Thank you for the round-up. I have been looking for such detailed budget idea in planning our Disney

The Fancy Family does not care much about cost. They just want the best hotel for their family, best restaurants, tickets with the most options and the easiest method to get there. Their only constraint is their schedule because they do want to work around the kids school calendar.
Hotel: The Fancy Family will be staying at the Polynesian in a Club Level Theme Park View room. They want to stay in the Hawaii longhouse due to the convenient location plus they like the amenities hotels near detroit metro airport that come along with being Club Level the food that is available, the extra service and use of the lounge.
Park tickets: Our no-cost-is-too-high family wants the most flexibility with options for water parks so they are going to get the tickets with the long name: Park Hoppers and Water Park Fun and More.
Food: The Fancy Family wants to try out a couple of restaurants each day of their trip and they ve decided to get the Deluxe Dining Plan which allows them to eat 3 meals a day in either Counter Service or Table Service restaurants plus they ll get 2 snack credits per day.
They could just pay out-of-pocket for their meals but they ve decided to buy the Deluxe Dining Plan just to simplify things and allow them to enjoy their trip without thinking about what each thing will cost. Also, it makes calculating this budget much easier on me.
Obviously, the largest expense is the pricey hotel room. Although The Fancy Family wouldn t necessarily be looking for discounts, their travel agent (if they used one, and I highly recommend it for people not wanting to do all of their own research) would have applied a 20% discount that was available during these dates, resulting in a lot of savings. They could also have opted for a non-Club Level room which saves a few hundred dollars per night.
Travel dates: August 25 September 1. The Moderate Family noticed that prices and crowds decrease around mid-August and their school hotels near detroit metro airport year doesn t begin until after Labor Day so, even though hotels near detroit metro airport it will be hot, they think these dates will work best for them.
Transportation: The Moderate Family wants to fly but will want the best deal they can find. They decide to book Southwest Airlines tickets. The times aren t always the most ideal but they are non-stop. They will also keep an eye out for sales and Ding! fares knowing that Southwest will give them a credit if prices decrease.
Food: The Moderate Family lucked out and free dining was offered during their stay (and it has been offered during this time for the last few years). This allows them to use the standard dining plan which is 1 Table Service credit, 1 Counter Service credit hotels near detroit metro airport and 1 Snack credit per person per night of their stay.
Other costs: The Moderate Family decided they wanted to plan 1 special event for their family during their vacation. They ve booked the Pirates and Pals Fireworks hotels near detroit metro airport Voyage for their pirate-loving kids and to give them a unique way to watch Wishes fireworks.
As their name tells you, this family is focused solely on saving the most money possible. They don t get to take family vacations a lot and they need to budget carefully to make this trip affordable. They are willing to take the kids out of school for this trip since they don t take the opportunity to travel often.
Transportation: The Frugal Family used the Fuel Cost Calculator to determine how much it would cost to drive from their home in Chicago to Disney World. The travel time is about 20 hours each way so they d also need to budget a night of hotel each way.
Hotel: This family decided it was more economical to stay slightly off-site hotels near detroit metro airport by choosing a hotel from the Mousesavers Preferred Hotel list . They decide on the Holiday hotels near detroit metro airport Inn Resort Lake Buena Vista which is located a mile from Disney World and will provide transportation to Disney World for free.
Food: The hotel that they ve chosen to stay at will allow anybody 12 and under to eat breakfast and dinner for free which The Frugal Family plans to take advantage of a few times. For lunch, they will pack food they can eat while in the parks (since they have a car, picking up groceries to pack lunches will be easy).
Booking with a travel hotels near detroit metro airport agent that specializes in Disney trips is generally a good idea, no matter what your price level (side note: general travel agents are often not a good idea on Disney trips. You can spend 1 hour reading this site and know more than most of them.)
Thank you for the round-up. I have been looking for such detailed budget idea in planning our Disney trip. We are planning to go on 2015 or 2016 since our children is still young to go (4 under) I know prices will change by then but we are now trying to save for this vacation. And this post really would help.
We have 3 kids 3,7, and 10. We want a deal but we want to stay at the park. What is the best deal for 5 people? Is it staying in 2 value resort rooms or finding a wdw resort that can have 5 to a room?
