We leave for Disney on Saturday, so I thought I would give you an updated breakdown of the budget:
Our 7 night, 8 day Magic Your Way package is $2031.76. Here’s what it includes:
- 8 day base tickets for 2 adults and 2 children (ages 7 and 4; we are not getting Park Hopper)
- Magic Your Way Dining Plan for 2 adults and 2 children
- 7 night accommodations at Pop Century resort
We decided to fly to Disney this year. It’s a 10 hour drive verses a 1.5 hour direct flight and I got the tickets for so cheap that we decided the time saved was worth it. We got 4 round trip tickets to Orlando for $557.60!
- If we drove, we would need at least 4 tanks of gas. At $50 a tank, that’s $200 for gas.
- We would likely need at least 2 meals on the way there and back. At $20 a meal, that’s $80.
- We had been planning on driving halfway and getting a room on the way there and back. We are traveling with my mother in law and nephew and they won’t be able to do a 10 hour straight drive. A hotel room on the way there and back would of been $120 total.
- If you count the time spent sleeping on the way there and back, we would spend 36 hours traveling.
- 36 hours & $400 vs 6 hours & $557 = well worth it to me!
That brings the budget to $2589.36.
I sat down last night and mapped out all the expenses we will have. If you can think of any extra ones that I might have forgotten, let me know…
$90 for additional meals – We spend approximately $30 on a counter service meal. We get 3 adult entrees, 1 of which the kids split. We all drink ice water. We will probably eat 2 lunches and a dinner at a counter service restaurant where we pay out of pocket. We eat breakfast in our rooms and will bring food in our suitcases.
$50 set aside for extra food expenses.
$150 spending money. $25 for each of the kids (plus they have their own birthday/Christmas/allowance money) and $100 for me and hubby
$100 for tips for our Table Service meals. Unfortunately tips are not included with all of our meals (the tip at Cindrella’s Royal Table is!). Most meals are around $100 before the dining plan, so 20% of that bill is $20 tip per meal.
$35 for tips for Mousekeeping. I’ve always heard the rule of thumb is $1 per person plus an extra $1 per night.
$72 for parking at the airport (ew! I did get a deal on it though)
$20 for extra tips we might have (baggage handlers, bus drivers, etc)
Grand total is $3106.36 for everything!
My grand total saved so far is $2991.64. And I still have a few more things to add to it. Be sure to tune in Friday for the final deposit!
Tonya says
Oh, how I wish i could be that disciplined! Have a wonderful time!
(Oh, and I’m so glad that you got such cheap flights!! We had to pay about $300 round-trip for all four of us when we went!)
Bree says
From your blog it seems you have it all figured out. Were you always this sure of your prices? Or is it something you perfected over the years? I imagine that each year you learn to cut back more and more.
I’m asking because I was shocked to hear my sister in law say that each time her family has gone to DW they’ve spent $5000 each time. Of course, I don’t know all the details. But she also has two kids, a husband and they drive to and from. My husband heard this and muttered to me later, “doesn’t that Kristin woman online only spend 3 grand?”
Kristin from Couponing to Disney says
Bree I couldn’t help but laugh at what your hubby said! That is so funny! I think it all comes down to what you want and what you are willing to sacrifice on a vacation. Here’s what i spent on each vacation:
#1 – Around $2600 (Jacob was free; stayed at Pop)
#2 – $3300 (stayed for 11 nights this time and Jacob was no longer free)
#3 – $2000 (one of my amazing readers paid for our resort with her DVC membership)
#4 – $3500 (Just hubby and I. We went all out and stayed at the Poly!)
#5 – $3100 (flying this time so it’s a bit more expensive)
We usually stay at Pop which is the cheaper resort. We’d love to stay at a more expensive resort, but we don’t really spend that much time at the resort so why waste that money?
pattie g says
Have a magical time!
Vickie says
Have a great trip!
We love Walt Disney World and will be going next year. My husband works at Disneyland, so we don’t have to worry about a lot of the costs (tickets to the parks are free, half price hotel rooms, food and souvenir discounts), but I love all your ideas and will be incorporating a lot of them into our next trip.
