Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks all!

We are a family of for (5 yo and 7 yo). We would likely stay for 4-5 days. Would love to stay at one of the resort hotels ,if possible, and keep the whole thing under $3,500.

Is that reasonable?

You can probably get pretty close. I'm sure I could do it for under $4000.

In mid-May, rack rate for a room at value hotel and tickets for 5 days = $1725
( no park hoppers and no water park or Disney Quest). If you watch the specials at websites like Mouse Savers or Mouse Misers, you can probably get the same thing for around $1000 to $1200.

Food and stuff - $1000

Flight - $1200 - $1500

You don't need a rental car, because you can take the Disney bus from the airport to the hotel. You can take the Disney buses while you are on property.

Rental car $300
Motel overnight $115
2 nights at Liki Tiki $300
parking $14
4 tickets one day at WDW approx. $370
4 for dinner at Cinderella Castle approx. $200
4 nights Residence Inn Amelia Island $800
plus food, gas, drinks, state park admission at Amelia Island and various beach supplies

Be sure to go during off season when prices are lower.

When do you think you'll go? If you are definitely going next year, you could buy your tickets now. They won't expire until you start using them. Ticket prices rise every year so buy them now when they are cheaper.

Anonymous wrote:Two daughters (7 and 5) and me
Saturday to Tuesday
Art of Animation - basic Little Mermaid room - $300 (awesome hotel, btw)
Flight $700
Tickets (4 day, one park/day tickets) $700ish
Meals (breakfast in the hotel each morning, one character lunch at Crystal Palace with Pooh, one character dinner with Cinderella at 1900 Park Fare, one sit down lunch at Magic Kingdom, counter meals for two dinners and one lunch, drinks in the parks) around $400
souvenirs $75/kid (pins for lanyards, shirt, doll)

Spent about $2250 total.

I agree with PP, BEST TIME EVER! I wouldn't trade it for anything. Completely worth it.

FWIW, we went in February, which is "low season" and paid a lot less for hotel.

I think your food cost is misleading. Each character/sit down meal is $100+ for a family of 4.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks all!

We are a family of for (5 yo and 7 yo). We would likely stay for 4-5 days. Would love to stay at one of the resort hotels ,if possible, and keep the whole thing under $3,500.

Is that reasonable?

You could do this if you stay at a value hotel (~$100 per night), do only counter meals ($10 per meal per person), Disney transportation only (no additional cost) and do 1 park per day for 4 days. Park hopper costs more.

We are military so we get the discounted tickets and hotels. Our trips cost roughly around $4000-5000 for 5 nights/6 days. We are a family of 4

Airfare $1000
Tickets $660 (park hopper for 4 days military discount and we go to SeaWorld for free)
Hotel $1500 (40% discount for deluxe hotels)
Food $1500 (we usually do one "nice" meal per day and counter/quick service for others. we love nibbling around epcot.)
Car $300? (always rent a car but husband rents so not sure how much we spend).
Total ~$5000

OP here - thanks all!

We are a family of for (5 yo and 7 yo). We would likely stay for 4-5 days. Would love to stay at one of the resort hotels ,if possible, and keep the whole thing under $3,500.

Is that reasonable?

Anonymous wrote:We are contemplating a trip to DW this year or next and have a sense it will be fairly expensive. I'm curious if people can give a basic itemization of:

Family size
Length of trip
Transportation costs
Accommodation costs (and where did you stay?)
Admission costs
Misc. Spending in the parks
Anything else??

Total

Thanks!!!

Family of 6. We've been three times (and going again in October!). The first year we went with my Dad and step-siblings and split a lot of the costs. The last two times, our costs averaged about $5000. As far as the breakdown goes:

Family size: 6
Length of trip: 9 days
Transportation costs: Airfare from National was roughly $150 each, so $900. We also rented a minivan for our stay, which was roughly $500 (with gas and park parking).
Accommodation costs (and where did you stay?): We've always stayed off-site. My Dad has a timeshare and we go as a guest. One year we paid roughly $500, another year $300.
Admission costs: Spend approx $1700 on tickets. When we went during Christmas, we also spent another $400 for the Christmas party.
Misc. Spending in the parks: With allowances to the kids, grocery shopping for the condo and select meals in the park, we spend about $1400 on other costs. We're not big on souvenirs, so don't spend much there.

