Money Diary -- Trip to Disney World

[mainelyfoolish]

I thought it would be interesting to do a different kind of money diary -- a Disney World Vacation. My family was on vacation from 4/19 - 4/26 (eight days, including travel days). Note: times listed are either approximations or time stamps from the bottoms of the receipts. 

Cast of characters: Me (42), DH (42), DD (8), DS (4) traveling from southern Maine. I'm a SAHM, DH is a government engineer.

Prepaid Items (rounded to nearest dollar)

Six day base park tickets for two adults and two children: $1314 (purchased pre-February price increase tax-free from the military base where DH works)

One night in a royal garden view room at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside: $277

Four nights in a one bedroom suite at Quality Suites in Lake Buena Vista: $518

Two nights in a standard room at Disney's All Star Movies with the Disney Dining Plan: $605

Airfare for four from Boston to Orlando with a layover in Newark: $1026

Offsite airport parking for 8 days purchased with a coupon code: $114

Trading pins & lanyards for the kids (gifts from grandmas): $90


Wednesday

6:15 am Drive to Boston airport. (Tolls are on our EZ-Pass so I don't keep track.)

8:15 am Check two large suitcases: $50. We also check a stroller and car seats (free) and we have one carry one bag (free) and four personal items, aka backpacks.

8:45 am Two sodas at an airport store: $5.10.

9:15 am Two bacon, egg, and cheese bagel sandwiches for DH and myself from an airport kiosk: $14.87. The kids munch on crackers I packed in their carry on bags.

12:00 pm I buy a yogurt parfait from an airport store during our layover: $6.40. Everyone else eats peanut butter and crackers and other snacks we brought from home.

4:30 pm In Orlando, driving to our hotel. Toll roads: $3.

5:00 pm Check into the hotel and ride the boat to Disney Springs.

6:30 pm Dinner at Cooke's of Dublin. 1 adult meal, 2 kids meals, 1 side of fries, 4 waters. $33.92. (My DD is a severely picky eater; the only thing she's willing to eat at most restaurants is french fries, which is why you'll notice we rarely order 4 entrees when we eat out. Often I'll give her the milk and fries from a kid's meal and eat the entree myself.)

7:40 pm DD spends her allowance money on a make-your-own droid from Once Upon a Toy: $13.80.

8:00 pm Ride the boat back from Disney Springs to our resort.

8:27 pm Back at the resort gift shop, I buy a souvenir pin and a bottle of soda: $14.15.

Wednesday total: $141.24


Thursday

6:00 am Housekeeping tip: $2.

6:15 am Load our suitcases into our rental car, since we have to be checked out of the resort before we'll be back from the park.

6:25 am We're waiting for the resort bus to the Magic Kingdom for a 7 am Extra Magic Hour entry. Two sodas from the vending machine: $7.

6:50 am Guest Services outside the gate at the Magic Kingdom. We've decided we will take another Disney World vacation in the fall, so we upgrade our base tickets to annual passes: $1848.84.

9:57 am Refillable souvenir popcorn bucket: $10.

10:05 am Gaston's Tavern inside the Magic Kingdom for a late breakfast. Ham and cheese pretzel roll with chips, cinnamon roll, LeFou's Brew, 3 waters: $21.27. The highly coveted Beauty and the Beast rose souvenir cup is in stock for $13, but DH gives me a dirty look when I suggest taking one home, so I don't get one. (He was right. I didn't really need a souvenir cup.)

12:38 pm Leave the park after 5.5 hours of fun. DD asks for cotton candy on the way out: $4.75.

2:10 pm We ride the boat to Whispering Canyon Cafe inside the Wilderness Lodge for lunch. Two adult meals, two kid's meals, 1 beer: $68.01 including tip and 20% annual pass discount on the food.

3:00 pm Resort facilities are available for use until midnight of your check-out day, so we go swimming at the resort where we had checked out that morning.

5:19 pm On our way to check into hotel #2, we stop at McDonald's for 3 McFlurries, 1 mocha frappe, and 1 iced coffee: $12.09.

