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

[StarlitNight05]

Working through our March DL trip!

4 day/non hopper tickets w/ maxpass - $538 (special pricing!)
hotel - $470 rounded up
WiWF Tour - $218
FOOD! - $100/day x 4 = $400
drive from norcal - ~$60 gas (high guess, we usually fill up twice, ty prius)
trip snacks - $30 (goldfish, waters for the room, our routine mcdonalds stop, etc)
souvenirs are up in the air - I won't get anything but my boyfriend will probably get some new artwork, ~$100

(I also gave myself $50-75 for new clothing pieces and Ursula pins I don't have to go onto my sea witch vest but it's separate from our trip amount.)

TOTALS --

on disney gc - $1156 w/ possible $1256
bank/cash - $560

all in all, $1716 for the trip!

hotel/gas/snacks money is put away and we've both been grabbing giftcards every couple weeks. so far we're sitting at $700/1156 with 9ish weeks to go!

Nice! That's a great deal on the hotel. Where are you staying?

 

[KearneyFam02]

I'd love to know how y'all get your costs so low. I book through Disney, usually during free dining around Christmas but we will be paying for it this year. We are not DVC members and don't use credit cards. Are there ways to save without those two things?

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I'd love to know how y'all get your costs so low. I book through Disney, usually during free dining around Christmas but we will be paying for it this year. We are not DVC members and don't use credit cards. Are there ways to save without those two things?

I'm a FL resident, that's where my savings come in. I don't do the dining plan because it doesn't work with my family due to our restricted diet. I don't own a credit card either so taking advantage of the Disney Chase Visa card isn't an option for me. I do use our refund to pay for our trip. Could I do it without the refund....absolutely. I would have to be faithful and pull about $200 out of my paycheck each month I get paid at least a year before we go. That comes up to $2400 which pays for our tickets, room, Memory Maker, souvenirs, dining, travel expenses (gas, snacks, etc), with PLENTY left over. Even as a resident there are cheaper times for me to go, but being a teacher I'm locked into spring break, summer, or winter break. Of those three, spring break and summertime are just a bit cheaper. For you, I would say start there...looking at the cheaper time to go as far as room rates go. Tickets, maybe purchase through Undercover Tourist. They are a bit cheaper than going through Disney and perhaps that would help you cut cost down. I'm sorry I couldn't help more. I'm just thankful to be a Florida resident otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to go to Disney as much as have over the years. No I don't go every year, nor do we go every two....but being a resident has allowed us to steadily go every 4 years without putting a huge dent into our budget or refund. I'm VERY grateful for that!

 

[KearneyFam02]

I do have a Disney Chase Visa but we do not use it, nor will I. We had a huge issue with it and it turned me off from it completely. Not to mention the amount of money I spent to get rewards only yielded me $121. Not worth the headache. Still trying to pay that beast off.

Sadly I live in cold Ohio, so not a Florida resident.

 

[KearneyFam02]

I did just shave about $200 off by moving the days to Sun-Friday, instead of Thurs-Tues.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I do have a Disney Chase Visa but we do not use it, nor will I. We had a huge issue with it and it turned me off from it completely. Not to mention the amount of money I spent to get rewards only yielded me $121. Not worth the headache. Still trying to pay that beast off.

Sadly I live in cold Ohio, so not a Florida resident.

I'm sorry about you living in cold Ohio and not sunny Florida.....that's a plus two ways for me.....FL ressie discounts AND warmer weather!

I did just shave about $200 off by moving the days to Sun-Friday, instead of Thurs-Tues.

Well there ya go! I knew you find some way to knock some of the amount off your trip! Congratulations!

 

[Rehman Masood]

Working through our March DL trip!

4 day/non hopper tickets w/ maxpass - $538 (special pricing!)
hotel - $470 rounded up
WiWF Tour - $218
FOOD! - $100/day x 4 = $400
drive from norcal - ~$60 gas (high guess, we usually fill up twice, ty prius)
trip snacks - $30 (goldfish, waters for the room, our routine mcdonalds stop, etc)
souvenirs are up in the air - I won't get anything but my boyfriend will probably get some new artwork, ~$100

(I also gave myself $50-75 for new clothing pieces and Ursula pins I don't have to go onto my sea witch vest but it's separate from our trip amount.)

