What is the cost of an average WDW vacation for 5 days and 4 people?

[mdcpr]

Today I made the mistake of telling my mother how much I'm spending on a WDW vacation. She thinks I went crazy with this, so I would like to know what is the cost of an average WDW vacation the way we're doing it. Anyone care to share?

- 5 days over Thanksgiving break
- 4 airplane tickets
- 4 park hopper tickets for 4 days
- 4 nights accommodation at the Wilderness Lodge
- No dining plan, but will be doing cheap breakfast, counter lunches and 3 table dining
Approximate cost: $7-8K. Is this far off, within average or underbudget?

Thank you!

 

[ctcdisneymama]

Our trips are totally different, but hey that's what makes disney so great! We usually do 2 people, 8 nights, 5 passes that are not park hopper. Always dining plan and memory maker and we stay at moderates. Usually $4k for us. We use points to fly if we have them, which we have been fortunate to have had them the past few times we went.

 

[tabby1222]

For our next trip, it was around 4K. That is five nights at ASMovies, for five people in two rooms, with deluxe dining. We all have AP's except my daughter, who needed a 6 day PH and a flight in and out of Florida. We drive down and spend a month, since my mom lives about an hour away. Daughter couldn't miss that much time from work. We also got AP discount on rooms.....

Luckily, my mom goes with us, so I don't have to worry about her, but other family members have all kinds of comments about it. I have even had people ask me if I am a trust fund baby, or won the lotto. Nope, budgeted and make it work....

 

[StarWarsGirl]

I'll see myself out now.

 

[Rsj88]

We go to Disney every year. We are a family of four. We decide on how much we can spend that year first and then I work around that. If we have a smaller budget we go during free dining and for fewer days. If we have a bigger budget we go when we want, pay OOP for food, and stay a few days longer. We usually have enough money on our Disney visa rewards card to pay for most of the food. This year my oldest is 10 so we will increase our budget a bit to accommodate. We like to keep it around 3,000-4,000. We usually do 6-7 days at Pop. We always look into staying at a nicer resort but then we decide we’d rather stay longer and go every year instead of every other year. We also drive which saves us money. Hope that helps!

 

[Dave B]

Today I made the mistake of telling my mother how much I'm spending on a WDW vacation. She thinks I went crazy with this, so I would like to know what is the cost of an average WDW vacation the way we're doing it. Anyone care to share?

- 5 days over Thanksgiving break
- 4 airplane tickets
- 4 park hopper tickets for 4 days
- 4 nights accommodation at the Wilderness Lodge
- No dining plan, but will be doing cheap breakfast, counter lunches and 3 table dining
Approximate cost: $7-8K. Is this far off, within average or underbudget?

Thank you!

Where are you flying from? I think that will make the biggest difference, let us know?

 

[Dave B]

We are going for 12 days with Park Hopper, Free Dining, Halloween Party, flying in from Colorado and renting a car, we also are getting two rooms at the POP, We are only paying about $5k, we are going in September

 

[mdcpr]

Where are you flying from? I think that will make the biggest difference, let us know?

NYC

 

[TheGuyThatMakesSwords]

I must be honest.... tossing in Air, stay on Site? I would say in the area of $6000 to $7000, depending on dining.
One can go VERY low.... or very HIGH. But I have to believe today's average is close to $6500 .

WE are two Old Folks, kids grown, and DVC owners. We attacked Room Costs first, because these were the largest elements in our cost.
Our REAL room cost is now about $125/night, vs about $400/night on site rental. FOOD - being old? We don't compromise. We allow about $250/day, breakfast and SIG Dinner (we don't go for lunch).

Now, we go twice per year, 8 nights per trip. Airfare, pet-sitter, dues, etc? About $425/day/person. But our family is TOTALLY different from YOUR Family.

 

[Dsjewell]

We’re paying $6500 for 6 nights at the poly next week with dining plan and 7 day park hopper. Southwest from Memphis nonstop round trip for $1100. This is for five

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

We paid 3500 package for room at a moderate and ph tickets. No water parks. No dining plan. Only 2 adults. We pay OOP for food and save money. Airplane tickets cost appx 750 each so 1500 flights plus package equals $5000.00 total. We stay l0 days package but only get 8 1/2 due to 1 and a half days for flights.

 

[Kingoglow]

I recognize that I will get some flak by posting our number but I think that you are looking for some perspective. Our first trip (2 people) we spent just under $9,000.

Plane tickets
deluxe hotel for 9 days
park hoppers for 9 days
deluxe dinning plan
a few tours tours (3, I think)

We plan differently now and recognize that we don't need all the bells and whistles. We do 3-4 nights and book value hotels. That can easily come in under $2,000 plus flights (which vary a lot). I have done a solo trip for $600 plus flights.

You posted in another thread that you are in the waiting period between ADRs and FP reservations. It is way too easy, in that downtime, to second guess yourself. Don't.