6:30 pm Grocery shopping at Winn Dixie. Soda, beer, water, bread, ham, cheese, peanut butter, muffins, crackers, and apples: $48.10. Eat dinner of sandwiches and apples in our hotel room.

8:27 pm Souvenir shopping at Character Warehouse (Disney outlet store). Three t-shirts: $31.92.

Thursday total: $2053.98


Friday

7:00 am Housekeeping tip: $2.

7:45 am Breakfast buffet at hotel: $0. They have Mickey waffles!

8:20 am Parking at Epcot. With the annual passes, parking costs us $0.

11:00 am Popcorn bucket refill: $1.50.

11:09 am Two egg hunt maps for the Epcot World Showcase: $10.21 with AP discount. We're going to do the egg hunt later in the week, but I buy them now so I don't forget. You can egg hunt without the map, but I think my kids will enjoy putting the stickers on when we find each egg and they can take home a souvenir decorated egg at the end when we bring the map back to the gift shop.

1:23 pm Flower and Garden Festival t-shirt: $25.55 with AP discount.

1:30 pm Leaving Epcot for lunch and a rest break at the hotel.

1:56 pm Lunch at Chick-fil-A. Two adult meals, two kids meals, 2 cookies: $23.84. (We don't have Chick-fil-A where we live.)

6:58 pm Dinner at Flipper's Pizza. I found an online coupon and pre-ordered for dine-in. 1 large two-topping pizza, 6 breadsticks, 2 milks, 1 iced tea, 1 water: $30.21 including tip. We had leftovers, so we dropped by the hotel room to put them in the refrigerator before returning to Epcot.

10:30 pm Back from Epcot, kids are in bed, DH and I drink beer and eat the cookies leftover from lunch: $0.

Friday total: $93.31


Saturday

7:00 am Housekeeping tip: $2.

7:45 am Parking at Hollywood Studios: $0.

8:10 am Character buffet breakfast at Hollywood & Vine inside Hollywood Studios: $104.91 with AP discount and tip. The kids enjoyed meeting the Disney Jr. characters, but the real reason I booked this meal was so we could get into the park before the 9 am opening to sign the kids up for Jedi Training Academy without waiting in a long line. I think the only thing DD consumed here was a glass of milk.

10:56 am Four plush Star Wars tsum-tsums: $13.64 with AP discount. I'm pretending they're for the kids and not me.

12:08 pm Lunch at Backlot Express inside Hollywood Studios. 1 adult meal, 2 kids meals, 2 cupcakes (these are huge, we share them): $33.45 with AP discount.

1:59 pm The kids loved the Jedi Training Academy and now they *need* light sabers so they can keep practicing at home: $25.48 with AP discount.

3:45 pm Leave Hollywood Studios for a break and dinner.

4:20 pm Snack at McDonald's. Four McFlurries and 2 iced coffees: $12.51.

6:30 pm Eat a dinner of leftover pizza and grocery items in the hotel room: $0.

7:00 pm DS throws up after dinner, so he's in for the night. I stay at the hotel with him and drink a beer, while DH and DD return to Hollywood Studios to watch the 9:00 Star Wars fireworks: $0.

Saturday total: $191.99


Sunday

(DS is feeling much better today, so it's back to vacation as usual.)

7:00 am Housekeeping tip: $2.

7:30 am Hotel breakfast buffet: $0.

8:15 am Parking at the Magic Kingdom: $0.

11:15 am I find the maple popcorn cart in Frontierland. As I expected I would based on the name, I love this stuff! I was prepared with a gallon ziploc bag so I immediately empty my refill into the bag for later eating and get a second bucket refill. Two popcorn refills: $3.

12:13 pm Lunch at Columbia Harbour House in the Magic Kingdom. 1 adult meal, 2 kids meals: $28.20 (no AP discount here).

2:25 pm I have decided that I want to own the "You Are Here" Starbucks mugs from each park. Magic Kingdom mug: $14.48 with AP discount.

2:30 pm Leave the Magic Kingdom for rest and dinner.

3:19 pm Snack at Krispy Kreme. One dozen donuts, 1 milk, 1 iced tea, 1 iced coffee: $15.98. (We don't have Krispy Kreme where we live.)