Summer says
Have a great trip!
ClareC says
We usually get base tickets also. I am interested to see how you plan your days without the park hopper option. Hope you have a great time! Just curious, but do you leave your Mousekeeping tip all at once or a little each day??
Lorie says
Souvenirs can really add up quickly at Disney! Places like Walmart sell lots of great Disney attire and I watch for it to go on clearance. I always pick up shirts to bring with us. We also go to a dollar store and pick up glow sticks for the night-time parades and rain ponchos (2 for a $1 in my store!). Couple this with packing mouse ears, jewelry, and shirts from previous trips, we can really stretch our souvenir budget!
Gretchen Wagner says
We’re headed to Disney World the same day!! Hope your trip is awesome, your budget looks great I think you got everything! :)
Kelly says
Awesome we’re leaving in January!
Pamela says
Bummer we are just going to miss you. Well I think we have one overlap day, but that is our arrival day & it is never an easy day to spot people. I hope you have a wonderful stay with everyone. We are bringing a crowd too! Enjoy & if you see a womanacting like a little kid on 11/11/11, well its my 40th birthday & I’m allowed! =)
Stephanie in Bham says
I will save you that $72 airport parking fee and drive you ;-) Hope you have a safe and enjoyable flight and an awesome time!
Carol McLean says
Hope you have a GREAT trip!!! For my budget, I always add $100 over all that has been budgeted for, for unexpected expenses. Doesn’t mean to say you have to spend it! If nothing comes up, then put the $100 away to start the savings for your next trip! :0)
Katie says
We drive each way at it works out cheaper for us than flying.
– We eat all our meals in the car. We bring things like peanut butter and jelly, Chef Boyardee, Pop Tarts, and other foods that can be kept warm. Sometimes we will stop at McDonald’s if the kids are doing good :)
-I pay for all of our gas using our Kroger Plus card and the gift card offers from places like CVS and Kroger. I coupon shop at Kroger so I get a lot of points which I can use when we fill up at Shell and sometimes Kroger has double fuel points so I get a Shell gift card and the double fuel points which makes a great deal!
– We drive all the way down in one day (Northern Kentucky to a Downtown Disney resort). We usually get discounted rooms because my sister works at the Marriott so we have the family discount. Even if you didn’t have this discount, the hotel rooms are very cheap for one night. We stayed at the Buena Vista Palace the last time we went and we got free wi-fi as well as access to an amazing pool! The hotel was very classy and not run down at all. Our room had a balcony that was in the direction of the Cinderella Castle so we could see the Wishes fireworks from our room that night! I think we only paid $70-85 for the one night and we got free parking!
-If you count the time sleeping on our trip, we leave at 5:30 and normally get there at 7:30 so we spend around 15 hours driving (with stops included!)
Tara K says
Holy cow – that trip price is really low! How did you get the room, tickets and dining for four for that price! I gotta know.
Shelley says
We flew down from Huntsville, AL this past Feb. and stayed at Pop Century. I had planned on packing some breakfast food/snacks/water/juice for the kids in our suitcases. But with all the extra baggage fees, I was trying to decide how to save money. Then I read somewhere online that you could ship a box to yourself to the hotel you were staying at. So I packed us a food/drink box and shipped it. It was sitting at the front desk waiting for us when we checked in. It was awesome! I paid $14 for shipping and we had plenty of snacks, bottled water (that we refilled each day) and breakfast items for all week. Have fun on your trip!
Angela Roberts says
Don’t forget to call the POP 3 days ahead of time and request your favorite section. We love to stay in the 70’s (building 6) but we have also stayed in all of the 50 buildings too and they are just as good. I just like 70’s music and the big twister set and mickey phone. I love the TV dinners at the POP too, especially the meatloaf.
Also, the weather is great now. Shorts during the day and light jackets at night. Enjoy! We are waiting to go to the Christmas parade when it gets a little closer to the holidays but before the big rush. Make sure to send lots of pics.
