at Beaches and Cream (could be dinner, could be dessert). This estimate is very high given our actual spending on prior trips, but I'd rather budget for a bunch of quick service meals and have cash left over than budget for PB&Js and be disappointed if we eat at The Mara a few times. We really enjoy dining at resort quick service locations like Capt. Cook's, Geyser Point, and The Mara. But as we found on our last trip, there were plenty of days where all our kids wanted for lunch/dinner was easy mac, a carrot, and a clementine. That's a solid, easy meal, and between grocery delivery and a suitcase full of food (thanks for those checked bags included in the fare, Southwest!), it's plenty cheap to pull that off.

TOTAL: $2,518.41

Now, it's time for me to put on my old man, get-off-my-lawn cap for a moment: I don't like the idea of suggesting that the use of airline miles/credit card points/hotel points/etc. makes a portion of a trip "free." I definitely understand the rationale for doing so -- rewards feel like found money -- but there's a real cost to using your points in that way. For example, if you cash out your credit card rewards for cash and contribute the cash to a Roth IRA, you've generated a unicorn: truly untaxed cash that also grows and gets distributed tax free. Is that the most efficient use of your cashback rewards? At 1 cent per point, no, normally it's not even close given the efficiency offered by some travel rewards portals. But it is another option for your rewards dollars and that's one of the costs of using your points for travel.

<soapbox dismount>

Happy budgeting everyone!

(EDIT: Items I left out above: we'll board our dog at my parents' house ($0), get dropped off at the airport in Michigan ($0), and take Magical Express to and from MCO (inc. in tips). Compared to many of our peers, that's a few hundred dollars right there.)
 
We are going in January, family of 4 (though 10 year old now counts as an adult👎). We are staying with another family but I have only included the costs for one family here.

Hotel: 7 nights at shared 2 bedroom Beach Club Villa (Points rented through rental company) $2439
Tickets: $1721 - 7 day base tickets via UT
Dining: $1852 dining plan
Airfare: $1228
Trip Insurance: $134
Stroller: $40 (sharing a double stroller)
Souvenirs/Tips: Disney Gift cards with rewards points
Memory Maker: $85 (shared)
Misc. (Drinks not covered by dining plan/couple of Uber rides): $200

Total: $7699 (Ouch!)

I am so impressed with you all and your money wise ways! Wish we could save more on this trip. I know the dining plan is not worth it for some- for us, it is the ONLY time in my life I will choose higher-priced restaurants or menu items without fretting over costs so it's worth it to me. And we do our best to get our money's worth!
 
This is so fun to read that I had to share as well!

My husband (34) and I (27) are doing a split (UO/WDW) stay in June 2020. Other family will be joining us but we all made our own arrangements. We're all going to the same parks, though. We'll be there for 10 nights total

Hotels: Budgeted $3,600 total; Actual $2,656.34 total
For Universal we're spending 4 nights at Sapphire Falls in a King Lagoon View Room for $290 per night (this includes taxes and fees) for a total of $1,160.34.
For Disney we rented points with David's for a Deluxe Studio for 6 nights at Saratoga Springs for $1,496.00.

Travel: Budgeted: $888.00 Actual: Nothing purchased yet
Our family will be driving down and leaving a few days before us so we won't have anyone to drive us to the airport from PA! We're budgeting about $700 round trip from BWI to MCO, $88 for parking at BWI and $100 for Uber while we are there (no rental car). I'm not sure if I gauged these right.

Tickets: Budgeted: $1,428.00 Actual: $1,428.00 (May need to adjust as tickets become available)
I'm a DoD employee, so I'm planning on purchasing through my Ticket Office and Shades of Green.
For Universal, we will try the 4 day park to park (2 days free) if it becomes available for use in 2020 for $240 each. May need to adjust.
For Disney, we will try the 6 day Stars and Stripes tickets. This is essentially a Park Hopper Plus, I think. It would be $473.25 each.

Spending: Budgeted: $1,555.00 Actual: Nothing purchased yet
I didn't specify what we were budgeting for per park/resort, I just smooshed it all together.
I'm budgeting $1,000 for food, $75 for small groceries (like quick breakfast foods & water), and souvenirs for $500 for the both of us. I may be wayyyy off on these but it's a guess!

So, for a split stay at UO and WDW for 10 nights total (4 nights UO and 6 nights WDW) for two adults, we're looking at a cost of $6,527.34!
 
Check your emails! Tons of people have been getting pin codes for room discounts.
 
When we bought DVC on the resale market in early 2018, our idea was to travel to WDW each year, alternating big, park-heavy trips with resort-only trips. In April 2019, we enjoyed a huge trip, spending 12 days at the Poly and visiting at least one park every day. It was great.