5:30 pm I packed enough clothes that I wouldn't have to do laundry, but it would be nice not to bring home all these clothes dirty. One load of laundry in the hotel laundry room: $6.

6:54 pm Dinner at Miller's Ale House. 2 adult meals, 2 kids meals, 1 adult dessert (the kids meals came with dessert): $46.39 including tip. (After paying for so many Disney meals, it felt like we were stealing food here with the low prices!)

8:10 pm Tip to maintenance worker for plunger-ing the toilet that my DD clogged: $2.

9:00 pm Kids are finally asleep. Time to finish off the beer, since we're not going to transport it to our next hotel: $0.

Sunday total: $118.05


Monday

6:15 am Housekeeping tip: $2.

6:30 am Krispy Kreme leftovers for breakfast: $0.

7:15 am Load the suitcases into the car, check out of hotel.

7:40 am parking at Animal Kingdom: $0. (We're checking into a Disney hotel later today, so we can use the Extra Magic Hour this morning. Today also starts our Dining Plan.)

8:33 am Expedition Everest "snow leopard" plush toy for DD (it looks like a cross between a Yeti and a house cat): $14.45 with AP discount. This purchase puts her a few dollars over her souvenir budget, so I tell her I'll let her have it if she gives me her next week's allowance of $3.

9:56 am At Creature Comforts (Starbucks) inside Animal Kingdom, I tried to use my dining plan snack credits for cupcakes, but I found out that online check-in alone isn't sufficient to activate a dining plan, I had to wait until I received my room ready notification. Ended up paying cash for one (huge, overpriced) cupcake that I let the kids share: $6.38. Also got my Animal Kingdom souvenir mug: $14.48 with AP discount.

12:30 pm Received my room assignment notification from All Star Movies. Head to hotel.

1:01 pm Since I think our dining plan is now active, I test it by buying four refillable mugs at the All Star Movies food court, which are included with the dining plan: $0. Yay!

1:16 pm Now that I know our dining plan is active, we get lunch. Two adult meals: 2 quick service credits. I want to save a quick service meal for later, so I pay cash for one child meal and one side of fries: $10.83.

1:41 pm Two Mickey ear cupcakes that we split for dessert: 2 snack credits. (Yes, the kids just had cupcakes twice in three hours. It's vacation!)

2:15 pm Take our stuff to our hotel room and then head over to Hollywood Studios. Parking: $0.

3:34 pm Get my Hollywood Studios souvenir mug: $14.48 with AP discount.

5:10 pm Character dinner buffet with Fantasmic package at Hollywood & Vine inside Hollywood Studios: 4 table service credits, $31 tip. Yes, this is the same place we had breakfast two days earlier, but the characters are different at dinner, so it was a different experience. This time DD drank a glass of milk and ate two dinner rolls and a bowl of ice cream. It also got us tickets for reserved seating at the Fantasmic evening show.

7:24 pm BB-8 plush toy for DS: $10.22 with AP discount.

8:30 pm Fantasmic show with good seats this time. (We saw the show in 2014 in the standby seating section. This one was much better!)

Monday total: $103.84

Dining Plan (used/remaining): Snacks 2/14, Quick Service 2/6, Table Service 4/4


Tuesday

7:00 am Housekeeping tip: $2.

7:30 am Get on a bus to the Magic Kingdom.

8:10 am Pre-park opening breakfast at Be Our Guest in the Magic Kingdom. The meals come with a tray of mediocre pastries for the table to share. No one eats the pastries, but I put them in a ziploc bag and take them to snack on later. My DD eats nothing but a glass of milk; I eat my meal and most of the adult meal I got for DS. Three adult meals: 3 quick service credits.

9:00 am We are among the first to ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train for the day. This is the reason we had the breakfast at Be Our Guest. The cash price fpr that meal is insane, but on the dining plan, it's a good use of a quick service meal credit.

10:37 am Dole Whip floats for DH and me (the kids decline): 2 snack credits.

11:00 am The kids' turn for a treat: one Mickey ice cream bar and one Mickey ice cream sandwich: 2 snack credits.

11:10 am We're near the maple popcorn cart again. Popcorn bucket refill: $1.50.

