Planning a Trip in 2019? Let's Share Our Budgets!

2 Adults, 3 kids (11, 9 & 6)

Here's the Breakdown:

August 20th- August 28th
Flights $1,177.90 (used points so no cash out of pocket)
Disney Aug 22nd-27th (Staying at Grand Floridian, deluxe garden room, free dining plan, park hopper plus tickets)
$6,317.56
Universal Aug 20-22nd (Staying at Royal Pacific)
$2,138.30
Airport Hotel $200
Transportation (Uber/Lyft) $100
Other Food $500
Other $500
Total $10,933.76

It's an insane amount of money, but we've never taken our kids and my husband and I haven't been since 2001 (a terrible new years experience at HS) and before that, we've only been to MK and AK for very brief amounts of time, so I consider this the first trip for us all. The goal for our family is to have the best time possible and not do it again (or do it again when the kids are teens in a MUCH less expensive way). We paid for convenience at both Universal and Disney. All that said, we're all really excited for the trip, we are huge harry potter fans (hence the very expensive universal side trip...) and can't wait for everything disney has to offer....
 
Who: Me (10th Trip) and My Best Friend (1st Trip)

Where: Pop Century (6 Nights maybe 7)

When: August 3rd - August 9th (maybe 10th)

Tickets: 6 Day Park Tickets with Free Parkhopper due to when we booked

Food: We will have our 2 snack credits a piece as well as 2 Quick Service Credits a Piece. I have booked a breakfast at O'hana that I will pay for.

Transportation: Will be driving my personal car. (9 - 91/2 hour drive)

Souvenirs: I have a few little ones to buy for then anything else would be for me. My friend will purchase her own.

We have slip the cost of the resort which is roughly $900 each. I am planning to take around $1,200 with me which seems to be okay as my gas will be paid for and pretty much all food is paid for. Should I trip to squeeze out more money?
 
I'm always budgeting for everything, including for our next Disney World trip, so it seems like a good time to share in the fun on this board!

Who & When: March 28, 2019 - April 9, 2019. My wife, our two daughters (7 & 4), and me. The trip is extra long because there's a chance that we'll take a day or two in the middle to visit with my mother-in-law. Still unclear.

Transportation: I studied airfare costs a ton, but in the end, it still ended up being a bit more than I hoped. Nevertheless, four round-trip tickets from Grand Rapids, MI to MCO for $1,567.84 isn't bad. We'll take Magical Express at WDW and get rides to and from the airport at home, so the airfare is our sole cost.

Where: PVB studio for 12 nights/13 days. We're using our resale-purchased points for the entire stay, using banked points from 2017 and borrowing about half of our 2019 allotment. We never anticipated taking such a long trip, but the kids are the right age, so here we are. Based on my calculations of the annual cost of the per-year cost of points when we purchased, factoring in the upfront cost and annual dues, we're paying $2,619.24 in 2018 dollars. Still feels like an absurdly low cost for nearly two weeks at the Poly.

Tickets: 14-day Ultimate Ticket $2,085.00. We planned on having nine or 10 days at the parks, purchasing a 10-day Park Hopper to accomplish this. When we added the uncertainty and had to schedule a couple of extra days due to family, I was bummed about potentially missing out on a couple of days at the parks. I was poking around on Disboards for a solution and came across a post about UK tickets. It was quite the process to actually get them purchased and it required a UK friend helping us out, but I'll know in a few months whether it actually works. Here's hoping!

Memory Maker: Included in the Ultimate Ticket.

Souvenirs: We rarely purchase items at the parks or hotels, but just to be safe, let's plop $150.00 in here.

Food: Budgeting for food is always tricky: you eat when you're at home, too, so adding to the vacation budget for food is a little strange because most of us don't take a similar amount out of our regular eating budget. Regardless, we plan to spend about $300 on grocery delivery and another $800 on meals (our only scheduled sit-down meals are BOG, Tusker House, and Sci-Fi) for a total of $1,100.00.

TOTAL: $7,522.08

Everything is already paid or saved, so we're ready to rock and roll (despite what the calendar says)!

