Seeking your valued opinions! (WDW/Cruise/Universal)

[JohnTodd]

Hello all. Thanks for stopping by.

My family (me, wife, 22yo son, 20 yo daughter) are taking a trip to WDW in March. 6 days/7 nights at Wilderness Lodge, after which we will take a 4 day cruise on the Disney Dream to the Bahamas, after which we will spend a day at KSC before spending two days at Universal.

Trip of a lifetime. The stars aligned. Everything fell together at the right time... mainly the money. Right now, airfare, cruise, Disney portion of the trip are completely paid off. Still owe about $2500 on the after-cruise portion.

I currently have $6000 behind lock and key, and I am determined not to touch it until the trip. Last thing I want is to have this amazing trip and have to penny pinch the entire time.

My question- Is it enough? Is it too much? If I pay off the trip from that account I'll have about $3500 left... will that be enough? I'm about 4-5 months away, and stressing because I want to have it paid off, but I don't want to risk not taking enough money with us.

Help? Please?

 

[havaneselover]

$3.5 k would probably be more than enough for my family but I have no clue whether it's enough for yours.

I've cruised DCL 5x. Expenses there would include tips ($12/person/day), excursions, souvenirs, alcohol, photos, spa services, etc. Some families of 4 might spend < $500 and others might spend $2,000.

 

[powellrj]

Its hard to say. We don't drink or buy souvenirs or spa services. We would pay for tips and excursions and that would be it. We would really be on the low end. Think about how you vacation and that should help you come up with a figure.

 

[chris31997]

Just think, if it is all paid for and you have 4-5months to add back to the account. Can you get it back to 6000 by then if not very close to it? Could you have even more saved?

For our family: we would have it all paid off then see the challenge of hitting a goal for the vacation. Incentive

 

[HopperFan]

It might help folks calculate - since you say Disney is paid off guessing you have package, did you book the Dining Plan?

I would be telling my kids that age they should bring money for any souvenirs they want. I rarely need any for myself.

Will you have cruise excursion expenses to pay or are they booked/paid or are you skipping them?

 

[ellie05]

I think that depends if food in Disney is paid for or not and if not how many ADRs do you have? Do you have any special events plan and excursions? I think $3500 is more than enough if everything else is paid for already or just for food assuming you are not doing TS each meal. But if you are planning on excursions and extras with 4 adults I don't think is enough.

I don't think your post has enough information for us to determine.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Disney Dining Plan at 1 counter and 1 quick plus snack per day and refillable mug is $63.70 per person. We do not do the dining plan, and usually end up spending a little less than the dining plan on our food. We don't eat 3 meals a day. Some days we have 2 counter service meals and some days just one counter and one sit down. We have a couple snacks each per day and probably 3 bottled waters a person a day. If you go on that rationale of dining plan pricing at $63.70 per person a day you are looking at right under $2,300 just for food for the 6 days at Disney, 1 at Kennedy and 2 at Universal (no food budget of cruise).

Granted your kids are older, but still being dad you're going to want to buy the kids souvenirs. For 2 of us we would plan $100 / day for souvenirs. So for the family of 4, I'd say 200 / day (for all days of your trip) to cover souvenirs. That might seem high but if everyone ends up getting a t-shirt at Universal that's easily $140 right there. Add on each kid getting a Harry Potter interactive wand, so another $100 right there. So by that math add on an additional $2,600. Even though the cruise is pretty all-inclusive you'll still likely buy some souvenir of the cruise line, cruise photos, etc. Regardless if you think you won't get a lot of souvenirs, you will get caught up in the moment and need everything with the mouse on it.

As the PP said, you have to add on the cruise gratuity you're looking at close to $200.

If you prepaid trip expenses already have the cruise excursions (and transfers between everything) I'd plan on out of pocket once you take the trip of $5,100. It might seem like quite a bit and you will likely come home with extra money. But you don't want to feel like you have to skimp on something during your trip of a lifetime.

DH & I are not big drinkers. When we are at Epcot we would probably have one drink. Same with on a cruise, maybe a drink a day. If you are big drinkers, increase that budget.

You could also give your kids some Disney and Universal gift cards for Christmas to help off-set your souvenir budget. Granted you're still paying for it but then it might come out of what you'd usually spend for Christmas vs vacation. LOL but I think just giving them this amazing trip would be a great gift in itself.

Have a great time, your trip sounds amazing!

 

[mjkacmom]

Disney Dining Plan at 1 counter and 1 quick plus snack per day and refillable mug is $63.70 per person. We do not do the dining plan, and usually end up spending a little less than the dining plan on our food. We don't eat 3 meals a day. Some days we have 2 counter service meals and some days just one counter and one sit down. We have a couple snacks each per day and probably 3 bottled waters a person a day. If you go on that rationale of dining plan pricing at $63.70 per person a day you are looking at right under $2,300 just for food for the 6 days at Disney, 1 at Kennedy and 2 at Universal (no food budget of cruise).

Granted your kids are older, but still being dad you're going to want to buy the kids souvenirs. For 2 of us we would plan $100 / day for souvenirs. So for the family of 4, I'd say 200 / day (for all days of your trip) to cover souvenirs. That might seem high but if everyone ends up getting a t-shirt at Universal that's easily $140 right there. Add on each kid getting a Harry Potter interactive wand, so another $100 right there. So by that math add on an additional $2,600. Even though the cruise is pretty all-inclusive you'll still likely buy some souvenir of the cruise line, cruise photos, etc. Regardless if you think you won't get a lot of souvenirs, you will get caught up in the moment and need everything with the mouse on it.

As the PP said, you have to add on the cruise gratuity you're looking at close to $200.