12:00 pm Ride the monorail to Epcot.

1:03 pm Get my Epcot souvenir mug: $14.48 with AP discount.

1:40 pm Princess character lunch at Akershus in Epcot: 4 table service credits, $30 tip. DD drinks a glass of milk and eats 2 dinner rolls, but she enjoys seeing the princesses, even though she's been over the princess phase in real life for nearly two years. Disney World brings out the little kid in all of us!

3:20 pm DS is completely exhausted, so we put him in the stroller with the back down and the sun shade up and he falls fast asleep. We commence the World Showcase egg hunt with DD putting the stickers on both egg hunt maps.

3:43 pm I get a mango bubble tea from the Flower & Garden kiosk in China: 1 snack credit.

3:58 pm DH passes up the Flower & Garden kiosk and gets a full size beer from a permanent cart in Germany: $9.75.

4:05 pm I pick up a bag of caramel corn in Germany for later snacking: 1 snack credit.

5:15 pm I love the bacon and cheese rolls from Les Halles in France and baguette is one of the few foods DD eats: 1 snack credit for the roll and $1.98 for the demi baguette. Unfortunately I'm still too full from lunch to eat my roll, but it'll keep for later.

5:38 pm Cider flight from the UK Flower & Garden kiosk for me: $10.

5:55 pm Beer flight and seared scallops from the Canada Flower & Garden kiosk for DH: $11 and 1 snack credit.

6:31 pm We found all but one of the Easter eggs in the World Showcase. We turn the maps in at the gift shop, get the kids' souvenir eggs, and I buy a souvenir Flower & Garden pin and four more plush tsum-tsums (for the kids, I swear): $26.41 with AP discount.

7:00 pm Ride the Monorail back to the Magic Kingdom to see the fireworks show, Wishes.

8:37 pm DH and the kids found a spot to watch the show while I stood in line to get us a late dinner. I had saved three quick service credits for this, but I think we don't need to use the third. 1 foot long hot dog with fries, 1 corn dog nugget meal with fries, 2 lemonade slushies: 2 quick service credits.

8:45 pm DS and I share the corn dog nuggets and DD eats french fries. DH can't even finish his hot dog and fries. Plenty of food! And we still have 1 quick service meal and 6 snack credits left. I'd planned to use more snack credits to eat around the Flower & Garden food kiosks at Epcot but we just weren't hungry.

9:00 pm Our final time seeing the Wishes fireworks show (it's retiring in May). What a great way to end the trip!

9:10 pm Can't let the dining plan credits go to waste, so I stop at the Confectionery on Main Street on the way out of the Magic Kingdom. One bag of cotton candy and 8 chocolate covered Mickey krispie treats: 6 snack credits and 1 quick service credit (exchanged it for 3 snack credits). This will all fly home with us tomorrow.

9:30 pm I have walked so much over the past seven days, my feet feel like they are on fire. Of course we end up on a standing room only bus on the way back to the hotel. It was either stand on the bus or stand and wait for another bus; I figured we might as well be on our way.

Tuesday total: $107.12

Dining Plan (used/remaining): Snacks 14/0, Quick Service 6/0, Table Service 4/0


Wednesday

5:00 am Housekeeping tip: $2.

5:15 am In-room breakfast. Bacon and cheese roll from Epcot, pastries from Be Our Guest, muffins and drinks from our grocery store trip: $0.

6:29 am Fill up the car at the gas station on the way to the airport: $21.49.

6:30 am Drive to Orlando airport: $4 tolls.

7:00 am Turn in the rental car. Charge for the week: $123.06.

7:30 am Check two large suitcases, plus the stroller and car seats: $50. We really don't need to carry-on the small suitcase, since we're on our way home, but I'm too cheap to pay the $25. I'm hoping that our flight will be full and the gate agent will offer to check carry-on bags for free.

8:15 am The flight is full and we can check the carry-on bag at the gate for free. Score! Saved $25 and we don't have to haul the small suitcase through the airport for our connection.

11:30 am Boarding for our connecting flight is delayed due to cleaning the aircraft.

