how much does a WDW vacation or WDW cruise really cost?

[AnnieW625]

I want the good, the bad, and the ugly! Any tips will be greatly appreciated. Here is our current ideas for a trip to either WDW, or a Disney Carribean cruise.

DH and I are looking at these two options for a trip either in late 2013 or early 2014 (DD1 will be 7 or 8, and DD2 will be 3 or 4), but IMHO it's never too early to start planning. Neither DH nor I have ever been to WDW, and since we don't stay in hotels much and when do I like to be comfy we'd most likely prefer to stay at one of the 4 star resorts or a very nice condo development near the park (DH isn't big on character dining so a condo might be good so we can do our own cooking and such). For first time visitors without being too much how many days should we plan on spending?

I have heard amazing things about the Disney cruises and we'd most likely do the land and sea one so you split time on the ship and at the park. I think I read somewhere that if you have a child under 4 on a cruise then you need to have separate child care arrangements vs. the normal ship daycare/activities so if that is true then I see the benefit of waiting until DD2 is 4 to go on a cruise.

We'd be coming from the Los Angeles area to Orlando so airfare for four (if we booked on our own) would be about $1200 to $1500 (based on current prices). Is there a benefit to using a travel agent vs. booking straight through Disney, and booking airfare on your own?

TIA!

[Momof3Labs]

Your best bet would be to get current prices at www.disneyworld.com (http://www.disneyworld.com) - obviously the price depends tremendously on what accomodations you choose and where you eat, how long a cruise you choose, and what time of year you travel. The Disney cruises are quite pricey but I bet that there is a link on the same site to give you the going rate. You'll have to factor in transportation from Orlando to the port and back, too, either through Disney or via rental car.

And of course, factor in inflation. Disney prices go up every year.

My initial guess would be $7000-8000 for a week, including airfare, split between WDW (at a nice hotel) and a Disney cruise.

[bubbaray]

You could try out a westcoast Disney cruise to Alaska (out of Vancouver) for a cheaper alternative to an eastcoast Disney cruise -- to see if you like it.

[crl]

We just did a WDW vacation from SF to WDW, paid for 4 airline tickets, stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and did the deluxe dining plan for a bit over $6000. Ouch. Now, our choices were among the most expensive (WL is the cheapest of the deluxe resorts.) So it is obviously very possible to do it cheaper. Also, because we did it over Thanksgiving there were no deals to be had. We had a truly fabulous time. But we won't be going back for a while.

Catherine

ETA: We spent two days traveling and five days in the parks, stayed at the WL for 6 nights.

[sste]

Traveling off-peak, we are going to come in at around 4000 including airfare ($700 for 3 tickets with infant flying free), six nights at a deluxe (polynesian) using a 40% off code, 3 non-park hopper tickets through undercover tourist, 2 character meals, and a relatively generous budget for eating/incidentals.

The most highly rec'd travel agent acc to the unofficial guide is Its a small world, sue pisaturo (sp?). What they will do is track down the special codes for you - - so I doubt you would ever pay more for lodging with them. I did not find them to be great on advising because its all internet contact and emailing back and forth. And they push packages but are respectful if you say no, which imo you should unless you are huge eaters or it is a really, really exceptional package. They don't deal with airfare and I don't think there is a benefit to a travel agency for airfare. I ended up booking on my own using mousesavers codes for lodging and undercover tourist.

[lhafer]

We flew from Houston, Tx, 3 round trip tickets (we had 2 adults, a 4 yr old, and a 9 month old as a lap baby - so 3 seats) were $750.

We left out on Black Friday this year and stayed at POR (moderate) as a room only reservation the first night (no dining plan). We had dinner reservations at Fulton's crab house that night in DTD. Expensive (~$200) but excellent. Of course there are MUCH cheaper options to be had.

Then we moved to Coronado Springs (moderate) for 8 nights (it was a total of a 10 day trip). We had the free dining plan for the rest of the trip.

