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Total Cost for Out of Towners?
Hi,
My hubby and I are considering moving out of state due to cost of living in CA but I'm worried the Disney Bug would bite us hard once we left. Right now Disneyland only costs us 2 annual passes a year and the occasional dinner. My question is what is the average cost for those coming from out of state. 
The following info would be most helpful:
# of days
# of people in party
hotel onsite or off
food onsite of off or both
total cost of trip with flight, hotel, food, extras
Thank you for your help. I gots to budget our Disney fun.
I'm not feeling very creative right now. Maybe later.
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07-26-2006 02:54 AM
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We live about 750 miles away in New Mexico and go twice a year for a week. We drive, stay off property, but eat all our meals in the park (except for one visit to Joe's Crab Shack.) We average about $2,000 a trip, but this include shopping. I think if we went more often, we would get tired of it.
I've often wondered how an average person manages to live in the inflated market like Southern California. Good luck!
A conservative at 16 has no heart. A liberal at 65 has no brains. -- Unknown
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We live in Colorado (1000 miles away) and usually drive because it's just too expensive to fly. There are 3 of us. We also use Hilton Hotel points for our stays, so we have no hotel costs. Our last trip still cost us around 1300.00 and that was when gas was much cheaper....That was our first trip in several years. We used to go once a year, but park passes were cheaper then, and the whole trip just seemed to be more affordable.
People who can afford to live in SoCal are indeed lucky as far as DL visits. I don't know many (out of town) families who can afford to spend the money it takes to visit DL several times a year. Not that DL isn't worth it, but it's unfortunate for me that it cuts down on the number of visits I have.
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We went in mid-June (after the start of the "prime season") and we did our whole trip for under 1000. Now I will say this, I fly Southwest very frequently and so I had earned two round trip flights so we only paid like 20 bucks for our flight. But depending on where you are moving to, Southwest can still have very good flights into either LAX or SNA. We booked our travel through getawaytoday.com and got a stay at a good neighbor hotel across the street from the main gate for 3 nights with 3 day park hopper included for 530 bucks. The only variable there that could have been controlled more was the amount of money we spent in the park on food and souvenirs. Since this was my first trip in 13 years there were a few things I wanted to get. For someone that goes more often there might be less desire to get another pair of Mouse Ears or t-shirts or something. We also ate all our meals in the park though, and even had dinner one night at the Napa Rose the evening we got engaged. Throw that in there and the trip might have just eclipsed 1000, but if you remove that expense, it was definitely under 1000.
I am sure there would be other ways that you could scrimp and save in different places.
Good luck!
Cool Runnings
Doc
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Slightly off topic, but related to the last post.....
We just got Southwest here in the Denver market, and for the life of me I can't figure out their website. I mean I can figure it out, but when I price trips they usually end up way more than United or Frontier...what in the world am I doing wrong?
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Wish Upon A Star
Originally Posted by
swcrazy
The following info would be most helpful:
# of days
# of people in party
hotel onsite or off
food onsite of off or both
total cost of trip with flight, hotel, food, extras
We used to live in WA and I can recap our 2005 DL expenses,
In May I went alone:
# of days - 3
# of people - 1
I stayed offsite and ate both on and offsite.
Total was about $750 (counting flight, shuttle, hotel, food, and extras)
In August we all went:
# of days - 9 (4 of those spent driving)
# of people - 4 (2 adults, 2 children)
We stayed offsite and ate offsite.
Total was about $2400 (includes gas, hotels, food, Park Hoppers, and extras)
In December I went alone (again):
I stayed offsite and ate both on and off.
Total was about $1200 (flight, shuttle, food, extras, and renewing my AP)
Yearly total: $4350
That was fun. I never really figured out our yearly total before.
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Our last couple trips:
May
# people- 3 me and two friends
Airfare from Seattle to Long beach: about $200 each
Hotel: candy cane inn, $130 per night, 3 nights (we each paid one night)
Rental car: $35
Food: breakfast at hotel, all other meals and snacks in the park $30-40 per day/ each for drinks, snacks and meals.
Park tickets: I had a/p, friends had $80 2day military hoppers.
March
#people: 4- 2 adults, 2 kids
$1450 for round trip from Seattle, 4 nights at Candy cane, and 4- 3 day hoppers (package so dont know the exact breakdown). Was during the kids fly free special.
Rental car $35 for weekend
food and spending money- about $600 in 3 1/2 days- that was for a few souv. and our meals and snacks.
We ate breakfast at the hotel, and one dinner at tony romas, everything else was in the parks.
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We're not out of state, but we live in northern California. We generally go for 5 days in the park. We stay off property, in hotels that cost less than $100. That allows for 2 driving days and 3 days in the park. I budget $50/person/day for food, although we don't usually spend that much. Throw in a few hundred for souvenirs, and park tickets, and we usually don't spend more than $1500 for the two of us. We've done the entire trip for under a thousand for both of us, by not buying many souvenirs, not eating restaurant meals (we snack a lot in the park, so this isn't hard), and staying in a less expensive hotel.
