Planning a Trip in 2019? Let's Share Our Budgets!

[TeamDP]

We are planning our first ever family WDW vacation (it's been 12 years since our last WDW vacation) for approximately May 31-June 8 with a day at Universal for WWOHP and a day at the coast to see my best friend and her family and surprise my son with a day at Kennedy Space Center.

Who: Me (38), DH (39 celebrating 40!), DS (7), and DD (5) plus my parents (64 and 66). We will be paying our own way and they will pay theirs but since they decided to come along we will have access to military discounts since my dad is retired AF.
Where: Most likely Shades of Green Jr. Suite so we can all stay together and split the cost. We have it reserved for our full stay as of right now. We may change depending on what the Armed Forces Salute discounts look like. (Our portion will be about $1350 if we stay there all 9 nights). I'm considering breaking this up a bit and spending the night on the coast for more time with my friend's family and also considering a one night stay over at Universal to get early access to the park. I'm thinking our budget for this will have to max out at $1500 and I'll adjust as needed.
Tickets: As long as Armed Forces Salute doesn't change dramatically, our plan is to get the 5 day hopper. That would be $1000 in 2018, so I'm budgeting $1200 for now. Obviously, if we can't do that the price almost doubles.
Food: I've used the dining plan calculators to try to get an idea on this and I think we will probably be around $1400 at the high end.
Transportation: I'm budgeting $1200 for flights for the four of us. If I booked right now for similar dates it would be about $1000, but again I'd rather budget higher because who knows where the ticket prices will be when we can actually book. We'll also need a rental car to get to the coast ($150) and then transport to and from the airport and between Disney and Universal (I still need to research this but $150 is what I'll put here for now.)
Other: Universal tickets ($800), Kennedy Space Center tickets ($200)
Souvenirs: Wands at Universal already put us at $200 and I'm sure the kids will each get at least something small at Disney and KSC as well so since I'm budgeting high, I'm going to say $500.

Total: $6200

That number is a lot higher than I'd like but that just means I need to start saving NOW.

 

[Carrie Ellis]

As a military family, I have never found SOG to be a great deal. I know the rooms are bigger. You might want to see what other military discounts you can get at the other resorts too. We got 40% off the Art of Animation suites one year. The military tickets are the best! We have used them numerous times! We did Universal with a military offer one year and I guess it was a better deal?? We stayed at their resort on a package deal. I really don't care for Universal. Once was enough for me. Seaworld was great though. Active can get in free plus 4 more family members. Double Tree by Hilton Orlando Seaworld is a participating hotel. You have to get in line early for the front of the line pass to Seaworld rides but it was not horrible to get. We had Hilton points too so we were able to get our room with points.

 

[Marionnette]

I wasn't going to go again until Sept. 2019 (we're going in late Sept. of this year), but my daughter has been hinting that she would like to get back to Disney before she and her friend do their "we're all turning 30" trip in 2020. So, I said I would look into a trip for the two of us in the spring. As luck would have it, I was able to book 2 nights in an AKV CL studio in April. I added on 4 nights in a BWV boardwalk view studio. It's as if the stars had aligned and the heavens were telling me to take this extra trip!

So, for the details:

1. Ground transportation to/from our home airport provided by one or both of our husbands. We're 20 minutes away and it's almost all highway. No parking fees nor tolls and little in the way of gas. $0
2. Airfare RT to MCO using Southwest RR points. $15 pp EBCI for each direction + 9/11 fees. $83
3. 4 nights BWV + 2 nights AKV paid for with our DVC points. It's a sunk cost at this point, so $0 OOP for the trip.
4. Tickets. 1 PAP for myself, to be activated in Sept. 2018 + 6-day PH for daughter that I've had for a couple of years (another sunk cost that I have no idea what I paid for since I believe it had been part of a 2016 *free* dining package I had done with my sister when I already had an AP). $0 OOP for this trip only because I had factored in the price of the AP over the two F&W trips I have planned for 2018 & 2019.
5. Food, oh goodness! I figure that we will each pay our own share. She's a vegetarian who rarely eats breakfast and is fine with just one complete meal each day. One restaurant that she has requested is Tiffins and I may book a ROL dining package since ROL was dark when she went two years ago. I'm going to budget $300 apiece and adjust accordingly if I manage to put more aside.
6. Shopping/souvenirs is completely negotiable. I don't tend to buy a lot. With DVC, we go often enough that I don't need, nor do I want, Mickey ears, autograph books or t-shirts. I usually buy an ornament or two and then have them shipped home. So, $100 maximum for shopping.
7. Extras may end up being the biggest expense.

