The price of Vacation

[aarmando20]

I just finished booking my vacation for a family of 5 and almost fell out of my chair. Is it just me or are the prices crazy anymore. We are going for 2 weeks and the breakdown is below. We aren't even flying down we are driving.

Universal Tickets (3 Days) $810.00
Disney Tickets $1,805.00
House $2,700.00
Gas $350.00
Spending & food $4,000.00
Total $9,665.00

 

[ArwenMarie]

For a two-week vacation for five people, that doesn't seem that bad.

 

[DisneyFive]

I just finished booking my vacation for a family of 5 and almost fell out of my chair. Is it just me or are the prices crazy anymore. We are going for 2 weeks and the breakdown is below. We aren't even flying down we are driving.

Universal Tickets (3 Days) $810.00
Disney Tickets $1,805.00
House $2,700.00
Gas $350.00
Spending & food $4,000.00
Total $9,665.00

Well, strip that down to 1 week, which is more typical, and now you're at $4800, which seems very reasonable to me.

We're typically around $5000-$6000 including airfare for our family of 5 for 8 nights, but we've had free dining every trip. We booked a non-Disney cruise this fall for our family and it isn't any less costly, that's for sure.

Not that I'm defending Disney's prices, I'm just saying that you're numbers don't look out of line.

Dan

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

For 2 weeks that sounds low to me but you are renting a house and we stay in one of the disney resorts.

We usually spend around 7,000.00 for a week for 4 of us. I haven't even added up our next trip yet. We are staying in 3 different resorts and doing Disney and Universal so it'll be pretty expensive. I've got a Disney AP but had to buy tickets for the other 3.

We are driving as well.

Now I feel like I need to go add it all up but I'm afraid too. LOL

 

[agavegirl1]

Broken down per person that's less than $2000 per person. Sounds about right. Actually, since you are renting a house and not flying, it's a very good price. I do agree that when you add it all up it is a shocking number. I try not to do that .... often. I am just paying as I plan so I know it's taken care of and can relax.

 

[apicozzi]

It's a two week vacation for 5 people! The price is not unreasonable at all when you break it down. We typically spend $6-7k for a week with 4 people.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I would think you'd be able to knock a grand off your rental and 2 grand off your food without trying too hard.

 

[NavyDad]

I just finished booking my vacation for a family of 5 and almost fell out of my chair. Is it just me or are the prices crazy anymore. We are going for 2 weeks and the breakdown is below. We aren't even flying down we are driving.

Universal Tickets (3 Days) $810.00
Disney Tickets $1,805.00
House $2,700.00
Gas $350.00
Spending & food $4,000.00
Total $9,665.00

That certainly is a lot of money.

We've been able to extend our 1 week disney trips into about 10 days combined Orlando trip that runs us a bit over $6K.

Costs have risen but at the same time I think a lot of us expect more out of a vacation than 30 years ago. When my I was a kid we tried to vacation but as much as we could but roadside motels, picnic lunches and wooden roller coasters were about all we could afford. I remember my parents driving through the night and switching off driving and sleeping to save money on motel stays.

It looks like you are from the Philly area. PA has some of the best camping in the eastern U.S. You can do a 2 week camping trip in one of the PA State parks for about 5% of the cost of a trip to Orlando.

We like to mix our high cost Orlando trips with some cheaper trips to give our kids some great experiences without going broke

 

[asmit4]

Our jobs won't allow for a 2 week vacation -EVER....so we take 4 or 5 night trips generally.

For a 5 night trip we tend to budget 1K per adult, and 500 per child. So for 5 people for 5 nights I'd budget 3500. You are going for 14 nights- figure that's about 3 times 5 nights and I'm at 10500.

YUP that's a good price. I know it's a ton of $$$ but it's right in line to me.

 

[BlackMagicWoman]

I think I spent like $4.5K for three for a eight days last year...with free dining.

 

[skatalite]

I would think you'd be able to knock a grand off your rental and 2 grand off your food without trying too hard.

 

[kristinradico]

I just finished booking my vacation for a family of 5 and almost fell out of my chair. Is it just me or are the prices crazy anymore. We are going for 2 weeks and the breakdown is below. We aren't even flying down we are driving.

Universal Tickets (3 Days) $810.00
Disney Tickets $1,805.00
House $2,700.00
Gas $350.00
Spending & food $4,000.00
Total $9,665.00

Thats seems very reasonable to me. We're a family of 5 plus toddler and for 6 nights at AoA with military discount was more than your house rental.

 

[MrsDuck]

I would think you'd be able to knock a grand off your rental and 2 grand off your food without trying too hard.

Agreed.

I don't think your bottom line really looks that bad.

 

[Adventure1]

The food and misc. seems a bit low

 

[luvmy2babies]

I would think you'd be able to knock a grand off your rental and 2 grand off your food without trying too hard.

Count me in on agreeing with this. I have a family of 3 and the longest trip we have taken was 10 days and my son was still free admission then, but I also pay for everything on my own so I have to be careful.

I really don’t know if you need $4,000 for spending money and food when you have a house where you can cook at least one meal a day and a vehicle so that you can drive wherever you want to get groceries.

I'd re-evaluate a couple of things, the first being the amount of souvenir money each person is getting.

 

[wdwlver]

That sounds pretty reasonable to me. We're doing a split stay GFV/YC, family of four, for 8 nights with air, tix and regular dining plan and it is around 7500.

 

[chrismb22]

yeah, that's not too bad. I look at it this way, I go to Disney every three years and it costs me TOTAL about $6500 (including dining and air) -- two adults and one toddler. This means it would be about $2167 per year -- which is what the shore costs me (by the time I am done -- and there is no flying involved).

It's all in how you do the math

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Our typical 2 week WDW vacation costs us about $8k - easy to see that hitting $10k when you add Universal.

 

[blessedby3]

We are going for 2 weeks in June with 7 people. Two of them are flying back after 8 days.
We are also driving.
Our costs:
Lodging (Bonnet Creek) -$2198
(2 nights at AOA) -$286
Disney Tickets (10 day and one 6 day)-$1775
(DD and DSIL are paying for their tickets…$300 OOP, they had gotten gift cards for Christmas)
Sea World Tickets-$323
parking-$150
Gas -not sure

Total--$4732 plus gas money
Our DD and DSIL are paying for their park tickets and most of their food.

We have $750 (this will be a bit more by the time we go) in Disney Rewards that we will use for a few TS meals and some CS and some souvineers (we generally don't buy much of anything). We will eat breakfast in the condo and bring in snacks and sandwiches some days.

We will get groceries with our weekly budgeted amount that we use at home.
We have lots of gift cards for off site places (Olive Garden, Chick Fil A, Steak and Shake, Cracker Barrel, Chilis, etc.)
I would say we will have an extra $700 or so for whatever (and will bring home what we don't use) so:
$5432 plus gas money
Not too bad for a 2 week vacation:good vibes

OP, I think your spending and food money is really high. Maybe shave some off of that.

 

[practicallyperfect77]

I've calc'd out ~$7300 for 3 adults, 3 kids for a 10 day trip. Granted first 2 nights will be at the beach and last 2 nights will be off site somewhere onsite is 2 rooms at Pop. Now I could totally stay off site the whole time and save more but it's a once and done for my sis and her fam so worth the extra. Plus I'm banking on FD which will offer us more opportunities for character meals. As a PP stated $4k for 2 weeks of food and souvenirs seems kinda high, but maybe you're not planning on eating at the house?