Originally Posted by
swcrazy
Hi,
My hubby and I are considering moving out of state due to cost of living in CA but I'm worried the Disney Bug would bite us hard once we left. Right now Disneyland only costs us 2 annual passes a year and the occasional dinner. My question is what is the average cost for those coming from out of state.
The following info would be most helpful:
# of days
# of people in party
hotel onsite or off
food onsite of off or both
total cost of trip with flight, hotel, food, extras
Thank you for your help. I gots to budget our Disney fun.
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Blow me to Bermuda!
We live in the Phoenix area. Normally we drive (about 7 hours) but this time we are flying into John Wayne. We always stay off site and try to eat breakfast offsite. We normally snack all day and maybe grab something for dinner in the park. This trip I am taking a small cooler with sandwhich stuff for lunches too though and will try to convince the teenagers to go to the room midday (or I'll put it in a locker). So.. with that said.....
3 nights (59/nt) 207
4 people (3 day PH - I'm only buying 3) 477.
flight (138/ps) 277 (two of my tickets were bday presents)
food 35/ps/day 420.
car to/from airport 100.
so about $1380.
************************************************** ************************************************** ***
Enjoying the sunshine and blue skies of Phoenix between Disney trips.
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We live in Northern California and our last trip was our most expensive.
# of days was 8 nights
# of people 3
first three nights at the HoJo, yuck
last five nights at the Grand, heaven
food on and off site, we also bought food at a grocery store saved $$$
flight
rental car
Total 4500.00
Usually we drive but this time we tried flying. I liked it very much but it was more for the flight and rental car. Next time we will drive and make our trip about 4 days longer. Just to take our time getting down and back.
We always stay on site. Except for this last time and boy did we regret that. I will never stay off site again. I believe it is well worth the extra money to stay on site.
Next trip won't cost so much as I won't be the only one paying for it. DS and DD are 19 and 18 and working full time so they can help pay for their own way now.
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We went last October - we paid the following
3 Adults, 1 Child (3 1/2 years old), 1 Baby (1 1/2 years old)
Length of Stay 10 days
We stayed in the Desert Inn Parlor Suite A
Spent 1 day at Knott's Berry Farm
5 day park hopper - upgraded to Deluxe Annual Passes
Food - went to blue bayou a few times, ate well in parks
Fantasmic Premiere Seating
Wheelchair rental for entire time
~$150 spending money per person
Our total was about $4500-$5000
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December trip
2 Adults
4 nights/5 days
Flight - $200 each from Seattle to Ontario = $400
Hotel (Anaheim Plaza Hotel) $50/night +tax = $230
Passes = FREE (already had annual passes from DL October trip)
Food approx $400
Fantasmic Balcony Seating = $120
Souveniers = $200
Wheelchair ~$7/day = $35
Grand total: $1385
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Living the dream!
Originally Posted by
swcrazy
The following info would be most helpful:
# of days
# of people in party
hotel onsite or off
food onsite of off or both
total cost of trip with flight, hotel, food, extras
Thank you for your help. I gots to budget our Disney fun.
5 full days in the parks
2 adults and 3 children
onsite
food onsite or DTD, breakfast in the room
Total cost: We drive and stay the night in Vegas each way....it's usually in December (Vegas off season) and we can get a nice hotel fairly inexpensive. Last year we stayed at the Monte Carlo for $60 a night. So with food that's about $225 for the Vegas portion. Gas has been about $200 but I am thinking it will be more this year thanks to the Shrub so I am planning on $300; we drive out from Utah. 7 nights hotel at the PPH, 5 day Hoppers for all of us, and a character breakfast costs about $2000. Food is another $100-$125 per day. Each child gets $150 for souvenirs. So about $3,500 for a 9 day trip.
We will upgrade to APs so the second trip of the year will cost a little less. 
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Our last trip was early December. I don't know how we are counting adults here, we were two adults an 11-year-old and an 8-year-old. As far as the park is concerned that is three adults and one child and as far as the hotel is concerned that is two adults and two children.
We stayed four nights at the Disneyland Hotel and had three day parkhoppers. That was $1,700
We drove from Northern California, that was a couple hundred in gas.
We had cereal in our rooms for breakfast, a second meal in our room out of a cooler and had one meal a day out somewhere. I would guess maybe $300 total on food, maybe $400.
So that adds up to somewhere around $2,200-$2,300.
Unless you count the fact that I took the car in to the mechanic to have it checked before the trip and got it back $3,000 later, then that trip was much more expensive. So we drove down there in a rented mini-van, but had the fantastic rate of $25/day, unlimited miles.
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Originally Posted by
Bolivar
So we drove down there in a rented mini-van, but had the fantastic rate of $25/day, unlimited miles.
WOW! How did you do that?
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# of days: 10 days (not all 10 at Disneyland)
# of people in party: 3 (2 adults and a toddler (2))
hotel onsite or off: offsite (about $70/nt taxes included)
food onsite of off or both: both (probably spend roughly $100/day for the 3 of us, but then I LOVE food so I don't spare much expense here)
total cost of trip with flight, hotel, food, extras:
Flight from Honolulu ~ $400/person ($1200 total)
Hotel ~ $700
Food ~ $1000
Car rental ~ $385 (we get insurance)
passes (we'll be getting APs to cut costs for next year's trip) ~ $460
extras (and I am a shopper) ~ $1500
Grand total ~ $5245
Which is why we usually only go once a year off season and haven't stayed on property.