• Since we're going to be staying Club Level for 2 nights, we can get the 3 extra FP+ and night-time reserved viewing if it's still offered next spring. The current price is $50 pp/day (not per night!) with a minimum of 3 days. That's $300 for the two of us. This is something I will only book if I can accrue enough free Disney GCs via rewards programs.
• I may book one fireworks dessert party for us, depending on what our schedule looks like. That would be $140 (or more come spring). I'm on the fence as to whether it's worth that price tag. It's nice not to have to stake out a viewing spot well ahead of the show, but the desserts and beverages are not anything spectacular.

Total OOP = ~$925

Now, I freely admit that the DVC purchase price and annual dues (or at least the rental income on the points), the amortized price-per-day cost of my AP and the value of the 6-day park hopper that is gathering dust could (and probably should) be factored in. But the new puppy has me sleep-deprived and running those numbers just isn't in me right now.

So after receiving $25 PayPal from EarnHoney and redeeming a $50 Target GC from Perk, I now have the following toward the extras I want for this trip:

• $100 in Disney GCs
• $50 cash

Small victories but every little bit counts!

$925 - $150 = $775 still needed in "free" money to cover the trip! I have the cash, I just want to see how close I can get to not having to pay anything OOP for this.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We are planning to take our first trip as a family of four! The baby will be 2 1/2 when we plan to go over fall break in October. This will also be our first trip to Universal Orlando.

I’ve booked five nights at The Hard Rock Hotel ($1565 - $715 in Capital One Venture Rewards = $850).

We will get four or five day Park to Park tickets. I’m debating about Volcano Bay. (Approx $1000 - $600 in Capital One Venture Rewards = $400).

Southwest flights should be covered by Rapid Rewards Points earned through the Chase Visa.

Tony Hinds or Quicksilver transportation from the airport ($120).

I haven’t studied the menus very much yet, but I’m guessing $750 for the week.

Rough total $2100

 

[mckenk]

Our budget is $6000-$7000. We currently have $1600 saved and another $400 in CC rewards saved.

Who: Family of 4, 2 kids under 9
When: Late September 2019, 8 nights
Where: $2000 Budget. Where depends on where we can get a DVC rental. Hoping for a Poly studio.
Tickets: $2000, or However much a 9 day park hopper comes out to be.
Transportation: $40 - will use SW miles for flights ($10 fee per ticket), and Disney Transportation
Food: Depends. We like to spend a lot here but also need to stick to a budget. It depends on how other things work out.
Other: Depends. We may do MNSSP, a dessert party, and/or the BBB for our girls. It just depends on budget and what we ultimately decide we want to spend money on.
Souvenirs: $200

 

[neatokimmo]

Update, we aren’t doing camp and TX, we are heading back to Italy in September 2019.

My estimates are..
$1800-2000 flights from Newark to Palermo
$1200-1400 20 nights of apartments. Some apartments are $40, some are $70.
$400 gas, parking, pre flight hotel. I am hoping to find something that will let us leave the car for a reduced parking fee.
$600 trains and buses. This might be a lot less because Sicily is so small.
$300 entrance fees. Just an estimate, it looks like many tickets are five euro or less. A large part of my trip is sitting on my butt in the sand at the beach.
$300 groceries, $15 a day, about what we ran price wise on the last trip. Italian grocery store ingredients are much better than what we get at home. The farmers markets are awesome.
$800 eating out, $40 a day. That is about $35 more a day than last time.
$300 souvenirs. Last time I spent about $50. I regret not buying a purse I liked so this time I will get one if I see one I like.
$5700-6100

 

[amalone1013]

We are planning a family trip for summer 2019. It will be a surprise for our in-laws and we are splitting most of their share with my BILs and their spouses. The trip is built around a 5 night Bahamas cruise on the Dream. Then we would also like to do a day at Epcot and a day at Kennedy Space Center, because those were the things that the ILs didn't get to do as much on our wedding trip like they'd planned (thanks Irma). The long version of the trip would be a second park day and possibly a second day at KSC.

I'm tracking our budget plus the ILs. Most things are the same between us, so I'm just budgeting costs high (longer trip) and low (base trip) for one group. I'll add where we're at on our trip too.

