Re-thinking the whole thing

[SKFamily]

Guess I should have looked further before I got my hopes up. I thought that with airfare and hotels covered we could do the trip no problem in a year. Now that I've looked at some other costs, I don't think so. My biggest concern has been budgeting for things like park passes, rides, food, tips, scooter rental, other transportation, along with extras that just seem to pop up while travelling.

I still have no idea what it would all add up to in CDN $$ for 4 of us to go next Easter, but I'm sure it's beyond what we can handle even with the airfare and hotel covered.

I hate to be snoopy, but can anybody who is going this Easter or has gone recently give me a real idea of what it would cost for two adults, two kids (3 & 13) to go for a week at probably peak travel times? (end of March - Easter break) Dh wants to stay onsite, not rent a car, and go to Universal Studios. Right now I just can't see it happening, at all. I was thinking we would have $8000 - $9000 total (Canadian) by then, and that would do the trip. Now I'm really wondering if I was out to lunch.

 

[DSNY FN]

8 to 9K should be very doable if you book say pop cetury or All Stars on site they are both value resorts and will fit your family size just fine. Passes are the biggest expense you will face. Get a fridge rental for the room and have milk and cereal for breakfast cuts down on 1 meal you have to pay for every day. also check out www.mousavers.com lots of great saving tips on there

 

[pumpkinboy]

OK so here's my tally:
10 nights OKW studio (on-site, w/kitchenette): us$2200 not taxed(assume peak time, renting from DVC member)
Park passes (Assumes 7 day PHP, 3 over 10 yrs, 1 child): us$1244 after tax - you could do better with regular PHs supplemented with a small UPH or PHP for days you want to go to a water park.
Airfare, purchased at 330 days (checked Continental, perhaps better deal available, perhaps not on Holiday week): us$2200 after taxes and fees.
Towncar or Mears from MCO to WDW: us$95
Total before spending $$$, groceries & meals: us$5,739 or ~C$7600

Now your kitchenette saves you the expense of breakfast and snacks in the parks, being on-site obviates the need for a rental car. I expect you could pare down park passes somewhat too, and maybe airfare by picking better days (I chose friday and monday as travel days, maybe thurs would be better, probly not if Easter week). I think budgeting C$8,500 should do the trick with allowance for overrun in the eating out dept (so maybe C$9,000).

It would probably be a better deal over Canadian Thxgiving, since that is not a holiday week in US (yeah there's Columbus Day, but just a weekend for most). The crowds are down too, and I expect the flights might be a bit cheaper. Just a thought.

Of course who knows what'll happen with the C$:us$ exchange rate, but with "dubya" in charge, it can't be good for the US economy. Good luck!

 

[iluvtink]

Don't re-think too hard! IMHO, where there's a will, there's a way! Do all the figuring you can on your own, then get a TA to see if he or she can do better. (We use Dreams Unlimited) that hosts this board.

Do you have a Disney VISA? If you charge everything you can (don't forget to set aside the cash to pay for it all!), in a year you could have quite a few Disney Dollars saved up, and they can be used for food, hotel, etc.

Also, check out the 2nd e-bay thread, http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=522322&highlight="ebay+your+way". There's also a gigantic thread, the first e-bay your way to Disney that will take you til next Easter to read, but it has some great ideas. Here's the first thread link: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=436630&highlight="ebay+your+way"

Wish upon a star, too!

Kim

 

[Scratch42]

You'll have to sign up for all these sites and receive their e-mail updates. Wait for specials. Last year they offered a Fairy Tale Package. Maybe they will offer something again. Keep looking!

Travelling at Easter, there is nothing special at Disney! In October over our Thanksgiving, they have MNSSHP! Great Weather and less crowded! It's very busy at Easter Time!

You have to do your research! Go over to the Budget Boards, they have some ideas too!

Good Luck!

Look into what Pumpkinboy advises, makes sense!

Scratch


PS: IluvTink - Canucks are not privy to the Disney Visa, at least not yet!