Mary Brown says
That is awesome. I am most impressed by your airfare? Where did you find such a deal?
Kristin says
I am flying southwest. I got it on sale $59 each way.
Mary Brown says
How long ago? How far in advance did you buy them?
Jessica says
Wishing I could get a good deal on a flight !!
Emily M says
You’re inspiring! It’s been fun to watch you save for this trip! Once I survive my first year of twins (kids 3& 4 for us). I’d like to start saving for a big Disney trip. I just have no energy or time to coupon right now.
Karen says
Have a great trip…we leave next Friday!! Can’t wait to go.
Melissa says
We are leaving next friday too!!!
cindy says
sounds like a good plan. I always figure in extra money for the who knows what’ll happens (like one year our double stroller broke about 1/3 way through our vacation, & we found it cheaper to go buy 2 umbrella like strollers tham rent one for the rest of the trip. no worries our broken stroller I got for $2 at a yard sale, which is where we get a stroller for vacation every time so if it breaks or we loose it no biggie) starting to really buckle down with our budget for o our may trip to universal. already have almost $3000 saved but got to figure how much everything is gonna cost.
Robin says
I definatly recommend staying on-site at Universal. I am normally very thrifty and it almost kills me to pay what they charge for the on-site hotels (even the Florida resident rate) and the $20/night parking but I have decided that it is definately worth it. The hotels are beautiful and luxurious (think Grand Floridian) and include a fast pass for all the rides that saves you hours in line.
Heather says
The parking kills me. I get a car service to take us, cost a little more but then I’m not stressing about my car.
Just got back and 2011 merchandise is on sale!
Going to Bay Lake Towers in June-we use the en suite washers to make life simpler and since there is a full kitchen, we can make actually have left overs from those huge meals!!
Kymm says
I literally just got back from Disney (6:30am this am- drove straight through!) and there are tons of t-shirts and other goodies on “special value”. We pack our hats from previous years- though I am still tempted to buy a different set of “ears” each visit!
Julie says
CONGRATS TO YOU GUYS!!! SO EXCITED FOR YOU ALL!!! WAY TO SAVE!!! I CAN’T WAIT TO HEAR ALL ABOUT YOUR TRIP AND YOUR STAY AT POP CENTURY! WE LEAVE IN 6 WEEKS, AND WILL STAY AT POP FOR THE FIRST TIME!
Annette says
Remember you can get the refillable mugs for $14.95 each. Sounds like a lot but so worth it when you are there for a week.
Nicole Berfond says
First, I hope you have an amazing time. I have been following your blog for a few months and am dying to take my 4 yr old daughter to Disney for the first time. Just a question though, I have watched you add money to your fund, is it a specific savings account you are working out of? Did you put the Magic Your Way Package on a CC and have been paying it off with your fund deposits?
The Matoe says
Ewwww, I hate that parking part. Can’t you find someone to drop you off and pick you up? Would a taxi be cheaper? That price makes me sick for you because I think of all of the goodies you could buy there. I totally agree with you on the airfare, we are about 15 hours out and usually drive but if we ever find airfare anywhere close (we are a family of 5) to what we pay for on the road, we will so fly! I didn’t see any holes in your budget. Have fun!
Holly says
Oh another thing is the night before we fly out,were staying at a hotel adjoining the airport. Our flight is super early. The hotel offers free shuttle to airport,and parking is free if you rent a room there. So you don’t have to pay parking at airport.
Holly says
We are a family of 7,and I’m a Disney travel agent ‘-) one thing were doing since were flying in Dec.(in which our flights for 7 was total 1013.87) so cheaper than driving. Kayak.com is great for flights. I’m using one big luggage for all the kids and one for hubby and I,along with diapers,etc. That’s 50.00 in baggage fees. Carry ons will have clothes,and extras for the flight. I’m using the laundry service at the hotel,port Orleans so packing will be light. Also,ordering bottle waters,and snacks from the local grocery delivery service. It’s not real high,and worth it. They leave it in your hotel room before arrival. Just some tips. Have fun!!
