How do you do it ? $$$

[38053WDW]

We try and go every three years and partically this is because of cost... I know cost can be what you make of it... offsite or standard/moderate/deluxe Resorts... I read of these two week stays and I think.. how ? We're looking at 8n/9d / BLT / MKV .. airline and tickets (PH of course) for 5 and cha ching!!! This does not even include eating ... I'm just courious on what people spend to go here ... The trip reports are great but then I think 'What did that cost?"

 

[yaksplat]

I'm trying to convince the wife to drive down in January. We are in Toronto so we would cross in Buffalo and go that way. Is it worth the savings on the flights? How is the drive generally? Winters in Toronto/ Buffalo can be brutal but I would imagine it would improve as we went south? I'm hoping the DVC is worth it as we may take the kids back in 2016, and if AKL villas are nice, just stay there again.

Driving cost us $700, round trip with hotels. You can go cheaper than $150 a night in a hotel, but I wouldn't recommend it. We hit a motel 6 last year, and the place was the most disgusting room I've ever been in. This year it was just the Hampton inn as they are consistently nice and clean. I wing it as far as booking a hotel. I don't want to force my self to stop if I can keep driving and also I don't want to force myself to keep driving another 50 miles if I'm tired.

The drive isn't bad as long as you can go all out the first day and have a short drive for the final stretch. We pack up the car the night before and then wake up at 3am, throw the kids in the car, hit Tim Hortons for a coffee and then off we go. I have a Microsoft Surface tablet that I have 24 hours of cartoons on a playlist. Looney tunes, old Disney shorts and various other shows all ordered so it's more like watching a channel and not watching one series over and over in case one kid doesn't like something. The tablet feeds the DVD system in the car so there's no discs to deal with and they can all have their headphones on.

Caffeine is the key to driving that far, but at the same time, you can only drive as far as your kid's bladders allow without making a pit stop. I have my phone with the Waze app running so I can see if there are any upcoming cops/traffic/slowdowns etc.. ahead and then act accordingly. We've hopped off of the freeway and then back on 5 miles later to avoid an hour of traffic.

We've now made the round trip drive twice and all worked out well. We get to WDW just after noon, check into the hotel and drive to downtown Disney for a late lunch and then hit the pool. I'm hoping to do it again next august.

 

[Cubfan300]

I'm sorry, why can't you take your kids where you want, when you want?

Most school districts now count those as unexcused absences and will go as far as denying the child the opportunity to move up to the next grade if there are too many. Reason #5215 why we home school our child.

 

[LAKid53]

Our trips are usually around $1500 - depends on what resort specials are available. We are Florida residents and AP, so we can take advantage of those discounts for rooms. And we drive, thus saving on airfare. I bring stuff for breakfast in our room and snacks, so we can save on food costs also. I use my Disney Visa card for all purchases Disney and then have points available for redemption for the next trip for meals & merchandise. We go every 2-3 months, but if we didn't live in Florida and had to throw in the cost of airfare and more meals, our trips would be less frequent.

 

[LAKid53]

I'm trying to convince the wife to drive down in January. We are in Toronto so we would cross in Buffalo and go that way. Is it worth the savings on the flights? How is the drive generally? Winters in Toronto/ Buffalo can be brutal but I would imagine it would improve as we went south? I'm hoping the DVC is worth it as we may take the kids back in 2016, and if AKL villas are nice, just stay there again.

As a DVC member, yes, DVC is worth it IMHO

 

[Rutt]

Driving cost us $700, round trip with hotels. You can go cheaper than $150 a night in a hotel, but I wouldn't recommend it. We hit a motel 6 last year, and the place was the most disgusting room I've ever been in. This year it was just the Hampton inn as they are consistently nice and clean. I wing it as far as booking a hotel. I don't want to force my self to stop if I can keep driving and also I don't want to force myself to keep driving another 50 miles if I'm tired.

The drive isn't bad as long as you can go all out the first day and have a short drive for the final stretch. We pack up the car the night before and then wake up at 3am, throw the kids in the car, hit Tim Hortons for a coffee and then off we go. I have a Microsoft Surface tablet that I have 24 hours of cartoons on a playlist. Looney tunes, old Disney shorts and various other shows all ordered so it's more like watching a channel and not watching one series over and over in case one kid doesn't like something. The tablet feeds the DVD system in the car so there's no discs to deal with and they can all have their headphones on.

Caffeine is the key to driving that far, but at the same time, you can only drive as far as your kid's bladders allow without making a pit stop. I have my phone with the Waze app running so I can see if there are any upcoming cops/traffic/slowdowns etc.. ahead and then act accordingly. We've hopped off of the freeway and then back on 5 miles later to avoid an hour of traffic.