TOTALS --

on disney gc - $1156 w/ possible $1256
bank/cash - $560

all in all, $1716 for the trip!

hotel/gas/snacks money is put away and we've both been grabbing giftcards every couple weeks. so far we're sitting at $700/1156 with 9ish weeks to go!

Is this still available?

 

[chaoskids]

We are going for 9 nights in July. 7 adults, 6 legal drinking age
520 Plane (used SW pts)
3129 8 day base Tickets
364 Blizzard Beach discount tickets
169 MM
150 TIW
1905 DAHx2 and Emm (DVC discount and discounted gc hopefully!!)
70 airport parking
3500 food and drinks
450 Instacart (Publix and ABC)
DVC

We’ve been planning since our last visit July 2017
300 mypoints
600 Am Ex
800 Disney Visa
425 Ebates
4000 2% cash back business card.

All of my Disney savings are in an ALLy savings 2.2% currently. Will buy discount gc at Sam’s or Bjs with the cash back card then use the savings account to pay that bill.

 

[hsmamato2]

Hmmmm... 2019? Well, I am avoiding Disney for the next year or so (parks that is) so I am thinking an anniversary trip for our fam of 4 to Arizona might be fun.... I think I can get us all there in SWA points,so only taxes and fees for that (like 11.00 pp)
So far I have 5 nights booked at a Hilton property in Page,AZ so we can explore the slot canyons etc around the area (love the red rocks and sand so much) So that's $0....
Probably book a couple extra nights using my IHG points on either end of our 5 nights in Page ,closer to airport for ease of travel so that's $0....
I probably will spend some $$$ on tours into the canyon options,and possibly another Parks pass ($80) but haven't yet figured those costs out.
That's my tentative plan,but not sure it's going to happen yet.

Ok that was my post from a while back..... so far for 2019 I have planned Feb 2019 -5 days SW Florida to meet extended family-
Hyatt Hotel=$0 (Ultimate rewards points)
SWA flights= 11.60 pp=34.80 (swa points)
airport parking=approx.$60?
dogsitter-=approx $50
Food..... =????
Overall cost approx $150+ food bills

April/May- 7 Night Trip to Page AZ-
SWA flights+11.60 pp=46.40 (points)
Ihg two nights=$0 (IHG points)
Hilton 5 nights=0 (Hilton points)
Dogsitter =$75(?)
Parking =$75 (?)
Food costs=?
so approx. $196.00+ food costs (taken from grocery budget)

August- Trip to visit family-
SWA= 34.80(points)
3 nights hotel cost $310
Rental car approx $500 or use UR points(undecided)
Food-?
Airport parking approx $75
dogsitter approx $75
approx cost planned=$1k. (so much pricier to visit family than a tourist destination!)
Prob something in December,undecided.
Current total planned 2019 cost is about $1350.00 (food unknown) for three trips. I love points and rewards.

 

[amalone1013]

Aaaaaand we are no longer planning an extended trip. Grandparents aren't in the best of health overall, so we are just going to do the cruise and Kennedy Space Center. We'll probably also try to work out a long weekend trip and do Uni and Disney with them.

So for now:

June 2019
2 days at Kennedy Space Center, 5 night cruise

• Flights: $664 - Current pricing for June, I expect it will drop a bit in a few months; I have SW points to cover this Cash OOP $22
• Cruise: $4520 - This includes the fare, gratuities, and Palo (updated price). We had a placeholder discount discount (10%) + $100 credit, and I budgeted for an excursion we thought about doing on our honeymoon but it booked up before I added it ($172); besides our $812 deposit the rest is being paid with discounted/earned gift cards Remaining $3708
• Hotels: $180 - 2-3 nights near KSC/port Cash OOP $0 (using points/free hotel nights from credit cards)
• KSC Tickets: $164 - this is for two day tickets, will probably add a tour also which will add $25pp
• Food: $??? - I need to figure this out again and plan where we'll be eating
• Transportation: $150 - Also need to rework this based on the non-extended trip, might just cover with credit card points
• Miscellaneous: $??? - this will be gas, parking, souvenirs maybe... need to estimate it

Goal: $336+food+misc in cash+$3708 in Disney GCs+souvenir money in Disney GCs = $4856+$???? total
Currently: $417 cash + $4793 Disney GCs (cost of $2647) + $812 paid (deposit) = $6022 total