12:00 pm Our connecting flight is delayed until 1:30 while we wait for a new aircraft. Someone on the last flight threw up all over the plane so badly that it couldn't be returned to service with a normal turn around cleaning. It's a little annoying to wait, but I appreciate not having to smell vomit the rest of the way home.

12:05 pm Two sodas from an airport shop: $5.96. For lunch we eat popcorn, peanut butter, crackers, and apples that we brought with us.

1:45 pm The airline gives us free DirecTV for the flight to apologize for the delay: $0. My kids are thrilled, because I wasn't going to pay $6 per person to watch tv on a 45 minute flight.

4:27 pm On the way home, we stop at Fuddrucker's for dinner. Two adult meals, 1 kids meal, 1 extra milk, 2 cookies: $33.64.

6:25 pm Fill up the minivan with gas and buy 1.5 gallons of milk: $38.87 gas, $5.89 milk. (I'm not counting this in the vacation budget.)

Wednesday total: $284.91


Vacation total: $6829 (I saved $165 off the actual cost by buying $3300 in Disney gift cards from BJ's at a 5% discount.)

Vacation breakdown: transportation/parking: $1392, lodging: $1039, park tickets (annual passes upgraded from discounted base tickets): $3164, food: $1065, souvenirs: $334.

Dining plan cost (two days, 2 adults and 2 kids): $377

Value of food we bought using the dining plan: $643 

Value of refillable mugs: $77

Our "profit" using the dining plan: $343

If we hadn't been on the dining plan, I never would have bought the refillable mugs, which we literally used at one meal, nor would I have spent $72 + tax for the Be Our Guest breakfast or taken home $50 in snack foods. But we knew we wanted to do the character meals, which alone exceeded the cost of the dining plan, so anything else we got for "free" on the dining plan was a bonus. 

[goldengirlz]

You should XP on the Disney board!

And great idea. Travel is our biggest spending category by far, and I was actually thinking of doing one for our road trip this past weekend.

[LoveTrains]

Holy shit Disney is expensive.

[mainelyfoolish]

Apr 30, 2017 22:47:38 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Holy shit Disney is expensive.

Yes, yes it is. 

When we go back for a week in the fall, our cost should be around $3000 since we front-loaded the ticket expense onto this trip and we're not going to do character meals again. Transportation and parking ~$1400, lodging $716 (renting an off-site 2 bedroom time share), food ~$100/day. 

[daisypaloma]

I give you a lot of credit bec this must have taken weeks/months to plan.    You def. made the best of your trip and save $ along the way.

One thing I'm curious with; how many days you plan to be in DW for your next trip?  Is the $716 in hotel/timeshare for the next trip for 6 days?

[alleinesein]

Are we related?? My mom and I always carry a spare ziploc bags with us when we go to WDW for our favorite snacks.

[mainelyfoolish]

Apr 30, 2017 23:56:35 GMT -5 daisypaloma said:

One thing I'm curious with; how many days you plan to be in DW for your next trip?  Is the $716 in hotel/timeshare for the next trip for 6 days?

Next trip will be the same -- seven nights, with six full vacation days and two travel days. The $716 is for a week at Wyndham Bonnet Creek during the value season booked through a points broker. 

[orangeblossom]

May 1, 2017 6:58:59 GMT -5 mainelyfoolish said:

Apr 30, 2017 23:56:35 GMT -5 daisypaloma said:

One thing I'm curious with; how many days you plan to be in DW for your next trip?  Is the $716 in hotel/timeshare for the next trip for 6 days?

Next trip will be the same -- seven nights, with six full vacation days and two travel days. The $716 is for a week at Wyndham Bonnet Creek during the value season booked through a points broker. 

Great breakdown!

I love Bonnet Creek. The ILs plan a huge family reunion theee every year.

May I ask why you stayed at several properties? Besides c cost, was it just to get a feel for places and see what's out there.

I'm just thinking of all the stuff DH and I have when we travel, and moving hotels seems daunting for us. No judging, just thinking of me and DH.

[readyin07]

I happened here on accident and loved reading this lol. I don't think regular money diaries for me, but travel ones seem very helpful. Glad you had a great trip.

[cajunmom]

My random takeaways...

You taking ziploc bags is hilarious and I'm kind of mad at myself for never thinking of that.

