Planning Your Vacation for Success Part 2

Planning and Budgeting. Let’s say I was planning on a Christmas vacation to Disney World (WDW). I would already have my where and when mapped out. Since this is a vacation over a peak season, I know that I’ll be paying peak prices. I’ll need to cut corners somewhere but I also need to have a realistic budget. Normally, I like to stay a Port Orleans: Riverside but since I need to save some money; I’ll opt for a value resort. I’m in luck; Disney just opened a new resort named Art of Animation. This will be a fun place to stay. So now I go to the Disney World website and use their tools to estimate my costs. (www.disneyworld.com) Then enter the dates that you’ll be staying and the number of family members and ages of children into the places provided. Then select the resort that you are planning on. Let’s go back to our fable about Max. He went to his travel agent and just bought what was offered to him. But there is considerable customization that goes on that influences the price that you pay. Max bought all seven days worth of tickets even though he’ll be travelling on two of those days. I won’t make that mistake so on the next page I’ll select the radio button that is next to 5 days. For my dates that saves me nearly $200. Next Max also bought both the Park Hopper and Water Park options. If you are going to the parks during the summer and think that you’ll spend more than two afternoons at the waterparks then this option may be for you. But I have to say, the Park Hopper option at WDW is really not a good deal unless you really think that you’ll use it. The parks at WDW are spread far apart and take quite a while to “hop” from one to the other requires a lot of time that is best spent exploring the park you’re in. As a result I’ll be making my tickets with “No Options.” Now I find my reservation will cost me a little over $2600 and that is a realistic number to “start” with. If you go to the next page you’ll find that you can add air and meals to your reservation. Never book air through Disney. It’s marked up and you’ll have no control over your reservation. We’ll go over air later, but now, what about the Dining Plans. These are a matter of personal preference. If you are lucky enough to be going during the times that they are offering “Free Dining” then by all means take it! It will save you LOADS of money. If you are paying for it ignore the savings that Disney promises. The dining plan, at best, is a break even proposition. Here are the options:
 

“I’m happy as long as there are cupcakes with every meal.”

There is Quick Service dining which is 2 quick service meals,(QS) 1 snack per person per night and 1 refillable mug per person. Each meal consists of a drink, a meal and a desert. If you are like most families and do not always get a desert with a meal, you’ll find these meals to really be a lot of food for each sitting. Besides you may have already noticed that there are only two meals per day and we usually eat three which means that I’ll be out of pocket for one of those meals. The snack is one item only. A Soda, an Ice Cream, a Churro or Popcorn. Our family have always pooled our snacks. Popcorn and fruit which can be shared and a soda which can be shared. This will add $900 onto my stay. The Disney Dining Plan includes one Table service (TS, sit down and be waited upon) one QS meal, one snack per person per night and 1 refillable drink per person. Most of the rules are as above except the table service. You’ll get your drink, meal and desert as with the quick service, but you will have to out of pocket the servers tip. Also remember, you’ll need to make reservations to the better dining establishments. Particularly during free dining. The restaurants will be very busy and the waits LONG! Table service credits can be pooled together to qualify you for signature dining events like the Hoop-dee-doo or Princess dining in Cinderella’s castle. Selecting this one will set me back about $1300. Plus I’ll still be out of pocket for breakfasts. Disney Deluxe Dining Plan. Finally three meals a day. You choose. TS or QS. 2 snacks per person per night and 1 drink mug per person. This is the really “no more money out of pocket” option. But it’s a lot of food and a lot of money. This option will add over $2300 to my reservation. Finally, The Disney Premium plan which gives you all of the above but adds loads of recreational activities. You will have unlimited use of the WDW recreational activities such as golfing, fishing, watercraft rentals and carriage rentals just to name a few. One admission per person for Cirque Du Soleil: La Nouba, preferred section for fireworks viewing, theme park tours and children's activity centers. This adds a whopping $5000 to my bottom line!  

“Oh how do I choose between all of these options"?”

