Nannymer

Four adults (five counting the 18 year old) and 3 kids, 16, 8, and 5. We would fly in from Boston, stay off=site (nearby) in a Villa maybe, rent a car, and see the parks, Universal, Sea World. I am guessing $10 grand...

NannyJan

nytraveler

It depends largely on several things:

What time of year you're going - so what the airfare would be

Will you all be going to the parks every day - or will you just spend some time relaxing by the pool

Will you be doing any cooking - or will you have all meals out - and casuale or nicer places - and are the 16 and 18 year olds bottomless pits

Only you can answer these - then 10 minutes with a calculator should give you the answer.

Check with disboards for a ton of info on savings strategies

But - offhand - I don;t think your number is far off.

JJ5

This is one of those relative questions. You can do it three or four different ways at numerous $$$ levels, so a real estimation would need more information.

For instance, staying IN the WDW is oftentimes cheaper now than staying out, depending on the category and time you book. There was just a deal at All-Sports that would change the entire bottom line as it also combined 3 day passes to everything WDW. Also IMHO renting a car in FL is expensive, even with a good deal.

If you stay on property or on International Drive there's all kinds of shuttles, mostly hotel ones are free, that get you to all the parks. We found renting a car was a waste of money by our second trip unless we were going to Cape C. or Blue Springs etc. away from Orlando itself.

My son's family of 5 did the villa thing once, was never there except to sleep at night for about 6 or 7 hours, spent way too much time commuting, and paid way too much. He never did it that way again.

Also airfares are so variable. This same son just got 5 seats round trip from Chicago to SF for under $1000 on SW Airlines, and off they went. Boston is a hub and it depends on when you plan and buy the tickets and which airlines you choose too. Costs vary greatly.

I've done this for 4 and had high end meals for under $3800. But that's us and I heavily research all venues, and we aren't shoppers. We also do a lot of water sports and stayed behind Epcot at the Y. Club/ Boardwalk area-higher end and fabulous location to do water sports, dine etc.

We loved Sea World, liked Universal etc. too and got there easily without a car.

It all depends on what kind of a vacation you want. Time of year would matter to me as well, because I hate crowds. If some of you don't want to do parks or other venues than it might work better with a villa.

I've done WDW about 5 different ways, one of them dirt cheap and I wouldn't repeat that trip because it was horrible getting up and back to the parks. These were (timewise) from the '70's to 2002. If WDW or Universal were in my schedule I would never stay off property- but at either one of those.

8 people is a crowd, so I guess some people might easily spend $10,000. I doubt we would, even now. We would combination packages with airfare or some other deal which would reduce the bottom line.

gail

No car is going to fit all 8 of you, even considering age. Even most minivans only seat 7 and that is not in comfort and there is little room for luggage. So consider that when you decide where to stay - you may decide to skip the car if you can get good shuttle service.

xrae

The Universal parks have good ticket deals right now when you buy online. One park for about $60, and the ticket gives you five consecutive days in the park. Or if you want to visit the two parks (IOA and Universal Studios), the same deal costs about $100.

ajcolorado

When are you thinking of going? WDW has a deal where they are adding the dining option for free when you get a basic "Magic Your Way" package (room & tickets) from Aug. 13 - Sept. 30 but it must be booked by June 4. That makes staying on property a no-brainer, especially with the free Disney Magical Express shuttle from the Orlando Airport to the resort.

If you're going at another time, look at mapleleaftickets.com, undercovertourist.com, and ticketmania.com for discounts on passes.

Orange Lake Country Club resort has 3 bedroom units that will sleep up to 12. Look for rentals on vrbo.com or redweek.com - I'm not sure how many the 2 room units will accomodate.

The Entertainment Book has coupons on United Airlines flights. I think there might even be Sea World Coupons. Of course, there is a AAA discount too.

Check out mousesavers.com - that is "THE" site for discounts.

tracys2cents

I think 10G is a good estimate.

Recently we found a package special including airfare, 7 days park hopper, most meals included, 4 people in one small room at a Disney budget onsite property (All Star). Price is $750 per person (kids under 9 a BIT cheaper) and this is with airfare from West Coast, Boston would probably be $50 less per person.
But this does not include rental car, or any other parks such as Sea World.

xrae

Note that to get the free dining plan at WDW this fall, you'll be paying full rack rate on your Disney resorts. They get your money no matter what.

GoTravel

I think the cut off age for kids free is two years of age. After that, I don't think there is much of a discount.

Disney will get your money.

All of it.

Nannymer, I would stay onsite at Disney when visiting the Disney parks and onsite at Universal when visiting the Universal parks.

You will not need a car.

missypie

Our family of 5 went for 10 days and spent around $6500 out of pocket. I had $1005 in Disney Visa dollars that we spent on food, so that makes it more like $7500. We stayed on-site at Deluxe resorts - I bought an annual pass, which saved us $100 per night on the rooms. $10,000 would probably take care of 8 people.

Have you visited mousesavers.com? It gives you about every way you can save $$ at Disney.

tracys2cents

The dining package gets 2 adults and 2 kids under 10 a room in the budget "All Star Resort" with two double beds....everyone gets one snack, one fast-food meal and one sit-down meal all for $94 a night including tax and gratuity.
Yes there are bargains to be found! Who needs the Ritz, the attraction is Disney World, not the room. Of course, you have to book in the next two weeks and travel late August or in the fall.

radiofanatic

if you go sometime b/w 8/13 and 9/30, they are having a deal where you get your dining free. I'm going with hubby and his parents and for four adults, one week, at a value, it's only $2,000. So you could probably do it for about $4,000 at a value, plus airfare.

Maggi

Renting a house is probably a good option for you: you can eat more cheaply and be all together rather than be split up into two or more rooms. VRBO is a good place to start, for example this one which is only $884 for the week:

http://www.vrbo.com/27899

Factor in $300 for groceries for the villa and $500-600 for an 8 pass. minivan, $2000 airfare plus the cost of your park tickets and you will have a pretty good idea of the cost. I'm thinking you can do it for a little more than half of your estimate. (Check Orbitz for the above estimates.)

But I'm am optimist...