 

[SKFamily]

We are stuck with pretty much "peak" travel times. Dh is a teacher, so we have to travel during school holidays. Pumkinboy, Thanksgiving here is only a long weekend. With dh's extra two days we would only have 5 days to do the whole trip, and October is a really busy time for him. We would only go for 7 days period anyway - 2 days travelling, but still.... And we don't get a break in February like a lot of Canadian school's do. The kids may get a break, but Teacher's Convention is during that week and is mandatory or you don't get paid for the days.

I'm looking at other things, now. Either change when we go, or change where we go, period. What a bummer, but I know that when things seem to good to be true, they are. Being able to even plan this trip seemed to good to be true and it is.

On to other things.

 

[iluvtink]

Scratch42...

Thanks for the headsup on the Disney VISA ... I won't be suggesting that alternative again.

All I can say is, no DV for our Canuck friends??? That's unAmerican!!! Hope it changes for y'all soon!

 

[the4moores]

We spent 3500 Canadian on our trip for 11 days. We drove and also camped at FW which helped with the expenses. We bought 5 day PHP for 3 of us. My 2 year old was free. We went to the parks for 3 days and also went to Sea World. I think you should be able to do it.

 

[Scratch42]

Maybe then Disney will think it's a Good Thing!

'Cause they be missing a whole lot of customers!LOL

I would switch over in a heartbeat!LOL

SKFamily - the only way to go is Rent Points (or buy) at a DVC Resort!

Let's hope you can make it!

Scratch

 

[DSNY FN]

With 8 to 9K we could do 2 weeks and have done 2 weeks with 3 adults and a child we had 2 people drive the car down in your case not an option being from Sask. We then sent the rest from Detroit via Northwest. We bought all our passes at the dis store and stayed @ All Star Music we spent about 7500 for 2 weeks.
The4moores are you guys going to come to the London Dis Meet @ Tiger Jacks on the 27th of March?

 

[pumpkinboy]

When does DH (and the kids) go back in the Fall? The time around Labour Day becomes "adventure season" at DVC, which makes the OKW studio even cheaper. For 10 days in an OKW studio (Sat thru Mon, same as the Easter comparison) with you flying back on Labour Day, the room price drops to us$1,180 (the last few weeknights are a mere 8 pts or $80 a piece, while the weekend nite at the beginning is 24 pts). If your school/work schedule accommodates, this timing works well for cheaper travel. Plus you'd have a few more month's worth of savings.

Just a thought.

 

[SKFamily]

Not sure yet when we'll go back in the fall. Usually after labour day for kids, hard to say with dh. Teachers go back a couple of days before the kids and need those days. I'm taking a break from the hoping and planning for a while. We'll put away as much $$ as we can until September and see what things look like then. You'd think that with a year's notice this would be possible, but not when you take into consideration the exchange rate.

 

[hockey mom]

We went over Easter last year. I think 8-9 grand is very doable.
Airfare- no idea from your neck of the woods so I will say $500 each.
Hotel- when we went there was a CDN discount-7 nights at POP @85(with some sort of code) =595 us or 804 CDN
Tickets- 5 day hoppers =975us or 1312 CDN
Universal - 3x120=360 +110=470 CDN
Food=100 x7=700us or945 CDN
Car service- 3 leg trip-$200us or 270 CDN
Stroller/scooter rental- not sure but at $15/day =105us or $175 CDN

My grand total comes to $5976 CDN. Lots left over for souvineers, snacks, and MARGARITAS. LOL

 

[cdnmickeylover]

There are only 2 of us so I can't give figures that would be comparable but here's how we save.

We drive -- this way we can take our own snack foods, esp a case of water and pop. Yes it's two days driving but we consider this part of the vacation. We rent books on CD from Cracker Barrel and the drive goes fast. This might not be an option for you since you're from Sask though. We have a car fridge which can also plug into the room -- we go shopping while there and then eat breakfast in the room and take lunch with us into the park. We both have to watch what we eat anyway so it kills 2 birds with one stone -- we save money and watch what we eat. Too tempting otherwise. Dinner for a week is a couple of sit down restaurants with counter service the other nights. Even if you don't stay in OKW you could rent a fridge and certainly do breakfast in the room -- cereal etc.