The Star Wars fireworks show is my absolute favorite!


I'm trying to make one of these for our Scotland trip but I'm rapidly losing ground keeping track of everything we've already spent, and we don't even leave for a month.

[mainelyfoolish]

May 1, 2017 8:00:45 GMT -5 orangeblossom said:

May I ask why you stayed at several properties? Besides c cost, was it just to get a feel for places and see what's out there.

I'm just thinking of all the stuff DH and I have when we travel, and moving hotels seems daunting for us. No judging, just thinking of me and DH.

I got asked the same question on the Disney board. Here's my answer:

The plan evolved over time. Originally, we were going to stay in an off-site hotel for 6 nights and a Disney value hotel for 1 night. The Disney hotel was to get the benefit of making fast passes 60 days out and a set of new magic bands. We didn't want to spend the whole vacation at a Disney value hotel because I don't love sleeping with my whole family in two double beds and the Disney family suites would have cost 2 or 3 times as much money as the off-site suite hotel. We put the Disney one night stay at the end of the trip because the start of our trip was during the week after Easter and rooms were a lot more expensive that week.

As I got into planning and realized that we'd save money on our character dining by using the dining plan, I changed the end of trip stay to two nights because that is the minimum to get a dining plan.

The first night stay at Port Orleans Riverside was a last minute addition when, three weeks out from our trip, Disney added a 7 am extra magic hour to our first park day in the Magic Kingdom. It was supposed to be a heavy crowd day and I panicked that it would be miserable with more people choosing the park because of the EMH. I decided the best way to combat it would be to be one of those people using the EMH and then plan to leave the park by lunch time. Because it was a spring break week, there was very little room availability in the lower priced Disney hotels. This was the best combination of price and amenities I found. The kids enjoyed the theming in the room (the royal rooms have portraits of princesses and headboards with fireworks lights), riding the boat to Disney Springs, and the swimming pool with a slide. It was a bit of a PITA moving hotels, but it was fun to try out the moderate hotel for a day.

[raangoli]

May 1, 2017 15:28:17 GMT -5 mainelyfoolish said:

May 1, 2017 8:00:45 GMT -5 orangeblossom said:

May I ask why you stayed at several properties? Besides c cost, was it just to get a feel for places and see what's out there.

I'm just thinking of all the stuff DH and I have when we travel, and moving hotels seems daunting for us. No judging, just thinking of me and DH.

I got asked the same question on the Disney board. Here's my answer:

The plan evolved over time. Originally, we were going to stay in an off-site hotel for 6 nights and a Disney value hotel for 1 night. The Disney hotel was to get the benefit of making fast passes 60 days out and a set of new magic bands. We didn't want to spend the whole vacation at a Disney value hotel because I don't love sleeping with my whole family in two double beds and the Disney family suites would have cost 2 or 3 times as much money as the off-site suite hotel. We put the Disney one night stay at the end of the trip because the start of our trip was during the week after Easter and rooms were a lot more expensive that week.

As I got into planning and realized that we'd save money on our character dining by using the dining plan, I changed the end of trip stay to two nights because that is the minimum to get a dining plan.

The first night stay at Port Orleans Riverside was a last minute addition when, three weeks out from our trip, Disney added a 7 am extra magic hour to our first park day in the Magic Kingdom. It was supposed to be a heavy crowd day and I panicked that it would be miserable with more people choosing the park because of the EMH. I decided the best way to combat it would be to be one of those people using the EMH and then plan to leave the park by lunch time. Because it was a spring break week, there was very little room availability in the lower priced Disney hotels. This was the best combination of price and amenities I found. The kids enjoyed the theming in the room (the royal rooms have portraits of princesses and headboards with fireworks lights), riding the boat to Disney Springs, and the swimming pool with a slide. It was a bit of a PITA moving hotels, but it was fun to try out the moderate hotel for a day.

Will you stay onsite for your fall trip? Do you normally go twice in a year?

[mainelyfoolish]

May 1, 2017 15:57:18 GMT -5 raangoli said:

Will you stay onsite for your fall trip? Do you normally go twice in a year?

