What's your vacation budget?

[2Tiggers]

I'll start. . .

For disney vacations, I TRY to do no more than 3,000. That's with airfare. I would love to stay at BC but even if I budget and save for that, I don't know if I could spend it. Maybe. . .

Non disney vacations, 1,000 - 2,000.

Mini (weekend) budget minded vacations 500.

So, what do you plan for your vacation budget?

 

[bicker]

Ours is a bit skewed, perhaps, because we include our DVC dues in it. We aim to stay within $4,000, but we've gone as high as $6,000 the years we have done cruises and taken the kids to WDW in the same year.

 

[wide awake]

This year it will be about $26,000. Spring break in Hawaii, DCL Med cruise in July, and 10 days at Caribbean Beach in Sept. That total is horrible now that I look at it. And I got deals ! We stay at the Hale Koa in Hawaii, we got the DCL cruise for $3335 per cabin, w/ $400 cabin credit for each, and free dining at CB. I may have to rethink my bargain finding for next year. Our vacations are more expensive than most because we always get two cabins/rooms for the four of us.

 

[punkin]

It depends. I am going on a mini vacation next weekend to do WWOHP. Usually we drive to Orlando, but because we will have so little time, we will fly ($350). Then we have to buy two days of park tickets ($417). We have not picked a hotel yet since I am debating staying on site so anywhere from $100 to $500. Grand total of approximately $1K (give or take $250).

Last spring break (expensive time in Orlando), we stayed for a week (5 of us, but we had a lot of leftover park days on our tickets) for under $2K including food (we drove, rented a condo and hardly ate out at all).

We went to Hawaii last summer and spent about $8K for two weeks including everything for 4 of us.

This summer 5 of us are going to Israel and it looks like a $10K trip at least (possibly more).

 

[Melmac]

Ours is a bit opposite to yours, 2Tiggers (in that your Disney trips are more money than your non-Disney trips). We try and do Disney as cheap as possible and try for once a year: our budget is around $1500-$2000/wk/2 adults. We always go with a code or free dining and this often includes airfare.

Non-Disney vacations (try every other year) have a higher budget usually because of where we go - Australia a couple of years back, Costa Rica this year, Galapagos/Machu Picchu in two years. Airfare to Australia was almost $4000 on its own so these trips are definitely greater than $5000.

 

[Marionnette]

I'll start. . .

For disney vacations, I TRY to do no more than 3,000. That's with airfare. I would love to stay at BC but even if I budget and save for that, I don't know if I could spend it. Maybe. . .

Non disney vacations, 1,000 - 2,000.

Mini (weekend) budget minded vacations 500.

So, what do you plan for your vacation budget?

For just this past year:

Two weeks at a 3 bedroom condo on the beach during high season - $4200 not including transportation, food or entertainment.

Seven night Mediterranean cruise/2 nights in Rome - $8600 including airfare tips, tours and souvenirs.

Five night Bermuda cruise - $2200 including parking at the pier, alcohol and gratuities.

Weekend with friends in the Poconos - $350 including rental house, gas & tolls, plus food and casino.

Weekends to take the kids to/from college twice yearly - $400 per weekend including gas, tolls, hotel and food.

No Disney trip last year.

 

[punkin]

This year it will be about $26,000. Spring break in Hawaii, DCL Med cruise in July, and 10 days at Caribbean Beach in Sept. That total is horrible now that I look at it. And I got deals ! We stay at the Hale Koa in Hawaii, we got the DCL cruise for $3335 per cabin, w/ $400 cabin credit for each, and free dining at CB. I may have to rethink my bargain finding for next year. Our vacations are more expensive than most because we always get two cabins/rooms for the four of us.

Now I feel better.

 

[disneysteve]

Our Disney trips run about $2,300. That's for leaving Friday afternoon and returning the following Sunday, so about 9 days, and includes travel, food, accommodations, activities, shopping, etc. That's for 3 of us, by the way.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

Our Disney trips are every other year, for 5 of us, and we come in just under $3000. That is 10 days, driving and staying in a value. We only vacation every other year. So I guess it comes out to be $1500 a year. Maybe an extra $200 for an extra trip on the off year, for a night at a waterpark or something.

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

Our ideal Disney trip would be about $4500, total (food, travel..driving, accommodations, etc.), for the six of us. Last year, we spent about 3k, but stayed off-site. While we had fun, it wasn't quite the same being off-site, so I think we'll save up more next time and return to AKL. With six of us, we need two rooms, and we always drive. We've done WDW every 2-3 years or so, so that has worked for us.

Other vacations are different, and not as costly. Our beach trips are pricey, especially now that we've rented houses. We'll probably spend about $1500-$1800 this year, for 4 nights at Rehoboth.

We're driving to Niagra Falls in August. That will run about a thousand. It's our anniversary trip (15 years!), so we'll splurge a little on the hotel, at least for one night (falls view).

We'll be in New Orleans for a week for the Junior Olympics this year, and I'm sure that will run well over a thousand. I'm praying that some of our team fundraisers will help with room costs! I'm anticipating about $1500 (we drive, so no airfare).