We've now made the round trip drive twice and all worked out well. We get to WDW just after noon, check into the hotel and drive to downtown Disney for a late lunch and then hit the pool. I'm hoping to do it again next august.

That sounds like the perfect Canadian road trip right down to the Timmies! Where do you normally end up stopping when you do? We were thinking of booking in Charlotte for the night but I was thinking we could probably go even further than that. What about caffeine? Once you leave Timmies country, what's the next best option? Sorry, I'm very picky with my coffee

We have a plethora of Disney movies and shorts on the laptop which hooks up to the DVD. We use those to keep the boys entertained while also building up excitement. Since our September trip this year, the boys have fallen in love with Stitch and Mary Poppins, while my youngest boy is now obsessed with Peter Pan too!! I just hope we'd be able to keep them interested for 20 hours of driving.

As a DVC member, yes, DVC is worth it IMHO

From what YouTube has shown me, I can't wait! Waking up to the animals out the balcony every morning for a week....

 

[yaksplat]

That sounds like the perfect Canadian road trip right down to the Timmies! Where do you normally end up stopping when you do? We were thinking of booking in Charlotte for the night but I was thinking we could probably go even further than that. What about caffeine? Once you leave Timmies country, what's the next best option? Sorry, I'm very picky with my coffee

I though you'd like the Timmies stop. Unfortunately, unless you like starbucks or Dunkin, you're out of luck once you leave PA. We stop in savannah, GA so the drive on the second day is short, but on the way back we do stop in Charlotte. They are just over 3 hours apart.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

We did Disneyland in April for a little under $2k a person and that included 5 days PH tickets. We also had a free room off site so that helped keep the cost down a little.

Our cruise in November is costing us roughly $2,600 a person and that included airfare, car rental for one day to get us to port, 1 night hotel pre-cruise, 7 nights in a verandah stateroom (we did get a 10% discount because we rebooked onboard our last cruise) 3 excursions, 2 extra dining experiences ($25 each) trip insurance, pre-paid gratuities, 2 nights post cruise at POFQ, MVMCP ticket, $250 for spending money for souvenirs, drinks, etc... and $200 for food at WDW.

We're also planning Disneyland next fall and I am a planning ninja! I plan out EVERYTHING! We're going to split 4 nights each at Disneyland Hotel and Grand Californian, annual passes, airfare, shuttles to and from the airport, car rental for 1 day (so we can go into Hollywood) $200 for souvenirs and $650 for dining... that trip is coming in at roughly $3,100 a person. Could we bring it down in price by staying offsite? Yes we could, for sure. If we split 4 nights each at an offsite property and Paradise Pier, we could save $700 a person. But we want to split between Disneyland Hotel and Grand Californian.

We are so frugal most of the year so we can take these trips. Also, for Christmas and birthdays, we get Disney gift cards and Southwest gift cards so those definitely help towards the cost of the trips. As long as we can afford to go, we will. Because who knows what will happen in the future!

 

[Rutt]

I though you'd like the Timmies stop. Unfortunately, unless you like starbucks or Dunkin, you're out of luck once you leave PA. We stop in savannah, GA so the drive on the second day is short, but on the way back we do stop in Charlotte. They are just over 3 hours apart.

Savannah is exactly where we were thinking. As for the coffee, I may need to bring my tassimo and some Timmies disks.

 

[rundan23]

My Average is $1K per person when it was me and my DD (under 10). I put aside a % of each paycheck to account for Disney. We also have a coin jar that we cash in 1 week prior to vacation and then purchase gift cards at Sams Club. ($150 per for $143). Those gift cards are the only thing we use for the extras like pins, balloons, shirts, ext. I usually shell out another $500 during the week for other "extras."
To answer your question....I do it by planning and saving. I had to skip Disney in 2013 because the funds were not there. I wasn't happy about it, but it will make our trip this year 1000X better.

Also add...I save for Value Resort prices with free or discounted DDP.

 

[Aquira]

I haven't actually booked my trip yet, but the plan right now is: 240 for 2 days at Pop Century, 188 for park tickets, 140 for Amtrak train to Orlando. Also allowing 70 for Royal Table Breakfast. This adds up to around 600, including some taxes. Then probably an extra 50-100 for presents and things. Can't spell the word I'm getting at, autocorrect says alibi beers,

 

[Chef Mickey]

Disney is usually one of our cheaper trips since Disney is not expensive relative to many other travel destinations.

We usually spend around $5-6k for 2 people for a week, $2500/person. We typically stay at a moderate since we never are in the room. We always fly and eat whatever we want, sometimes using a dining plan.