Now, since I am going during peak season, I’m trying to cut corners so I’ll probably limit myself to just one or two table service meals and mostly Quick Service. Question is… Is it worth it to me to get the Quick service dining package? Well, let’s look at the breakdown. Breakfast: At the Resort: American Breakfast platter (scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, turkey bacon, chicken sausage and biscuit $6.79) Drink Refillable mug Lunch: At Magic Kingdom Be our Guest Restaurant: Turkey Sandwich and Drink $12 Dinner: At Magic kingdom: Liberty Tavern, Cheese burger and Fries with a drink $17 If this is what I can expect to pay everyday plus or minus some then I can expect to spend about $36 per person per day for a total of $864 plus the refillable mug cost of $15 for a total of $880. Now let’s plan on snacks. Drinks cost about $3 and assorted items like popcorn, ice cream, chips etc. can cost between $3 and $5. Lets average it at $4 so two “snack items per person per day” adds $168 to my costs for a total of $1048. Now, I thought that I might make two table service meals during the course of my stay. So I’ll subtract two days worth of $17 dinners per person. So now I’m in the neighborhood of $900. Add a dinner for 4 in Epcot for $150 and another in Hollywood Studios for 4 for another $150. (including tips) So we have a total food bill at $1200. Now before you start in on me with the “well, that’s comparable to the Disney Dining Plan. Remember that I have factored 3 meals and two snack items per day. This is more comparable to the Deluxe Dining Plan except that I have fewer table service meals and an extra $1100 in my pocket. Had I simply gone with the Quick service Dining plan I’d need to add $3 per person per day to make up for the lost snack and 4 breakfasts plus the two table service. The final total on that would be about $1140 See, about break even. The only difference is that Dessert per meal. If I take advantage of that the Quick service Dining plan saves me money. Now It can be argued that one could save the desserts and use them as snacks. Then use the snack credit as a drink. Now your cost drops to $1060 and you are seeing a slight savings with the Disney Dining plan. ($140. About $6 per person per day) Now, because I want the freedom to snack on whatever I want when I want plus I don’t want to lug around the snacks until I’m ready to eat them, I’ll go it without the dining plan. Flights: Here’s where I’m gonna pay! Travelling during peak seasons means that you’ll be paying peak prices. Again, I opted not to make Max’s mistake of letting Disney book my air for me. When I checked their website, Disney added $2709 onto my bill for the airfare. That’s about $677 per person. By doing my own checking about I was able to find my air for about $520 per person including all the taxes. And remember, I’ve got to pay for the luggage with Disney increasing my costs by another $200. On my own I was able to use my United Credit Card to gain me free luggage and increasing my savings. Here’s my tip o’ the day. Use www.google.com/flights to search. I was able to see fares that I could find no where else. While spending $2075 on airfare when I’m used to spending $1400 was a bitter pill, it was much better than $2900! So as of now my budget for this trip is as follows: $2600 (Lodging and Park Tickets) $1200 (Food) $2075 (Flights) $5875 Subtotal Now compare that to Disney’s final quote of $6434 (including $200 for luggage not included in the quote) Saving me $560. Incidentals to plan for: Park Sleep Fly Hotel. You’re best bet is to find hotel near your airport that does park, sleep fly. This will combine you parking fee with a night at a hotel prior to your flight for a savings. Usually, you can count on saving at least the cost of parking your car. I usually pay about $150 for a restful nights sleep before the flight and 7 days of parking. The hotel will provide you with a shuttle to the airport so you can just relax.

“Now you’ve got me thoroughly confused”

Transportation dining: Eating at airports is not cheap. Add this expense to your budget. Off-budget expenses are the things high credit card bills are made of. Count on about $100 per day of travel for a family of four. Souvenirs: You can go crazy with this one. Remember, the cost of the Souvenir is only one part of the cost. If you buy too much you’ll need to ship that stuff home too. At the cost of another piece of luggage and paying the airline $35 to carry it home. Disney will ship items home to you but if you have young children you’ll have to hear the constant cry of “When is it coming!” I limit my kids to one souvenir per vacation. Plus small nothings you can expect to spend about $100 per person. (of course those toys that you buy yourself may be more but try to be realistic with the amount) Current budget: $5875 from previous $ 150 Park sleep fly $200 travel food $400 souvenirs $60 misc. Tips Trip budget = $6700 If you notice, my out of pocket expenses are probably not too far from the Disney’s quote (or even Max’s final tab) but it incorporates so much more which will definitely add to our enjoyment. As my planning progresses, I’ll add my experiences in future posts.

“We did it! We planned the perfect vacation.”

Planning Your Vacation For Success Part 1

Planning Your Vacation For Success Part 3

Planning your Vacation For Success Part 4