In October, only my younger two are going. We'll feel rich! LOL

Our family of three went this past January and it was around $5,000. We drove but rented a car, stayed in a park view room at the Contemporary, used the dining plan, had park hopper tickets and were there for 6 nights.

8 nights, 9 days
family of 5
$6000

We stay on property at the Pop Century and get two adjoining rooms, we buy the sit-down meal plan, park hoppers, and waterpark/DisneyQuest option
I rent a full-size SUV for the trip.
We usually go to at least 1 "non-Disney" park so that price includes tickets for that park.

We're going in April with 2 kids (4 and 6). Flights were $850. We're staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek in a 3 bed/3ba condo with my parents. We're staying 5 nights, and splitting it with my parents so we're paying about $345 (total cost was $685 for 5 nights). Park tickets are almost $1200 for 4 5-day passes (no park hopper) through Undercover Tourist. We're renting a minivan for $350 through Costco (again splitting with my parents). We eat breakfast in the condo (cereal, etc) and do one quick service meal and one sit down meal per day. We bring our own snacks and water. I'd say we spend around $200/day on food with some days a bit more and others less, but we do several character meals (which tend to be the most expensive), and we do one dinner show. Our reservations this year include Chef Mickey's, Hoop Dee Doo Revue, Be Our Guest for dinner, Tusker House, and Mama Melrose's.

We went way overboard the first time we went and allowed our kids to pick a souvenir to buy each day, which obviously really added up. This year we're going right after Easter, so each kid is getting a $50 Disney gift card in their Easter basket. They can buy what they want with that money and that's it.

We are a family of 6 (2 adults 4 kids), but

-my husband is military which has often us a HUGE discount, especially on tickets.
-We stay off site using Marriott points so our hotel is free.
-We have a Disney Chase Visa and apply the points to things like food and extras while there.
-We have a close family member that is an exec. for a company that used to do a lot of business with Disney and she was able to get us a lot of perks

We once did a trip for about $700 total out of pocket--for the 6 of us for a 7 day/night stay in Orlando!

OP, if you tell us your situation
-your family size, (and ages of any kids because kids are subject to adult pricing once they turn 10!)
-How many days you want to go
-what time of year (are you willing/able to pull kids out of school, or is it essential for you to go during school breaks/summer)
-your general budget

People might be able to give you some tips.

Two daughters (7 and 5) and me
Saturday to Tuesday
Art of Animation - basic Little Mermaid room - $300 (awesome hotel, btw)
Flight $700
Tickets (4 day, one park/day tickets) $700ish
Meals (breakfast in the hotel each morning, one character lunch at Crystal Palace with Pooh, one character dinner with Cinderella at 1900 Park Fare, one sit down lunch at Magic Kingdom, counter meals for two dinners and one lunch, drinks in the parks) around $400
souvenirs $75/kid (pins for lanyards, shirt, doll)

Spent about $2250 total.

I agree with PP, BEST TIME EVER! I wouldn't trade it for anything. Completely worth it.

FWIW, we went in February, which is "low season" and paid a lot less for hotel.

Family of 5. We have stayed on property and off. Always rented a car and bought groceries for breakfast and some dinners. 5 plane tickets, sometimes a frequent flyer ticket for 1. Ate lunch in the parks. $5000 for a week. Some trips it came out to $1000 a day. Not a cheap trip but the BEST family memories. We had a blast. We have been three times.

We are contemplating a trip to DW this year or next and have a sense it will be fairly expensive. I'm curious if people can give a basic itemization of:

Family size
Length of trip
Transportation costs
Accommodation costs (and where did you stay?)
Admission costs
Misc. Spending in the parks
Anything else??

Total

Thanks!!!