Elizabeth says
Personally, I think that the $90 you’ve budgeted for extra meals might be too high, or even not necessary. I know that you should ere on the high side, but when we go and are on the dining plan, we have never had to buy extra meals, even though there could be extra meals to purchase. We are a family of 5, 3 Disney adults, 2 Disney kids (our boys are 9 and 11 and our daughter is 4). You can’t stretch the table services as easily, but you can definitely stretch the counter service meals.
For instance, Disney will not allow you to purchase more meals than are designated on your card. For instance, your key to the world will say 2A/2C, so you can only buy 2 adult meals at one time. I would be wiling to bet that if you bought 2 adult meals (or even 3 adult meals – by making 2 purchases), you could stretch them to feed your family. So, you will have a total of 28 counter service meals to split over 8 days. Just because your key to the world says 2A/2C, you don’t have to purchase 4 meals at every counter service. I don’t remember how old your girls are, but our family, with tween boys, can eat 3 adult meals and be content. Are we stuffed? Nope, but we aren’t hungry, either. I will usually bring granola bars or even pop tarts for breakfast, so that we are using meal credits for breakfast. I try my very best to stretch my money as far as I can when it comes to Disney!
I hope this made sense.
Misty says
I whole heartedly agree with this. Our family consists of 2 adults and 1 child, who is now 11 and counts as an adult. However, we did follow the same plan when she was younger. For us this amounts to 6 counter service meals a day on the counter service plan. We just use 2 meals at each stop. With the dessert included it ends up being more than enough for the three of us. I also bring water and snacks with us so we use the daily snacks for fun stuff like churros, popcorn and pretzals and drink the water we bring. On our last trip I had 8 snacks and 2 meals left at the end of the trip. We ended up bringing home a ton of fun snacks from the candy shop to use as presents and got the two leftover meals as sandwiches that we could eat on the ride home. Worked out perfectly!
Elizabeth says
It is a true gem to find out! Our first trip on the dining plan, we had no clue about it, ended up paying out of pocket for more than a few meals, and threw food away at the counter services that we used on the plan. We don’t do the dining plan anymore because we’ve figured out how to eat less expensively with our Tables in Wonderland card. But, if we don’t have APs anymore and use the dining plan again, you can bet we’ll be doing it like this!!
Trisha roderiques says
sounds good..what airline did you get the tickets from?
Heather says
We are leaving next Wednesday so we might also overlap!
Dixie Crowley says
When we used to fly out of Greene in RI, we would spend the night before our flight at a local hotel, don’t remember the name…….BUT, they offered free parking for 14 days, AND ran a shuttle 24 hours to the airport, and then picked us up at the airport when we returned. Much cheaper than paying for parking, plus, no early morning driving to get to the airport.
Andie says
We are leaving on Monday, we might run into each other while we are experiencing the magic! :)
Angela says
How did you get airline tickets SOOOOO cheap!??!!
Karen says
Have a great time!!!
Megan says
This probably wont help you, but it might for others. We have hotel points from our work that have added up. The Sheraton at the Oklahoma City Airport (where we are flying out of) gives free parking for 14 days if you spend one night at their hotel. They also take more than one car. We have hotel points that got us the free room (we aren’t even sleeping there), which then got us the free parking for our entire trip. Worth looking into at other airports.
talia says
Hey, just a couple things real quick. First, one way to save money on dining is to buy gift certificates from restaurant.com for places in that area. I already have bought a few and I don’t even have a trip planned lol. I got them when they were 80% off so I am saving about 25 per meal or so. In addition to that, if you need to make some more money pretty quickly, you could try what I do, I get on textbroker where you can write some articles and if they get accepted, you get to collect the money to a paypal account as soon as it is accepted. If you are under budget, try writing a few articles and you should end up with the right amount. Also, you may want to consider what transportation you will have a.k.a. cab rides, or rental car etc. I don’t know if you listed that but just in case you forgot, those are a few ideas.
Liberty Boblett says
Sounds like a wonderful plan! You do such a great job! I recommend your site all the time. Hope you have a great trip!