How much do you spend on vacation?

[MSWR0319]

I'm in the process of planning a summer vacation. DH came home and wants us to go to FL with him when he goes to a conference in Orlando. Well, after booking all of the hotels for the first trip, I'm balking at paying the tickets to go to Discovery Cove in Orlando. That's really the only thing we'd do down there, as the rest of the time we'd stay at the hotel (JW Marriott) and explore the resort. But still. I just feel like we're throwing money away for all of this stuff. How much do you spend on a typical vacation?

[HannaAddict]

Now, quite a bit. If you have hotel payed for I wouldn’t sweat tickets to events and doing fun stuff as lo g as you can afford it. It is vacation and different experiences. Orlando isn’t really cultural so have fun and leave the hotel to explore. ETA - I wouldn’t do a Sea World product though or at least watch Blackfish and read about the stress and awfulness to the mammals that are subjected to tourists as part of dolphin “experiences.” It is horrible. I would not participate in that. Does Orlando have a regular zoo or spend a day at Universal and go on rides and see Harry Potter land. Much easier than a day at Disney.


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[TwinFoxes]

How much is there to do at the resort? I mean, I've stayed at a lot of JW Marriotts and Marriott Marquis, and none would entice me to stay and explore for more than 1/2 a day if there's outside stuff to do. I haven't been to the Orlando one though. How old are your kids? If they're on the youngish side, Legoland would be fun and not that expensive (compared to WDW). You can also just walk around Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney). There are street performers and the Lego Store is cool and has activities. And I agree, if your hotel is paid that's a big chunk of a typical vacation budget.

And there's always Gatorland...

[marymoo86]

It depends.

We generally do a beach week every year ~$2k. A couple of long weekend trips ~$6-700, and every couple of years add in a bigger trip $3-5k.

I'm a little confused - isn't your DH's company paying for the hotel? Why are you booking? Wouldn't you just share his room? How long is the conference? Are you paying airfare or driving?

[*myfoursons]

We always end up at $7-10k for our domestic trips. 4 kids add up. We have to get home rentals, family suites, etc. 6 plane fares. Larger car rental.

We also travel overseas every other year to visit dh’s family and that costs way more.

I’m of the mind that vacations are something to splurge on if necessary. The memories and experiences are worth it to me.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Pretty sure I’ve never spent more than $5k (and I think even that trip was closer to $4k). $1-3k is my norm but I admit that I don’t always factor in all the spending that we do on trips.

Discovery Cove is crazy pricey. I don’t think I could do it.


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[scrooks]

We usually end up spending $3-5k on a bigger trip every 1.5 years or so. Disney is always $4-5k and even if we drive to the beach it’s $2k at least.
ETA We are a family of 5

[MSWR0319]

It depends.

We generally do a beach week every year ~$2k. A couple of long weekend trips ~$6-700, and every couple of years add in a bigger trip $3-5k.

I'm a little confused - isn't your DH's company paying for the hotel? Why are you booking? Wouldn't you just share his room? How long is the conference? Are you paying airfare or driving?

I'm planning a separate trip right now for this summer, which is what I was booking hotels for. DH's company is paying for his room during the conference. We would be using points for airfare.

We've done Disney twice, the kids have no interest in universal, and I'm not a big fan of venturing out on my own in big cities I have no knowledge of. DH will be in meetings all day for 3 days. The kids thought the kids' program that is available at the Marriott sounded fun, which is 2 hours a day. They have a lazy river that my kids could spend hours in as well. Maybe this isn't as good of an idea as it sounded. It's over spring break so we'd at least get out of the cold winter.

[HannaAddict]

We always end up at $7-10k for our domestic trips. 4 kids add up. We have to get home rentals, family suites, etc. 6 plane fares. Larger car rental.

We also travel overseas every other year to visit dh’s family and that costs way more.

I’m of the mind that vacations are something to splurge on if necessary. The memories and experiences are worth it to me.

It does add up with more than two kids. We have three kids and between airfare (usually. not coach), two or even three hotel rooms or suites (this summer teen had his own room for the first time on trips) and we stay at nice places these days. The larger car rentals and more really do add up. We can afford it and when we were less well off, kids were smaller and we could share a suite though we’ve always purchased each their own seat even as infants. We think travel is a great thing to spend money on though and we do quite a lot of experiences, behind the scenes, private tours, etc. if in a cultural spot and had the private Disney escort to skip all the lines and it was worth every single penny. We stayed at the Hyatt instead and same price as if stayed on site but had to wait in lines.


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[HannaAddict]

I'm planning a separate trip right now for this summer, which is what I was booking hotels for. DH's company is paying for his room during the conference. We would be using points for airfare.

We've done Disney twice, the kids have no interest in universal, and I'm not a big fan of venturing out on my own in big cities I have no knowledge of. DH will be in meetings all day for 3 days. The kids thought the kids' program that is available at the Marriott sounded fun, which is 2 hours a day. They have a lazy river that my kids could spend hours in as well. Maybe this isn't as good of an idea as it sounded. It's over spring break so we'd at least get out of the cold winter.

I don’t think of Orlando as a big city. Much more suburban and not scary. With a lazy river and nice weather, I’d do it. Sleep in, hit the pool and lazy river, eat lunch, if kids want to do kids club do that for a day and get a maniedi for you on site for $$$ or look up reviews of best salons nearby. I’ve taken kids to Paris and London on my own before and it would be better to be at a resort than in the cold and entertaining them alone over spring break. Especially if you can use miles for flights. Orlando is easy and I think there are some board members who can give you specific tips.


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