Family size: 2 (adult and preschooler)
Length of trip: 5 nights
Transportation costs: $430 (flew)
Accommodation costs (and where did you stay?): $120/night at POP (combined a Disney discount and a CheapTickets.com discount). This was during an average-cost season.
Admission costs: 5-day park hoppers, one adult one child, $660 (bought from UT)
Misc. Spending in the parks: about $60 on souvenirs.
Food: We did not do the dining plan. Most days we had a series of snacks combining foods brought from home (granola bars, fruit leathers, nuts, etc) and foods bought on site, then a sit-down dinner. We also did one character breakfast and one other brunch buffet. I don't have my credit card bill nearby but I think the total I spent at Disney for food and souvenirs was a little under $400.

So I guess that's $2100ish. This is for a trip taken just a few months ago.

Food is a great place to save money. Lots of snacks and one sit-down meal turned out to be a good strategy for us, especially as my kid would rather not spend ages and ages sitting in a restaurant. Hotel is the other major place to save money, especially for a big group, but for a solo-parent trip I wanted the convenience of being on site and not needing to rent a car. If you need more space and don't mind driving, I highly recommend Wyndham Bonnet Creek - but through one of the agencies that specializes in renting time share owners' points, not direct through Wyndham. A few years ago we paid $150/night for an ENORMOUS 3BR condo there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went a few years ago.
Drove down, found discount tickets. Stayed in a motel in Kissimmee

Could not bring our own food into the park, so we left a cooler in the car. So for lunch we left the park to eat our food at the car and got in again for the same price.

Did not spend any money at the park. Park hopper is a waste, especially if you arrive early and try and do every thing that is available at the park

Our vacation was cheap compared to what the others here have spent. Maybe prices have gone up a lot

I don't know how long ago you went, but you are allowed to bring your own food into the park now. You can't bring in a big cooler, but we've packed food in soft sided lunch boxes and then placed the lunch boxes in our backpacks. We brought sandwiches, fruit, chips, and cookies for dessert. Much tastier/cheaper than burgers/fries at the counter service restaurants in the park. Then for dinner we had a nice meal at one of the table service restaurants.

Officially this is against park policy, but security does not say "Boo" about it.

You are wrong. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/parks/outside-food-and-drink/

"Disney Theme Parks & Water Parks – Frequently Asked Questions
Q.
Can I bring my own food into theme parks and Disney Resort hotels?
A.
Guests are allowed to bring food items—such as snacks or foods that do not require heating—into Disney theme parks. Inform a Security Cast Member of any food items when you enter the park.

If you are concerned that we may not offer foods that you are able to eat, learn how to make Special Dietary Requests."

You're right. The rule changed. Thanks!

Too much. Total waste of money.

Not sure if our trip truly qualifies as a "Disney trip," but that's how we sold it to the kids and they remember it as a "magical" time.

The entire budget was under $3500 for our family of 6 (2 adults, 4 kids) spending 6 days in Orlando during spring break:

Family size - 2 adults & 4 kids (17, 15, 9, and 8)
Length of trip - 6 days
Transportation costs - $580 mini-van rental (Avis); $0 for flights (transferred about 60,000 Chase UR points to SouthWest and was able to get all tickets using reward points)
Accommodation costs (and where did you stay?) - Just under $700 for a 3BR townhouse in Terra Verde resort in Kissimmee
Admission costs -
1 Day in Disney's Magic Kingdom (entire family) - $650
1 Day at Smyrna beach (entire family) - $15 for parking at drive up beach
1 Day in Universal Studios Island of Adventure with fast pass (teens only) - fast pass was about half the added cost when booked for a Sunday -- $332
1 Day in Lego Land with water park (adults and 2 smaller children) - Used a Living Social deal for a discount -- $232
1 Day at Kennedy Space Center (entire family) - $297
1 Day hanging out at resort - $60 for poolside drinks/meals & activity deposits
Misc. Spending in the parks - Older kids were given $20/day at parks. Younger kids had a $10/day budget. Total for gas and parking was probably another $75.
Anything else?? - I budgeted $450 for meals which included two dining out occasions; once with a Groupon to Cici's pizza ($21 for entire family); used PayPal CC rewards redemption for a $50 disney giftcard used at Disney's Plaza Restuarant (left about $100 out of pocket on check); and the rest on groceries to stock the fridge at the rental house. We ate all breakfasts at the house, packed lunches and snacks for all park visits, and took a picnic basket to the beach.

Enjoyment by the kids = priceless.

You can abolutely bring food into any disney park and you do not need to hide it or have a "reason" like allergies.

