Thinking about a Christmas Trip

[siestakeys04]

I am seriously thinking about a Christmas trip. This would be a surprise for the kids. Hopefully I will be able to do this, I am waiting on a decision from a second interview I have had in Feb. and they have yet to make their choice. I really want this job and this would be a great ending to the year.

My question is about how much did you spend during this time of the year and where did you stay??? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[lindakmonty]

we went this past Christmas...Dec. 14-26th and I believe it cost us around 5k. I usually don't spend that much, but I really wanted to stay at the Poly this time...so naturally, we did This time, we're just going to stay at SOG and it won't be near as much... this time we're booked for 15-26th and SOG will only be $117 a night

hotel $1287
food $1000
tickets $758..
gas/food to drive down $400... so, this time will probably only be about $3500
we could easily shave that down and spend less time there...but what fun would that be

 

[ObsessedwiththeMouse]

We went from Dec. 17-Dec 24th and did a split stay.

Our first 3 nights were at the Port Orleans Riverside and cost us $197 for all 3 night.

Our last 5 nights were at the Poly and were $1110 total. (Keep in mind that our hotels were a cast member rate and were 50% off)

We drove and spent $500 in gas, roundtrip. (about 1200 miles one way)

Food was the biggest expense. I divided all of our meals into 2 categories......big meals and smaller meals. All of our sit down, expensive meals (1900 Park Fare, Chef Mickey's...) totaled $500. I took along $100/day for other meals that weren't at a reservation restaurant....$800

I took down a total of $3000 Disney dollars (which I purchased about 6 months before we took our trip) and had a few hundred left over.

Going over Christmas is magical and really special. Have a great trip!

 

[Kevin355]

Went from 12-20 to 12-25...drove. Best $3500 I have spent. Stayed at the CBR. Only issue we had was Christmas morning, the MK was filled to capacity by 10:00AM. Went to Animal Kingdom and DTD instead. Then went to MK around 6 and watched the fireworks. INCREDIBLE.

 

[Devil_Dog99]

Keep in mind Disney's new resort pricing schedules. DW and I were able to take advantage of the 'loophole' that allowed us to check in a day or two before Holiday season started and pay Value rates. Throw in a AAA discount and we only paid $119/night last year from Dec 16-29 at CBR. Same dates this year bring room rate almost 40% higher (maybe more - I forget) because rate goes up after Dec 19. So if you can afford it, and don't mind the humungous crowds of Christmas week - go for it. But if you want to save a few bucks and still get the magic of WDW at the holidays, go anytime before Dec 19. Last I checked the dates from at least the 5th to the 18th are in the Value rate (weekends included). We are still trying to decide when we want to go this year.

Food and other entertainment is totally up to you and what you feel you can afford/live with. We eat breakfast in our rooms every day, pack lunches a few times for the theme parks, and only get ADRs for a few of our favorite restaurants. The rest of the time we food court or take our rental car to Denny's or Uno's.

Have fun and hope to see you there!! Good luck with the job!!!

 

[lindakmonty]

Keep in mind Disney's new resort pricing schedules.

that's a good point! that is what we did too! we stayed at sog until the 19th and then moved to Poly 19-26th to get the cheaper season, but now they're w/them doing per night and not per season for whole trip, that could make a huge price difference! thankfully SOG will work great for us I'd stay at a value if I had to, to stay during Christmas!!! Oh... you may want to check into renting DVC points as well I was going to do that last year, but decided not to so we could stay at Poly before this season change took effect!

 

[siestakeys04]

Well thanks for all the advice. My plans were to go on Dec 26-Jan 3rd.
Maybe I will get a good code or something, but either way it will be a great surprise for the kids.

 

[DemoBri1]

Well thanks for all the advice. My plans were to go on Dec 26-Jan 3rd.
Maybe I will get a good code or something, but either way it will be a great surprise for the kids.

Actually, that time period is probably the one time period that you absolutely would want to avoid. That is one of the busiest, if not the busiest, weeks in the WDW calendar. My advice to you would be to take a trip anytime right after Thanksgiving up to the week of Christmas. This is one of the better times to go and you can take in all of the holiday atmosphere without the bigger crowds.

In reality, WDW is even extending the holiday season before Thanksgiving nowadays. The resorts and parks are getting their decorations up a week or two before Thanksgiving and MK is now starting MVMCP around November 10th this year.

If you are locked into that time frame you mentioned, just be prepared to get to the parks early and get on your main rides as soon as you can because the parks will be crowded.

 

[Loverly]

I took down a total of $3000 Disney dollars (which I purchased about 6 months before we took our trip) and had a few hundred left over.

!

Is there some sort of discount doing this? I've never heard of buying that much Disney Dollars?