Will $10k CDN be enough for mom dad and princess (6)

[Daddy's 'lil Princess]

Hello all!
First let me introduce myself and family : We are a family of 3. Mom(i wont say) , DAD(me (47)) and our little girl (6). We live in Ontario, Canada. My wife and I were blessed with a baby 6 years ago and the first 3 years of life were an extreme struggle. When life balanced out the pandemic had sprung. Welcome to present day. I have been planning a Disney vacation for us right before the pandemic and obviously had to stop. Now trying to redo the process with quite a few differences and restrictions etc.

DISNEY BACKGROUND: I have been to Disneyland when i was maybe 5years old. Yes i can still remember pieces of the vacation .
Research: This had included shops food locations transportation events etc. Now a lot has changed and I am very nervous with all the changes made IS it worth still going? is it NOW more expensive than before? no more dining packages so new food reservations and stuff feels like a daily job. and not sure if our old budget can be applied or need mom and dad to work a little harder.
Nevertheless.... I am DADDY and i made a promise to my little one in her sleep in the hospital. "If you heal and get better I promise i will be the best DAD i can be for you....for as long as my days allow it......And yes my angel i will take you to Disney to see princesses" that was a few years back and now is a great mix of everything pirates, superheros, princesses. And life is Balancing out again.

So as a starter post I would like to ask the (BOLD and yet Open ended question) Would $10k CDN get our family of 3 a solid Disney world Vacation? of course factors are WHEN / HOW LONG / PARKS / ACCOMMODATION / MEAN OF TRAVEL / I believe I have played the part and it always changes depending on little one interests BUT also practicality.

SOoooo..... here are the stats:

TIME of YEAR: we were planning on going in February as it is budget time i believe?
UPDATE: So still as a resort for Jan/feb NOT holiday times as we are flexible....NOW thinking why not September? couple of weeks in there that are considered value? I saw someone post not going at this time I was curious as to why? Avg temps 30C+ normal for a summer time lows 24C these temps arent to bad and can be worked with. ALSO not sure if in JAN/FEB pool option where as this way we can still enjoy the pool?

LENGTH: well i was thinking that 4 parks so hit every park (4days) and a bonus day for park choice(probably MK) so 5 days 6 nights min? or 1 week if feasible to get a weekend experience? fireworks etc I know the prices of stays and such change daily and go up throughout the week.

ACCOMMODATION: I realize this is a big budget portion and really would like to stay on site. Also with our little one transportation time / distance could be a factor.

As she has a prosthetic and cant walk for long distances and other issues with her lung and heart STAMINA isnt there for her and tires easily.... so may need help on that. (stroller i guess) better hotel (asked and answered).

TRANSPORTATION MEANS: flying no matter what and safely can get return flights for 1500-2000k

From this point and with everyones VAST knowledge on this forum I am hopping to get a bettwr understanding of the reality of the cost associated so that I can adjust things accordingly to get the most memorable "BEST 1st family vacation EVER..." (Anna voice)

Thanks in advance and thank you for having me.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

I've been planning and pricing out WDW vacations without having been able to take one with my whole family for a while, and while I'm not totally confident in the exchange rate, I think 10k cdn should still be doable. Flights are the biggest question mark to me - I don't know what the normal cost is for Ontario to Orlando. The 'gives' would be going value instead of deluxe hotel and being careful with dining expenses. You can also keep an eye out for deals!

I think it is wonderful to be planning such a special trip!

 

[R&RsMom]

Right now, $10K Canadian is about $7800 U.S. If $1800 is possible for airfare, I think you should be able to do a Disney moderate resort in a standard room with 5-day one park per day tickets, one sit-down a day (not a lot of character meals), with a few hundred for souvenirs. No rental car.

 

[R&RsMom]

Duplicate post

 

[DL1WDW2]

I didn’t cast a vote… just sounds like a lot…$$$
I just wanted to remind you of holidays to work around in Orange County, Florida.
Presidents Day Weekend for 2/20/23 .
Spring Break March 10 - March 19 , 2023
and seems like Canada Teachers Break ? can be busy . Is that in January ?
Basically it is always busy nowadays.

 

[Daddy's 'lil Princess]

I didn’t cast a vote… just sounds like a lot…$$$
I just wanted to remind you of holidays to work around in Orange County, Florida.
Presidents Day Weekend for 2/20/23 .
Spring Break March 10 - March 19 , 2023
and seems like Canada Teachers Break ? can be busy . Is that in January ?
Basically it is always busy nowadays.