We're back from the trip. It was incredible. The Poly was significantly better than we had hoped. Sure feels nice to be committed to a long-term future there.

I made some slight upward adjustments in our budget between November and our late-March departure. Now back from the trip and back in the swing of things, I have a fun comparison of the initial budget (from late-2017) to the actual costs in 2019 dollars:

Airfare (4 round-trip tickets from Grand Rapids, MI to MCO)
Budgeted: $1,400.00
Actual: $1,567.84
Delta: -$167.84
----- Airfare costs at spring break from Grand Rapids kicked up a decent bit this year. That was a bummer. Thankfully, by purchasing the tickets the moment they went on sale, we had a direct flight to MCO and avoided significantly more expensive tickets.

Tickets (budgeted for four 10-day tickets; purchase four 14-day Ultimate Tickets from a UK friend that included Memory Maker)
Budgeted: $2,030.00
Actual: $2,085.00
Delta: -$55.00
----- If you have the time for a long trip, the UK Ultimate Ticket was the way to go. They're only sold in the UK but they are usable without residency restrictions (unless Florida resident, military, etc. tickets). Memory Maker is factored into the ticket price above which isn't exactly accurate and also doesn't bug me enough to change. Using the 14-day ticket enabled us to get a few relaxing "bonus" days on our arrival and departure days. That was great.

Lodging (budgeted for 11 days at the Poly; ended up with 12 days at the Poly to spend extra time with family)
Budgeted: $2,413.00
Actual: $2,683.15
Delta: -$270.15
----- This factors in a ratable portion of the upfront purchase price and annual dues for our DVC resale contract at the Poly. The 2018/19 cash cost was much lower given that we purchased the DVC contract in cash such that our only ongoing expenses are the annual dues.

Food/Souvenirs/Misc.
Budgeted: $2,092.00
Actual: $1,492.09
Delta: $599.91
----- This includes groceries (breakfast in the room is the way to go and peanut butter/cereal/eggs/fruit provide plenty of variety and nutrition), meals (plenty of quick service meals and six table service meals), cleaning products (laundry detergent, stain remover), tips, and souvenirs.

TOTAL
Budgeted: $7,935.00
Actual: $7,828.08
Delta: $106.92

For future trips, I'll need to budget for greater increases in airfare costs, but I'm inspired by how relatively inexpensively we ate on the trip despite table service meals at Tusker House, 1900 Park Fare, Sci-Fi Dine-In, and twice at Be Our Guest, and some more expensive quick service meals like Satu'li Canteen and Geyser Point. There were plenty of days where all our kids wanted for lunch/dinner was easy mac, a carrot, and a clementine. That's a good meal and with the wonderful world of grocery delivery, it's plenty cheap to pull that off.

Happy budgeting everyone!
 
I will be going again in December for about 7 nights 8 days. I will be staying at Pop with the dining plan and attending my first MVMCP. Here is what I have so far.

Room/DDP is $1900
Gratuities are $100
Tolls are $10
MVMCP is $110
Souvenirs are $300-500 because I want Christmas stuff galore!
Self Parking at Pop is $91
Depends on my Knees and back if I need a scooter $200.
Gas $100

Total is $3011.
 


Going for a week in August pre-SWGE to get another week out of our annual passes.

Wife & I, plus her sister and a family friend, 7 nights at Springhill Suites at Flamingo Crossings. Wife & I are picking up our own costs, plus the hotel. SIL is paying for the rental car.

Price for wife & I:

Flights - 334
Hotel - 640
Food/misc - 700

Comes to $1674 -probably round it to $2000 just to have some breathing room.

Also have a week booked at ASMO in November, but I haven't even thought about the budget for that trip yet...
 
Sadly, our trip is now over. Here were my final amounts...

Where: June 2019 - 6 nights, standard room at AKL $1860.10 (We ended up with an amazing refurbished room with a partial savannah view. The resort was fantastic and seeing giraffes & zebras from our room was special, but my stomach still turns at how much the resort cost. I learned I’m a value resort girl at heart.)