I had an oops I realized this weekend, I was missing a $525 gift card from my goal - d'oh! So between that and removing the Disney portion currently, I'm way over on my GC goal unless I plan to spend $1100 in souvenirs

Bored at work so I thought I'd pop in with an update. We are planning for the extended trip so here is our part of it

June 2019
2 days at Disney, 2 days at Kennedy Space Center, 2 days at Universal, 5 night cruise

• Flights: $664 - Current pricing for June, I expect it will drop a bit in a few months; I have SW points to cover this Cash OOP $22
• Cruise: $4520 - This includes the fare, gratuities, and Palo (updated price). We had a placeholder discount discount (10%) + $100 credit, and I budgeted for an excursion we thought about doing on our honeymoon but it booked up before I added it ($172); besides our $812 deposit the rest is being paid with discounted/earned gift cards
• Hotels: $998 - 3 nights at Pop, 2 nights near KSC, and 3 nights by Universal Cash OOP $0 (using points/free hotel nights from credit cards)
• Disney Tickets: $204 - We got APs again because it made sense with this trip, so this is the 'share' of using them for 2 days
• Universal Tickets: $0 - We upgraded to APs on our last trip and got a $7 refund we figured why not, and I'm glad we did because at the time we weren't planing Uni on this trip.
• Universal EPs: $267 - Universal wants $330pp for 2 days of unlimited express pass on our dates, so I plan to book a room at one of the EP hotels for 4 people (us and in laws) and split it, this is our half
• KSC Tickets: $164 - this is for two day tickets, will probably add a tour also which will add $25pp
• Disney Food: $??? - I need to figure this out again and plan where we'll be eating
• Other Food: $??? - Same...
• Transportation: $150 - Also need to rework this based on the extended trip, might just cover with credit card points
• Miscellaneous: $??? - this will be gas, parking, souvenirs maybe... need to estimate it

Goal: $603+food+misc in cash+$4968 in Disney GCs+Disney food costs in Disney GCs = $5571+$???? total
Currently: $427 cash + $3752 Disney GCs (cost of $2599) + $1016 paid (deposit and APs) = $5195 total

I will continue trying to lower some of the cash expenses with credit card points. I've been putting aside $350 a month in cash for the last year for this trip, but then was using it to buy Disney GCs at a discount so that's why the actual balance is so low overall. Plus I've paid the deposit and 'share' of the APs out of the cash fund. Also the $350 number came from the worst case scenario cash outlay, so that way I could 1) hopefully be way under that with credit card points and the GCs, and 2) the savings balance would be front loaded for deposits and now that we are 6 months out I can see where we're at and scale back my monthly savings goal.

 

[FreesiaE]

Y'all have some of the cheapest dog sitting fees I've ever seen. I'm going to have to board my cat and dog, I fully expect it to cost more than our personal housing cost for the trip!

 

[bananasplitkids]

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

 

[comicguy]

WDW August 15 -27 Pop Century 2 Adults

Hotel 12 nights and 10 day park Pass w/ Park Hopper, Free Quick service Dining ($3200)
Airfare $750
Uber/Lyft $100 (when waiting for the bus is problematic)
Grocery Delivery $125 (water, Pepsi, and some snacks)
Sit Down Meals $300
Souvenirs $100-$150
Mouse-keeping $60

Airfare was just released today through Southwest and it looks like $672

 

[virge]

Things have changed some more as we’re beginning to finalize plans.

Where: June 2019 - 6 nights, standard room at AKL $1860

Tickets: Tickets have been purchased through UT (3 - 5 day tickets & 1 - 4 day tickets, no PH) $1691

Transportation: Flights on SW $17 (service fee for flights down using points, return flights are covered with husband’s “travel eraser” credit card)

Parking fee at airport: $98

Food: estimate using Disney Dining Calculator $1600

Memory Maker: $169

Souvenirs: $200 (I also have a small amount of Disney gift cards & 2 Disney popcorn buckets filled with change that I have earmarked for souvenirs. Those amounts are just extra bonuses so I’m not counting them in my budget totals.)

New goal of $5482. I have $4633 in the account. I’ve already paid the $200 room deposit & $402 for HDDR (we’re paying for my parents also). I need $247 to reach my current goal. (We just adopted a rescue dog last weekend, so the budget will go up some when I get a boarding/pet sitter estimate.)

