What is your biggest expense?

[Liz]

Out of transportation (airfare or other), accomodations, park passes, food & souvenirs, what takes the biggest bite out of your WDW vacation budget?

For us it would either be the airfare (4 of us usually about $250 each), park passes, and sometimes food, depending on how long we stay. Geez, I guess none of it is really inexpensive! I know we buy hardly any souvenirs so it definitely isn't that!

 

[madge]

Originally posted by Liz
Out of transportation (airfare or other), accomodations, park passes, food & souvenirs, what takes the biggest bite out of your WDW vacation budget?

For us it would either be the airfare (4 of us usually about $250 each), park passes, and sometimes food, depending on how long we stay. Geez, I guess none of it is really inexpensive! I know we buy hardly any souvenirs so it definitely isn't that!

for us, it is the passes. our food and hotel budget are roughly the same (per night), not matter where we vacation. If I can find airfare close to what it will cost us to drive, then we fly.

the passes kill us, budget-wise.

 

[mad4themouse]

most definitely be the accomodations!

Passes Total = $1552.39
4 (adult) 5-day PHPs w/4pluses @$246 (FloridaOrlandoTickets.com/ last fall)=$991 with shipping
4 (adult) Disney Quest Passes @$21 (MouseSavers/Ticketmania, July newsletter) = $84
2 Universal adult AP vouchers-buy 1 get 1 1/2 off @$239 for 2 + 2 adult Annual Power Pass vouchers @$99.95 ea (Universal Website/ Jan.2003) = $477.39 with tax and shipping

Airfare Total = $0
Free using frequent flier miles. That saved me about $800. Airfare for next summer was running $201 per person PHL to MCO (incl. taxes) when I booked last week.

Rental Car Total = $383
Minivan rental for 11 days (National, Emerald Aisle) =$383 with estimated taxes and surcharges. I'm hoping for a coupon that I can use to bring this down more. My current rate is $199/week and $33/day with a 10% discount for using my VISA.

Food Total = $1100
Budgeted $100 per day for the 4 of us=$1100. Somedays it's alot more but there are also some where we spend considerably less.

Souvenirs Total = $800
$200 ea x 4 = $800. I could spend more but we've been there, done that and don't need another "Goofy" hat.

Hotel Total for 10 nights = $4208.33 OUCH! Don't tell my DH!
7 nights BC Concierge @$473.87 = $3317.09 (incl tax)
3 nights PBH at Universal @297.08= $891.24 (incl tax and resort fees)
I'm hoping for, but not counting on, AP discounts, Universal Fanclub discounts or Disney VISA room-only discounts.

We've never gone for this long (longest was 6 nights) nor have we stayed in such pricey surroundings. I've been secretly saving and buying passes and Disney Dollars for this trip for 2 years now. It's kind of my treat to my family.

 

[disneysteve]

Definitely park passes.

We usually drive down. Total cost less than $300. Even when we do fly, a plane ticket is less than a park pass.

Accomodations are cheap for us because we prefer budget offsite locations like Days Suites ($39.95/nite last trip) or Windsor Palms condo (our share $45/nite next trip).

Food is cheap. Last trip we averaged a total of $54/day for the 3 of us.

Steve

 

[TandyR]

I was thinking it would be travel but I just looked and it is food, these are our numbers for our 10 day trip in Feburary:

passes: 2 adult 6 day parkhoppers and 2 kids parkhoppers = $820.24

travel: we are taking the train down in Feb with a sleeper Portland Maine to Orlando and back = $1050.90

car rental $287.48

accomodations: we are DVC so I am not sure how to count it, but it is sunk cost at this point so I normally count it as free.

souvenirs: we have never spent more then $400 on souvenirs so I expect this trip to be the same.

food: $1184 that includes grocery shopping since we eat breakfast and several dinners in our room...but it also includes the Kids Club fee so DH and I can have a nice dinner without the DDs at CA Grill.

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by TandyR
accomodations: we are DVC so I am not sure how to count it, but it is sunk cost at this point so I normally count it as free.

This sounds like the kind of logic my wife tries to use. LOL.