It is allot of money. But i have priced out the trip a few times a few years back and I may have missed some savings on deals etc. like 25% off room rate for dis+ subscribers or canadian resident deal etc. Room is the biggest expense for sure. Its just hard because to get in Value resort it usually is further away from parks which i think may be an issue for the lil one with a prosthetic leg. just not sure if the ROOM is important? is the plan to NOT stay in the room for any great lengths? so the room is irrelevant? im mean I LOVE the port orleans resort those royal rooms? the really cute ones. Then i look at values and they are fine but distance an issue? man its so hard pretty sure IDC as i get to the room im dead on the bed lol.

 

[Daddy's 'lil Princess]

I didn’t cast a vote… just sounds like a lot…$$$
I just wanted to remind you of holidays to work around in Orange County, Florida.
Presidents Day Weekend for 2/20/23 .
Spring Break March 10 - March 19 , 2023
and seems like Canada Teachers Break ? can be busy . Is that in January ?
Basically it is always busy nowadays.

Thank you for the response I appreciate the little list as yes I have no idea of the US holidays that arent shared. I have seen a few guides illustrating value times off peak etc. i feel its fall and right after christmas new year. thats why i was thinking like january ? february early?

 

[Daddy's 'lil Princess]

Right now, $10K Canadian is about $7800 U.S. If $1800 is possible for airfare, I think you should be able to do a Disney moderate resort in a standard room with 5-day one park per day tickets, one sit-down a day (not a lot of character meals), with a few hundred for souvenirs. No rental car.

Sorry yes that was 1800 cdn i felt like a few years back i could get it down to close to 1500-1600 cdn so 8300cdn = estimated 6500 usd so probably the budget i was thinking
we are a very fly by seat family so sit downs meh every second day maybe and nothing fancy, steak, burgers ceasar salad lol Pizza but the prices are pretty crazy so thats why i get nervous she will only eat pizza mac cheese chick nugs fries etc so if the hotel is like 3500 leaves us 3k for food and suvineers? for say a week seams tight idk. Appreciate your input.

 

[lanejudy]

Honestly I think you need to price it out. Trying to judge based on pricing you did "a few years back" may not be at all close to actual in today's prices. We've always done WDW for well under $5K USD, but haven't been back since pre-covid and the current explosion of prices. There are various options that will impact price, and my choices for those options may not jive with yours.

But the short answer: yes, I believe you should be able to go WDW for $10K CAD.

 

[SirDuff]

I think others have covered the money aspect, but please go check out the DISabilities sub-forum for some suggestions on traveling with your daughter's health needs (sounds like getting a "stroller as a wheelchair" tag would be helpful.

 

[yensid's offspring]

With out a doubt it is doable. I recently did a trip for the same length of time, went to each park once, with an additional day in MK, at least one sit down meal each day, plus drinks and snacks in the parks. My group was 6 total and we stayed at a moderate resort and came in just under $10,000 American. You have 3 less people, your daughter is considerably younger then my 4. Kids menu meals are considerably cheaper than adult meals. I think if you plan right and get reasonable airfare, you should be able to have a very nice trip with your family. An All Star or Pop Century would probably be best bet for a resort. Don't let value resort scare you. Any Disney resort is better than just about any place else and they are both great for younger kids. When my kids were smaller I preferred the All-Stars for their convenience over a moderate resort like AKL or CBR

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

So just doing some off the cuff math (ALL in USD) for a Saturday to Saturday stay Feb4-Feb 11. I found via Club1hotels the Dolphin for those days for $2275 + $250 in resort fees. I don't think park tix are available for 2023 yet but pricing a similar Dec 7 day w/ hopper is $2178 total for 3 tix. Plane from YYZ w/a total of 2 bags is $1316 (nonstop there and 1-stop return). That puts you right at $6k. That leave roughly $1800 ($257/day) for food and souvenirs.

I think depending on your food tastes, it would be close. I think you could always shorten it to 5 or 6 days, or eliminate the hoppers. Flights were a little cheaper if you connected both ways. Once Disney hotels open up maybe the values might be closer to the $200/night price point.