Tickets: Tickets through UT (3 - 5 day tickets & 1 - 4 day tickets, no PH) $1688.16

Transportation:
Service fee for SW flights (service fee for flights down using points, return flights are covered with husband’s “travel eraser” credit card) $16.80

Parking at airport: $105

Known costs (These were on my credit card, so I know exactly what the costs were. Amounts include tips.): $1097.13:guilty:
($402 HDDR for 6 people, $273.90 CM for 4 people, $69.05 Tutto Gusto for 3 people, $240.35 Garden Grill for 5 people, $111.83 Minnie Van to/from HDDR)

Mousekeeping Tips: $30

Memory Maker: $169

Cash spent on food/drinks, souvenirs, etc.: $806
(this total includes the $90 in Disney gift cards & $30 in Starbucks gift cards we used)

Dog Boarding: $125

Total =
$5897.19

My Disney savings account ended up with $5759.73 ($330 of it was from rolling coins I’d saved over the past 2 years), I also had $90 in Disney cards & $30 in Starbucks cards, and $617.03 in credit card rewards = $6496.76 to put towards this vacation.

I’m glad that I was keeping up with all my expenses. Even though I ended up with $599.66 “left over”, I’m really disappointed with how much we spent. We spent almost twice as much on this trip as we did on our last trip in June 2017. A lot of our expenses were because we were traveling with extended family, but I think we will take a long break from Disney.
 
Sadly, our trip is now over. Here were my final amounts...

Where: June 2019 - 6 nights, standard room at AKL $1860.10 (We ended up with an amazing refurbished room with a partial savannah view. The resort was fantastic and seeing giraffes & zebras from our room was special, but my stomach still turns at how much the resort cost. I learned I’m a value resort girl at heart.)

Tickets: Tickets through UT (3 - 5 day tickets & 1 - 4 day tickets, no PH) $1688.16

Transportation:
Service fee for SW flights (service fee for flights down using points, return flights are covered with husband’s “travel eraser” credit card) $16.80

Parking at airport: $105

Known costs (These were on my credit card, so I know exactly what the costs were. Amounts include tips.): $1097.13:guilty:
($402 HDDR for 6 people, $273.90 CM for 4 people, $69.05 Tutto Gusto for 3 people, $240.35 Garden Grill for 5 people, $111.83 Minnie Van to/from HDDR)

Mousekeeping Tips: $30

Memory Maker: $169

Cash spent on food/drinks, souvenirs, etc.: $806
(this total includes the $90 in Disney gift cards & $30 in Starbucks gift cards we used)

Dog Boarding: $125

Total =
$5897.19

My Disney savings account ended up with $5759.73 ($330 of it was from rolling coins I’d saved over the past 2 years), I also had $90 in Disney cards & $30 in Starbucks cards, and $617.03 in credit card rewards = $6496.76 to put towards this vacation.

I’m glad that I was keeping up with all my expenses. Even though I ended up with $599.66 “left over”, I’m really disappointed with how much we spent. We spent almost twice as much on this trip as we did on our last trip in June 2017. A lot of our expenses were because we were traveling with extended family, but I think we will take a long break from Disney.

Thanks for sharing, it all really adds up doesn’t it. At least you’ve had the experience of AKL (I would love to stay there!) so hopefully when you next go you see significant savings there. Have you worked out how much it would be with your usual gang? I hope you don’t feel too disappointed.
 


Thanks for sharing, it all really adds up doesn’t it. At least you’ve had the experience of AKL (I would love to stay there!) so hopefully when you next go you see significant savings there. Have you worked out how much it would be with your usual gang? I hope you don’t feel too disappointed.

AKL was a dream resort of mine and even if I cringe at home much we spent to stay there, I know it was the best resort for this trip. My dad has health & mobility issues, but refused to even consider a scooter. He was only able to do a 1/2 day each at Epcot, MK, & AK. Staying at a deluxe resort gave him indoor hallways, a larger room size for resting, and gave my mom stuff to do when she went back to the hotel with him.

I haven’t worked out exactly how much it would have been for just my family of 4, that’s an interesting idea for me to work out one day!

