The price of Vacation

[larryz]

Roughly equivalent to a year of college at a state school for one student...

 

[MudQueen22]

We are budgeting about $3800 for our 7 day trip June 2016, but that is driving there in our van and staying in a value.
ETA two adults, 2 kids

 

[kandb]

We are coming to WDW 8/26 thru 9/6. Staying for 11 nights at CBR with free dining (2 nights at $127/night, 9 nights with free dining for $4K) for a family of 5 (2 adults, 2 Disney adults and 1 child). We got round trip flights on JetBlue for the 5 of us from NYC to MCO for around $1200 (got $89 going down when they first opened up), we will bring a little spending money but not much, food and tickets paid for, so just need a little sourvenir money. 11 nights for around $5200 plus a little spending money. Not too bad, we are going to our favorite sit down restaurants, got 2 BOG dinners and 2 Ohana dinner ADR's. Very excited. Hope we don't melt tho

 

[Tissa]

That is why we only stay a week and can not afford both Uni and WDW. It is one or the other. Cuts our costs to about $4k That is driving down and renting a house.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

I am going down in 2 weeks. Here is what it cost so far:

Flight: $328
Universal -- bought annual pass ($400)
Disney -- $400 (5 day hopper)
Car rental -- $225

Of course there will be food and other expenses (gas too). I go alone and will be staying with friends so that is about $1300 to start.

 

[DrivenByDisney]

I typically do not reply to threads when the topic is money or "how much is ...", though I believe that for a family of 5 for 2 weeks and under $10K is a great deal per person, overall. People do vacations differently of course, and when we holiday it is what we want to do, how we want to do it. If we have the means, we do what we can, how we want to do it.

Before we lived in Orlando, our last trip cost well over $10K for 7 nights and that was for two people. Breakdown here (not exact):

Airline: $0.00 - Haven't paid to fly in some time with so many miles from previous careers, etc.
Hotel: 7 nights at the Grand Floridian $11,000
Food/Beverages: $5,000 - TS dinning for lunch & dinner every day at the parks. Dinner two nights at V&A's Chef Table as well
Souvenirs: $2,000 ish (Darn Pandora)
AP Renewal: $957
Tables in Wonderland: $100

Total: $19,000 ish (give or take here and there)

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

December Trip 8 days
2 Adults 1 Disney Adult 1 child
Arrival night Clarion Inn - $60.00
Gas $156 (guessing $3 a gallon x 52 gallons)
1BR at OKW - $0 - Gift from a wonderful DM
Tickets - $568.75 (7 days prorated out of 24 that we will get out of the APs we got for the four of us for approx 1950 after upgrading DVC discount tickets)
Food and misc. - $1200 (just a guess based on the last few trips)

Total $1984.75 with out of pocket on this trip being $1416.00

 

[Fastpassminus]

So I thought our September trip was kinda pricey

3 adults 1 3 year old
I own DVC & " charge " myself 7.00 a point for accounting purposes
234.00 ( 7x12 + 10x15)
1 night AKV 1 bedroom 12 dvc points & 10 OTU DVC points
4 nights BLT. 2 bedroom ( 7x148 = 1036.00)

Total lodging = 1270

Tickets 5 day base tickets bought before the increase with BF Target GCs ( bought with a Target Visa & then turned in for Disney GCs) this came to just under 1100.00

Dining- we are doing the DDP for both legs of the trip. Total about 1000.00 plus tips ( estimating 300)

Flights - used miles only 250 for all 4 RT flights

Extra Magic - MNSSHP - DVC discount - 250 ish
Stroller rental & groceries 150.00

4300.00 ish before souvies & booze lol!

However our January trip is much cheaper

2 adults 1 child 1 night Pop 99.00
4 nights Poly Studio
69 points x7 = 483
1 OTU point 15.00
Lodging 498.00

Tickets Bridge from 5 day base to DVC AP 588.00

Flights 250x2 = 500 ( have enough miles for 1 free flight)

Food 400 3 sit downs & 250 5 QS 150.00 groceries & stroller

2100.00 So 2 trips this year for under 7k is not too shabby

 

[GatorMama]

I haven't looked at it all in one place because I know my husband already blew a gasket knowing the total for resort, dining and Memory Maker. He hasn't even seen the list I put together of other expenses (Mousekeeping tips, alcoholic beverages, Gratuity on meals, MNSSHP tickets…) He really likes getting pieces of it without seeing the whole picture much better. He's not complaining on this grand trip because we've spent SO LITTLE on the last two trips.