Flights: $688/$952 - Hopefully this is really high as I based them on this year's prices, but only looked about 8 weeks out. I will have Southwest points to cover our flights and hope to book when they release flights and to rebook if they do drop. Cash OOP $11
Cruise: $4490 us/$4869 - This is the only difference between us and ILs; it includes the fare, gratuities, and Palo. We had a placeholder discount discount (10%) + $100 credit, and I budgeted for an excursion we thought about doing on our honeymoon but it booked up before I added it ($172)
Hotels: $477/$928 - 2 nights at Pop and 1 night at Port vs 3 nights at each place Cash OOP $0 (can use points)
Tickets: $330/$552 - 1 day Epcot and 1 day KSC tickets vs 2 day nonPHs and 2 day KSC tickets. Cash OOP $406 (can use points for KSC)
Disney Food: $205/$358 - 1 day vs 2 days. Cash OOP $358
Other Food: $310/$425 - 3 day vs 4 days. Cash OOP $425
Transportation: $96/$145 - rental cars on either end of cruise. Cash OOP $0 (can use points)

Total: $6596/$7850 us and $6974/$8229 ILs
Cash OOP goal $5160, current savings $972 (putting $350 per month towards it, but will adjust down if I'm projecting to go over goal)
Cruise gift card goal $4490 for $3960 OOP, currently at $1900 for $1596 OOP

Adds up fast! Hopefully some things come down or I can get better deals. DH and I were able to pick up about $2800 in credit card points for about $1100 in cost (long story), so we are planning to put that towards the ILs trip and count the $1100 as part of our portion. And we have lots of CC points to use for ourselves, for flights, hotels, etc. I’m also working on gathering discounted/free Disney GCs for our cruise. I’m hoping the actual cash cost could come in around $4000 or so. We’ll contribute an amount towards it each month, and I plan on earning some extra cash to help put towards it.

 

[tinkerbell615]

Wow! You guys are a little more organized than my DH and I for our hopeful trip in 2019. We are hoping to go in November of 2019. We have never seen the Christmas decorations, and DH says we will do it somehow next year. He has been saving change and money from his part time 2nd job, as well as buying Disney gift cards whenever he can. We don't know exact dates in November, and it is still up in the air who is planning to go with us. My DD and her boyfriend have mentioned going, but have not said definitively yet. We also would like to take our then 6 year old grandson, but don't know if his parents are on board with that yet. Seems like a lot of things are still up in the air for us.

I will be keeping my eyes open for discounts, special offers, etc... for that time frame. We will probably stay 3 nights, and fly, so I will need to budget airfare. We usually drive, but for a short trip, it will be better to fly. We always do park hoppers, because we enjoy one park in the morning and another in the evening. I would love to be able to stay deluxe (we have never done that before), but will more than likely stay at POP. That is our favorite resort.

I am going to enjoy seeing what everyone else has in the works for their plans!

 

[neatokimmo]

I wish I could book sept 2019 stuff now. I saw the perfect flight for this sept for $520 each and I found a great pre and post flight hotel for $110. And we are ditching the driving and taking Amtrak on points. That cuts like $400 of costs if they are similar in a year. It’s painful waiting!

 

[DnA2010]

Following along! DH and I are planning to take my mom, both of his parents, and his brother to WDW in September 2019 for a week. I will be using credit cards points with Chase to cover most, if not all, of the cost of this trip. I'll put in some legit dollar amounts though

Who: 6 Disney adults

Where: One of the moderate resorts. Preferably POR, but it will just depend on the availability of discounts. I am planning to book three rooms- one for me and DH, one for my mom, and one for in-laws. The only thing that could change here is if my mom brings her camper instead and stays at FW.

When: Late September 2019

Tickets: Probably 6 day parkhoppers. Maybe less days for MIL and FIL.

Food: Tentative dining plan. Will depend on availability of discounts and credit card points. I will actually come out cheaper if I book the dining plan on points instead of paying OOP for meals. Regardless, DH and I plan to pay for meals for everyone.

Transportation: Maybe rent a van and drive everyone down. If we do this, I will cover it with points- cash rate from Costco is about $700. If we fly (unlikely) then we may ask everyone to pay their own way for that. If we do fly, we will use DME and will not rent a car.

Souvenirs: Everyone is on their own for these! BIL will buy a lot but I doubt my mom, MIL, or FIL will buy much. DH and I enjoy pin collecting, so we will purchase those.

I would budget about $10,000 cash for this. Thanks to credit card points, I already have enough saved for one room with tickets, dining plan, etc. for 2 people! I expect to pay for the rest on points, or perhaps a very small cash outlay. I can't wait for this trip!! I've wanted to take my mom to Disney for a long time since she hasn't been in 13 years!

Holy how do you get that many points? What's your secret?

 

[Marionnette]

Holy how do you get that many points? What's your secret?

PP is very active on the I Love Credit Cards thread. I imagine that many of the points are from sign up bonuses. Travel hacking is getting to be a little more difficult with new restrictions going into place all of the time. But for people who are willing to put an effort into it, the payoff can be quite nice.