I guess I need to remind myself that this trip was more than just our past Disney trips and the extra expenses were for the extra memories. We were blessed enough to be able to take the trip without incurring any debt, we just don’t have a lot to carry over to our next vacation fund. (My mom, sister, & I already tossed around the idea of a girls only extended weekend trip in 2020. That should be much cheaper! 😊)
 
So, I've bought a lot for my summer 2019 Columbus Game Convention/Pigeon Forge, TN trip (with overnight stops for college visits and family in Pittsburgh and SW VA). I've pretty much stayed in my planned budget, while making sure my mom got to do everything she wanted in TN (since it's her 1st trip here, ever...and she wanted shows and attractions...and a little outdoor mountain time...emphasis on little)...here's where I'm at budget-wise for our 13 night trip...

Gas/Parking/Tolls - $470 (including valet hotel parking in Columbus and all TN parking fees)
Hotels - Residence Inn 2 bedroom Columbus (6 nights $1500), Sunrise Ridge Resort PF, TN (my mom used her timeshare here - I'm using mine to take her to Williamsburg in August - 5 nights), Home2 Suites Pittsburgh studio (1 night hotel points), Homewood Suites 1 bedroom SW VA (1 night $130) = $1630

Total Travel Costs $2100

Entertainment Costs
Columbus
Game Convention Badges (4 5 day badges bought + 1 free for child, 1 free for volunteer) = $200
Game Event Tickets (still need to buy) = budget = $300
Trampoline Xtreme Park 1 hour jump for 4 = $18 (Groupon with Groupon Select Discount) (for our arrival day before Con starts to get kids a fun activity before groceries, check in, swim)
Total Columbus $518

Tennessee
Hatfield McCoy dinner and show tickets for 6 (our splurge) = $325 (my mom said this was the one show she wanted, and I've seen it, and my family did love it, so we're doing it again)
Smoky Mountain Opry show tickets for 6 (I told my mom she will love this, and I think she will - since it changes every year, I don't mind the repeat) = $91
Comedy Barn show tickets for 6 = $91 (new for all of us)
Impossibilities Magic Mind Reading and Mayhem show tickets for 6 (new for all of us) = $72
Ripley's Aquarium tickets (repeat for us, but for my mom), Ripley's Believe It or Not tickets (new for all of us), and Ripley's Haunted Adventure tickets (new for all of us) for 6 = $135
Anakeesta for 6 (new for all of us) = $68
Titanic attraction for 6 (new for all of us) = $64
Morning in the Smoky Mountains = free
One-two outdoor activities (carriage/horse back ride/caverns) = TBD (budget here $236)
Mini golf and swimming at the resort = free
Total TN $1082

Total Entertainment budget for both areas $1600

Food
Trip to Columbus $50 food (probably less b/c I have a free Cracker Barrel $25 from MyPoints)
Trip to TN $50 fast food (probably less b/c I have a free Starbucks $25 from MyPoints)
Trip to SW VA $50 fast food
Trip home $50 fast food
Pittsburgh food (free - paid by grandparents)
Total travel food $200

Columbus
Breakfasts - Paid (hotel)
Groceries (Cover 1 meal/day) $125
2nd meals
North Market Belgian Waffle Restaurant $30 (we got a free restaurant.com deal)
Fresh Fish Poke Bowls $40 (deal with Con badge)
4 other take out meals $160 (One Subway, one Pizza, One Vietnamese Bahn Mis, and one Indian)
Total Columbus Food $355 (low here b/c we don't spend a lot of time eating during the con b/c we are there to game)

Tennessee
Groceries (Cover about 1.75 meals/day - mostly dinners - and all breakfasts) $200
Lunches
Old Mill $100
Anakeesta BBQ $80
Severveille Donut $30 (got a local flavor)
Apple Barn $100
Dinner at Hatfield McCoy (Paid in entertainment budget)
Miscellaneous Fast Food Dinner Meal Out $50
Ice Cream $20
Total TN Food $580

Buffer Budget $65

Total Food Budget $1200

Miscellaneous Budget (Souvernirs, Oopsies) $100

Total Budget $5K for 6
(With my $1K Williamsburg 5 night vacation in August, I'm right on track for my $6K 2019 yearly vacation budget for 6 - anything I don't spend here will plus up that trip:)...

