Realistically...how much?

[SCHBR'smom]

How much would we need for budget friendly quick vacation? We had a rough end of last year, and the economy isn't helping our funding much. But DH told me that if I can find the money, we can make a trip to Disney World this summer.
Keep in mind, we have a large family, 5 kids, 3 of which need tickets.
We would drive, if gas prices don't go above $3/gal then we would need $450-500 for gas.
If we rent a house, we could cook our own food, which would save a lot I'm sure. We would have to worry about parking, though.
We have a few tickets that Pop Century sent us to make up for some problems we had on our last trip, 2 days each.
So, what do you think? How much would we actually need to make a trip happen?

Thanks

 

[Steve's Girl]

You're probably still looking at $4,000 plus.

 

[8disneyfans]

If you went during FD that might save you a little.
We have a family of 8 so I feel for you.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

If you went during FD that might save you a little.
We have a family of 8 so I feel for you.

But free dining is only available if you stay on site at a Disney property and you would definitely need at least two rooms. I believe even the Family suites at ASMusic are too small for your party, but I could be wrong.

 

[8disneyfans]

PP you are right. FD is only if you stay on property. Not that I am for this, but since the little ones are very little would a family suit work? If they don't have to buy them tickets....
Our kiddos are older so we always have to get 2 rooms!

 

[daleswife]

FYI....Two rooms at a value is still cheaper than getting a family suite at ASMu!!! Family suite runs 187/night and the rooms run 82 for a standard room......$164/night!!! Unless something has changed that Im not aware of........Good luck. I hope you can pull it off....

 

[DisneymoonJess07]

I did a quick search on the Disney website for you. August 23 to 29 at the Fort Wilderness Cabins would be about $2900, including the Free Dining deal. It would have enough space for all of you. It looked like All Star Music does as well, but I couldn't find it for the dates in August (i.e. summer) that have the Free Dining.

I would suggest playing around on the Disney website and seeing what you can find! Good luck!!

ETA: I would consider also calling Disney reservations and seeing what they can help you with in terms of what the PP said about getting two rooms and things like that. All the best!

 

[enchantingodin]

I'm thinking get a ASMu FS during FD. If you little ones don't need tickets then I think you might be able to have them in a roll away. You might want to call and double check that though.

Even still 2 rooms at a value resort is still cheaper than a fam suit. Only you won't have the fridge/micro. You do have to but a 1-day ticket per person for this package. But you could get a 2 day ticket and use the others you alreay have... So you'll get to park AND eat for free. Not a bad deal I say.

But for the numbers - I just priced a value resort with FD for 4 nights for 2A and 2C with 2 day tickets came out to 958.88. So I'm guessing you could do a 4 night stay for the family including gas for under 2500 bucks.

 

[Darcy03231]

We went in August 2007 with a party of 9. I rented a home in the Clear Creek Community in Clermont. It was about a 10-15 min drive to Disney's Main Gate. Actually, it took less time to drive and park than it did to take the bus when we stayed on-site at All Star Movies. The home I stayed in was similar to this one:

http://www.vacationrentals.com/vacation-rentals/30421.html

It was convenient to the parks, shopping and restaurants. Total for a week including all taxes and fees was $700. Parking was $12/day so that was another $84.00. We ate most of our meals in so I didn't count the cost of that as I would have had to buy groceries at home. We found the best prices were at the Super WalMart right down the street. We brought our own water and cystal light and snacks into the parks with us. What we found worked best for us was to have a big breakfast and get to the parks for opening. We brought drinks & snacks in with us. Around 1 pm we returned to the house for a swim and something to eat and then went back to the parks at night. We ended up eating a few meals in the parks and just did counter service to keep costs down. If you wanted to spend all day in the parks you could pack a cooler with lunch and leave it in the car and go back to eat (we've done this at amusement/water parks near our house). Your biggest cost is going to be the park tickets. We did the best at Undercover Tourist.

Good luck!

 

[SCHBR'smom]

Thanks for all the replies. There's a lot of good ideas. I guess I should make a chart and compare all of the options, like free dining or cooking ourselves, on-site or off-site. I appreciate all the help. It doesn't seem as overwhelming when others give you ideas.