Our trip cost ~$2,400. Then you add that dinner and tips (we only got about $100 worth of souveniers). I am guessing the total came down to around $3,800 total (flight, food, tips, and room).

[cono0507]

We just did a WDW vacation from SF to WDW, paid for 4 airline tickets, stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and did the deluxe dining plan for a bit over $6000. Ouch. Now, our choices were among the most expensive (WL is the cheapest of the deluxe resorts.) So it is obviously very possible to do it cheaper. Also, because we did it over Thanksgiving there were no deals to be had. We had a truly fabulous time. But we won't be going back for a while.

Catherine

ETA: We spent two days traveling and five days in the parks, stayed at the WL for 6 nights.

We are planning a similar trip - flying to WDW, 7 nights at Wilderness Lodge, 7 day park hopper but no meal plan. we also rented a car for about $350. Total at this point (without paying for any food) is around 5k. Can't wait! :)

[hillview]

A week at the poly including park passes, airfare (about 800) and deluxe dining for a week was about $5,600 in Jan 2011, 7 nights. 2 adults, 2 kids
/hillary

[spunkybaby]

To help you figure out when to go (what season, resort costs), take a look at this list of the room rates for WDW hotels:
http://www.easywdw.com/category/ratecalendar/

Don't forget to include 12.5% hotel tax.

We are going on a 4-night Bahamas Disney cruise in early Dec. 2011--kind of low season between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Our family oceanview deluxe cabin is $2200, but an interior cabin would have been around $1900. We will visit Disney World afterwards--probably for 5 nights.

Park tickets for our family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids) will be about $1000.

Right now I have a moderate hotel booked (POFQ) for 5 nights with an AAA discount. Total is $800.

I'm hoping to use miles to fly out to Florida from Nor Cal, but if not, I would guess airfare will be $300-$500/person. So assume $1200-$2000 for airfare.

I also have to figure out ground transportation between the airport and the port and probably add in another 1 night at a hotel before the cruise. And then there are gratuities on the cruise and any excursions and onboard spending.

Total known costs for cruise + WDW trip: $4000
Unknown costs: airfare, ground transportation, hotel before cruise, gratuities, onboard spending
ETA: Oops...I forgot to include dining costs. Wow, this trip is adding up!

HTH!

[cckwmh]

We just got back a few weeks ago. We went deluxe dining, Winderness Lodge, and park hoppers, as well as the christmas party. I need to tally everything up, but the best thing we did was get a disney visa. we started planning our trip years before we went, and about 18 months prior to going, we stopped using our regular credit card and put everything on the disney card. we paid it off each month so never carried a balance. we charged everything we could - including our utiliy bills. The only cash we spent was to tip the bell staff and housekeeping - we used our rewards to buy the christmas party tickets, all of our souveniers, alcohol, tips, and to pay the balance of our trip. We even had extra $ on the rewards card and bought christmas presents for our nieces and nephews while we were there.

If you look around, disney often offers perks to sign up -my parents got a $200 GC when they signed up for the disney visa.

[spunkybaby]

I think I read somewhere that if you have a child under 4 on a cruise then you need to have separate child care arrangements vs. the normal ship daycare/activities so if that is true then I see the benefit of waiting until DD2 is 4 to go on a cruise.

Children can go to the free kids' club on the Disney cruise starting at age 3. Children younger than 3 can go to the nursery, but you have to reserve in advance, pay by the hour, and you have a limited number of hours that you can reserve. The number of hours you can reserve depends on the length of your cruise.


Is there a benefit to using a travel agent vs. booking straight through Disney, and booking airfare on your own?

We decided to use a travel agent who specializes in Disney vacations. I found our TA by filling out the Web form on Mouse Ear Vacations. A TA can give you additional onboard ship credit--this is more likely if you use the TA from the beginning to book the cruise, although I have seen one travel website where the agency says you can book through Disney and then later transfer the reservation to the travel agency and still get the additional onboard ship credit. I feel pretty lucky that we found a really nice TA. She's very accessible through e-mail and phone and has been super patient with me. I'm still doing research on my own though, and I still check the Disney cruise website from time to time to see if any additional (cheaper) statesrooms have opened up.