Trip just finished - thanks to my new dairy free lifestyle and a ton of rain, we actually came in about $500 under budget for our recent trip, spending only $4500 total (not sure I'll be able to repeat that for a 13 day trip again:) since we ate out less, did use some MyPoints gift card redemptions, didn't actually add a TN paid activity over what I pre-bought, and didn't use our trip buffer or full souvies account (although for once, I did buy some:)). So, I'll be adding that extra $500 to my Williamsburg trip and maybe splurging on an unplanned item or two there (my kids saw a Colonial Williamsburg sponsored escape experience and my spouse saw it will be Bierfest, so maybe we add a few splurges to the very tight budget vacation there:)...

PS - And of course, I came home and began planning next year - with our 20th wedding anniversary and my kids having 2 major religious events to celebrate, but family unlikely to be able to make a party, we may add to our vacation budget for next year and start with $8K vs $6k. Right now, I have prebooked an 11 night Hershey&Lancaster/Pittsburgh/Columbus game convention trip with the hotels coming in right now at $2225 all-in (with free breakfast for all but 4 nights). I'm gonna look to keep that trip to $5K (Hershey park tickets and a Hershey spa experience will likely bust that, but I'm hoping to drop the hotels under $2K with later rebooks on deals - any money saved will be my spa experience money), so I can also look at a winter Florida trip to see fam (2 siblings and a sibling-in-law - so both sides - plus nieces and nephews from each) and use my timeshare and 1 day MK tickets - if I do the fam trip, I'll also add an additional $1K of "family visit" money to the trip to FL, giving me a little leeway to not HAVE to drive both ways...
 
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Trip just finished - thanks to my new dairy free lifestyle and a ton of rain, we actually came in about $500 under budget for our recent trip, spending only $4500 total (not sure I'll be able to repeat that for a 13 day trip again:) since we ate out less, did use some MyPoints gift card redemptions, didn't actually add a TN paid activity over what I pre-bought, and didn't use our trip buffer or full souvies account (although for once, I did buy some:)). So, I'll be adding that extra $500 to my Williamsburg trip and maybe splurging on an unplanned item or two there (my kids saw a Colonial Williamsburg sponsored escape experience and my spouse saw it will be Bierfest, so maybe we add a few splurges to the very tight budget vacation there:)...

PS - And of course, I came home and began planning next year - with our 20th wedding anniversary and my kids having 2 major religious events to celebrate, but family unlikely to be able to make a party, we may add to our vacation budget for next year and start with $8K vs $6k. Right now, I have prebooked an 11 night Hershey&Lancaster/Pittsburgh/Columbus game convention trip with the hotels coming in right now at $2225 all-in (with free breakfast for all but 4 nights). I'm gonna look to keep that trip to $5K (Hershey park tickets and a Hershey spa experience will likely bust that, but I'm hoping to drop the hotels under $2K with later rebooks on deals - any money saved will be my spa experience money), so I can also look at a winter Florida trip to see fam (2 siblings and a sibling-in-law - so both sides - plus nieces and nephews from each) and use my timeshare and 1 day MK tickets - if I do the fam trip, I'll also add an additional $1K of "family visit" money to the trip to FL, giving me a little leeway to not HAVE to drive both ways...

So, I already have 1 extra day booked for Hershey and $100 in my spa fund:). I added on an extra day and saved over $100 and got free breakfast by switching from a Hilton Garden Inn to a Home2Suites by Hilton today. I may move to a Mariott once bookings open there fully for my trip, b/c I might be able to save another $200 with the same added breakfast (looking at rates for the month)...and a $300 spa fund would be perfect for me:)...