Of course, your DVC purchase was far from free. You spent thousands of dollars to buy into DVC and you pay hundreds of dollars a year to remain a member. I would suggest at least using your annual fee in your calculations. Technically, you should probably add in a portion of your original purchase price as well. You could come up with a number by dividing your purchase price by how many years you anticipate owning your time. For example, if you paid $10,000 and expect to have it for 30 years, then figure your annual share is $333.

Steve

 

[FonFon]

For us, it's the hotel/accommodations.

One night at offsite hotel via Priceline: $30 (incl. fees and tax)
Six nights at Wilderness Lodge Concierge: $220/night (incl. tax)
TOTAL - $1,350.

Tickets for this trip are free for DH, $99 for me (5 day tickets). Even when they aren't this cheap, we get the Stars and Stripes Length of Stay Passes, and they are priced well.

We usually eat one big meal a day, and small meals or snacks for the rest of the day, so I only budget $50 a day for food for both of us total (with breakfast and snacks included in concierge)
TOTAL - $350

We're not big on souveniers, but we love those pictures, so I budget only about $250 for souveniers, and will probably be MUCH lower than that.

And this trip, we are going to an (offsite) spa, and will spend $200 there.

And we are driving down from Mississippi; we'll spend about $100 on gas and tolls.

 

[TandyR]

Of course, your DVC purchase was far from free. You spent thousands of dollars to buy into DVC and you pay hundreds of dollars a year to remain a member. I would suggest at least using your annual fee in your calculations. Technically, you should probably add in a portion of your original purchase price as well. You could come up with a number by dividing your purchase price by how many years you anticipate owning your time. For example, if you paid $10,000 and expect to have it for 30 years, then figure your annual share is $333.

Well useing that to figure it out it is $1077.23 for our accomodations so not free but not bad for a one bedroom for 10 days and still cheaper then our food.

 

[tazz]

For us it's also accomadations! Close runners up for family of 5 are park attractractions (unlimited/length of stay), flights from Portland ($1100), and food/character meals/spending $$! The cheapest part of the trip for us was the 5 day passes to Universal (a little over $400 for all 5 of us).

 

[Shells9]

For us, is the hotel, followed by food.

We have AP's, which have "paid for themselves" by now, but it was a substaintial purchase when we bought 3. We did save by getting Florida Resident passes.

We live somewhat nearby, so we drive 4 hours to get there.

DD likes to do character meals, and I like to get an early start, so I use that as an excuse to get DH moving in the morning. Unfortunately, DD never eats at the breakfast and DH is not a morning eater, so this is probaby our biggest watse as far as food.

I will be trying some of the suggestions from other posters when we do eat counter service. I thought the ordering the double cheeseburger thing and getting an extra bun was a greta idea! That would take care of DD and I. And we are not big on fries (all three of us can share one), so I think I will be eliminating those.

This is a wonderful place for tips!

 

[Dopey & Grumpy]

For us I guess it would be meals first then passes. There are only two of us going and we're staying for 7 days.

Our plane fare is $322.00

Our car rental is $131.83

Our hotel (Priceline) is $280.35

Our passes (Military - DH is retired Army) are $479.00 (4-day hopper and 1 day Universal).

We usually figure about $60 a day for meals plus extra for the 3 PS's we're doing. (Plus, I have an elderly aunt in FL and we usually visit her and take her out to eat to a nice restaurant at least once.) Rounds out to about $600.00 for the whole trip.

If we didn't have to eat, wouldn't be bad at all

 

[Local_Girl]

Our biggest expense will be our passes. We're planning on a mix of WDW and Universal...and I haven't quite decided on the specific passes we need yet...but it'll probably run us $1200-1300 for what we want for 2 weeks (3 adults, 1 child...my soon to be 10 yr old isn't much taller than my 7 yr old and even weighs less...it's going to be tough coughing up the price of an adult ticket for him!! ). Anyway, that will be almost 2 times what we are paying for accomodations...ouch.

 

[lolatuck]

When our family of four went two years ago (Hubby, me, and two teen-age sons), here is what our trip cost:

Airfare: $125 each thru priceline- total after fees, etc.: $569
Hotel: $94/night at Shades of Green X 6 nights: $564
$55 one night at All Star Music: $55
Passes: $280 each thru SoG: $1120
Food: $150/day X 7 days: $1050 (budgeted high, still had a
couple hundred left on the last day which we then blew on
souvies!)

