31 days of Disney World - Let's Talk Money Pt 2 - Actual Prices

So today let's talk actual costs.

FIRST I want to note that children under 3 are FREE! Whee! Josh and I are pinching pennies and trying to figure out a way to take one more trip this May before J turns 3 in August because once you start having to pay for your kid's park tickets, things get more pricey.  If you are thinking of going and your youngest is 2 or under, GO! Take advantage of that child being free while you can!  That's just my advice.  ;)

Resorts and tickets through Disney's Packages
So below I have some prices.  I looked up these prices at www.waltdisneyworld.com and used their current promotion which is up to 30% off for the Holidays depending where you stay and the dates you choose to stay (so the percent fluctuates 15-30% truthfully).  I am pretending to be a family of 4 with 2 kids older than 3 so the price factors in paying for two kids.  The dates I selected were December 1-7th (which would be a GREAT time to go and you may even catch the filming for the Christmas day parade, but don't quote me on that...). I chose "magic your base way" base park tickets which does not include park hopping or water parks.  And finally, I was NOT able to choose "magic your way" Disney dining plan which I mentioned yesterday because it is not included as an option for booking under this promotion.  I'll have a whole separate post later on my thoughts on the Disney dining plan by the way.  So without further ado, here's an idea of how much you'll pay for your vacation.

If you stay at a value (I selected Disney's All Star Movies Resort) your total for 6 nights, 7 days will be $1917.74 and that includes hotel, transportation* and park tickets!

If you stay at a moderate (I chose Disney's Caribbean Beach) your total for 6 nights, 7 days will be $2,269.30  and that includes hotel, transportation* and park tickets!

If you stay at a deluxe (I chose Disney's Wilderness Lodge) your total for 6 nights, 7 days will be $3289.34  and that includes hotel, transportation* and park tickets!

*I want to remind you now that Disney has a GREAT bus system that will pick you up at the airport and take you back to the airport and the buses will take you to and from parks.  It's called "magical express."  Every resort has it's own bus system and usually you don't have to wait more than 20 minutes for a bus.  This is a great value over renting a car, but if you drive or do rent a car, you save all those "20 minutes" of waiting and they add up.

A lot of that price is your park tickets.  Park tickets start at $89 for people 10+ and $83 a day for people 3-9.  Disney discounts the tickets for every extra day you buy, but still, those really add up!  Since we go every year, we buy annual passes (discounted because we're Disney Vacation Club members) and use them twice in their use year.  That means if we buy them on January 25th and can't afford to go again until the following January, we'll book that vacation the week before the 25th to save money.

Food Costs
So what about food?  It ranges, obviously, especially at restaurants but mostly things are consistent...

Snacks which can be anything from a soft pretzel to a funnel cake range from $3-$6.
Quick service adult meals average about $9-$10 a plate and soft drinks are about $2.
Quick service kid's meals (which include a drink and dessert) are about $6-$8.
Restaurants range from $15-$35 for an adult plate and around $2-$3 for a soft drink.
Restaurant kid meals range from $8-$10 and come with a drink and dessert.
Buffets/character dining range from $15-$35 depending on the time of day you eat and if characters are present for adults and although I don't know kid's prices, I can tell you that kids under 3 eat free at buffets which is GREAT if you're taking toddlers because you can load those plates with fruits and good things.

Our family stuck to eating quick services every day except our day we ate at Hollywood & Vine in Hollywood Studios to change things up and meet some characters.  Our average meal cost was about $32 and that was for 2 adult meals, 2 large drinks, and one kid's meal which we split between our kids in addition to sharing some of our food with them.  Including snacks and the occasional breakfast, we spent about $100 a day for food and that was for the "cheap" food.  Had we eaten at a table service restaurant each day as well, we would have been likely to spend up to $125-$130 a day in food.

Tomorrow I'll talk about how we save for our trip to Disney World as well as saves money on our overall cost.  As always, please let me know if you have any questions!