This arrived in the mail today, so it makes is seem a little bit more real. Kendall and Zach spent a good 15 minutes “reading” it which meant Zach would see a picture and then Kendall would read what went along with it! I am so looking forward to this trip.

Tonight I am going to give anyone who cares to read the real number  for this trip. First I want to give a little explanation about some of the decision we made and then real numbers.

The first Disney trip, we took at a family was in April of 2011. This was our budget trip. We ended up staying off property in a nice house, bringing lunch every day with us and general being very picky about the money we were spending. We had an awesome time and I can’t say that I did not enjoy the trip because we did but it was stressful especially in regards to money. This trip, we have made some major changes and hopefully they will result in a little less stress while we are in the parks.

After talking  to several people, researching and looking at prices I have learned several things. The first and most important of which is that you do not save money by booking your trip yourself. The cost of booking yourself and the cost of using a travel agent is the very same. I decided to use the travel agent this trip to save me from attempting to obtain dinning and other reservations myself.

The biggest expense for our trip is lodging.  One of the few negative things I can say about Disney is that they really are not “large” family friendly. In order for us to all stay together it automatically means what we have to stay in a more expensive resort or the cabins at Fort Wilderness. I have heard some awesome things about the cabins but I don’t like the idea of being very limited. I talked with Amanda and Matt, and we were able to come up with a plan that works for us.  Matt, myself and the 3 little kids, we be staying at the Art of Animation Resort in a Cars suite.  Amanda and Haley will be staying at Fort Wilderness in a pop up camper. Another big decision was that I purchased dining plans for the 5 of us. Amanda and Haley will both be responsible for their own food. Amanda is planning to eat at the camper most nights and I am trying to help Haley save enough money to eat on during the trip. Amanda will also be purchasing her own ticket as she is an adult who is working!

Art of Animation for 7 nights with 2 adult 6 day tickets and 3 children 6 day ticket in addition to the dining plan and a memory maker photo pass equals $5383.

Fort Wilderness camping spot for 6 nights (they were already booked for the first night, so I will spring for a hotel room off site) and 2 adult tickets for 5 days equals $1044.

The dining plan offers basically 2 meals a day and a snack so we are going to be taking breakfast items for the majority of the mornings. We do plan on eating a couple of Breakfast out so we are going to be bring snacks to carry with us in the parks. Currently we have 2 days without a plan for a sit down(reservation meal) one of those days is when we will be in Downtown Disney and we most likely will eat there and use a dining credit. The other day is because “Cinderella’s Royal Table”, which is the princess meal uses 2 dining passes.

Some of the ways that we are planning to save money on the trip included not purchasing the Park Hopper Option, leaving one day of the week unpaid, we will not be going inside the Parks. The current plan is to go visit Downtown Disney, enjoy the pools, visit the campground and just a early to bed kind of day in the middle of the week.

Total Budget for the Trip: $7340
Tickets/Lodging/Dinning Plans:  $6500
Additional Food including travel and snacks: $500
Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique   $150
Gas $200

This post is way long so I am going to save the ways we plan to save and fund this trip for next  post in regards to Disney.