Budget for a “not a budget trip”

[katyringo]

I know this will be highly subjective.

But for those of you who plan big trips and don’t necessarily try to do them on cheap- what does your total cost look like?

Clear as mud?

We are looking at an 8 day trip, wanting to stay at the courtyard water park hotel, a night at the LEGO land hotel, 4 days park hopping, 1days LEGO land, a day off just to chill. Eating meals in the park, BBB, dinner show packages, a couple table service. And shopping of course..

There are 4 of us. 2 kids/2 adults. We will have points to pay for most, if not all our flight cost.

Still, when I add everything up, we are looking at. 6-7k trip. Is that just a crazy amount of money or pretty typical for a trip that long and doing all the things?

 

[goodeats]

We had a 8 night trip to WDW (staying exclusively on site) and our total cost was $6K including the discount we got buying gift cards and our free flights. Our hotel was only around $250 a night (massively discounted rate at WL), but the park tickets and food were very expensive. And over 8 nights it adds up of course.

Vacations are expensive!

 

[Samantha Morgan]

Are your Legoland tickets included in your hotel? I know they run that offer sometimes. If not, look up the “Kids Go Free” offer. You’ll pay about $200 for the 4 of you.

But to me, that seems pretty typical. I’m not a hopper person, so that seems unnessary to me, but it’s tptally personal preference.

 

[katyringo]

Are your Legoland tickets included in your hotel? I know they run that offer sometimes. If not, look up the “Kids Go Free” offer. You’ll pay about $200 for the 4 of you.

But to me, that seems pretty typical. I’m not a hopper person, so that seems unnessary to me, but it’s tptally personal preference.

When rates for next year open I’ll start looking for deals. But they do have packages that include tickets.

 

[craigkerstiens]

For us when we do DL, we often go for 3/4 day trips, but have an AP. The AP was approximately 1k per person for 3 of us, but spread that out over each trip and it's a bit less. On Hotels the Courtyard waterpark is often surprisingly expensive, if you're going during warm weather taking advantage of the pool could be great. If not there are others that are nearly as convenient for a fraction of the price. We tend to do the four points and sheraton both regularly and a night can range from $100-$200 a night. Then there is good and drink, we easily hit $300 a day there as we tend to do at least one nicer sit down dinner with drinks each day. Looking at our trips which aren't the same but assuming our AP spread over trips I could estimate a 3-4 day trip as ~ $1,000 for the hotel, $900 for tickets, $1200 for food and drinks.

 

[Cal-Pie]

When we've done bare bones budget trips for our family of 5 for 6/7 days we've spent $3500ish, so I don't think 6 or 7k sounds out of line. Look into Get Away Today for Courtyard rates. They're often a lot cheaper than rack rates. They sometimes require a ticket purchase with the hotel reservation, but I've seen rates under $200/night.

 

[keywis25]

My daughter and I have done a couple 8 night trips to DL. We drive from AZ and stay at Paradise Pier or Grand Californian. We do five day park hoppers, a day at another local park, the beach, a special show or character meal and a sit down dinner every night. So with all that food, souvenirs, and incidentals we spend upwards of 5000 for just two of us. And this was in 2014 and 2017

 

[Gophers]

Don’t forget about your souvenir budget. This is where I have a tough time staying on budget.

 

[katyringo]

Don’t forget about your souvenir budget. This is where I have a tough time staying on budget.

Yes! I love to shop at DLR... so I included a fairly big chunk for that.

 

[RainyDayPixie]

I was pricing out a trip for my family of 5 for 6 nights (DL and UHS) and was looking at 5k before food and miscellaneous. It adds up! Which is why we don't go every year any more.

 

[katyringo]

For us when we do DL, we often go for 3/4 day trips, but have an AP. The AP was approximately 1k per person for 3 of us, but spread that out over each trip and it's a bit less. On Hotels the Courtyard waterpark is often surprisingly expensive, if you're going during warm weather taking advantage of the pool could be great. If not there are others that are nearly as convenient for a fraction of the price. We tend to do the four points and sheraton both regularly and a night can range from $100-$200 a night. Then there is good and drink, we easily hit $300 a day there as we tend to do at least one nicer sit down dinner with drinks each day. Looking at our trips which aren't the same but assuming our AP spread over trips I could estimate a 3-4 day trip as ~ $1,000 for the hotel, $900 for tickets, $1200 for food and drinks.