There were other things of course, like Cirque du Soleil, towncar, etc. plus we budgeted for souvies and snacks too.

Good deals can be had, but I usually figure for a weeks vacation for our family it amounts to $1000 per person at WDW. But I like to go all out, spare no expense, when we go to WDW, because we can't afford to go every year like some people. I budget all year long and set aside a certain amount of $$ each payday to allow us to have such a trip.

BTW- I live in Brigham City, Utah. How close are you? When are you planning your trip for? We will be going again in August 2004.

Good luck with your vacation planning!

Lola °Ü°

 

[SparKeLLy]

I wasn't sure so I did the tally..
(2 Adults)

$400 for food
$450 for hotel (8 nights)
$420 airfare & towncar
$300 souvenirs

and the winner is.........

Tickets!
5 day park hopper plus tickets
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween tickets
Universal Orlando Bonus passes
Stay and Scream non peak tickets

$766

oh well...it's worth it!

 

[Disneyolic]

Good question...let's see here.

Airfare on Delta from SYR to MCO for 4 -- $850

6-day Park Hopper Plus passes (2 adults, 1 child, DC discount) -- $783.88

Yacht Club standard view for 7 nights -- $1060.92 (inc tax)

Transportation luxury van from FL Tours (divided between 3 familes) -- $40 (including tip)

Food (budgeted about $150/day) for 8 days -- $1200

Illuminations cruise (divided by 3) -- $45 ish

Didn't budget in souvenirs - just wing that one.

Grand almost Total: $3195.92


So, it seems the most expensive will be the food -- oink. oink. Hope it will be less, though.

 

[AirForceRocks]

For us, ( 2 adults, 2 kids), it is definitely food!!

We drive down, so that isn't much.

We always manage to get either an AP or FL resident discount on the rooms, or stay at SoG - $930 - about $1100.

FL resident seasonal passes for myself and the kids, water park tickets for myself and the kids and Stars & Stripes pass for DH - around $1100

Souvenirs, extras - around $800

Food - around $1500

So food is the biggie for us.

 

[Liz]

So far the tally is:

Transportation - 0
Accomodations - 4
Food - 4
Park Passes - 6
Souvenirs - 0

Interesting! I put my vote in for park passes after realizing if we buy 4 AP's that will be almost . . . gulp . . . $1600!!!! YIKES!!!

Lola, we are in Tooele! Do you get down to SLC much? We have had two Utah DIS meets and would love to include you! August 2004 is a definite possibility for our next trip. Tried to do one for Christmas but airfare is too high and our bank account is too low! Bad combination! We went to Disneyland in June and that was fun!

 

[Lisa P.]

A typical Orlando week for us...

$300-$500 - timeshare (part of purchase + maint + RCI trade)
$400 - groceries plus a couple restaurant meals
$200 - gas, parking, food along the way (11-12 hr drive)
$250 - spending money, boat rentals, etc.
$710 - WDW passes (use 1/2 the 6-day PH+ passes x 5 people)
$250 - admission to a non-Disney park (5 people)

On some trips, we only use one day of a Disney park hopper and one "plus" day at a water park. We'd visit other theme parks and/or enjoy more boating and resort activities on that trip, maybe go to the beach or visit relatives.

------------------------------------------------

So our highest expense is definitely theme park admissions, especially on the trips when we purchase those park passes ($1,420 - ouch!). We really like the trips when we've got partially unused passes waiting in our safe deposit box!

 

[HeatherC]

Mad4the mouse: Just curious, have you stayed at the BC concierge before? Do you rent Disney Vacation points or did you just book through disney? Thanks so much!
Heather

 

[mad4themouse]

Originally posted by HeatherC
Mad4the mouse: Just curious, have you stayed at the BC concierge before? Do you rent Disney Vacation points or did you just book through disney? Thanks so much!
Heather

This will be our first stay at the BC (concierge or otherwise). It's something that I've always wanted to do. I'm booked thru Dreams Unlimited b/c I knew that they would keep checking for better rates for me.

And I've never rented DVC points, but that may change. Our neighbors just bought into Saratoga Springs last month and we may be renting their points in 2005 so that they can use the cash towards a Disney Cruise (using points for a cruise isn't cost-effective).