 

[siren0119]

A little update to the budget, when SW released their flights for my travel time I realized I could make good use of some points I had saved up from business travel!

Priceline Express Deal on All Star Music (Aug 30-Sept 3) - $227 after PL discount code of 12% and Ebates rebate of 11%

Booked package under the free dining promotion:
All Star Music 8/26-8/30 (the 2 room reservations are linked, hopefully we can stay in the same room the entire time)
7 day parkhoppers (these will cover both legs of our reservations)
Upgrade to DDP to get the TS credit each day of the package reservation
Total $2973.19 Will be using GC purchased with Target Red card to pay this off, so final cost will be $2824.50

Planned food spending OOP $800 (700 will be on Disney GC bought with Target redcard), final cost $765
includes groceries for 2nd half of trip, and in-park/resort dining on 2nd half of trip. We will probably be well under that and I'll adjust that budget once I nail down ADRs and actual grocery supplies we will need)

Parking at the resort $104 don't need this now that we're flying

Gas and tolls for drive there and back $300 don't need this now that we're flying

Hotel for one night on the way home the day before check-in and the day after check-out, close to airport $0 (Hilton Honors points) - the Hilton Garden Inn close to the airport offers a free shuttle that runs 24hrs day to and from the airport!

Delta flight Boston-Orlando on 8/25 $354
Southwest flight Orlando-Boston on 9/4 $108 (used a combination of cash + SW points)


Total for now $4320 4278.50

This now allows us to use DME to get to and from the airport, and use the free hotel shuttle to get between the airport and the hotel on arrival and departure day!

 

[Nsaudra]

This is the first year in a long time our spring vacation will not be disney. My husband wants to wait to go to galaxy's edge in the fall. So this spring we are going to to the go orlando pass. Its 269/239 a person for 5 days unlimited attractions. Including legoland. And maybe the beach in there as well.
We our hotel will be about 400 for 6 days. We got a hotwire deal 40$ a night off international drive.
It's really going to be hard to be so close to disney and universal. But my kids are going to love legoland.

 

[christineinvegas]

We are doing spring break in Cincinnati, $2k

August vacation to Gulf Shores, $4k

Hopefully they will both come in under budget because we found out about a wedding in September that will cost us $1200 just to fly in for the weekend.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

Spring break cruise/park trip for 2 adults no kids:

Flights: points
Arrival night at Hyatt MCO: $230
DCL transfers RT: $156
Cruise fare: $2371 (4 night Disney Dream, interior stateroom)
Automatic tips: $108
1 night at Pop Century: $137
1 day of military park hoppers: ~$102
Onboard spending: $400
Park spending/food: $200
less onboard credits: -150

total: $3194

 

[Makermahar]

We’re going may 2019. 5/25-6/1. Myself, my 5yo daughter, and 9yo son.

Airfare: Christmas gift from my mom $0 oop
Disney package (all star movies, dining plan, memory maker, 5 day non hoppers) $3562
Food/incidentals/souvenirs: $1200
Tips: $140
Uber to and from Charlotte airport: $100

 

[smiths02]

We are planning a Universal Trip-5 people (2 adults, 3 kids-11, 6, 6)
March 31-April 6
Portofino Bay-garden view 2 Queen room
Total $6300

Coming back for an update:
We are planning a Universal Trip-5 people (2 adults, 3 kids-11, 6, 6)
March 31-April 6 (6 nights)
Portofino Bay-bay view 2 Queen room-$2355.75
5 of the 2 Park APs (4 seasonal, 1 Preferred)-$1719.90 [Editing to add that I could have gone for 4 tickets and 1 seasonal AP which would have cost $1475...so any future trip on these APs will cost us only $244]
Transportation (Driving-gas and parking and meals on the road)-$400
Souvenirs-$400 (Will have $500 in gift cards, but we spent $400 as we were gifted $100)
Cabana rental-$250
Will buy some snacks food for the room (not factored into budget because I would be buying groceries that week anyhow)
Dining-$1,374.35
Total $6500

So I increased our budget by $200, but we now have a better view room, a cabana for a day, annual passes, and more dining money.
I guess we will see what our final total is in about 2 months!