planning first trip! need advice

[Jodi3530]

Here is my story my DH and I have been to magic kingdom twice and disney quest once. That is it. Now we are thinking (maybe I should say planning as we really need a vacation) about going. Our problem is we can't agree on when we should go. I would love to go in december but with the new discount it is pulling us towards Jan or Feb. My son can not handle crowds at all so I am very nervous about even taking him to disney as I really don't want him to have constant melt down due to too many people around him. Small spaces are just not his friend. Dh thinks we should go in the beginning of jan and I would love to go from the 5 to the 12 of feb as it is my son and my birthday on the 11!!! HE will be 7 and me 30. But if it is starting to pick on crowd level I would rather go in jan. Does anyone have any advice for me. We are going to be dh, me, ds6, dd4. They have never been anywhere but MN and IA and will be there very first trip anywhere.

I am very excited yet very nervous about our first trip it will be a budget trip as we have just decide as of yesterday that we really need this trip. we have the cash in hand and have about $2500 saved and can not save anymore between now and then and we are doing ok with our money and can freely spend this money. So far this morning I have come up with 7 nights at the all star movie $1292.24 with the code yre. Gas to get there and back $200 . Food for 8 days $500. which would leave us with about $500 for everything else. Does this sound ok or am I missing something? Thank you everyone for your help and for this great board!!!! I am going to get to go after years of dreaming about taking my kids

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

i think 500 for food might be a little low. but last year we did 4 days with a adults and 2 DD's (8,4) on about 250 for meals. unless you want a charactor meal to make your vacation magical. i hope this helps

 

[Thumper's Tara]

I am very excited yet very nervous about our first trip it will be a budget trip as we have just decide as of yesterday that we really need this trip. we have the cash in hand and have about $2500 saved and can not save anymore between now and then and we are doing ok with our money and can freely spend this money. So far this morning I have come up with 7 nights at the all star movie $1292.24 with the code yre. Gas to get there and back $200 . Food for 8 days $500. which would leave us with about $500 for everything else. Does this sound ok or am I missing something? Thank you everyone for your help and for this great board!!!! I am going to get to go after years of dreaming about taking my kids

I think that the food is a little low too. I am going from 1/21 - 1/27 by myself and I have a budget of $640 for food. I looked at allears at the menus, planned what/where I wanted, calculated it, added tip and tax. I am only planning dinners and I budgeted $10 for breakfast/snacks. I know that this seems a bit tedious but I love to plan and I hate to be worried about $$ on vacation - this may help you when it comes to food!

I hope this helps.

 

[eblack0409]

I agree with previous posts....your budget for food seems low....the best way to get an accurate idea of how much you will spend on food is to check out www.allearsnet.com for menus. You could also take stuff for sandwiches and eat at your hotel...that way you only have to worry about dinners and the possible snack....I would also look into the dining plan...see if it can save you any money...at least check it out for the adults...they kids are probably cheaper just paying for their meals!

Good Luck!

 

[Jodi3530]

Thanks I will check out the menus and plan what we will eat before we leave. We are not planning on any sit down meals as we do not like to eat much when at a park but I don't want to tell the kids no to treats that they would like to have either so I need to prepare for that. Thanks for the great advice!!!

 

[Jon99]

And $200 for gas seems a little low as well considering you are driving from Minnesota...

We will down there for 7 nights and driving from Illinois in a Jeep Liberty, taking $250 for gas and $1000 for spending money, which will include meals..

 

[Jodi3530]

Ok wow has this been a full day of planning. My food budget was looking very sad when I checked out the menus. Here is what I am thinking now going jan 6 -13 staying at all stars movie getting hopper and water parks and more and the dining plan with the code YRD it comes to $1977.96
Gas $250 we are driving a honda which get 34mpg so that should be about right and live on the IA border.
hotel 1 night down 1 back $200 no clue where we are staying yet but thought this sounded ok as it does not need to be fancy
spending $500 plus the kids both have $50 each to use as they want and I have $145 in a change jar that I can cash in for this trip as that is what I was saving it for. Does this sound better?
total is $3172.96 and we will pay cash for all of it no charging in this house.

Ok now I need to book this any advice on this as I have never planned a trip anywhere in my whole life and feeling a little overwhelmed. Ok do I just call disney, book online or call a travel agent???? If they put travel insurance on how do I find out about this as I don't want to pay for something not need? I think I am doing ok for just deciding today that we are going for sure. Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[Thumper's Tara]

Ok wow has this been a full day of planning. My food budget was looking very sad when I checked out the menus. Here is what I am thinking now going jan 6 -13 staying at all stars movie getting hopper and water parks and more and the dining plan with the code YRD it comes to $1977.96
Gas $250 we are driving a honda which get 34mpg so that should be about right and live on the IA border.
hotel 1 night down 1 back $200 no clue where we are staying yet but thought this sounded ok as it does not need to be fancy
spending $500 plus the kids both have $50 each to use as they want and I have $145 in a change jar that I can cash in for this trip as that is what I was saving it for. Does this sound better?
total is $3172.96 and we will pay cash for all of it no charging in this house.

Ok now I need to book this any advice on this as I have never planned a trip anywhere in my whole life and feeling a little overwhelmed. Ok do I just call disney, book online or call a travel agent???? If they put travel insurance on how do I find out about this as I don't want to pay for something not need? I think I am doing ok for just deciding today that we are going for sure. Thanks everyone for your help.

It sounds like you are a bit closer now! AMEN on not charging! I don't charge anything either!!

As for booking, personally, I tend to book directly with the company I am using - if I am flying, I price check at Orbitz, then go to the airline; same thing with hotels, etc. As for with Disney, I plan on booking straight with them. It sounds like you will be most comfortable if you call disney and work with them directly! Good luck!

 

[Jodi3530]

It sounds like you are a bit closer now! AMEN on not charging! I don't charge anything either!!

As for booking, personally, I tend to book directly with the company I am using - if I am flying, I price check at Orbitz, then go to the airline; same thing with hotels, etc. As for with Disney, I plan on booking straight with them. It sounds like you will be most comfortable if you call disney and work with them directly! Good luck!

Thanks for your help. We have been charge free for 4 years now and it is has been a blessing I always hated the spent to much stress when the bill came.

Now to get rid of the excited knot in my stomache and figure out all the places we want to eat at and make those ADR I guess I still have alot of work to do yet. I can't wait to see my kids faces when we tell them we are going soon.

 

[Thumper's Tara]

No problem! I am so excited for you! I would love to hear what you plan on doing!!

ttfn,
Tara