Tell me what you think

[Zoemakes5]

Okay, have a trip budget here that I want you to take a peek at.....

Van rental via Alamo: 370.00 (for 10 days rental here at home)
Estimated Cost of Gas: 345.00 (according to estimation site)
Hotel: 471.00 (6 nights kids suite at Holiday Inn near park)

Total so far: 1186.00

Through mousesavers, found Tickets ranging anywhere from 1080 for 4 day hoppers to 1165 for 5 day hopper with character breakfast included (which is what I'd prob. want to do for the 80 some difference in price.)

So, for the whole trip, we're looking at a total of 2351, if we get the most expensive package.

What do you think?? It's been so long, I "think" this is a good deal, but want feedback.
Oh, FYI, it's for a family of five---3 adults (though one is only 11!), 2 children, the week of Thanksgiving, so no good deals on condo's, etc. are available.

 

[goodeats]

How much are plane tickets from Minnesota? You may be better off flying with gas prices, if you found a good deal of course. But then I guess you'd need to stay at a value resort on property. Do you need hotels and such on the way down. It just seems like such a long way to drive!

Don't forget to budget for food and other fun things.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

I checked out the MouseSavers link for the passes/meal vouchers combos. You would be better off to buy your passes thru the MouseSavers Ticketmania link and paying out of pocket for the character breakfast.

The difference in cost between an adult 5-day hopper w/breakfast and the Ticketmania 5-day MYW Hopper (expiry) is almost $30 BEFORE you pay for shipping at the OrlandoFunTickets.com website. Since an adult character breakfast only costs $27.00 (with tax and 15% gratuity), you're really not coming out ahead of the game. I would stick with the Ticketmania tickets and either pay out of pocket for the character breakfast or skip the character breakfast entirely.

 

[Zoemakes5]

How much are plane tickets from Minnesota? You may be better off flying with gas prices, if you found a good deal of course. But then I guess you'd need to stay at a value resort on property. Do you need hotels and such on the way down. It just seems like such a long way to drive!

Don't forget to budget for food and other fun things.

Honestly, flying would add over $1000 to the trip, as we'd still need a vehicle down there. We can't do a value at WDW because there are 5 of us, and the kids are just too little to stay in their own room with no guarantee of getting connecting rooms.
We've actually driven it before. The trip down is honestly not all that bad. The trip back is pretty tiring. Last time we left at 10pm on Thursday night, drove through to Atlanta (with a four hour stop at Friends house in Birminham AL) spent the night, and then got into Orlando at 5 on Saturday night. Since then, we've actually done similar trips with no stop. Depends on how we're doing.