I think 7 days is definitely doable. If you have any credit card points or airline miles now is the time to use them! Hope you can make it work!!!

 

[mjkacmom]

I didn’t cast a vote… just sounds like a lot…$$$
I just wanted to remind you of holidays to work around in Orange County, Florida.
Presidents Day Weekend for 2/20/23 .
Spring Break March 10 - March 19 , 2023
and seems like Canada Teachers Break ? can be busy . Is that in January ?
Basically it is always busy nowadays.

Presidents week is busy as a lot of northeast schools are off that week.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

For value vs moderate, I don't believe any of them are considered within walking distance of any park, so no matter which you go for, you'll be using transportation to get there (bus, monorail, etc). The DIS*abilities forum is a great place to ask questions about accessibility and general planning to provide the most comfort and fun for your daughter, definitely check it out!

 

[pjacobi]

Fixed expenses: Air fare/gas, airport transfers, lodging, park tickets

Variable expenses: Food, drinks and souvenirs

• Can you make your own sandwiches for some meals?
• Did you bring a 50 cent glow stick instead of buying your kid a $20 flash light?
• Did you buy water and alcohol outside Disney property?
• Did you bring home a suitcase of Disney junk that will never be looked at again?

Making just a few smart choices on variable expenses can have a GREAT impact on the final bill!

Disney is a science that makes you impulse buy. Do you have self-control? Can you control your kids?


-Paul

 

[yensid's offspring]

Fixed expenses: Air fare/gas, airport transfers, lodging, park tickets

Variable expenses: Food, drinks and souvenirs

• Can you make your own sandwiches for some meals?
• Did you bring a 50 cent glow stick instead of buying your kid a $20 flash light?
• Did you buy water and alcohol outside Disney property?
• Did you bring home a suitcase of Disney junk that will never be looked at again?

Making just a few smart choices on variable expenses can have a GREAT impact on the final bill!

Disney is a science that makes you impulse buy. Do you have self-control? Can you control your kids?


-Paul

I agree with much of what Mr. Acobi says here and he seems like a perfectly lovely fellow, as most PJ's are. But you need to have enough in your in Disney budget to be able to have a good time and not be worrying about the budget each day. Nobody wants to eat a PB&J in a WDW park and your daughter will not want a glow stick while all of the girls around her have the latest princess LED light up spinner (some shoot bubbles). I do agree with stocking up on water, soft drinks and alcohol outside of Disney property. You can have Walmart deliver these things, to your resort, on the day you arrive and save some duckets. Use Mears from the OIAP and stay at an All Star resort. IMO. Mr. Acobi gives sound advice, I just think to have a good time you need to land somewhere in the middle.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

TIME of YEAR: we were planning on going in February as it is budget time i believe? Also the alternative was in OCT but wife cant take vacation at that time.

February is a great time weather wise but it can be very busy around president's day and depending on your dates, it may not the slowest/cheapest time to visit WDW. I know this year the early part of Feb was value season but the rest was regular or spring pricing. The other value seasons are late August and then mid Sept. Of which I would not recommend these times of year unless you can't go any other time. October is nice but can still be pretty hot and fairly busy. October will be more expensive than early February. We've been in February and have had a great time, even around president's day weekend. The crowds are manageable.

LENGTH: well i was thinking that 4 parks so hit every park (4days) and a bonus day for park choice(probably MK) so 5 days 6 nights min? or 1 week if feasible to get a weekend experiences? I know the prices of stays and such change daily and go up throughout the week.

I think that's a great trip, we usually only do 4 days total but we're semi-local. We've done a full week before and it's nice to have a rest day in between closer to the end of our trip.

ACCOMMODATION: I realize this is a big budget portion and really would like to stay on site. Also with our little one transportation time / distance could be a factor.

As she has a prosthetic and cant walk for long distances and other issues with her lung and heart STAMINA isnt there for her and tires easily.... so may need help on that. (stroller i guess) better hotel??

You can choose to stay off site if the resorts are priced too high or just do a value if you prefer being on property. Personally, when my girls were 6, they loved the values with all the larger than life theming. If you go that route to save, POP Century is great since it's got skyliner access to DHS and Epcot and easy buses to MK and Epcot. The rooms were also refurbished in the last 3/4 years, can't recall and are pretty nice for a value.