Caymans will be around 8k for 5 days and the only entertainment will be some activities here and there + the ocean.

We love the value of Disney.

 

[bee]

When my GF and I lived in Florida we took frequent weekend trips and a typical trip totaled around $500. We usually stayed offsite (booked through Priceline with a Name Your Own Price or Express Deal) since we were driving. We also had Florida Resident Epcot After 4 Passes so we didn't have to pay for tickets each time. We are both vegetarians so we don't dine at Signature steakhouses (for instance). Also, since we had the After 4 Passes we usually had at least breakfast and sometimes lunch offsite (or paid $20 to have a giant buffet breakfast at The Wave and weren't hungry until the evening).

Now we live in NJ and are not sure how much it's going to work out to be. We will have to fly as we don't have a car and wouldn't want to drive that long anyway. We will obviously want to take a longer trip of at least a week since we can't just spontaneously take a weekend trip anymore. We would prefer to stay on-site so we don't have to rent a car. Soooooo we will see. At least we don't have kids!!

 

[JillC LI]

Believe me when I say it's a real bummer that first year you actually have to start paying for the kid who used to b free! That was us this year. LOL enjoy it while it lasts!

Likewise, it's a bummer when you have to start paying for your 10 year old as an adult even though s/he eats like a bird!

 

[Disnee4Me]

Our trips are usually around $1500 - depends on what resort specials are available. We are Florida residents and AP, so we can take advantage of those discounts for rooms. And we drive, thus saving on airfare. I bring stuff for breakfast in our room and snacks, so we can save on food costs also. I use my Disney Visa card for all purchases Disney and then have points available for redemption for the next trip for meals & merchandise. We go every 2-3 months, but if we didn't live in Florida and had to throw in the cost of airfare and more meals, our trips would be less frequent.

Jealous. Just saying. Planning next Christmas, first time since 2009 and was just quoted over $4400 for 8 nights, 7 day park hoppers. That does not include getting there from Connecticut. But I do have over 1700 Disney $$$s, $900 in gift cards and also building up Discover $$$ (over 500), so we may have tickets/resort covered ... now how to get there and how can we afford to eat????? Where's that $$$ going to come from ... LOL

 

[Jae99]

I'm trying to convince the wife to drive down in January. We are in Toronto so we would cross in Buffalo and go that way. Is it worth the savings on the flights? How is the drive generally? Winters in Toronto/ Buffalo can be brutal but I would imagine it would improve as we went south? I'm hoping the DVC is worth it as we may take the kids back in 2016, and if AKL villas are nice, just stay there again.

We are driving down on the 24th of December (from Barrie), the cost of the flight for 5 of us was close to $5000 out of Toronto and almost $4000 out of Buffalo. We will be crossing in Fort Erie and then heading south. The only part we are concerned about is getting past Lake Erie and then through the Virginia's.

 

[vcstr]

My sister and I are going together this year and spending a little under $4k for the two of us. It's a splurge for sure but it's been over a year since my ICP and will likely be a long time before I go back so I went into this planning with a "go big or go home" mentality. I think that's a little easier to do when you're young and single.

That's our final cost and includes everything:
Flights BUF<->MCO
One night's stay in MCO when we land
7 nights at Coronado Springs
QS DDP
5 Day Hoppers
MNSSHP Tickets
A rental car (we're only paying for half the rental car, we're sharing it with friends)
I also factored in the two ADRs we're paying out of pocket for, tips where needed, and extras for spending money.

This is definitely the most we've ever paid for what we're getting but it's beyond worth it to me. Our last trip with our parents was around 5k for 8-9 nights (can't remember!) at POFQ. We had free dining on that trip and the same sized room.

 

[38053WDW]

Bump II

 

[BuzzKillington]

The tickets are what's expensive. They ran about 40% of our total cost of going to WDW for 7 days. And they NEVER GO ON SALE (or do they?).

 

[Frankie The Beer]

2001 we spent 1.7k for a family of 4 for a week at the Coronado. Last month we spent 7k for a week at Bay Lake. Going Sunday and spending 2k for 3 nights at the Contemporary.

All of this is possible because my wife and I both are surgeons.

 

[belledream]

We spent 2k total for our 10 day trip this September, for the two of us. That included resort, tickets, food, (as free airfare thanks to points!) We absolutely love what staying at Values allow us to do. 10 whole days of Disney fun!!!

We do a coin jar, try to limit our temptations to eat out (which we did shamelessly in college), and pass on things we absolutely don't need when shopping. Every dollar saved is a dollar I feel would be better spent at Disney