What I've realized with the Disney cruise is that there's no downside to booking far in advance since you get a better selection of cabins and your deposit is fully refundable up to 75 days before your sail date. Well, the only downside is losing some cash flow. But if you book with a Disney Rewards VISA, you get an extra $50 onboard credit and you don't have to pay off the Disney vacation charge for 6 months without interest.

[AnnieW625]

You could try out a westcoast Disney cruise to Alaska (out of Vancouver) for a cheaper alternative to an eastcoast Disney cruise -- to see if you like it.

I guess we could do that too, but then we wouldn't get a chance to see WDW at the same time. We could also do a Disney Cruise out of LA and only have to pay $120 in cab fare to and from the port so that would save us a bundle too, but I think we really want to go to WDW though. We aren't big travelers at all and if we do travel it's mainly to see family. The last big trip that cost more than $2K was our honeymoon in 2003 so we figure that our 10 yr. anniversary would be time to take another trip somewhere.


We just did a WDW vacation from SF to WDW, paid for 4 airline tickets, stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and did the deluxe dining plan for a bit over $6000. Ouch. Now, our choices were among the most expensive (WL is the cheapest of the deluxe resorts.) So it is obviously very possible to do it cheaper. Also, because we did it over Thanksgiving there were no deals to be had. We had a truly fabulous time. But we won't be going back for a while.

Catherine

ETA: We spent two days traveling and five days in the parks, stayed at the WL for 6 nights.

If we go the on site resort route that is where I was thinking we would stay because I have heard such great things from multiple people about it.


We just got back a few weeks ago. We went deluxe dining, Winderness Lodge, and park hoppers, as well as the christmas party. I need to tally everything up, but the best thing we did was get a disney visa. we started planning our trip years before we went, and about 18 months prior to going, we stopped using our regular credit card and put everything on the disney card. we paid it off each month so never carried a balance. we charged everything we could - including our utiliy bills. The only cash we spent was to tip the bell staff and housekeeping - we used our rewards to buy the christmas party tickets, all of our souveniers, alcohol, tips, and to pay the balance of our trip. We even had extra $ on the rewards card and bought christmas presents for our nieces and nephews while we were there.

If you look around, disney often offers perks to sign up -my parents got a $200 GC when they signed up for the disney visa.

We used to have DL passes (we are taking a break this year because of the baby) so every so often we get offers for the Disney Visa, and I have already thought about getting one once we are really serious about booking the trip and such, which should be in the next year or so and then we'll have things like Disney passes to charge monthly, and the utilities, and gym membership would be a good way to rack up points as we have to pay for those things anyway.

[egoldber]

This is going to be a hard question to answer because so much depends on your choices.

We own DVC, but only use that every 3 years. When we go, we mostly stay at a Value or Moderate, whereas people on this board tend to prefer the monorail deluxes. FWIW, in over a dozen trips to WDW, we have never stayed at a monorail resort and while I suppose it would be nice, it is not worth the cost to us. We also go off season, so we typically spend $100 a night or less for a Value or Moderate.

We also never get the Dining Plan because it does not suit our touring style and we prefer to instead get a room rate discount. (Even "free" dining means getting that vs a room discount.) We prefer to snack in the room for breakfast, eat a CS lunch, and maybe go offsite for dinner (much cheaper and better food).

So we pay about $200-$250 each for airfare ($800-$1000) plus around $100 a night for the room (probably around $700 including taxes for 6 nights) and then what we spend on eating out. We don't really buy souvenirs for the kids. They may get one small stuffed animal (about $10) and that's it. We're not scrooge-ish about it, but shopping for souvenirs is just not something my kids are into.

[diegosmom]

Do you have any Friends or Family that live in FL and might want to vacation with you? WDW and Disney Cruise has pretty good discounts for FL residents. I think they also offer Military Discounts.