Now, it's time for the resort-only trip. We live in Michigan, where I grew up, but my wife settled in Florida in her Navy family. When we moved back north a few years ago, one of our agreements was that we'd still get south, especially in the winter, to enjoy some warmth. The fireplace does tremendous work, but it can't fully replicate the feeling of warm, outdoor air.

Here's what we're looking at for this January's trip:

Trip: 7 days, 6 nights (Wednesday January 22 through Tuesday January 28)

Who: Me (33), my Wife (32), and our daughters (8 and 5)

Airfare: $871.84 (4 round-trip tickets from Grand Rapids, MI to MCO)
----- Waaaay cheaper than spring break travel from last year. We initially booked with Frontier to try an ultra-low-cost option...but then they moved our flight to a different day, we got a refund, and booked with Southwest instead. Weather permitting, we'll be at the AKL for lunch on our arrival day and splashing in the pool into the afternoon on getaway day. The flights came together beautifully.

Tickets: $0
----- British tickets offered big-time savings last year, but they were substantially more than this. I do wish that Disney would offer more of their annual passes to non-Florida residents -- I, for one, would be very pleased to have access to the Weekday Select annual pass despite my distance from Florida. We'd spend a good deal more time in the parks if we were passholders again, but with only the Platinum Pass available to us, we'll be living at the resorts and Disney Springs for this trip.

Lodging: $746.57 (4 nights at AKL-Jambo and 2 nights at BLT; 76 total points)
----- This factors in a ratable portion of the upfront purchase price and annual dues for our DVC resale contract at the Poly ($8.91 annual per point purchase price for 2018 purchase in 2018 dollars, plus 5% annual inflation estimate (given that dues increase faster than overall inflation rate) --> $9.82 per point for this trip). The 2019/2020 cash cost attributable to 76 points was much lower given that we purchased the DVC contract in cash such that our only ongoing expenses are the annual dues. This blows me away: sure, we don't get certain Membership Extras because we purchased our points resale, but at $124.43 per night on this trip, we're staying at some of our favorite places in the world. It's absurd (in a good way).

Food/Souvenirs/Misc.: $900
----- This includes groceries, meals, tips, and souvenirs. We have table service meals scheduled at Boma and Artist Point as well as some type of sit-down at Beaches and Cream (could be dinner, could be dessert). This estimate is very high given our actual spending on prior trips, but I'd rather budget for a bunch of quick service meals and have cash left over than budget for PB&Js and be disappointed if we eat at The Mara a few times. We really enjoy dining at resort quick service locations like Capt. Cook's, Geyser Point, and The Mara. But as we found on our last trip, there were plenty of days where all our kids wanted for lunch/dinner was easy mac, a carrot, and a clementine. That's a solid, easy meal, and between grocery delivery and a suitcase full of food (thanks for those checked bags included in the fare, Southwest!), it's plenty cheap to pull that off.

TOTAL: $2,518.41

Now, it's time for me to put on my old man, get-off-my-lawn cap for a moment: I don't like the idea of suggesting that the use of airline miles/credit card points/hotel points/etc. makes a portion of a trip "free." I definitely understand the rationale for doing so -- rewards feel like found money -- but there's a real cost to using your points in that way. For example, if you cash out your credit card rewards for cash and contribute the cash to a Roth IRA, you've generated a unicorn: truly untaxed cash that also grows and gets distributed tax free. Is that the most efficient use of your cashback rewards? At 1 cent per point, no, normally it's not even close given the efficiency offered by some travel rewards portals. But it is another option for your rewards dollars and that's one of the costs of using your points for travel.

<soapbox dismount>

Happy budgeting everyone!

(EDIT: Items I left out above: we'll board our dog at my parents' house ($0), get dropped off at the airport in Michigan ($0), and take Magical Express to and from MCO (inc. in tips). Compared to many of our peers, that's a few hundred dollars right there.)
Just wanted to say that I appreciate how you included real costs. I have seen this a lot on this thread, in general, and I appreciate it when people recognize that DVC ownership costs more than dues, annual passes don't make the ticket price "free," etc.
 
Check your emails! Tons of people have been getting pin codes for room discounts.
We aren't planning on Disney, but as often as I price out vacations and considering that we went in 2015, 2016, cruise in 2018, have a Disney Visa, signed up for Disney+, Disney Move Club member, etc. Wouldn't you think Disney would want to send us a pin code to persuade us to go again?
(Oh, I also forgot, went with a pin code in 2011...totally on a whim because we got the pin code and a little extra cash at the same time)
 
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