How much does it all cost in the end?

[debojahh]

I think for the 2 of us the holidays usually come out around £5000.
The next holiday will be £7000-£8000 though as we added NYC!

[cornishfrogboy]

It can vary enormously, depending on the family.
Whilst it is easy to add up flights, accommodation , car hire and attraction tickets, the rest is a 'how long is a piece of string question'.

For us, we are already looking at our next vacation as we leave Florida and therefore we do not spend money that we do not have to. We budget in order to travel to the States every year.

Having visited 8 times in recent years, we do not spend hardly anything on souveniirs and very little in the shopping malls. Many buying in the malls forget that mall prices are better compared against uk retail park prices. It makes more sense (in our opinion) such as Clarks Village in Street, Somerset. Then the prices for most things are comparable..

Food. We subtract what we would on average have spent in the uk during the duration of our vacation when coming up with our final figure. In addition, we always breakfast in our villa, preferring Continental to grease, take packed lunches into parks at least 2/3 of the time as we are not wild on Soda, Burgers, Pizzas etc, and, other than Rainforest Cafe, never, ever eat our evening meals in the parks. The prices are crazy when compared with Longhorn, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze, Hooters etc Etc etc. We occasionally eat in house with Pizza and similar, but generally it is out in the evening.

We travel very long distances having been as far as Mobile Alabama, Daytona, Key West and all in between. Obviously fuel is very cheap, we drive a Focus or similar and again, we subtract what we would otherwise have spent on travelling , had we stayed at home. Fuel thus comes free!

We also deduct gas, electricity, coffee, canteen purchased sandwiches and stuff that would have been purchased had we not gone on vacation.Suddenly the cost of my break has plummeted.

I appreciate that some people will only use direct and from their nearest airport, only travel Virgin and at least PE, must stay in top end Disney resorts, Must have a large SUV or Convertible Mustang, must eat at Bonefish, Tony Roma and similar, must eat in the parks every day, visit bibbitybobbity, pay for Universal express pass, buy loads of branded souvenirs etc Etc etc. That simply is not us and with unlimited cash, it still would not be.

The above is all fine. People make different decisions and come to different conclusions. We all have different priorities, hence my original comment, how long is a piece of string?

Our last vacation , flights Heathrow to Pensacola via Atlanta (3 hrs) and Daytona Beach to Heathrow via Atlanta (1 hour 10) with Delta. Staying Pensacola 2, Destin 3, Tampa 1 , 9 nights in a Kissimmee Villa, Daytona Beach and home during the Easter break and with just DC ultimate tickets came in at around £3500 for 2 adults and children 14 and 11. Car was an Astra sized Chevy. It was awesome.

[Reereef]

We are going for a week over October half term and all in it cost around £4500.

We are going at Christmas for 12 nights and all in it will cost us £7500

Next summer we are going for five weeks. Minus the Disney Cruise we have booked, all in it will cost around £11,000

But, for our family it is worth every penny.

[JimF]

For the two of us for 14 days in November / December, the cost this year is £3,600 plus £1100 food/ daily spending money.

That includes Gatwick valet car park, Hampton Inn at Gatwick with breakfast, Virgin Premium both ways, car hire (SUV) with Alamo Brits, hotel in LBV, Disney 14 day ultimates, MVMCP and Seaworld/Busch 2 day. We're not doing Universal as we did that last time.

We could shave a fair bit off with flight/car/ticket downgrade but ...

Shopping is another matter! (and another budget, justified by classing it as Christmas presents) !

[legallyblonde]

Last year we spent about £12k - 2a 2c. We hadn't been abroad for 3 years prior so did spoil ourselves a bit ..a nicer villa and premium flights etc.

Next year the cost is:
Direct virgin flights and 3 nights in HRH: £3100
11 nights SSR with 14 day Disney tickets: £4380
Universal 14 day tickets: £950
1 night at radisson blu Man airport with parking for 15 days: £350

Plus spends and car hire if we decide to hire a car. When asked, I usually say it's best part of £10k for family of four with spends.