If you prepaid trip expenses already have the cruise excursions (and transfers between everything) I'd plan on out of pocket once you take the trip of $5,100. It might seem like quite a bit and you will likely come home with extra money. But you don't want to feel like you have to skimp on something during your trip of a lifetime.

DH & I are not big drinkers. When we are at Epcot we would probably have one drink. Same with on a cruise, maybe a drink a day. If you are big drinkers, increase that budget.

You could also give your kids some Disney and Universal gift cards for Christmas to help off-set your souvenir budget. Granted you're still paying for it but then it might come out of what you'd usually spend for Christmas vs vacation. LOL but I think just giving them this amazing trip would be a great gift in itself.

Have a great time, your trip sounds amazing!

Wow, you like your souvenirs! On our last trip (WDW and cruise), my much younger kids got a $25 gc and a tshirt. The only thing I purchased was a few photos. I don't think my 20 year old would have much use for a wand. Now that my youngest are 13, all the kids can spend their own money on vacation.

 

[JohnTodd]

Thank you all for the advice.

We didn't buy the dining plan, because we evaluated it and concluded that we would do better financially without it. We do have reservations for 2 character meals, and we've meeting the rest of the family and friends for a meal at Ohana on the last night. The rest of our meals will be counter service or quick service while we're on the move.

Haven't made any plans for excursions or activities on the ship, mainly because we can't make any plans until January 11th. I know my wife wants a spa day, and we'll go snorkeling at Castaway Cay, but we haven't planned for anything else.

We're not big drinkers or big souvenir buyers. We've already purchased the photopass for the resort, and we might get some ears or a coffee mug, but that's usually the extent of our souvenirs.

It IS entirely possible that we can put away or pay off the $2500 over the last four months, but with the holidays coming up, it would be a challenge. That would put a real squeeze on us.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Thank you all for the advice.

We didn't buy the dining plan, because we evaluated it and concluded that we would do better financially without it. We do have reservations for 2 character meals, and we've meeting the rest of the family and friends for a meal at Ohana on the last night. The rest of our meals will be counter service or quick service while we're on the move.

Haven't made any plans for excursions or activities on the ship, mainly because we can't make any plans until January 11th. I know my wife wants a spa day, and we'll go snorkeling at Castaway Cay, but we haven't planned for anything else.

We're not big drinkers or big souvenir buyers. We've already purchased the photopass for the resort, and we might get some ears or a coffee mug, but that's usually the extent of our souvenirs.

It IS entirely possible that we can put away or pay off the $2500 over the last four months, but with the holidays coming up, it would be a challenge. That would put a real squeeze on us.

You will probably need $200-$250/person for a "spa day", since it doesn't sound like she wants the cheapest treatment. Snorkeling (if you need to rent the equipment) will also cost money. Any excursion day will probably run about $100/person. So, 3 cruise stops with excursions is probably $1K total ($400, $400, $200 - I made Castaway cheaper, b/c it will be). The spa day is $500 if your wife and daughter do it. Tips are $200 and you'll probably spend another $100/each on board (either fancy meal, a drink, a souvie, etc) for $400 total - this will happen. So, the cruise is likely $2100 alone. Skipping excursions or the spa day will drop this, but I think you'll spend $1K on the cruise as a bare minimum.

3 Disney TS meals for 4 adults (all buffets) will be $250 each, or $750. Add on $15/CS meal per person and if you eat 3 meals a day over your 9 days (7 Disney, 2 Universal, 1 KSC minus your 3 TS) for 27 meals for $1620 total on CS and a final tally for food of $2370. You can reduce this by ditching TS, eating 2 meals a day, eating offsite, sharing meals, etc, but this also has no alcohol cost, so it could be higher.

So, a full cruise and Theme Park dining (no souvies, refill cups) is $4470 - add on $500 for some of the things you wanted and you probably really need $5K to be at all comfortable for an out-of-pocket trip of a lifetime (I'd have your whole lock box to give you buffer to add another fun thing or two in the theme parks)...

 

[JohnTodd]

So, a full cruise and Theme Park dining (no souvies, refill cups) is $4470 - add on $500 for some of the things you wanted and you probably really need $5K to be at all comfortable for an out-of-pocket trip of a lifetime (I'd have your whole lock box to give you buffer to add another fun thing or two in the theme parks)...

Yeah, see... that's what I've been thinking. The worst thing to have happen would be to run out of money on the last day and flight home. Looks like I was right in thinking I'll leave the mattress money untouched and just work to pay off the balance of the trip over the next 3 months. Thank you!

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I think $3,500 is more than enough for 4 adults. Is it a 3 or 4 night cruise (you mentioned 4 days)? You can have a WONDERFUL cruise and not book a single excursion - our 3 night cruise we have coming up we are not booking a single excursion because there's so much to do on the ship.

You sound like a pretty reasonable family while on vacation - minimal souvenirs and alcohol. My family is the same way. My kids are much younger than yours (nearly 8 and 6) and we still don't purchase much - maybe $100 total for all 4 of us during an entire week's-10 day vacation. And while we're on vacation with the kids we don't drink alcohol.

I'm curious what your eating habits are. While my family is younger than yours which equates to less spending, I can't imagine it'd be THAT much more. We averaged about $90 a day with tips and snacks at WDW. That included one character and two buffets. I can't imagine you'd spend much more than $140 per day.

I'd imagine $1,000 will be more than enough for the cruise even if you did a couple excursions. And for food I'd say $1,500 total. Throw in a couple souvenirs and drinks and I'd say $2,800 would be a very comfortable amount. $3,500 would be MORE THAN enough for your trip.