In 2011, for two adults and a child under 3, we spent
$300- off-site condo for a week
$350- two nights at WL
$330- park tickets for two
$800- food
$100- souvenirs
Let's round up to $2000 total.

In 2012, two adults, one child under three and one true infant
$300 off-site condo for a week
$330- park tickets for two
$800- food
$100- souvenirs
$90- MNSSHP tickets
Roughly $1600 total.

We've done MNSSHP the last two years. Both times needing 2A and 1 C ticket.

This year….

In 2015 2 adults, 2 children and 1 infant…
$3500 for 7 nights at the Polynesian, dining plan and Memory Maker
$700- park tickets
$200 MNSSHP tickets
$1000- tips, souvenirs and adult beverages
Grand total of $5400…

And I didn't even consider gas at all for those trips… Oh shoot… or parking for the first two trips!

 

[jsrj21]

Surely alot of money. My family and I [3] usually average between 5K and 6K for 9-10 days at WDW with the QSDP. I don't think that that's bad at all. The time that I spend with my wife and son....on vacation is priceless. Once my son decides that he doesn't want to come with us or he's busy in his career, I will look back on the time spent...not the money. That being said, I ALWAYS look for deals and use my AAA and Costco perks whenever possible or applicable. I've taken advantage of free dining [when they had it earlier in the summer] and now we take advantage of room discounts and free park hopper - anything that would help. Airfare has been a killer recently but I blame my wife [yes, throwing her under the bus] because she was iffy about returning to WDW and then changes her mind last minute. I start planning my WDW vacation right after Christmas....tend to get really good airfare deals around that time. I had round trip tickets for us 3 from NYC on Jetblue for $740.00 [great times too]. The waiting around for my wife cost me $450.00 by the time I booked....and I had to go with Delta because Jetblue would have been $600.00 more.

I also have a Disney Visa and usually average between $300.00-$400.00 in reward points to use. We usually use this for dining at a restaurant we haven't been to, a snack or appetizer not covered in the QSDP, and some souvenirs here and there.

Hope you have a great time with your family.

 

[kandb]

To the gentleman that spent $11K for 7 nights at the Grand Floridian. OMG, I don't think I would ever leave the room if I spent that much for a hotel room. Obviously, it's a suite. Do you spend a lot of time in the room?

 

[MrInfinity]

Grand Total for seven nights/six days food and incidentals = 772
772/seven days / two people = $55 per day per person

Always budget lodging, car, and theme park tickets separately.

OP -- You and I think alike for food and incidental budgeting.

I agree w your numbers... $55/person is okay. But really that's $55/adult for you. Tweak it up to $62 and you're at the DDP price. Kids are about 1/3 of that. So the OP had a party of 5, but that's not necessarily 5 adults. I don't know his mix... but if it's 2 adults and 3 kids, then that's why your math doesn't agree w his. The 3 kids combined are only approximately the cost per person of 1 adult.

 

[brugerstein]

In 2008, when I was in training to become a PhotoPass CM, during one of our classes, we were told that the average family of 4 attending WDW spent $1000 per day, so make it magical. Add 7 more years of inflation and price increases and you can see the prices the guests are posting are not out of line. A super great vacation, so save up your money and enjoy!

 

[pmaurer74]

our trips are usually $3500-5000 for 6 nights not counting travel for 4. We have never done Universal due to the expense but since we have APs this year, I am planning on Universal in June. I think you may be a little high on food.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

2 weeks is too much....IMO plus 4,000 on food????

 

[Mike&AllisMom]

2 weeks is too much....IMO plus 4,000 on food????

We never have enough time We are actually going to spend more on food than $4000. We do 2 TS a day and many are signature. But, it is possible to do less if your budget doesn't allow it. We have ate many QS meals in the past and had wonderful trips.

 

[JenB1104]

Your cost seems about right for that length of trip. We just went (3 of us) for a week renting DVC at Grand Floridian, ate what we wanted, drank what we wanted and did a lot of extras (fireworks cruise, BBB) and it was about 7700.00 for the trip. We save so that when we do a vacation we can enjoy it and not worry about what we are spending. The trip is paid for before we leave. It was worth every penny to have that time as a family and I'd do it again. Have fun on your trip!