 

[crazycatstacy]

We will NOT be doing Disney next year for the first time in a LONG time! Nothing particularly against Disney, I'd just like to venture elsewhere.

We have two tentative trips. One will be South Dakota/Rapid City/Mt. Rushmore/Black Hills. DH's grandmother moved out there recently and she's 89 years old. I have a feeling it will be our last trip to South Dakota (we usually visit the Sioux Falls area so this will be a nice change). We will have to pay for flights or we may do a road trip depending on how much time off we have. We will use Marriott points for hotels needed along the way if we drive. We will stay at DH's uncle's home which has a view of Mt. Rushmore. Transportation costs will range from $500 for gas to $1,500 for flights That would be the bulk of our costs though as I don't count food as a cost (ok, maybe an extra $25 a day or about $250 total for a trip) and I'd imagine activities to stay under $300. So $1,000 up to $2,000.

Our second trip we have on our list is a 7 night Royal Caribbean Cruise out of Florida. This would be our big one. Haven't booked it yet as we're still finishing paying off our November trip. We're looking at about $5,500 for the cruise itself. Marriott points for a hotel the night before. No more than $1,200 for flights. I expect plenty of onboard credit but will plan for an additional $300. Transportation to/from the port about $200. No more than $7,500 for this trip.

We always visit family in the Bay but we stay with family. We don't spend much money but for gas so each time we go we're looking at $300 max. We do this 2-3 times a year.

I'm not sure how to really save money on the cruise aspect as RCL is all new to me. Flights I will work on miles but we have slim pickings to Rapid City so may have to suck it up and pay cash.

I actually live in Rapid City! Enjoy the area!

 

[crazycatstacy]

We went for the first time in 2012 and have tried to go every other year since then. We were planning on going in December, 2019. Then my mother got married (she is 67 and her husband is 70) and he decided he wanted to take everyone (he had taken his adult children and grandchildren a few years ago). They want to go March 25-April 3. I was somehow (he must have had a moment of weakness) to convince my husband we should do both trips!

First Trip- March 25-April 3

Me and DH will be staying off site with my mother and her husband and his family at a house they rent- zero cost to me
Flights- $1200 (already purchased- unfortunately we don't live in an area that has decent priced flights so I paid what I was comfortable with to ensure a good arrival time)
Tickets- Husband and I are going to purchase annual passes and we have an 8 year old nephew that lives 2 hours from Disney so we will purchase his tickets as well- I'm estimating $1300
Car Rental- Looking at $300-400
Food/souvenirs/everything else- I'm guessing maybe $2,000?

Total- $5000

Second Trip- Hoping for December 2-13 (Won't know dates for sure until my husband picks vacation time at the end of the year

Hoping to stay Port Orleans or maybe rent DVC points- $2000
Tickets- Already paid for in March
Flights- 1200
Deluxe dining plan- $2200 (I don't remember the exact amount but I think that is close)
Everything Else- $3000

Total- $8200

Its a lot when I add it up and write it out! We paid my car off two years ago and have put my car payment in savings for vacation so it will all be paid for but damn, that's a lot! I can't wait for it all to happen!

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I actually live in Rapid City! Enjoy the area!

Awesome, thank you! We have made several trips as a family to East South Dakota (Sioux Falls and Yankton) but have never ventured out to the west. We're excited Are you originally from SD? My husband's family originates from there.

 

[crazycatstacy]

Awesome, thank you! We have made several trips as a family to East South Dakota (Sioux Falls and Yankton) but have never ventured out to the west. We're excited Are you originally from SD? My husband's family originates from there.

We moved here when I was 9 and I will be 45 this year so I consider myself to basically be from here at this point!

 

[mjantz]

Doing a trip to France next year for our anniversary. So far I know we need

-Flights
-hotels or rooms along the way (looking to stay with people in a spare room or something part of the time to save money)
-pocket wifi
-car rental
-train tickets (day trip to Monaco & day trip to Luxembourg)
-Various admissions (still figuring out the details of what we're going to see & do)

Its not going to be cheap but it should be the adventure of a lifetime!

 

[belleelc77]

Doing a trip to France next year for our anniversary. So far I know we need

-Flights
-hotels or rooms along the way (looking to stay with people in a spare room or something part of the time to save money)
-pocket wifi
-car rental
-train tickets (day trip to Monaco & day trip to Luxembourg)
-Various admissions (still figuring out the details of what we're going to see & do)

Its not going to be cheap but it should be the adventure of a lifetime!

Don't forget food!

