How much do you spend on vacation?

[smiles33]

It depends on your vacation style and your kids' personalities, but if DH had a work trip, I'm more than happy to just lounge with the kids in a nice hotel. I would find it a stressful to navigate a new city with kids but without DH. Plus, I know my kids would love to spend a couple hours in the lazy river, head back for lunch, watch a movie or read a book, and then head back to the lazy river again. If your kids are old enough and good enough swimmers to not need you in the water with them, then I'd sit in a lounger and have a cocktail while reading magazines or a fun "beach novel" that is an easy read. You can also jump into the lazy river with them, too, but I always had to drag my kids out when they were too young to be left alone as they would happily stay in for hours.

We usually get vacation rentals, so I'm not sure how much a nice hotel resort runs these days. But generally speaking, I try to stay under $300/night for a 2 bedroom. In some cities, it's been easy to stay under $200 and get a decent 2 bedroom in a convenient location but not so easy in very big cities. We generally pay under $500/person for airfare, but we really like to eat so I budget $200/day for food. We don't do tours/activities so almost all of our vacations are under $5,000 for a 5 day vacation.

[pinkmomagain]

We splurge on trips. As our family has matured (2 of my 3 kids are adults now, lol) we value experiences over things. It bring us together as a family.

[123LuckyMom]

We also splurge on trips. We take one vacation a year that’s about $10k, sometimes less, but never much more. The goal for any additional vacations throughout the year is to spend under $5k total, though sometimes we’ve spent more and sometimes much less. Weekends away can add up quickly, especially if they include expensive tickets to shows or multiple museums, but we really enjoy traveling and participating in both cultural and nature-oriented activities. We want the kids to get to see different parts of the world and have lots of exposure to different types of art, architecture, dance, music, and theater as well as to different ecosystems and types of natural beauty. We also love to go camping, and we’ve spent many a night in a cheap motel, too, so many of our trips are not fancy. The kids have stayed both at The Four Seasons and a Motel 6, so, diversity!

[Kindra178]

The newer universal water park is amazing. Definitely do that!


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[DualvansMommy]

The newer universal water park is amazing. Definitely do that!


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I would do that over Discovery cove any day! DH’s cousin works at universal and told us the new water park is truly great.

For us; staying without venturing out beyond the JV Marriott would get old after 2 days. I can see what you’re doing with our family but it’ll be a day or two max before we get the urge to go and explore. I don’t see Orlando as completely unfamiliar area to venture out on my own with kids. I see that if it’s Hong Kong, Tokyo’s or any of major city in Japan.

Like pp said how much one spend for vacation is really subjective, varied and time of year account for lot of factors.




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[khalloc]

Our vacations vary. Usually in the summer we just go to Cape Cod for a week. House rental is about $2000. Then we might do a whale watch ($150?), and besides that its maybe a couple of lunches/dinners out and mini golf. so maybe another $400 in eating out. the other food is basically what we would spend at home.

If we go away on a trip, we usually go to the Caribbean. This April we are going to Aruba and I guess we spent more than usual. We are going to an all-inclusive for a week and DH refuses to have us all in 1 room so we have 2 rooms which is about $4000. Then he had to buy our airfare which was insanely expensive and then on a whim he decided to upgrade us to 1st class (kids have never flown 1st class, and I only have on my honeymoon or a few other times when we have upgraded with miles). So I bet our airfare cost as much as the hotel.

Normally when we go to the Caribbean we rent a villa for about $2500/week and we get airfare for $500/pp. So that would be about $4500 total + I'd say I spend another $1500 on food/fun. So maybe $6000 for the week for 4 of us.

[SASM]

I agree with the Universal Studios suggestion, especially if your kids are into Harry Potter or like simulation rides, as most of their rides tend to be either roller coasters or simulators. The Harry Potter portions are great.

We went to Discovery Cove in November. It was a neat experience.
POSITIVES: Very laid back; my kids still talk about swimming with the rays (unlimited); the kids just wandered and did their own thing (mine were 11, 13, and 15); people of all shapes and sizes were walking around in their wet suits so great for the body conscious IMO; 2/5 of us lived in the lazy river for most of the day; I'll say it again, it was just easy.

NEGATIVES: Very pricey; the dolphin portion was over in a blink - 30 minutes flew by; the above statement could also be a negative for the body conscious if it takes a while feeling comfortable in the wet suit; the food & beverages were free flowing but not exactly the healthiest of options IMO.

Honestly, I wouldn't do it again BUT my kids loved the place so I am glad that we went. We didn't do any other add-on options. They were content with the dolphin thing and the ray swimming.

My cousin is not a fan of WDW...he swears that Fun Spot is so much better. He is a roller coaster and skinny-ride kind of guy. So...something to look into. There really are a ton of things to do in Orlando on a budget.

Now...onto the actual question. Our budget varies. Right now I am trying to plan a "budget" 7-10 day vacation to Europe for myself and my girls as the boys are going on a 3-wk boy scout backpacking thing. I am having a very difficult time. I can easily just go to a budget all-inclusive Cancun vacation through Costco but I want to expose my kids to some culture instead of having a wonderful laid-back vacation. So...I am currently stressing out.

[TwinFoxes]

He is a roller coaster and skinny-ride kind of guy. So...something to look into. There really are a ton of things to do in Orlando on a budget.

What's a "skinny-ride"?

[Philly Mom]

This is an interesting question. I don't nickel and dime vacations so don't necessarily have a firm grasp. We are lucky that two of our yearly vacation are to my parents who live in warm, vacation spot. The vacation is free, but our cats can cost up to $1000 per trip. We also take one two week vacation to England a year. We stay in the same cottage which runs around $2800 for the whole time. We also use hotel points for one night in London on our flight out. Our tickets are normally free either with Amex points or miles. DH travels a lot so that helps and our credit cards give us miles. If we use miles, we still have to pay for taxes so it's about $800-900 for all four tickets. While we are there, we tend to cook dinner in every night and breakfast most mornings. Lunch is often out. We also do whatever we want while we are there. We probably spend an additional $2000 while there. Plus we also have to pay for our cats care and one needs medical help so that is expensive. That can run us close to $1000 or more depending on health issues while we are gone.

[arivecchi]

I have a hard time spending on vacations too! We do a lot of travel for sports now so our only real vacation is spring break and we spend a few grand at most. We don’t splurge on resorts. We pay a lot for plane tix and rent a nice place and eat good food. I cannot stomach paying lots for a resort type vacay. Just can’t do it.


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