EDIT: And today, I did save another $175 on hotels, switching to the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Hershey...so, I'm under $1950 for all the hotel nights (sticking with 1 additional night for 12 nights) for 6 with free parking and free breakfast at all of them (and free happy hour at the Embassy for 6 nights) all taxes and fees included. $275 now moved to my Hershey spa fund - all I want is to sit in the Hershey chocolate bath, especially now that I can't eat it...just to say I did...now, to check the prices for that:).
 
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Updated, since I've changed our dates and plans since I first posted!

DATES: 11/11-11/15
HOTEL: Pop Century
WHO: Myself and my son, celebrating his 5th birthday

COSTS:
  • Travel: $100 (Flying on points, pay taxes/fees and airport parking)
  • Hotel & Tickets: $1,230 (Standard room, 3 day base tickets)
  • Memory Maker: $169
  • Meals: $350 (Grocery delivery for breakfast/snacks, QS meals and a birthday TS meal)
  • Event Add-Ons: $210-260 (Fantasmic! Dessert Party and one of the following: HS EMM/MK EMM/MVMCP)
  • Extras: $130 (Dog sitter, souvenirs)
Total: $2,189-2,239

*We spend $2,183 for a 7 day trip in fall 2018 including 5 day base tickets and HS EMM, so it's sad to see the cost go up for a shorter trip this year!
Hi we're(me, DS29,DD25,&DD15) going to be at Pop from 11/9-11/14. Small world!
 
Glacier National Park - 2020

Split House Rental Cost: $650
Flight: est $300
Food: we all do one dinner and one breakfast; my share should be around $150
Split Rental: unknown

I’m estimating my total cost around $1200.
 
DATES: 8/29-9/5
HOTEL: Caribbean Beach, Preferred
WHO: Family trip celebrating 2 birthdays (about 11 of us) but my BF and I are paying for our own trip/staying in our own room

COSTS:
  • FLIGHTS: $611.23 (SEA --> MCO on Alaska Air, used companion fare)
  • HOTEL: $2583.48 (Includes standard DDP, used my parents' military discount)
  • MNSSHP TICKETS: $168.28
  • DISNEY TICKETS: $570.50 (4-day park hopper plus, also getting military discount on these)
  • UNIVERSAL TICKETS: ~$370 (Planning on getting a one-day PTP ticket, also getting military discount)
TOTAL FOR TWO: $4,303.49

The only thing I'm not sure how much to budget for is souvenirs, gratuity (I know it will be 18% since we have a party over 8), and OOP costs for meals not covered on the DDP. If we can keep it ~$700 or less, our trip will be $5K total for two which isn't bad at all!

Update because I'm bored and came across this thread again:

DATES: 8/29-9/5
HOTEL: Caribbean Beach, Preferred
WHO: Family trip celebrating 2 birthdays (about 11 of us) but my BF and I are paying for our own trip/staying in our own room

COSTS:
  • FLIGHTS: $611.23 (SEA --> MCO on Alaska Air, used companion fare)
  • HOTEL: $2583.48 (Includes standard DDP, used my parents' military discount)
  • MNSSHP TICKETS: $168.28
  • DISNEY TICKETS: $570.50 $473 (4-day park hopper plus, also getting military discount on these): We ended up just getting PHs instead of PH+ so saved $100!
  • UNIVERSAL TICKETS: ~$370 $170 (Planning on getting a one-day PTP ticket, also getting military discount): Only purchased one ticket because my BF is going to a baseball game that day instead.
  • ESTIMATED TIPS: $130 (I'm assuming the standard 18% gratuity on ~$720 worth of TS meals)
  • ESTIMATED OOP COSTS: $150 (One breakfast will be OOP, alcohol outside of meals will be OOP as well)
TOTAL FOR TWO: $4,303.49 4,285.99

I'm not including what my BF will spend on his baseball game but I'm thinking less than $150 for one-day car rental, gas, baseball ticket, and one night of parking at the hotel (although that's his to pay for, nothing to do with me). Also, no idea what souvenir costs will be still, but we also handle those on our own. I'm budgeting $350 for myself but I only want an ornament or two (at least I say that now 😂 ) so that's a really high estimate.
 