Port Orleans Riverside has a trundle bed that helps the rooms support 5 people for the same price as other 1 room moderates hotels near detroit metro airport like Port Orleans French Quarter. hotels near detroit metro airport Also there are some new Suites at Art of Animation that can handle 5. But those are little pricier.
You got a few options I d say. Look at some of the hotels on Disney that aren t owned by Disney. Near downtown Disney hotels near detroit metro airport there are a few and they still offer Disney transportation that runs often but normally are a bit cheaper than Disney owned and operated stays. With 5 people your in a sticky spot where you can get a roll away bed or have someone sleep on the floor (which I don t recommend), or look outside that magical barrier at multi-bedroom places. Bunches are around that still offer transport if you need it and still have great on-site amenities. LBV resort village and spa is a personal fav, but look around there is great stuff around Disney just check the reviews cause photos can lie sometimes.
You left out Value Resorts. They usually have better buses than moderate, great atmosphere (if you re a kid), and allow you to have access to Extra Magic Hours. My family which I would call the Disney on Budget is going in June 18-23, seven nights, dining plan, stay at Art of Animation Little Mermaid Rooms for $3100.00. I budgeting $500.00 for travel, which is a sixteen hour trip from KY with a night on the road both ways.
Totally love this post! I have booked an 8 day trip with dining plan and hotel stay. Anyways , I was worried because I thought a $1500.00 budget for souvenirs hotels near detroit metro airport and the occasional extra like Bibbity Bobbity Boo Boutique was to frugal. We are a family of three, thanks for putting my mind at ease!
In November 2013, we are staying on-site at a Moderate (Coronado Springs) hotels near detroit metro airport for 6 nights/7 days, with park hopper, and we got the free dining package that includes table service meals (we are doing several character meals). Our bill to WDW is $2400. We are driving from Illinois in a fuel-efficient car, staying at a hotwire hotel (under $50/night) each way, eating on the road and also buying some snacks and probably a couple souvenirs, so hoping to keep it around $3000 total.
If you stay at a Value resort during free dining and just get the quick service plan, and don t get the park hopper, you can save even more. That is what we might do next time but this is our first trip and we wanted to do character hotels near detroit metro airport meals, the slightly nicer resort, etc. I have heard the Value resorts are great too, and I can t wait to check them out next time.
I ve helped many of people as I build these packages, I always recommend hotels near detroit metro airport Allegiant Air as they re almost always cheapest and only do direct flights (though they don t seem to run everyday) and places like timeshare resorts when on a budget cause it does save a bunch of money. If you got money to burn a 2 bedroom place on Disney for $1100 a night is fine, but if your spending that a night you probably have your secretary book your vacations anyway. Great breakdown I did laugh a bit at the crossed out section.
I m trying to plan our first trip on a budget and I m hoping to be able to squeeze hotels near detroit metro airport it for $2000. We re a military family living in Pensacola and we re moving next summer so I want to be able to go to WDW before we PCS. There are six of us (but one of us is only one so at least she ll be cheap!) I m budgeting to use the military four day park hoppers at $169 a piece and I m looking to stay off site because even Shades of Green can t give me the kind of deal that I m finding at the vacation homes with washer and dryer. We re driving from Pensacola (6-7 hours depending on how many times the kids have to pee) and we re hoping to go in Feb for moderate crowds. I want to just do one character dining experience hotels near detroit metro airport and only eat lunch in the park. I m hoping I ll be able to manage since we really don t have money to burn. I already feel nine months behind since I just started planning for a trip in Feb. Your site has been so helpful but now I m worried that we won t be able to hit all the rides my kids want. Yikes! I didn t know it was so much work to plan this vacation!
We used blueribbonmanagement.com to find our accommodations. They had a 4 bedroom condo with 3 1/2 baths and a full kitchen plus washer/dryer for $100 a night when we went the last week of February 2013. It was only about 10 minutes from Disney, and since our vehicle was parked right outside our condo door (we drove down), I think that put us as close to Disney as the people who stay in Coronado Springs, but have to walk 10 minutes to catch the bus or get to the parking garage.
I love this my biggest thing right now is I know how much its going to be for the trip and the room I need to know for a family of 5 how much extra money should I bring with me if we have a dinner plan that gives us 3 meals and 2 snacks and refilled cup. I have 3 kids ages 5,6,9 at time of trip and then my husband who likes things. so I was planning my trip but need to know how much extra money to take what is the lest amount of money I am thinking somewhere from 2,000-5,000.
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