Vacation Money

[apnep]

We usually spend about $3000 for the 4 of us but last year we lost our home to a fire so now that our new house is finally done, we desperately NEED a vacation. We are staying at the Poly for 11 nights with park hoppers and free dining. That was $5700. We are flying so that is another $700 and I am planning on bringing about $2000 for tips and souvenirs!! We leave on Wednesday!!!

Aw, so sorry to hear you lost your home. I am glad you all are safe! Enjoy your trip!

 

[disneyfan2kids]

Not to be too technical, but DVC isn't free, and any calculation of annual vacation costs would have to include at least the yearly maintenance fees. We used to own 500 points, and that ran us about $2,000 a year. And that's not even factoring in the initial cost, opportunity cost....that kind of thing. The only way DVC is free is if someone bought it for you and pays the yearly maintenance.

True... True. I guess the easiest way is:
$12,900 initial purchase (the most simplistic math possible):
$12,900 divided by 50 years = $258/year
PLUS $600/year dues.

So $600 + $258 = $858 year added on to vacations. That's an additional $286 for the DVC cost per each of 3 annual vacations.

So instead of $1733/trip...it's more like $2019/trip.

I'm not considering all the stuff like interest/etc... too much math

 

[padawans]

Apnep, there is just 4 of us 2 adult 2 kids. 1 bdr villas are very expensive. Then you add in tickets, airfare, deluxe dining, universal studios,couple days at beach, rental car, tips it adds up really quick. My friend just went to cabo for 9 days she said they spent 500 just for food a dayWhen I take a vacation I like to go all out. If I can't afford it I'll just go visit family in cali and hang out at the beach.

 

[apnep]

Apnep, there is just 4 of us 2 adult 2 kids. 1 bdr villas are very expensive. Then you add in tickets, airfare, deluxe dining, universal studios,couple days at beach, rental car, tips it adds up really quick. My friend just went to cabo for 9 days she said they spent 500 just for food a dayWhen I take a vacation I like to go all out. If I can't afford it I'll just go visit family in cali and hang out at the beach.

No doubt it adds up quickly... 500/day for food? Double yowza! Enjoy your trip!

 

[disykat]

2 - 4 K a year on an annual vacation for the four of us, plus another $1000 spent traveling twice a year to visit family, and maybe a beach weekend at about $300-$400. WDW is on the highest end of that for us (airfare, park tickets, etc.) it's not something we've done often. Our highest was when we did WDW/DCL, but we used some inheritance money we saved for that purpose. Vacations are very important to us and we always take one or more each year, we just travel according to budget.

 

[An_Island_Girl]

We average around 8K for a weeks vacation. More if it's international travel.
2 Adults 1 Child

 

[mster425]

There are two of us, no kids, and we really value our vacation time.

The past 2 years we've spend 10k/year BUT last year was our honeymoon (one week Disney/2 weeks Central America) and this year we both are taking 30th bday trips (1 week Disney/2 weeks Europe). . .I think that in the future we plan on taking (2) 1 week trips/ yr, 1 week at the beach and 1 week somewhere else totalling about 5k, and every once in a while do both weeks at the same time and do Australia or Italy or something and spend a bit more.

 

[DawnM]

I admit I don't know that much about DVC but I have looked into it. How are you getting a full 3 weeks for $858 per year....or is each vacation less than a week long?

Dawn

True... True. I guess the easiest way is:
$12,900 initial purchase (the most simplistic math possible):
$12,900 divided by 50 years = $258/year
PLUS $600/year dues.

So $600 + $258 = $858 year added on to vacations. That's an additional $286 for the DVC cost per each of 3 annual vacations.

So instead of $1733/trip...it's more like $2019/trip.

I'm not considering all the stuff like interest/etc... too much math

 

[dvcgirl]

I admit I don't know that much about DVC but I have looked into it. How are you getting a full 3 weeks for $858 per year....or is each vacation less than a week long?

Dawn

Well, you can stretch your points by going during the lowest season, which I think is September and January. Even "choice" and "dream" season aren't that bad. And then you avoid Friday and Saturday night stays when the points are double the amount. And then obviously, they have to be staying in a studio.

Still, with a $12,900 initial purchase price, unless they bought in during the early 90s, I'm guessing they have 200 points or less. 200 points back when we bought DVC (BWV home) in 1998 would have been 13,000...or 65 a point.

Well, with $600 in dues, I'd say closer to 150 pts or maybe 175 points.

So, I don't think you'd be able to do three *complete* full weeks, but by knocking off just one of the weekend nights (Fri/Sat) definitely possible to do three (seven day/six night) weeks in a studio for under 175 points. And staying in a studio, you get the best bang for your buck...by far. Just by going up to a one bedroom, the number of points doubles.