Our other trips aren't usually that expensive because they involve visiting family, so we don't have to pay much for accommodations. Our trip to Michigan for a week will only cost about $500. We spent about $1000 on a trip out to Texas last summer (24 hours of driving...yikes), for a week. We'll travel to Florida (not Disney) over Spring break to visit family. That will cost about $400, since we'll only have to pay to drive and stay over once each way.

 

[SoonerSarah]

Comparing one person's trip expenses to another person's is generally pointless (in the aspect of wow, you spend so much, or wow, yours was cheap!).

We have 3 kids, have 2 dogs to board and will be driving about 24 hours to get to Disney. Last time we checked, flights would cost the same as driving, and then you get all of the wonderful restrections you have to follow. And we wouldn't have a car. We are renting a villa, and have family members coming with us.

We have budgeted $4,000 but are finding that things are cheaper than what we originally had planned, but having never been to Disney, I'd rather over budget than under budget.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

We have not picked a hotel yet since I am debating staying on site so anywhere from $100 to $500. Grand total of approximately $1K (give or take $250).

Definitely stay on-site at Universal. All three hotels are great, and the perks are definitely worth the cost. You can usually get pretty good AAA rates. We got an AP last year and the AP hotel discounts more than covered the cost of upgrading one ticket (we stayed three nights at Portofino Bay).

 

[disneysteve]

Comparing one person's trip expenses to another person's is generally pointless

Especially without household income info.

If 2 families each spend $2,500 to go to Disney but one earns 50K and the other earns 100K, one family is being a lot thriftier than the other.

 

[momof1princess]

let's see...our disney world vacation budget is usually about $2,200.00. we stay at pop century, eat breakfast in our room to save time and money, and only do 2-3 TS meals.

i wanted to do a quick 3 day trip this year and try to keep it under 1,000 - i was going to rent DVC points from a friend, do the kennedy space center for 2 days because i could get discounted tickets through mousesavers, then do MK for a day. DH said NO WAY...if we're driving 10 hours to orlando, we're doing wdw! so there goes my plan.

looks like no vacation now, because we have to fix our driveway and replace a couple of exterior doors on his grandmother's house-he owns the property now and we use it for storage, she's deceased.

 

[punkin]

Definitely stay on-site at Universal. All three hotels are great, and the perks are definitely worth the cost. You can usually get pretty good AAA rates. We got an AP last year and the AP hotel discounts more than covered the cost of upgrading one ticket (we stayed three nights at Portofino Bay).

Thanks. I had better decide pretty quick. We are flying out on Friday.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

Jaw Drop

I am a single parent, we vacation Disney every-other year and spend no more then 2k

On the *off* years I save money and take 2 mini vacations, last year we did a week in DC & a weekend in OBX... I spent around $500 total for both trips.

DC- Stayed with friends, zoo & museams are free, brought picnic lunches ETC
OBX- Tent Camped on the Beach!!! Brought our own food and things to occupy us besides the sun & sand! (it was amazing and for only 20bucks a night!)

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Thanks. I had better decide pretty quick. We are flying out on Friday.

We've stayed offsite at Universal once (coming over from Disney) and on-site the other times. We won't do offsite again if we can help it. The Express access for hotel guests makes the cost more than worthwhile.

 

[JamesMom]

Our Vacation budget this year is $4,000
- $1,000 for 3 nights @ Great Wolf Lodge Fam Suite w/food & MagicQuest
- $1,000 for 5 nights @ Aunt's house on beach including van rental for 10 hour each way drive,gas, food, & entertainment while there.
- $2,000 for 5 night cruise - $1,000 balance of cruise ($2K total, down payment last year), Kennel, gas & park at pier & on board spending.

In 2012 we plan to go to WDW for 9 nights for our $4,000 and probably nothing else . Praying for Free dinning!

 

[jacksmom]

We are going on a 7 night Carribean Cruise (RCCL) in April and are planning on close to 5k when all is said and done! We have never spent quite this much on a vacation before, so I have had some second thoughts! We are DVC members and usually spend about 2,500-3,000 for our annual 9 night WDW trip!

 

[sk!mom]

Jaw Drop

Threads like this really don't give you enough information. To truly compare, you would need to know the length of vactions, family size, and income.

For several years now, we budget around 10% of our gross income for vacations. We can do this since we have only two children and one of those is grown so either doesn't travel with us or pays most of his own expenses if he does. We'll pick up the check at meals or treat everyone to an experience. On a trip where we'd be renting the same accomodations or driving with or without him then we don't expect him to pay. The other factor is that we have been debt free for a few years which gives us more disposable income. We're a two income family, too.

This year we have budgeted about 12% of our gross so we are trying to be a bit frugal in some other areas. Last year though, we did a whole house reno so we used half of our vacay budget for new furniture. I really missed travel last year although I love my home so I'm ready to go this year! We have 4 trips planned this year. None to Disney.

Disney usually runs us around $1000-$1200 per person depending on the length of the trip. Last trip was 10 days though, and we spent closer to $6000 for 3 of us.