We’ve stayed at Hojo and the Anaheim hotel. My son is out growing the little water park at hojo. It really is the water park that grabs our attention at this hotel.

 

[Bossy22]

We use to do 8 nights, 5 day passes and food for 2, 500. Last trip we did 8 nights, 5 day passes and food and it was about 6000. Hotel has tripled in the last 10 years and the kids eat way more and we like to eat good as its vacation. We just have to save up for longer to make it work!!!

 

[tarheelalum]

For my wife and I we usually end up spending about 65-7500 per vacation. We live in Arizona now so its a big production for us both to get time off work to go back to Disneyland, so we tend to live it up a bit when we do. But I still budget everything and know how much I'm going to spend on everything. I even figure out the daily food costs. But I don't worry so much about how much things cost, but I do know before hand what it costs. I say if you have the money to spend on the vacation without going into debt, then do it, regardless of the price.

 

[debdreamsofdis]

I agree with the previous posters about Courtyard being expensive. I was wanting to book there before it was even built, but every time I've checked their rates , they are very high, close to what Paradise Pier was charging. Booking a hotel that is within walking distance to the park is a good idea though because then you aren't paying for a shuttle or for parking at the garage. We also prefer to book a hotel that provides a free breakfast, so that can always save a little bit of money. We are a family of 6 and within about 6 hours driving distance to DL so we usually do shorter trips, but I would say that even our short 2-3 day trips can easily run about $2500 after hotel, tickets, food and gas. We rarely buy souvenirs or do "extra" stuff like dining packages. Your total budget for 8 days seems to be about right.

 

[Malcon10t]

If you are trying to save a few bucks on your trip, that Courtyard is on the higher side, and you might consider Hojo's as an alternative. Or compare the price to the Paradise Pier, and if similar, I'd go with Paradise Pier. $6-8000 sounds normal. If you are looking to cut costs, a couple of people have made suggestions. As far as Lego Land, how old are your kids?

 

[katyringo]

If you are trying to save a few bucks on your trip, that Courtyard is on the higher side, and you might consider Hojo's as an alternative. Or compare the price to the Paradise Pier, and if similar, I'd go with Paradise Pier. $6-8000 sounds normal. If you are looking to cut costs, a couple of people have made suggestions. As far as Lego Land, how old are your kids?

My kids will be 6 and 3. We added legoland to our trip in 2017 when our son was 5... he loved it. We didn’t stay in the hotel then.

 

[disneychrista]

Hotel - $125/night
Food - $100 per person/day, more depending on alcohol consumption
Gas/travel
Entertainment

 

[katyringo]

If you are trying to save a few bucks on your trip, that Courtyard is on the higher side, and you might consider Hojo's as an alternative. Or compare the price to the Paradise Pier, and if similar, I'd go with Paradise Pier. $6-8000 sounds normal. If you are looking to cut costs, a couple of people have made suggestions. As far as Lego Land, how old are your kids?

Paradise pier is almost 1000 more, which is so crazy to me!

 

[Mrs. W]

$6-7K seems pretty good to me for 4 people! If you’re looking specifically to save money, you could move to one of the less expensive motels within walking distance of DL, but I think your hotel pick is a good one. I’m not personally a fan of the budget options within walking distance of DL. My husband and I are not budget vacationers so to me, your costs seem in line with what I’d expect a trip for 4 people over a week’s time would cost.

Have fun!

 

[Disney Lvr of Old]

My son and I are traveling from NY for 8 days. With Airfare, off site hotels and 8 day hoppers (2 four day salute tickets each) I’m at $5k. Airfare was crazy for last minute travel Which was a big chunk. I’m guessing $2k for food and souvenirs. We only visit Disney every few years so tend to go crazy on the one offs- Halloween party, pirates league, dessert packages etc. planning and saving for specific things is the most fun!