Biggest trip ever, How much do we need to budget?

[denverdi]

Hi there, I just talked dh into planning a trip to WDW!!!!! YEAH Half the battle is done.
He told me though if we are going we need to see as much as possible. When he clarified this he said Disney for 5 days Universal for 2 days Sea World for 1 day and Cape Kennedy for 1 day and of course shopping for 1 day at the outlet stores. Now This I find scary this many days.We have a friend who has a time share so that part is taken care of. Any other budgeting and discount ideas? Has anyone else ever done this long before. If so any ideas on how much to plan on spending? I have read some of the posts and they are wonderful. Thank you for all of you help ahead of time.

P.S. There are 4 of us. 2 adults 1 teenager and 1 child.

 

[nanns]

I usually plan on taking at least $100 per day spending money!
Over and above the ticket cost......

We just went in October for 10 days at Disney, we never left the grounds!
We took about $1200 in gift certificates and another $600 in debit card money and
about $200 cash. We ended up getting another $400 cash while we where there!

Plan too much, you could always bring it home (Yeah, right!)

We have 3 kids, one who drank alot of milk!! too.!!!

We also went with friends who have 4 kids, so we usually got stuck w/gratituty when
we ate at a sit down restaurant.

 

[Biyanna]

The longest trip I've done is 10 days. We did the Orlando stuff 1st then ended w/Disney. We thought Disney was a hard act to follow but, actually it was just as hard to leave the city of Orlando to move onsite.
1.Anyway, you have the accommadations taken care of, so I would more on to transportation.
2.You definitely need a car to get around. Estimate the a gas amount.
3.Take care of the tickets. Decide when and where to purchase them. You can get discounts with the Disney Club card, AAA, Connections, Orlandotickets.com, etc....Visit http://www.mousesavers.com/tickets.html for details and ideas.
4.Call around for parking amounts. (This is an frequently overlooked budget expense.
5.Decide on meals. Which ones you will make yourself and which ones you will purchase and where. Connections has meal vouchers,(see http://www.mousesavers.com/connections.html Also check out Deb's site for an idea of menu's and meals at Disney. Good for estimating tip money you'll need. http://wdwig.com/menu/menus.htm The Orlando Entertainment book also has deep savings on meals around town and dinner shows. http://www.entertainment.com You can get groceries at Wal-Mart. Don't forget snacks and water. The parks charge an arm and leg for it.
6.Set a spending limit for your shopping trip. You'll have to decide that amount.
7.After all this is taken care of I would budget 15.00-20.00 per person per day for any extras. You shouldn't have too many things come up after this kind of planning.
Good luck and have fun.

 

[josierac]

The only thing that I recommend is to make sure you take a break. Going to the parks 8 days in a row will be exhausting. Try to pick a day in the middle and enjoy the pool at where you are staying.

 

[bashful4]

We went for 10 days in July. We flew from Nashville to Orlando, used Tiffany Towncar, and bought annual passes. We stayed 8 nights at ASMo and 2 at the YC. We also went to Blizzard Beach and Downtown Disney 1 day each. We ate where we wanted and bought what souvenirs we wanted. There were 3 of us, me, DH, and a 6 year old. We saved around $5,000 for the trip. We probably brought home around $500.00, if that much. We had a blast!!!

We are going back between Christmas and New Years for 4 days. Plane and room will be about $1,100. I am budgeting another $500.00 for food and souvenirs. We use any discounts we can with the annual passes and our disney club card.

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says...................................................You can not see it all!! Five days at Disney is the minimum, two days at Universal is the minimum. Please do Kennedy!! Skip Seaworld and use that day to retreat, relax and regroup! It's a war out there and if you don't plan for some RnR you will be a goner. Go to Seaworld when you visit California, and the San Diego Zoo, and Disneyland!

 

[leebee]

DisneeDad, I'd NEVER skip SeaWorld! We just love it- it's a terrific experience, well themed, clean, and far less crowded than Disney! That said...if you think you'd rather not carry around alot of cash, travellers checks, etc., about six or eight weeks before leaving, apply for one of those credit cards that offer six months at 0%, or 2.9% interest. This gives you quite awhile to pay off the trip, at a very reasonable cost!

 

[pomcoach]

We have gone to Disney World about 7 times, since the kids were little. They are now in college. Somehow, (don't ask me how), it always works up to be $1,000 for each person we take on the trip. It doesn't seem to matter how young the child is, or where we stay or what we do or even howmany days we go??? I sure can't figure it out, but every year we take the whole family of 5, the total money spent was very near $5,000. I keep really good spending records, including trinkets, tickets, hotel, rental car, food, everything. My husband and I have went alone several times and the cost was close to $2,000. Our oldest graduated from college and didn't go with us on our last trip, so we had just 4 people. You guessed it! $4000!! We now just budget $1000 for each person going. We have bought $250 in Disney Dollars, because I don't like to carry so much cash. I also have purchased $30 in Disney Dollars, a little at a time, for each person to buy a special item of their choosing or use as spending money. We aren't real big shoppers. But everyone likes to bring home 1 special item to remember the trip.
Oh, and I wouldn't skip Sea World either. It's almost a rest in itself! You feel much more free there. Lots of room and hardly no lines. You can wander the park and do what you want. It's a whole different experience! JMO Pomcoach

 

[tink2dw]

pomcoach's theory wouldn't work if you go in PEAK Season though because EVERY Business Increases their prices!! Even the washers and dryers go up!

 

[tink2dw]

Oh,and We never budget more than $100. per person for suvineers,and Dd saves and earns her money ,then parents have no say in how she spends it!![save us all energy that way.]