We did a 3 day Disney Cruise last year for a family of four in an Outside Cabin for about 1100 total last April. I thought it was a great price.

[AnnieW625]

This is going to be a hard question to answer because so much depends on your choices.

We own DVC, but only use that every 3 years. When we go, we mostly stay at a Value or Moderate, whereas people on this board tend to prefer the monorail deluxes. FWIW, in over a dozen trips to WDW, we have never stayed at a monorail resort and while I suppose it would be nice, it is not worth the cost to us. We also go off season, so we typically spend $100 a night or less for a Value or Moderate.

We also never get the Dining Plan because it does not suit our touring style and we prefer to instead get a room rate discount. (Even "free" dining means getting that vs a room discount.) We prefer to snack in the room for breakfast, eat a CS lunch, and maybe go offsite for dinner (much cheaper and better food).

So we pay about $200-$250 each for airfare ($800-$1000) plus around $100 a night for the room (probably around $700 including taxes for 6 nights) and then what we spend on eating out. We don't really buy souvenirs for the kids. They may get one small stuffed animal (about $10) and that's it. We're not scrooge-ish about it, but shopping for souvenirs is just not something my kids are into.

Thanks Beth. We are quite similar in spending habits :thumbsup: when we had our Disney passes, we rarely ate in the park (we'd bring in lunch, and then eat outside the park for dinner). I only bought souvenirs of the Mouse hats for DD1, and a tee shirt, and mouse hats for kids we knew were having birthdays.


Do you have any Friends or Family that live in FL and might want to vacation with you? WDW and Disney Cruise has pretty good discounts for FL residents. I think they also offer Military Discounts.

We did a 3 day Disney Cruise last year for a family of four in an Outside Cabin for about 1100 total last April. I thought it was a great price.

We don't know anyone in Florida:(

Also I priced out the Alaska cruise and it's more expensive than the 7 day Carribean one (don't recall which one).

[egoldber]

we rarely ate in the park (we'd bring in lunch, and then eat outside the park for dinner).

Yup. I pack a sandwich, fruit and yogurt/cheese stick for the kids and we re-fill our water bottles at the fountains. I'd rather spend my money on a Mickey ice cream sandwich for snack and my kids prefer the packed lunch food anyway!

[clc053103]

I think if I lived in LA, I would do a Disney cruise out of the west coast separately from a WDW vacation. We are currently planning a disney cruise and decided to forego a WDW trip before or after. Just seems like too much-though many do it and love it! You can get a good idea on price on disneycruiseline.com. Definitely a TA can get you a better deal and some on-board credits. I am learning that if you want a family stateroom (they sleep up to 5) or inside stateroom, you need to book early!

We are DVC members as well, so I don't have great experience except the best deal on a Deluxe is typically 40-42% off rack rate. WE are going cash next month and staying at Wilderness Lodge- it's not on the monorail but close, and it's a savings from the monorail resorts. Also has cool theming!

[babyready]

Yup. I pack a sandwich, fruit and yogurt/cheese stick for the kids and we re-fill our water bottles at the fountains. I'd rather spend my money on a Mickey ice cream sandwich for snack and my kids prefer the packed lunch food anyway!

Yeah, I actually preferred packing a lunch too. But I really hated Disney food and I am not generally very picky about that stuff.

Anyway, to OP...Our trip last February (so, off-season) cost around $2500. We stayed a week. But there are lots of factors. We stayed on-site at a Value Resort and there was a code for a % off at the time. We ordered in some groceries and ate breakfast in our room and packed lunches many of the days. We did not rent a car (and didn't miss it, although some on here seem to really not like the buses, we had no issues at all). We flew in from the midwest but my youngest was not quite 2, so we only had to buy 3 tickets. IIRC, they were about 200 each? We also do not buy much for souvenirs, each girl got two things and my oldest dd brought some of her own money. We paid out of pocket for one princess breakfast since we did not do a dining plan and that was over $80. Not sure I would do that again but the food was quite good and we got to meet several princesses. It was one of only a couple "splurges".

