Cost for a Disney weekend

Question # 1:

What kind of total costs should one expect for a budget minded trip for two people? Maybe a long weekend - hotel - food - entrance - etc.



Answer # 1:

The kind of cost to expect would depend a lot on the time of year you plan to visit Disney. But since you mentioned that you are “budget-minded”, I am going to assume that you would plan to go to Disney during the off-season (January-February, and some dates in the fall after the kids are back in school). I will also assume that a long weekend means arriving on Thursday afternoon and staying through Sunday.


Assuming that, here’s the breakdown of estimated costs:

3 nights in a value resort: ($82/weekday night and $92/weekend night): $266.00

3 day Park Hopper pass (Friday-Sunday): $271/each or $542.00 total for 2 adults

Quick service meals, a.k.a. Disney’s version of fast food, (dinner Thursday, 3 meals Fri/Sat/Sun): $25/meal for both adults or total $250.00 for 10 meals

Misc expenses (parking/locker rental/souvenirs): $75.00

Total est. cost for a long weekend at Disney for 2 adults: $1133.00


This does not include travel to the Orlando area, of course, and also does not take into account the very likely possibility that Disney will be running a special discount of some sort that will save you a little money.

Also, if you want to shave a little cost off that total, you can take off the Park Hopper option on your tickets (although I highly recommend the PH option), which would reduce your ticket cost to $438 total, or $104 less, making your trip total cost: $1029.00.

You might be thinking that this seems expensive for a long weekend get-a-way and it is. This is because Disney likes people to stay longer than a few short days. Most of the discounts available to guests are geared toward trips for 5 days or more. This doesn’t mean you’ll spend less money than above, but you’ll get more for you money! For example, if you were to buy a 7 day PH ticket instead of the 3 day PH ticket listed above, your cost would go up a total of $30 or $15/ticket. Buy more, spend less per unit.

Beginnings

Hi all. My name is Sara and I am a planner at heart and a Disney lover. I did not grow up going to Disney World as a kid, but have discovered the magic late in life. In the past 3 years, I've made 3 trips to Disney World and plan to visit again in May 2010. I also hope to visit Disneyland in January 2011.

My goal is to answer all questions about Disney, whether it be about the World, the Land, or anything in between, in my blog posts. You can email your questions to: disneyworldanswers@gmail.com.

I know that I am going to have so much fun answering all questions. I will pull my answers from my guide books (I own and have read all existing Disney guide books, believe me), my own personal experience, and if you stump me, I'll find the answer and tell you where I got it!

So - ask away!