 

[lizerbug]

2 adults, Animal Kingdom Lodge (40% off), 6 nights, Dining Plan - $2,275.00

Round trip airfare - $450.00

Spending money - $300.00

 

[dvcgirl]

We average around 8K for a weeks vacation. More if it's international travel.
2 Adults 1 Child

We're closer to this number when we travel. Vacations are really our biggest splurge (budgeted for of course).....and we tend to spend about 6K per week for two of us when traveling to Europe. And that doesn't include airfare as we use points. We're taking a two week trip to Italy in October of 2011 and will likely budget about 14K for that trip.

We went to Disney last May for 9 nights, well, 2 nights at the Hardrock and then 7 nights in a 2 Bdrm DVC unit at BCV (rented points) that we shared with family 50-50. We did buy flights for that trip, and counting our pet-sitter....and a lot of nice meals (with good wine), we spent a bit over 8 grand for the vacation. When we get away, I don't want to think/worry about what we spend our money on, and so we always budget high for vacations.

 

[stichy]

We are DVC so we have to pay for our dining at check in. That costs around $500. I'm not sure if that counts. We usually spend about $400 for that rest of the trip. Always 5 nights. Once we spent over $1200 in a day. But that was because my sweet DH bought diamond mickey earrings for our anniversary.

 

[Handbag Lady]

We are just two people in my family and we spend anywhere from $1000-$3500 for 1-2 weeks of vacation.

It depends on where we go, what discounts we get, and the length of stay.

We always fly and we always stay in hotel rooms.

 

[PaulaSue]

When we go to Disney (flying, hotel on site, tickets, meal plan, extras) it is approx $4,000. We (2 parents, 3 children but 2 are going to be adult prices now) only go every 2-3 years and 2/3s of the trip is paid with GCs earned...

Got to LOVE the Budget board!

 

[Jennifer in MI]

Depends on the trip.

If we go to Disney and stay off property - around $2000 for 1.5 weeks.

If we go to Disney and do a split stay - on/off property with free dining - $3000 for 1.5 weeks.

Disney all on property with free DDP - $4500.

Disney cruise - around $4200 for the 6 of us for 7 nights.

Other vacations - I went to the beach in FL for 1.5 weeks with friends and two of my kids for under $1000 (including gas and food!!).

We just got back from MI - Canada - NY - VT/NH - MI trip. We spent around $1000 for everything. We stayed in nice hotels too!

We're planning a drive cross country next fall on our way out to LA for a MR cruise!! The drive and all hotels will last about 2.5 weeks and we'll spend around $2000. The cruise is $4300.

So, it really depends on the type of vacation!

 

[quentina]

family of 5 about $2000 a week

This!

 

[aprilgail2]

I budget about $5,000 a year towards a summer vacation---if its a cheaper type vacation like we took this year- a week in Myrtle followed by 3 days in Williamsburg- then we can squeeze another one out of that--we are going to Strawberry park in CT for 5 days this week.

 

[amylynne01]

In July, we rented a house in NY with my parents, both of my sisters, and our families. Turned out to be about $1000 per family with the cost of the rental, food, and excursions.

We're doing Disney in January, and I am budgeting about $3500 for my family of 4. My DDs will be 3 and 20 months when we go. We are staying at AKV on rented points, flying down, getting 6 day park hoppers, renting a stroller, getting groceries delivered, and buying souviners. We definitely could've spent less, but we haven't had a true family vacation yet.

We spent about $8000 on our 2wk honeymoon to Hawaii. We flew first class which was a once in a lifetime opportunity at $3000 for both of us! But we saved for that trip (and our wedding for that matter) and had no debt after either. Same thing with out Disney trip - nothing will be charged.

 

[DawnM]

I thought even the studios were between 10-12 points per night during weekdays.

How many points is a room during the lowest season?

Dawn

Well, you can stretch your points by going during the lowest season, which I think is September and January. Even "choice" and "dream" season aren't that bad. And then you avoid Friday and Saturday night stays when the points are double the amount. And then obviously, they have to be staying in a studio.

Still, with a $12,900 initial purchase price, unless they bought in during the early 90s, I'm guessing they have 200 points or less. 200 points back when we bought DVC (BWV home) in 1998 would have been 13,000...or 65 a point.

Well, with $600 in dues, I'd say closer to 150 pts or maybe 175 points.

So, I don't think you'd be able to do three *complete* full weeks, but by knocking off just one of the weekend nights (Fri/Sat) definitely possible to do three (seven day/six night) weeks in a studio for under 175 points. And staying in a studio, you get the best bang for your buck...by far. Just by going up to a one bedroom, the number of points doubles.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

For 19 days, as a solo traveler, $2,500 for everything, including rooms, food, tickets, flights, and including what I'm appoximatly going to be spending on extra food, tips, and souvieners.