Tell your mom that she can plan your families next trip to WDW. But in the meantime ask her not to kill your joy.

You booked the trip that you wanted to take, with your family. I wouldn't tinker with it now. From everything you have shared, it sounds like a great vacation.

 

[ElleJay1119]

I recognize that I will get some flak by posting our number but I think that you are looking for some perspective. Our first trip (2 people) we spent just under $9,000.

Plane tickets
deluxe hotel for 9 days
park hoppers for 9 days
deluxe dinning plan
a few tours tours (3, I think)

We plan differently now and recognize that we don't need all the bells and whistles. We do 3-4 nights and book value hotels. That can easily come in under $2,000 plus flights (which vary a lot). I have done a solo trip for $600 plus flights.

This was our philosophy on our first trip (for my kids and husband, I hadn’t been in over 10 years): let’s do it up nicely because we may never come back or we can figure out what we don’t need to spend money on another trip. And then my husband loved it and said “we’re staying at the Contemporary next time!”

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Today I made the mistake of telling my mother how much I'm spending on a WDW vacation. She thinks I went crazy with this, so I would like to know what is the cost of an average WDW vacation the way we're doing it. Anyone care to share?

- 5 days over Thanksgiving break
- 4 airplane tickets
- 4 park hopper tickets for 4 days
- 4 nights accommodation at the Wilderness Lodge
- No dining plan, but will be doing cheap breakfast, counter lunches and 3 table dining
Approximate cost: $7-8K. Is this far off, within average or underbudget?

Thank you!

In short, even those details aren't specific enough for me to say if your prices are average or not.

Myself, I have often saved several hundred just by changing my flights one day, or time of day I fly, and airfare prices fluctuate considerably day to day (when you buy). Buying early is generally good, but sometimes airlines offer unexpected sales.

In short, in general though, if you are going over a major holiday, you are paying top dollar to go to WDW. I just priced 7 days base tickets. Mid-June vs. December is $100 less. And that's just tickets.

Likely you are paying a premium for air, a premium for your hotel, and even - get this - a premium on meals. WDW Buffet prices have long fluctuated over holiday periods! (maybe even other menu prices?)

Probably the biggest though is where you are flying from. Is your flight short? from an airline hub? an airport with competition? or a distant small airport, no connecting flights? Those all matter too.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

NYC

I should think air form NYC fluctuates quite a bit, but probably you are paying a premium in general. Like maybe flying from NJ (or CT?) would be less?

Mostly though your airline price can fluctuate quite a bit. If you are flying the day local schools let out and/or returning the Sunday after Thanksgiving, then you are likely paying a premium price. If you are staying until the Tuesday AFTER Thanksgiving, you could probably pay a little less.

WDW hotel prices are also generally higher on weekends than weekdays.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

We vary our trips quite a bit from trip to trip. If we go during a holiday week, we tend to stay offsite, or keep our on-WDW hotel stay short, stay at one of the value hotels, and maybe eat breakfast in the room.

If we get a good deal, we stay longer, at better hotels, maybe eat more WDW TS.

Most of the time, we don't pay for hoppers. Just dropping hoppers would lower your cost by $340.

 

[larryz]

We (4 adults) did 5 days/5 nights, split stay between CSR and BC, in Sept, with two rooms per hotel (1 night CSR, 4 nights BC) at the military discount rate, with discounted 4 day park-hopper tix, and spent ~ $5500 all in NOT including transportation to/from.

 

[Dave B]

We (4 adults) did 5 days/5 nights, split stay between CSR and BC, in Sept, with two rooms per hotel (1 night CSR, 4 nights BC) at the military discount rate, with discounted 4 day park-hopper tix, and spent ~ $5500 all in NOT including transportation to/from.

Transportation of about $1500? brings you right to the number the OP is referring to, rent a car? or Magical express?

 

[Weather_Lady]

For my family of four (with kids 11 and 13 now), I usually end up having to budget about $1,000/day -- i.e., $5,000 for 5 days, $6,000 for 6 days, etc. To break that down, we spend an average of $400/day for tickets (4 adult length-of-stay parkhoppers, via Undercover Tourist), $300/night for hotel (e.g., deluxe DVC rental, AKL studio during February break week), $225/day for food and snacks (1 TS meal, 1 CS meal, 1 snack per person), and an additional $75 per day toward the "incidentals" (airport parking fees, souvenirs, a "splurge" item like a Dessert Party, etc.). We spend nothing on airfare because we fly on rewards points -- however, if we had to pay out of pocket, that would be about another $1,500 (Syracuse or Buffalo to Orlando, direct flights on JetBlue) on top of the other costs.

OP, it does sound to me like you're paying more than "average," but only compared with visits other times of year: you're probably paying the "average" for a person visiting Thanksgiving week, one of the most popular weeks of the year to visit WDW, and staying in a deluxe onsite resort -- meaning Disney will be charging exponentially more for your hotel room and your airline will be charging you a premium for your tickets.