two sixty something adults
4 days 3 nights Park Hopper Plus All Star Sports 1600
airfare LGA to MCO 400
rental car 150
night in Flushing (to catch early morning flight) 120
transportation to and from airport 50-100 (train, subway)
Disney parking fee - 40
food/canoe rental/tax/toll fee ??? (I can spend a grand without hurting but I doubt it)
breakfast mostly from Publix, one or more dinners offsite, counter service (Sunshine Seasons, Columbia Harbor House, Wolfgang Puck Express)
 
Resort tickets and food $7100 (staying at the Grand Floridian Sugarloaf club level room sun and fun deal + dining plan.)
Boutique/parties/ticketed events/activities 1500
spending 2000 combined (that's me, my hubby and my girls all pooled
Transportation/parking/tips 1000

Total: To dang much money.
 
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Flight using companion pass and adding Turks on way there.
$319 flights

815$ Airbnb
BLT dvc
All stars first nite can’t get DVC $100

Tickets $738 friend- hopper, Xmas party ticket, ultimate tour

$417 Xmas & ultimate tour, I have AP
Food, massage ?
 
December 15 - 23. Mom (me) and two kids, 16 and 19. Cut back on hoppers to justify expense of Christmas party. I ALWAYS rent a car whether staying on or off property but acknowledge this is a luxury I could probably cut back on. As of right now, I wish I would have booked at our usual three bed/bath townhome as it doesn't seem on property guests will be having much of an advantage for Galaxy's Edge during that time frame - i.e. no fast passes and only one date with extra magic hours during our stay.

Airport parking $56
Flights Sioux City, Iowa to MCO $1024.78
Rental car $ 232.21
Old Key West studio 8 nights $1496.00
UT 7 day MYW tickets $1473.51
MVMCP - Christmas party tix $367.44
Fort Wilderness golf cart rental
to see lights $ 65.00
Candlelight Processional dining pkt $234.00
Food $1400.00
Merchandise - me only; kids buy $ 150.00
their own

Total: $6498.94
 
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Trip just finished - thanks to my new dairy free lifestyle and a ton of rain, we actually came in about $500 under budget for our recent trip, spending only $4500 total (not sure I'll be able to repeat that for a 13 day trip again:) since we ate out less, did use some MyPoints gift card redemptions, didn't actually add a TN paid activity over what I pre-bought, and didn't use our trip buffer or full souvies account (although for once, I did buy some:)). So, I'll be adding that extra $500 to my Williamsburg trip and maybe splurging on an unplanned item or two there (my kids saw a Colonial Williamsburg sponsored escape experience and my spouse saw it will be Bierfest, so maybe we add a few splurges to the very tight budget vacation there:)...

PS - And of course, I came home and began planning next year - with our 20th wedding anniversary and my kids having 2 major religious events to celebrate, but family unlikely to be able to make a party, we may add to our vacation budget for next year and start with $8K vs $6k. Right now, I have prebooked an 11 night Hershey&Lancaster/Pittsburgh/Columbus game convention trip with the hotels coming in right now at $2225 all-in (with free breakfast for all but 4 nights). I'm gonna look to keep that trip to $5K (Hershey park tickets and a Hershey spa experience will likely bust that, but I'm hoping to drop the hotels under $2K with later rebooks on deals - any money saved will be my spa experience money), so I can also look at a winter Florida trip to see fam (2 siblings and a sibling-in-law - so both sides - plus nieces and nephews from each) and use my timeshare and 1 day MK tickets - if I do the fam trip, I'll also add an additional $1K of "family visit" money to the trip to FL, giving me a little leeway to not HAVE to drive both ways...

So, we finished our Williamsburg budget 7 day/6 night trip...and we finished under $1500 (not including our timeshare...but that was always the plan, b/c we had expiring points:)...the only bummer of our trip was our ghost tour got canceled, so I actually saved even more money, since we didn't bother rescheduling (my kids had found the fire pit and smores by then, and wanted that more after our only full theme park day)...

