What our trip cost..6 people

[mom2smjn]

okay..6 people in our familes(4 considered adults-over 10- and 2 kids)
We drove from upstate NY..leaving Friday after school and returned the following Sunday.
TOTALS for entire trip:
Gas- $149.71
on the road lodging- $222
Food(including 1 character meal and 1 'good' sit down at liberty tree- $565
souveniers $173
extras(drugstore = Walmart for supplies)- $99
room at comfort suite 6 night with free breakfast- $379
christmas party-$194
park hoppers $1287

grand total of about $3073


not no bad I don't think! What do you all think?

 

[crazelion]

Wow is that all you use for gas. Is that going down and coming back. If so what kind car do drive then.
Gas- $149.71

This gives me hope that get by with 50.00 dollars in gas instead of a 100.00 dollars that allcot for gas. I used the other 50.00 dollars on goodies.

 

[mom2smjn]

that was down and back..we drove a 2000 Montana minivan.
Georgia has the cheapest gas BY FAR so try to fill up there!

 

[monalsw]

You guys did great with budgeting! Could you share some tips on eating on a budget at WDW? That seems to be my biggest worry!

TIA

 

[mom2smjn]

We have four kids who are HUGE eaters and drinkers and I was really worried about this...what we did was fill up really good on our free breakfast at our hotel(comfort suites BEAUTIFUL place and closer then some of the on-site hotels!)...We carried waterbottles so that was what we drank 85% of the time. Then we had our big meal at lunch...late..like 2- 3 in the afternoon. (we carried small snacks to fill the void until lunch or we got a big soda (treat for the kids as this is a no-no at home) and a soft pretzle to share. We found that we were not hungry again until late so on the way back to the hotel we would go to a buffet(many good ones in Kissimmee-Ponderosa,Iron Chef, Shoneys etc) one night we had pizza delivered to the room and it was only $21 for 2 lrg pepperoni and bacon pizzas! If we stayed late in the parks(epcot night or MVMCP for example) we did a counter service...Burgers are huge and the toppings bar is GREAT in many of the counter service spots! *China(in Epcot) has an awesome counter service Lotusblossom Cafe very cheap and very yummy and filling and a change from burgers.
Best burgers are at Pecos Bills(MK) they also have wraps and salad, Backlot Express(mgm)..they have kids meal(chicken nuggets) that comes in a cute souvenier case!, Cosmic Rays(MK) they also have a 1/2 a Rotisserie chicken w/ mashed potatoes or a whole chicken family meal that is yum!
most all of the burger places also have a chicken choice, some a salad choice.




the typical toppings bar has: lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, relish, green peppers, mushroom, grilled onions, BBQ sauce, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, and cheese sauce
though some vary. but Pecos and Cosmic rays have this list and they are awesome!



We did not pass up treats...an occasional treat(especially in the rain we had!) made for a fun time....we got Floats one day at AK for a treat and they came in cute souvenier cups with mickey spoon/straws! Bakery in Norway (epcot) also has yummy treats.
When my littlest was 1" too short for the rocknroller coaster at MGM he and I went and got choclate covered mickey shaped pretzles!

 

[MinnieGi]

Congratulations! I think you did awesome for 6 people!!

 

[Mic]

We, too, have 4 kids, and it can be challenging to stick to a food budget, with so many temptations in the parks! We discovered several years ago that making lunch our big meal was a great idea, but we don't eat late. Since my younger kids eat at 11 at school, and my older ones eat at noon and 1(oldest is in high school, 2nd oldest in middle), we try to eat @ 12 to avoid total meltdown by youngest. Since breakfast is always in the room, except for the occassional character bfast, it is usually lighter than at home in the interest of saving time. We plan what park/what day, and make our reservations accordingly. We always leave afternoons "open", and usually end up at the resort in the pool most days, making dinner in the room about half the time(we are DVC'ers with at least a microwave) or ordering pizza(my kids' favorite thing to do on vacation, as we rarely do at home). For the other nights, we eat 1 nice dinner('Ohana's is our favorite) and a few counter service/food court meals. We never feel deprived of anything, as we eat really nice lunches(my kids love Teppanyaki, Chef's de France, and the Brown Derby) and we snack on Mickey ice cream during the day, and cinnamon-roasted almonds in the evening at the parks. My only budget-blower is the BW bakery...we spend at least $22 each time we walk through the door! By bringing our own sodas and water, we save a bundle in the parks, and we keep a few snacks in the room for late-night munchies. And I totally agree about gas prices in GA...we fill up in Charlotte, NC, and that gets us to Exit #29 in GA, which seems to have the cheapest gas. We have a gas HOG full-size GMC van, and gas for our last round-trip was @$100.