Estimating costs...not so magical

Budgeting the vacation is a necessary evil. For me, it starts with getting a ballpark idea of what I'm comfortable in spending. But it can be difficult to translate that into real dollars - or what you get for the money - until Disney makes their annual rates available. And they finally did earlier this week.

Let me take a quick bird walk here. You don't have to pay the rates that Disney posts on their Web site. These are what are known as rack rates and they are the most you will pay for your trip. There are a gazillion different types of discounts out there that you can take advantage of and you're a fool not to. All you have to do is a little homework and you can save a lot of money. One of my favorite places to visit is mousesavers.com (see the quick link on the right) which is a great clearing house of current discounts. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The important thing to know is Disney rack rates are important because you can model a fairly realistic budget. Yes, it's on the high side but that is much better than being on the low side.

Back to the budget. So Disney came out with their rates and I started playing with things. As I mentioned in another post, we're looking at 8 nights/9 days. I have a general idea of when we would like to visit - which is basically as soon as school lets out. I know that I want the basic dining plan (and I'll have to dedicate a whole post to the dining plan at another time) and I think I'll probably do the park hopper. As for hotels, I have one moderate, Port Orleans French Quarter and a few deluxe that are on my short list. I know I don't want to rent a car and I'll use Disney's Magical Express to and from the airport. And last, I know I don't have to build airfare into the budget. We have points we can use and airfare will be free!

So here's what I did. I visited the official Disney Web site and I did a Room Only search for the approximate dates of our trip. What popped up was the cost per night for the room. Since Disney instituted the variable cost per night along with their seasons, the costs can get a lot higher on the weekends. My rates varied from $195-$210 a night for moderate; to $310-$445 for the deluxe. When I looked at each night I was shocked at the cost so I backed up my dates a couple weeks and found rates that were on average $25 a night cheaper! As a result, we’ll be going sooner. If I didn’t do the room only search I would have never known this.

To be honest, overall, the rates were running much higher than expected even with my anticipated increases over the 2009 number. Do they not know we’re in a recession and have 10+ percent unemployment? I was initially bummed looking at the numbers. However, now I have realistic numbers that tell me something about cost and I know in my gut my threshold for what I’m willing to pay for the room.

The other elements I needed to factor in were the park tickets and dining plan. For the two adults and child I know I can expect to pay about $890 for the 8 day park hoppers when tax is lumped in. And I'm looking at about $730 for the basic dining plan. So I took $1620 and added that to the room only costs of the hotel. I like to get ala cart pricing because I also look at renting points. I’ll explain what that is in another post. Once I had the prices broken down I also ran my dates and vacation wants I also modeled my vacation using the Vacation Package tab on the Disney Web site.

This is getting a little long so I'm going to come back and break it down in parts in later posts. Who knew this would be such a big job?

Where and how long?

There are a couple things that are defaults in our vacation planning that we've learned from previous trips. Knowing these things really helps.

In 2007 we took an eight night/nine day trip. It was the first time we ever stayed that long. But we knew that we never really did anything on the days we flew in and out. Because of that our vacation was actually 7 days. AND we also know that we like to take one day smack in the middle to do nothing related to the parks - bringing us to 6 days. Long story short, we like 8 nights and 9 days.

We also know that we want to stay on the Disney resort property - we like the perks. I know some people complain about busses but I like the idea of not having to worry about driving, parking, etc. Pick me up in a relatively timely fashion and I'm good to go. There's some freedom in that. I'm not a drinker usually but when I'm on vacation I like the option of partaking in a cocktail. Knowing that I don't have to drive is awesome. I also like Magical Express to and from the airport. Staying on property is worth the money for us.

As far as class of hotel - values are out. I still will stay there in a pinch but I'm just not a fan. I actually love to visit Pop Century when I'm not staying there because the theme is terrific but it's the people. There seem to be so many more people at the busses, at the pools, gift shop... everywhere! Don't get me wrong, I like the people. I just don't want to feel like I've always got someone standing on top of my head. As a result, it's a deluxe when it’s affordable and moderate which is fine too.

This trip, the hotels I'm considering are Port Orleans French Quarter, which is my favorite moderate. We've stayed there many times before and I like the theme a lot. The size is also smaller but it doesn't have the feel that you are on top of the next guy. But the real humdinger for me is the boat to Downtown Disney. We always go there every trip and it is a chore to get there by bus. But to get there by boat is a relaxing and enjoyable journey I look forward to. I could do the same from Port Orleans Riverside but I just don't think it's a quaint as POFQ.

On the deluxe end I'm down to four hotels. Our favorite in the world is Animal Kingdom Lodge. We've stayed there one other time and it was like a dream come true. The vacation was so good that I'm afraid to go back and have it not be as good as the first time. Also on the list is the Beach Club, Wilderness Lodge, and the Polynesian Resort.

Far and away as a front runner in that group is the Poly. But for our 2011 vacation my husband and I will be celebrating 10 years of wedded bliss and we'll probably save the Poly for that. Even though I reallllllly want to stay there. The Beach Club is a place that everyone brags about and the location is great for visiting World Showcase at Epcot. If you want to visit Future World in Epcot, it's not so good. We have a six year old and we spend more time in FW than we do in WS so that's a factor. But Beach Club has this amazing sand bottom pool complex that everyone loves. It's a factor. And last, the Wilderness Lodge. We love the hotel, the location is great, and it was designed by the same architect who did AKL so we know we would probably like it. Decision, decisions.

So the next thing we're really waiting for is Disney to come out with their 2010 package prices. Once that happens, we'll really kick the planning in high gear.

To plan or not to plan...of course plan!

Woo-hoo! First post. This blog is a long time coming so I need to just get on with it.

I'm a seasoned Walt Disney World traveler with over 50 trips under my belt. So when I tell my friends and extended-family that I'm planning my next trip I get a very strange look. But these are the same people that have gone to Disney without planning and have had less than stellar trips and they just don't get why I keep going back.

To be honest, there are more than a couple reasons why I plan my Walt Disney World vacations. (Although this is the first time I've decided to share my planning adventures with the Web.) You're going to find I'm a list maker so let’s just get this over with and I'll share my first list...why I plan our WDW vacations.

1. WDW is larger than the island of Manhattan with just about as much stuff to do. If you were visiting Manhattan you'd have a travel plan, right?
2. My family and I love our trips to the World. REALLY love them. When we get home following a WDW vacation we have a case of the blues. And more often than not we're talking about our next trip while we're on the plane home. Planning makes the long months between trips more fun and gives us something to look forward to.
3. WDW is constantly changing. Planning our trip gives me an excuse to listen to all the Disney podcasts, visit my fav Web sites, and stay abreast of the latest happenings. Things really do change significantly and the addition of a new ride or attraction is going to have an impact on how you go about things in the parks.
4. You can't fit everything you want to do into a traditional family vacation. It isn't going to happen; I don't care what the so-called experts say. It's not! You have to pick and choose what you want to do each trip, sacrifice things for the next trip, all in the name of a good time.
5. Am I already on the fifth? You can have a fun and relaxing trip to Walt Disney World. Some may say I'm blasphemous for saying this, but it isn't just about the parks. There are water sports and fishing, spas, dining galore, golf, mini golf, special events, activities, races, shopping, music, movies, and I could go on and on. Point is there is a lot to do.

Okay, this list is getting long and I could go on forever. The point is I'm planning my Walt Disney World vacation and I'm thrilled. I hope you come back again and again to follow my adventures. It's going to be magical.