Anyway, we did it very low-key but that is us. We didn't feel deprived because this is just how we roll. We had a great time! Definitely considering a cruise in the future.

[sewarsh]

We just did it for $1k per person for the week. That included $250 airfare and also includes staying off site and make breakfast in hotel and pack lunches for the kids. Also bring souveniors instead of buying at park.

[nfowife]

We did a Disney Cruise this summer and it was AMAZING. We got an absolutely insane last-minute deal with the military discount. We did the 12-night Northern European cruise and for our family of 4 it was $4000. This was the amount for the cruise itself. We booked through an agency and got on on-board credit which basically covered our tips. This price does not include any activities in the ports, but for us they were mostly cheap. We did not do any Disney excursions. The only port we really spent $$ on was in Russia because you are required to have a visa to enter the country which you can only get from a tour guide. Still, we went with a private company for that and partnered with some other families on the cruise (by the tour company, we didn't know them in advance) and ended up with a better tour for much much less than Disney was charging. In the other ports we just did our research and did sightseeing on our own with no problems.

As far as childcare on the ship 3 and above (or even a 2 year old who is potty trained) go in the free kid's clubs that are fabulous. Under 3's who are not potty trained use the nursery and that was $6/hour which is not bad IMO. There is a limit to how many hours you can book ahead of time but once you are on the ship you can add hours if they are available.

Disney cruises are more expensive for comparable cruises on other lines, but you get so much more for the money- for example, soda is included (other lines charge), no smoky casino, character opps everywhere, first-run movies, family friendly rooms (curtain divider in all levels, even the cheap rooms) and for a family with kids I just felt like the service was, well, Disney. Top-notch in every way and super kid friendly without being over-the-top kid crazy. It was one of the best vacations we have been on and I say this after spending the past 2 years living and travelling all over Europe. We can't wait to do another Disney cruise!

[HallsofVA]

You can find a ton of information on the disboards.com about both WDW and DCL. A good travel agent can also help guide you in your decision, and help look at various options. Tracy Whipple at Travel on a Dream ([email protected]) is the TA we use and she is amazing. [I just got an email from her today that she's repriced my August WDW trip under a new discount code and saved me some additional money.] (nfowife also used her for the cruise mentioned above, when she was at her old agency.)

We just did our 5th DCL cruise in september, taking the ship from Barcelona back to Florida over 14 nights, and they have all been amazing. So far we've only combined one cruise with a WDW visit, and found the park part of the trip much harder to plan and much more exhausting to execute than the cruise. That was also our shortest cruise, 4 nights, and we found it went by just too quickly and the kids didn't have the same opportunity to bond with the kids club counselors as they do on the 7nt or longer cruises.

DCL hasn't announced cruises or plans beyond mid 2012 at this point, so it'll be anyone's guess as to where they will be sailing, and what it will cost, but they should still have their two newest ships, the Dream and Fantasy, sailing out of Florida at that time to Bahamas or the Caribbean for some or all of the year. We're still waiting to here where the Magic and Wonder will be heading.

The Alaska cruises for 2011 are currently overpriced IMO, and they haven't announced plans to go back there after this year. They had problems filling the Mexican Riviera cruises at least this spring, so they released a kids sail free promotion which filled up those sailings. That's certainly one economical way to sail, but you can't plan on those discounts in advance. We've cruised several times in early December, which is some of the cheapest times to cruise, but are now starting to plan around school schedules as our kids get older, so the prices are higher since demand is greater. Summer prices are lowest the last two weeks of August, which works for our school schedules, and also the first two weeks of June.

Our next cruise is August 16, 2011, and I've been working with my TA on a variety of options for including a WDW visit before or after. But there are too many variables depending on where you stay, how you tour (park hop or not), and what you eat to give you a good comparison number.