At this point I'm not planning to stay on site for the fall trip, but if a good room discount becomes available, I'm willing to consider another split stay. My DS would be so excited to stay in a Cars suite but I can't stomach the $350/night rack rate.

We have never gone twice in one year before. Our last trip to Disney World before this one was in 2014. This is a big splurge for us!

[katie829]

You should look into booking at a Disney resort when the dinning plan is free during the fall/winter. You can save a lot of money with free food and you'll be on site.

[orangeblossom]

mainelyfoolish Thanks for replying. I think you'll like Bonnet Creek. It's on Disney property, and there are several pools, playgrounds and such to choose from.

[mainelyfoolish]

May 1, 2017 17:00:10 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Ok, I read every word and loved it! One question, though, with times why use times like 1:01 or 12:58?!?! Was it something you did as you went so the times populated that way? Or are you just THAT detailed? lol

I just transcribed the time stamps from the receipts I kept.  

[mainelyfoolish]

May 1, 2017 17:12:56 GMT -5 katie829 said:

You should look into booking at a Disney resort when the dinning plan is free during the fall/winter. You can save a lot of money with free food and you'll be on site.

You have to buy tickets to get the free dining promotions, so it wouldn't save us any money, as we already have tickets. We also already purchased our airfare for the end of October when the free dining promotion isn't in effect. 

[scout8]

Maple popcorn sounds like the most delicious snack ever.

[flatlan]

This was such a fun Money Diary! Thanks for sharing!

[dochas]

Can I ask about the ticket prices? Is there a benefit to being a season pass holder. The upgrade to season was more than what you paid for the tickets so I'm curious. Or did the prices increase so much that it would have cost more? I love all the ways you worked out to get experiences and savings. I plan the same way and it is exhausting on the front end but always worth it on the actual trip. Great job!!

[mainelyfoolish]

May 2, 2017 9:12:54 GMT -5 dochas said:

Can I ask about the ticket prices? Is there a benefit to being a season pass holder. The upgrade to season was more than what you paid for the tickets so I'm curious. Or did the prices increase so much that it would have cost more? I love all the ways you worked out to get experiences and savings. I plan the same way and it is exhausting on the front end but always worth it on the trip. Great job!!

The annual passes allow park hopping and come with free parking and photo downloads. The original set of tickets we had were not park hoppers; because we wanted to go to more than one park in a day, we were going to have to pay about $469 to upgrade our old 6 day base tickets to six day hopper tickets after the February ticket price increase. We also would have spent $60 for three days of parking during which we were not Disney resort guests (on-site resort guests also get free parking) and photo downloads for our trip would have been another $150. 

For the trip in the fall, if we hadn't bought the annual passes, we'd be spending $1782.50 for six day park hoppers (with DH's discount), $120 for six days of parking, and another $150 for the photo downloads. Buying the annual passes on the first trip saved us about $882 off the cost of the two trips, not including the discounts I got on some food and merchandise. 

[dochas]

May 2, 2017 9:51:25 GMT -5 mainelyfoolish said:

May 2, 2017 9:12:54 GMT -5 dochas said:

Can I ask about the ticket prices? Is there a benefit to being a season pass holder. The upgrade to season was more than what you paid for the tickets so I'm curious. Or did the prices increase so much that it would have cost more? I love all the ways you worked out to get experiences and savings. I plan the same way and it is exhausting on the front end but always worth it on the trip. Great job!!

The annual passes allow park hopping and come with free parking and photo downloads. The original set of tickets we had were not park hoppers; because we wanted to go to more than one park in a day, we were going to have to pay about $469 to upgrade our old 6 day base tickets to six day hopper tickets after the February ticket price increase. We also would have spent $60 for three days of parking during which we were not Disney resort guests (on-site resort guests also get free parking) and photo downloads for our trip would have been another $150. 

For the trip in the fall, if we hadn't bought the annual passes, we'd be spending $1782.50 for six day park hoppers (with DH's discount), $120 for six days of parking, and another $150 for the photo downloads. Buying the annual passes on the first trip saved us about $882 off the cost of the two trips, not including the discounts I got on some food and merchandise. 

Fantastic. And you've already done all the work!