Final costs
Seasonal Busch Gardens/Water Country USA adult tickets for 6 - $420+tax for a little less than $450
7 day parking for both parks $45
Gas Costs $50
Groceries/Smores Kits $350 (not a misprint - we planned and executed 2 meals at home each day b/c my kids tired out after 4-5 hours in a park, so we only did one "full" day where the kids got to order any food they wanted at Busch Gardens and the other days, they got spoiled with nicer things from the grocery - this also included all smores needs and alcohol needs)
Restaurant Meals for 6 (5 adult equivalents and 1 kid) $361 - including 2 fast food lunches for arrival and departure day, 1 Busch Gardens lunch and separate desserts and candy buys, 1 AYCTE Asian buffet lunch, 1 Cracker Barrel dinner, 1 anniversary dinner splurge at Food for Thought (actually 1/3 of the whole spending) - cost was brought down by a $25 CB gift card and a 10% coupon to the Asian Buffet and a $4 savings at Food For Thought...but really, not much savings...just not much spending:)...so, we had 6 meals out over our trip for 1/day (and 2 meals/day in:))
Souvies $17 (Yankee Candle and Outlet Shopping)
Resort Cost $36 (although it would be $750 if I count my yearly timeshare fee - this was the $6/day resort fee which we more than made use of)

Total Trip Costs $1309 (so under the $1500 OOP I had left in my fund:))...it was a great trip and exactly what we needed before we start our learning year:)...
 
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Been watching this thread and love all the ideas I have found. So far I have one big trip I am planning - South Africa over the Christmas Holiday. It will by myself, my mom and dad, and younger sister. Will be in Johannesburg December 22-25, transfer to Xanatseni private reserve for Safari December 25-27, and end in Cape Town December 27 - January 1, 2020.

Budget -
Airfare - $4800 (Dates haven't opened up yet on Google Flights but I am seeing an average of $1200 leaving from Dallas. I hope we can get it for cheaper though.)
Cape Town Hotel - $1270 Found a beautiful home on Airbnb with stunning views.
Johannesburg Hotel - $0 staying with a friend.
Safari - $3370
Johannesburg Day Tour (Apartheid Museum, Mandela House, Soweto township) - $300
Table Mountain Cable Car Tickets - $100
District 6 Museum Tickets - $16
Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour Tickets - $112
Cheetah Outreach Tickets - $68
Robben Island Tickets - $108
Gold Restaurant - $120
Langa Township Tour - $160
Uber - $0 (Hoping to get enough giftcards through shopkick to offset this cost)
Food - $1600 (Not really sure how much we will need but through research I saw R500 should be enough per person per day which is about $37 USD, so I rounded that up to $50)
Souvenirs - $800 (Not sure what to put here but started with $200 per person)
Total Cost for 4 - 12,824 YIKES

Currently paid for:
Airbnb deposit - $824 (Used money from selling concert tickets, sold an extra tv and grill we had)
Safari deposit - $843 Paid out of pocket

Currently Saved:
$30 Uber card from Shopkick
$300 in Poshmark account from selling a few old purses
$250 in Amazon account from Mechanical Turk
$111 in ibotta account

Been awhile since I gave an update here, this trip is coming fast and lots to pay coming up.

Currently paid for:
Airbnb deposit - $824 (Used money from selling concert tickets, sold an extra tv and grill we had)
Safari deposit - $843 Paid out of pocket
Air Fare - $7600 (We were lucky to find this price at 1900/ticket I just looked and the same ticket we bought last week is $3300 for economy YIKES)

Currently Saved:
$45 Uber card from Shopkick
$1048 in Poshmark account from selling clothes/shoes/purses that were laying around
$250 in Amazon account from Mechanical Turk (haven't done anything with this account since February)
$170 in ibotta account (I've been cashing out here and there to pay for groceries etc.)
$985 from a garage sale we had over the summer

Upcoming Expenses this month:
Airbnb Balance: $439
Safari Balance: $2244
Flights/Shuttle between Johannesburg/Kruger/Capetown: $2000

This trip is such an expense, but this is a bucket list trip and no telling when we will make it back to Africa so we are trying to do as much as possible.
 

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