I know this is probably under the category of "if you have to ask you can't afford it", but my greatest hope is to plan for a future family trip to Disney before some of my girls start leaving for college in a few years. I'll never get these years with them back so would love to take them in next year or two. Just have no idea what to expect cost wise with flights, lodging, tickets, and food.

Staying in a Disney property onsite would be awesome, but probably much cheaper options elsewhere. Not sure on meals or the meal plan as being the more economical route with food.

Just wondering what might be a safe budget to plan for? Any prayer in the world that it could be done for around $6k all in with flights, lodging, food, tickets, etc or am I looking at well north of that for family of 5??

I think it is doable depending how long you are going for, etc. Reach out to lil99chris on this board, he should be able to give a better estimate and can run some numbers for you. Edit - I just read you mentioned food - that may be tough. It is expensive to eat there but you can bring in a lot of stuff from your hotel/condo if you stay offisite)(and for some reason I thought you had 7k as your budget so I misread that to)

Well north of that if you are going for more than three days.

We spent $8000 six years ago for four days/nights and we were cheap except for character breakfast and one other thing

1. Call lil99chris for help.
2. I don't recall spending more than that in 2018 when our family of five went. However, we also had a huge discount off of the room (Beach and Yacht Club) due to a conference

Think we spent about $8500 for 4 folks and 6 days. The easiest place to save would be cereal for breakfast, packing sandwiches each day, etc.

Go to the Disney site and build your trip all the way out, including park tickets, onsite hotel, meal plan, etc. Then dial back from there if needed. But remember you will also add back in things like souvenirs, drinks, special experiences, etc.

And if its a one time trip, think about adding some of the extra experiences / VIP experiences. Maybe you want to ensure that guaranteed, multiple ride early opening in Toy Story Land or DAK VIP Experience. They are expensive. But once you realizing your are dropping $10k, then adding $500 to make one day better than awesome could be worth it.

Have not used, but there are always recommendations for lil99chris. Cannot imagine they would do anything other than make it an awesome trip.

We live in Jacksonville, just north of Disney

When we go we stay off site, so much cheaper

Wicked Good Ag said:

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Well north of that if you are going for more than three days.

We spent $8000 six years ago for four days/nights and we were cheap except for character breakfast and one other thing

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Wow. You did it WAY wrong. We're on our way right with 5 people abs 2 rooms for 6 days and we're still less than that. Starting on property as well.

6100 for 5 at Grand Floridian Feb19. Flew in Sunday, M-Th at parks, flew home Friday. Price doesn't include miles used for flight.

2 sit down meals (chef Mickey and Cinderella Princess Dinner). Shipt in groceries when we got there, ate bfast in room, packed lunches, paid for afternoon snack at park, are back at Grand Floridian for dinner.

Guys....


Even if you have been before, I can assist as much as you would like. I can also assist in booking good neighbor hotels and ticket purchases.

My services are FREE when you book with me! You will be also helping out an Aggie small business!

How old are your kids? If younger, (2-5) I think it's worth it to stay onsite. I would even cut the trip a day or two short if it meant you can stay onsite.

Never mind. Just saw they are high school age. I would definitely stay off site then to save money.

Sweet Kitten Feet said:

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Wicked Good Ag said:

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Well north of that if you are going for more than three days.

We spent $8000 six years ago for four days/nights and we were cheap except for character breakfast and one other thing

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Wow. You did it WAY wrong. We're on our way right with 5 people abs 2 rooms for 6 days and we're still less than that. Starting on property as well.

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How much was your flights??

Speaking of WDW.. going to be there this weekend, with all the coronavirus concerns, how are the crowds?

Crowds aren't terrible but they aren't light either, but they'll probably be bigger over the weekend.

Waste of money to me. Maybe check with your family to see what they want and find something nicer and cheaper. I'm grateful my kids never wanted to go to Disney World. I can't imagine a worse vacation. Maybe try a trip to Colorado with a cool Airbnb or VRBO rental.

Disclaimer: We are a DVC and annual pass holder since 2018 after the first time we took my now 5 year old so I guess you can say we drink the Disney kool-aid

Some people may think that being in the middle of nowhere without running water and indoor plumbing is the worse vacation ever... to each their own. Disney is definitely an expensive vacation and I'm grateful that I get to take my 2 girls a couple of times per year. My 5 year old is still all about dressing up in princess costumes everyday, and I'm always the prince. This very well could be the last year she's still into those kind of things before she becomes a "big kid" and Disney loses it's shine so I definitely understand the whole getting these years back...

I just checked week after thanksgiving, All Star Music + tickets is ~ $4800 & You can sometimes get SW flights for ~$200 roundtrip. If your travel schedule is flexible, Disney runs promotion packages that includes the meal plans.

A couple of "travel hacks" suggestions that I do:

• Get the SW Chase Personal and Business cards end of this year to take advantage of companion pass for 2021 & 2022
Shameless plugs for my chase card referrals SW Personal Card: https://www.referyourchasecard.com/226f/985HSQOE84

SW Business Card: https://www.referyourchasecard.com/226f/AY6QTI9TNE

• Buy Disney gift cards from Sam's Club to pay for your the onsite hotel, theme park food and tickets
It's a PITA to combine $50 GC together into 2-4 cards but you can save up to 3.5% and every little amount counts)

I've never used him, but based on threads I've read, seems like Chris Smith is a good Ag that will go to bat for you and really wants to help people have a great experience. I'd reach out to him.

We just did 6 nights (7 park day tickets) for 3 of us (2 adults and a 5 yr old) for about $4,500. That includes flights, hotel on property and food.

Chris helped me out. Got everything planned and booked, and then I made adjustments along the way.

We did not do a meal plan, and just paid as we went. We shared several meals and took our own snacks and drinks into the parks. Saved about $600 from what I would have spent on meal plan.

I'll be several years, but we'll be going back eventually! Or we may try Disneyland in California next time.