 

[Chereya]

You might also want to post your question on the Budget Boards.

Your kids are young, I dunno if free dining is going to outweigh the costs of needing two rooms/suite. An off site rental is a lot cheaper and you have the kitchen in which to prep however many meals you want to. Breakfast can be eaten before you leave for the parks and you could pack a cooler with lunch. Since you're already planning to drive, you can easily bring your own groceries, make grocery stops, pick up pizza or cheap meals, etc. Daily parking is a small price to pay, IMO, for all the added flexibility.

Just make yourself a spreadsheet with all the hypothetical costs (upgrading your tickets with added days, 3 child tickets, gas, hotel, food, souvenirs, etc) and take it from there!

Good luck and I hope you can make it work!

 

[Darcy03231]

One thing I forgot to mention was that we made a bunch of stuff our first night there to make it easier for meals. Since you're driving you could make casseroles at home and freeze them to bring with you (I used the throw away pans). We made several casseroles along with a big potato salad, macaroni salad and tossed salad. Our rental home came with a grill so we did grill out quite a bit. I also bought a crock pot when we got there (we flew), but again since you're driving you could bring one from home. We were there for two weeks and did:

Pulled pork in crock pot, served on buns with potato salad, macaroni salad and tossed salad.
Meatballs and spaghetti sauce in crock pot (used this for meatball subs and for spaghetti & meatballs).
Mexican Chicken in crock pot, served with tortillas and salad
Wicked Chicken casserole
Mexican Shepards Pie casserole
Hamburgers & Hotdogs on grill,with potato salad, macaroni salad and tossed salad.
Chicken on grill, with potato salad, macaroni salad and tossed salad.
Steak on grill, with potato salad, macaroni salad and tossed salad.
Pork Chops on grill, with potato salad, macaroni salad and tossed salad.

As you can see we kept it simple. We also used paper and plastic to cut down on the clean up time.

 

[rrobin3051]

We too are a family of five and we are going for about 3500. We rented a home in indian creek, we are going for 11 nights. That is with airfare, rental car, gas for the car, food, the park tickets and parking. Now I plan on mostly cooking at the house. WE eat breakfast at home, pack lunches for the little ones and take with us to the parks, come back home around nap time. The kids eat at the park and we eat when we get home and have peace and quiet. We stay at the house until after dinner. But then again we go in july so for us it is a must. I dont seem to mind cooking on vacation for some reason. Hubby usually bbq's outside while the kids are swimming. I think you just need to price out what you want. Look on vacationrentals.com or vrbo.com and price some houses, then price your tickets, your gas , your parking and your food. Good luck and look at it as a challenge. Hubby said we could go if I could do it for around 3500. Like I said we are even flying.

 

[SCHBR'smom]

I like the cooking ahead and freezing idea. I don't really like to cook on vacation. Of course, I don't really like cooking not on vacation either.But, as a SAHM, its in my job description.

 

[pakhowe]

Do you belong to AAA? Not sure if you can get a parking pass from them? That might save you some $. You may have to buy your tickets from them though.

 

[nicolemomof4cuties]

We are a family of 6 all need tickets and my oldest counts as an adult. We are staying at All Star Music in 2 rooms with park hoppers Sept 18- Sept 18. We have the Free dining package. The WDW total 3700.00 Our air fare was 886.00. Our total is 4886.00. I am sure that you could go for much cheaper. For one you have one less person to buy a ticket for. Second you are driving that is around 400.00 cheaper there. And you probably would not be ther for 10 nights.

 

[nicolemomof4cuties]

OK, I went on the website and booked you a faux trip for the week of Aug 30- Sept 5 and inputted all of your childrens ages per your signature. I put you in a family suite at ASMU. The total with regular 7 day Park Hoppers and free dining and the trip insurance was $2755.71. If you drive add another $300.00 or $400.00. That would be $3055.71 or $3155.71. But if you call WDW and ask for 2 connecting rooms instead of the family suite you can save a couple hundred dollars, I think. I know that we did on out trip.