 

[verleniahall]

1st Vacation:

Branson

Week of the 4th of July
Westgate Branson Woods - Using Timeshare - cost $0
Food - $100
Activities - $400/$600
Gas - $150


2nd Vacation

Still up in the air

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I am planning to take my family of four (2 adults, 2 college kids 21 & 19) on a budget safari in South Africa. We chose South Africa after a ton of research because the self drive aspect makes it the most budget friendly safari destination. We are coming from the East Coast of the US. DS will be graduating from college and I really want to do this trip before he starts his full time career. I am shooting for early June or late July/early August of 2019. I would like to avoid the SA school holidays if possible. I am on a pretty tight budget, so luxury lodges are not on the agenda. However, I do want to have a varied safari experience - part self drive, part guided, part tent, part special lodging. Based on my research, here are my thoughts:

Budget : $10,000 US
Length: 12 days
Flights: This is half my budget! Fly into Johannesburg and drive rental car to the Hazyview area. May spend 1 night in Johannesburg on front end and back end, depends on flight schedules.
Lodging: 7 nights at self catering timeshare in the Hazyview area (I don't include this in my budget because we trade for it through RCI). We are considering Sanbonani, Kruger Park Lodge (both at the Phabeni gate) or Burchells Bush Lodge (at the Paul Kruger gate), 1 or 2 nights in Kruger Park at Tamboti Tent Camp (this is a SANParks public national park camp and must be booked 11 months in advance), 2 nights at either (first choice) Shindzela in Timbavati Reserve or nThambo in Klaserie Reserve or Umkumbe in Sabi Sands Reserve (all are private all inclusive safari camps), 1 or 2 nights in Johannesburg (to be determined by flight schedule).

Plan: Kruger Park - Guided Sunrise Game Drive and a Guided Sunset Game Drive on two different days from the closest Kruger gate mixed in with some self drives of the Southern Kruger area. We'd also have a rest day, play some golf, and take a day to do the Panoramic Route. At the end of the week, we'd self drive safari up to Tamboti Tent Camp for a night or 2 and take a morning Guided Bush Walk from Orpen, then self drive safari out of Kruger to the private all inclusive camp we choose for 2 nights of semi luxury. From here we'd drive back to Johannesburg and depending on flights, maybe spend a night there.

I've budgeted about $5000 for flights, $700 for rental car, $1500 for food and gas, $500 cushion for whatever (entertainment, golf, etc), $1900 for lodging (not including timeshare), $400 for guided drives and walks, $350 for Kruger park entry fees.

Now I just need to keep saving up the money, which I'm finding hard to do with two kids in college! My booking windows will be opening in a couple of months.

 

[kathy884]

Mini March 18-22 spring break trip with DS (DH will stay home / doesn't care for Orlando)

flying in on Monday and home on Friday -- for airfare -- $0 (will use Southwest Point)
Four nights Marriott Residence Inn SeaWorld $662 (includes breakfast / also has mini kitchen for snacks) // for budget round to $700
SeaWorld tickets $80 * 2 = $160
Magic Kingdom tickets $120 * 2 = $240
Titanic attraction $25 * 2 = $50
Airport Parking = $50
Kennel for Dog = $200
Ubers while in Orlando = $150
Food = $400 (Freebie breakfasts, counter service in parks, one nice dinner out at Maggianos where we will be treaing nephew and his roommate (They live in Orlando)
Misc = $50

Total Budget = $2000 (Freebie Airfare, only two people, and fact that it is a short trip helps / Cost of tickets per day for short trip is high, though).

I love the mini trip to Orlando.


Oh and non Orlando trips -- an NCL cruise for three out of Miami in January $5300 (eight nights away) Air $1200, pre stay hotel $180, Cruise and Insurance $2300, Kennel $400, Excursions $750, Tips $300, Misc $200

A trip to South Dakota for three in September $4200 - just five nights (air $1800, rental car $300, Cabin $600. Kennel for dog $300, Food $600, Misc. $600)

Usually we have a budget of about $10,000 a year for vacation. Our two official trips budgeted are $9500. The Orlando one is extra. We were going to be going down for a family wedding that got postponed. DS was disappointed about not doing Orlando, so why not I'll use some discretionary income to do that mini 2K trip with him (I'll start a fund for that and put discretionary funds aside)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I already know 2020 too
March 2020 Orlando family wedding 3K -- three of us (sharing 6 bedroom rental house with extended family)

Eight nights Paris/Belfast Sept 2020 $7500 -- three of us (WOW airlines makes Europe cheaper than it used to be and actually lets it fit in our budget.) -- Oh and DS and I will do one day at Disneyland Paris FYI for all of you Disney fans