If you need to be closer to parks for your daughter, a more cost conscious option on property but not disney owned is Swan/Dolphin and those are deluxes that are more closely priced to a moderate. If you have Marriott rewards, that could help too with lodging. They have boat service (or walk) to DHS/Epcot and bus service to MK/AK. We have stayed at both and love the convenience to the parks and the other Epcot area resorts and the Boardwalk.

Other honorable mentions for good transport would be any other skyliner resort like Caribbean Beach, Art of Animation. They are great options.

TRANSPORTATION MEANS: I thought about driving vs flying 24 hours of drive has additional cost of overnight rest etc GAS (crazy) i feel i see an average of about 1800 for the air fare ?

As of late airfare has gotten to be very costly. A trip we'd take for $250 USD pp is now about $400 USD pp. I would try to book your flights early and pick budget dates, we usually do this using google flights to find the lower/lowest fares. There are a few sites where you can select your make/model/year of your car and put your starting/ending address and it will estimate fuel costs if you choose to drive. That could be less than air but once you factor in hotels on the way down and back/food, it could be more.

As far as your actually WDW trip, it can be as budget friendly as you need it to be and still have an awesome trip. I think it's totally doable in that budget. Good luck it sounds super fun!!

 

[DisneyMama811]

Hi OP we are in Ontario Canada as well and planning a trip for Jan 2023, we have 2 DD 6&8 and are also hitting Universal for 2 days, 6 days at Disney and a few rest days built in, total trip length 12 days (day 1&12 airport) I've conservatively budgeted $12,000 we are staying at a value resort and still weighing pros and cons of car rental, I was looking at flights last week from Pearson and for the 4 of us it's looking about $2200 round trip. I think $10K is a reasonable amount

 

[Daddy's 'lil Princess]

Honestly I think you need to price it out. Trying to judge based on pricing you did "a few years back" may not be at all close to actual in today's prices. We've always done WDW for well under $5K USD, but haven't been back since pre-covid and the current explosion of prices. There are various options that will impact price, and my choices for those options may not jive with yours.

But the short answer: yes, I believe you should be able to go WDW for $10K CAD.

Yes im working on it actualy i really feel the prices are not much different than when i was looking over a while back maybe more but doable. hotel and tickets are pretty straight forward and doable with a budget of 6500 USD for all (not flight) i keep making vacation offers and comparing them. on the disney go. site. the thhing that scares me is the food same thing as last time was always difficult. until i start hitting the menus of places etc. I have Budgeted $25 per meal for mom and dad 3times ($75/day) and brought in the littel one at $50 for the day so $200 usd for meals (BASE) just seems high but it will be a floating budget and can go up and down of course. Is this insane? or very comfortable budget?

 

[Daddy's 'lil Princess]

Hi OP we are in Ontario Canada as well and planning a trip for Jan 2023, we have 2 DD 6&8 and are also hitting Universal for 2 days, 6 days at Disney and a few rest days built in, total trip length 12 days (day 1&12 airport) I've conservatively budgeted $12,000 we are staying at a value resort and still weighing pros and cons of car rental, I was looking at flights last week from Pearson and for the 4 of us it's looking about $2200 round trip. I think $10K is a reasonable amount

Nice great i was thinking of January /feb value time as well but NOW im getting excited and may look at sept 5-15 (block area) not sure how long and or where to stay. VALUE resort may be the way for us to go as well was very excited for it lol. Yes see with your airfare off the budget you are at the same budget. thats great. AND you are getting WAY more lol.
Car Rental. Yes i am contemplating this as well. pretty sure with Parking fee / milage and rental cost i think we may just set up UBER/swift / taxi (for the days we dont or cant make public trans. still may be cheaper to do that and less hassle of gas and items for car rental. BUT you are going to universal. I need to figure out how you're doing this on the same budget. lol with 4 people wow. yes rest days im looking at as well.
BUDGET resort the cheapest i keep seeing is sports / music? if i recall the offers I was getting those for about $120-$150 then saw POP for like avg of $185 then dream spot is Port orleans Royal suite rooms but just destroys the budget or reduces time there. over $300. but thats the fun i like take from here to enhance here etc. ROOM is a little weird in MY head its really very little time spent other than relax / sleep. SO CHEAP is my thought! i saw the tour of sports resort on tube , looks fine for a hotel IDK lol. Sorry for typing out my head thoughts. we are a pretty simple family and love the fun factor.