In general, for a family of four, including airfare and food, we budget $1000/day.

Try Kimberly at Small world Vacations. http://www.smallworldvacations.com/ We've used her for WDW and Disney Cruise Line.

Anonymous wrote:

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!!!

We are lucky. My sister works for ESPN, so we went with her and had 50% off at Beach Club and free admission. The pool there is the best.

And the location of Beach club (and Yacht Club...and Boardwalk, though they have a different pool) is top notch! You can walk to Epcot in just a few minutes...and Hollywood Studios is a 20 minute walk (or you can take the boat)

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!!!

We are lucky. My sister works for ESPN, so we went with her and had 50% off at Beach Club and free admission. The pool there is the best.

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone taken the autotrain down? We (DH, DD and I) want to go to FL next spring and combine a few days of disney with a visit with friends in West Palm Beach.

I tried to make a trip work with the auto train that included an extended visit to see grandma in Ft. Myers. It's very expensive and I believe you can't take it without a car (which could have been an option for us), flying made more sense and was a lot cheaper. We went in July/August though and airfares are relatively inexpensive because fewer go to Florida in the middle of summer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went a few years ago.
Drove down, found discount tickets. Stayed in a motel in Kissimmee

Could not bring our own food into the park, so we left a cooler in the car. So for lunch we left the park to eat our food at the car and got in again for the same price.

Did not spend any money at the park. Park hopper is a waste, especially if you arrive early and try and do every thing that is available at the park

Our vacation was cheap compared to what the others here have spent. Maybe prices have gone up a lot

I don't know how long ago you went, but you are allowed to bring your own food into the park now. You can't bring in a big cooler, but we've packed food in soft sided lunch boxes and then placed the lunch boxes in our backpacks. We brought sandwiches, fruit, chips, and cookies for dessert. Much tastier/cheaper than burgers/fries at the counter service restaurants in the park. Then for dinner we had a nice meal at one of the table service restaurants.

Officially this is against park policy, but security does not say "Boo" about it.

You are wrong. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/parks/outside-food-and-drink/

"Disney Theme Parks & Water Parks – Frequently Asked Questions
Q.
Can I bring my own food into theme parks and Disney Resort hotels?
A.
Guests are allowed to bring food items—such as snacks or foods that do not require heating—into Disney theme parks. Inform a Security Cast Member of any food items when you enter the park.

If you are concerned that we may not offer foods that you are able to eat, learn how to make Special Dietary Requests."

We generally go for five days in August, stay deluxe in a club level room with Park Hoppers. No dining plan. Generally our room/ticket package is around $3000 and airfare is another $1000. We will eat maybe one nice meal and just grab snacks and Club Level food for everything else. So probably $4500.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went a few years ago.
Drove down, found discount tickets. Stayed in a motel in Kissimmee

Could not bring our own food into the park, so we left a cooler in the car. So for lunch we left the park to eat our food at the car and got in again for the same price.

Did not spend any money at the park. Park hopper is a waste, especially if you arrive early and try and do every thing that is available at the park

Our vacation was cheap compared to what the others here have spent. Maybe prices have gone up a lot

I don't know how long ago you went, but you are allowed to bring your own food into the park now. You can't bring in a big cooler, but we've packed food in soft sided lunch boxes and then placed the lunch boxes in our backpacks. We brought sandwiches, fruit, chips, and cookies for dessert. Much tastier/cheaper than burgers/fries at the counter service restaurants in the park. Then for dinner we had a nice meal at one of the table service restaurants.

Officially this is against park policy, but security does not say "Boo" about it.

Park hopper is the only way I'd do it. I can't imagine spending the entire day at one park with kids. We like spending half a day at one park (thru lunch), then taking a break at the hotel before heading to another park to hang out, have dinner, etc.

Anonymous wrote:We went a few years ago.
Drove down, found discount tickets. Stayed in a motel in Kissimmee

Could not bring our own food into the park, so we left a cooler in the car. So for lunch we left the park to eat our food at the car and got in again for the same price.

Did not spend any money at the park. Park hopper is a waste, especially if you arrive early and try and do every thing that is available at the park

Our vacation was cheap compared to what the others here have spent. Maybe prices have gone up a lot

I don't know how long ago you went, but you are allowed to bring your own food into the park now. You can't bring in a big cooler, but we've packed food in soft sided lunch boxes and then placed the lunch boxes in our backpacks. We brought sandwiches, fruit, chips, and cookies for dessert. Much tastier/cheaper than burgers/fries at the counter service restaurants in the park. Then for dinner we had a nice meal at one of the table service restaurants.