Hotel -- we've gotten some good deals here just by watching mousesavers and these boards. We stayed at All Stars in Sept 2002 for $47/night -- couldn't beat the price. Last October we got Cdn at par for $86/night at CBR. All prices US.

Tickets -- have to agree that this could be your biggest expense. You can (and should because they are cheaper) buy them ahead of time. The regular PHP don't expire. We bought 7 PHP's and used them for 2 trips and we still have 2 pluses left. Last Oct we bought AP's because we are going twice in a year.

Don't give up the trip quite yet. Disney is worth it.

 

[SKFamily]

Ok I won't give up yet - just temper the planning and enthusiasm so far ahead lol. Hockey mom your budget looks doable, and gives me some hope. We would actually fly out of Calgary (close to family who can look after our dog and vehicle). Not sure about the $100/day for food. Do you do breakfast in your room?

I called a travel agency in Calgary & talked to someone who books a lot of Disney trips. I gave her our dates, told her what our maximum budget would be, gave her a couple of options and she's going to work on it. Basically I asked her if I was nuts to think it could be done, she's going to figure it out for me. But we don't want to stay in a cruddy hotel, either. I could drive myself nuts and use up a lot of internet time trying to figure this all out. (and my house is beginning to show some evidence of the amount of time I've spent in the past week..... better get to work around here! )

 

[hockey mom]

Yes we do breakfast in our room. For example at Ak if you bought the vouchers it would be $34 for lunch and a popcorn or ice cream treat and bottle of water later. Leaves $66 for dinner, very doable at pop.
Even one character dinner would be $70 plus tip and tax and you had a couple of grand to play around with.
If you are not going until next easter ask family members for American money for birthdays and christmas. My family always give my kids this for their birthdays right before we leave.
The other thing I did forget was tipping. $4-5/ day at hotel = $35 and $15- 20 for car service. $75 CDN

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Housework or planning a Disney trip? That's a tough call but planning would certainly come out on top.

Glad that you aren't going to give up.

 

[DisneyJules]

I just got back, not sure if it's more expensive around easter. We cut a lot of costs by not renting a car and shuttling to Disney World, as well as eating the continental breakfast. Stick with counter service which is still pricey but nothing near to what you pay at a sit down restaurant. We stayed at the Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista, which was VERY standard, nothing special about it but when it comes down to just needing a place to go to sleep at night, it served it's purpose. Bring some snacks from home and store them in a backpack in case you or the kids get hungry, I brought some granola bars and crackers. I hope everything works out for you

 

[RJS]

If you have $8 - $9k, give or take, to plan with I would say stop tempering your enthusiasm and plan your heart out. It is very doable. If you fly from Calagary you're looking at about $2400 max, probably a little less if you fly from Helena.

Hotel - 7 nights at POP @85 =$595 US or 800 CDN, similar cost if you rent a 2 or 3 bedroom condo somewhere like the Windsor Palms - includes full kitchen, in-unit washer and dryer, nice pool...

Park Tickets- 5 day hoppers = 975 US or 1300 CDN

Universal - 500 CDN would be lots

Food=100 x7=700 US or 910 CDN

Think about a car. We are getting a full size car through Budget for $180 US, and you can just add out of country rental insurance to your policy at home for $2 per year (State Farm) and not pay the additional when in the states.

That's about $6k so far, depending on the car. That leaves $2 -3K to play with. You have covered everything except trinkets and incidentals. You are way on track for a Disney trip.
Relax, enjoy, PLAN!!! You can go to Disney!!!




Good luck, even though I don't think you need it. We are doing it on less than you are plannning and we don't feel we will be missing out on anything.

 

[Debbie]

Just a quick thought. Buy your Universal tickets now at CAA at the Canadian at Par (3 day) price. The tickets are good for ever, and that would be one thing off your list to save for Go and have fun!