Family of two - we are going for a week in November and anticipate spending 2500-3000 for everything.

Admission prices are front loaded. The longer you go, the cheaper it is/day. So going 1 day is $100, but going 5 days is not.

Op - only you can answer this bc ad many of us said, there are too many variables which are family specific. The task of choosing lodging can have various options. Hotel alone has 10 different price points -mid range verse high end, on site verse off site, time of the year....all of which have pros and cons. And MY idea of a pro might be a con to you.

Agree with pP but avoid Valentine's Day in February. It is the second busiest week.

Anonymous wrote:We would like to eventually go with our son, who is now five, within the next year or two. DH is freaked out because he's hearing that park passes are over $100/day and thinks we'll have to budget about $10 to do a trip, which seems like a bit much.

How much would you budget for a 5 day stay on the park premises (i.e able to take a shuttle bus from hotel to the parks) with food, hotel (which I know could vary) and airfare? I know there are also some travel agents that do package deals, but can't recall who they are.

I'm sure there are existing threads on this, but going through them all would be exhausing!

OP, I highly recommend you go in the off season before he starts kindergarten. It is much less crowded there in November (not thanksgiving week though) and February. And the weather is nicer there too. If you want to go and actually see all the stuff and enjoy yourselves there during nice weather, go in October, November, early December, January or February.

Once your child starts school, you are pretty much locked into only taking vacations when school is out, which is when Disney is so much more crowded.

Are either one of you Military? If you are you qualify for the Armed Forces Salute Tickets: 4-day park hopper, $196/pp. Military also qualify for discounts at the WDW resorts.

We went when DD was 4. Our total trip was $2000. That was staying a full week in a 2 bedroom condo at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek, 3 AFS tickets, groceries and driving down.

We are going back this fall. We are staying on property at the Art of Animation suites, flying and my MIL will drive up from Miami to join us. Total for 5 nights, 4 days is projected to be around $3500. Higher because staying on property, flying, and adding in another person. But still very reasonable because of the military discounts.

Your best bet is to get either The Unofficial Guide or Easywdw's book to read through and help you start to get a handle on costs.

I think if you have little kids 3 days is more than enough.

Family of four. $1k/day including flights. More if you want to stay at the Poly or Grand Flo.

You can easily enter this info on the disney site and get actual prices. Enter dates, number of people, hotel, etc. The site will price it out with or without packages for food, tix, etc.

You should be able to do this for $4k.

Fwiw, I'd rather do a disney cruise than the parks. Way more relaxing.

We spent 5000 for 7 nights (including airfare) for 4. We stayed onsite at one of the nicer resorts.

The dining plan is a terrible deal. Don't do it.
We saved money by renting DVC points and staying in the wilderness lodge villas. Great location for little kids.
Paid about 210 a night (all in). Our rm had a kitchenette and we used the auto train (with reward points)to get there. Our 8 day tickets with park hopper were about 1500, and I know ticket prices have gone up. No real way of getting around that. Breakfast in the room for the most part, carry some snacks, and budget about another 1000 in food and souvenirs. We don't buy many souvenirs though.