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This is great guys. It's amazing how changing a few details can really up or lower the price. At least now I know what I'm getting into if we should move.
We're thinking of moving to Washington cause my hubby's company has several sites up there so for all those flying from Seattle I really appreciate the numbers.
Thanks
I'm not feeling very creative right now. Maybe later.
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Originally Posted by
hdlzx2
WOW! How did you do that?
Well I took the car in to get checked out. I don't remember if it had a blown head casket or a cracked head, either way it was bad. They were going to get it back to me on Friday and we left for DL on Saturday. I had to rent a car for the time they had it and I rented some little tin can.
After tearing into the car they found other problems and it wasn't going to be ready for driving to Disneyland. Bummer, we have a mini-van and the kids don't fight nearly as much when they each have their own row. Not to mention we can pack a lot more -- cooler with food, more food, cases of water, etc.
Anyway when I returned the car on Friday the guy asked me how it went with my car. When I rented the car we had chatted about the work they were doing, how I was driving it to DL, how I wasn't sure they would be done, etc. So when he asks how it went I tell him about the further damage, how it isn't ready and how we'll have to drive the other car and why I'm bummed. He says, "Want to rent a mini-van?" I say no way, after paying for DL and now the car repairs I can't afford it. He says, "I'll give you a great deal." I say that I still can't afford it. He says, "Look I have four of them on the lot and I'm not going to be renting them between now and next week so anything I get is more than I would have gotten. I'll give you one for $25 a day." I said, "Where do I sign."
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This is how much I'll be spending in early August.
4 day park hopper: $169
Add another $60 to upgrade to deluxe AP
4 night stay at PP hotel: $1200
Souvenirs, food, etc.: $600
Flight from San Francisco: $230
Total cost for one person: $2259
That total does not take into account the other four trips I've taken this year to Disneyland. I think I spent well over $5K this year on the Walt Disney Co.
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We live in the PNW and budget for one annual trip. Airfare, hotel across the street from DL main gate area (off-property), 5 day park hoppers, food and whatever, about $2K for two!
"The ultimate ponzi scheme: Social Security" - Jim Cramer
"It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others that have been tried." - Winston Churchill
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Registered User
Originally Posted by
Skunker
Slightly off topic, but related to the last post.....
We just got Southwest here in the Denver market, and for the life of me I can't figure out their website. I mean I can figure it out, but when I price trips they usually end up way more than United or Frontier...what in the world am I doing wrong?
We went last September and February to Disneyland and found a rate on American both times for $150 a person roundtrip out of DIA. (Why we decided to go back.) Frontier was willing to matching, but not UAL. The times were better on AA, so that is what we went with. However, we have flown into Ontario on TED for under $200. I personally will not fly SW until them offer assigned seating. Have you heard Frontier's "Cattle Call" commercial? I personally love Frontier because of the direcTv systems with Disney movies.
Also, we have found renting a car through hotwire to be much less expensive in the long run than shuttles. I think we got a Mini Van for the insane amount of $25.95 a day in September and $19.95 for a full size in February (but were upgraded to a mini van because someone had parked it in the wrong spot.) 
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Originally Posted by
swcrazy
Hi,
The following info would be most helpful:
# of days
# of people in party
hotel onsite or off
food onsite of off or both
total cost of trip with flight, hotel, food, extras
Thank you for your help. I gots to budget our Disney fun.
Well we are flying from Vancouver(Canada) to LAX(1Adult + 1 Child)
Flying Alaska Airlines
11/26-12/03 7nights @Tropicana
6dys in park( we love it there!)
Character Breakfast
Transfers lax-ana-lax
for $1996.00( CDN)- including all taxes
We plan on buying our own water/snacks and eat outside the park( except for the character breakfast( my daughter turns 10).
Actually she has no idea we are going yet, she won't know till 11/24. This is the hardest secret to keep.
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Registered User
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We live in Surprise,AZ and we just went in May here were the costs:
My family is Myself, DH and DD who is 5 years old.
Hotel- 3 nights at the Candy Cane Inn- $410
4 days in the park - free (we already have our AP's)
food- breakfast free at the CCI- $50 per day at DL -$200 (my husband and I usually split or meal or I get a kids meal to save costs)
Gas for the car trip -$150
Souveniers- $100 ( you should go to the Disney Character Warehouse before going to DL)
Total- $860
Driving and not having to rent a car save us quite a bit verses flying. Also, staying at a Hotel (or Inn) that has a free breakfast also saves you some money!
It is the happiest place on earth!
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I forgot to mention about the free breakfast, that does help!
Also, in planning our next adventure this is what I came up with for 2 adults, 3 kids:
Drive from CO in our minivan - 300 ish for gas? (could be more)
SoCal passes - 900
Food - 500
Hotel - free (points) and free breakfast
2 nights hotel in Vegas - probably 75 a night?
Souveniers - 500
I'm thinking around 2500-ish for the trip.
It's really interesting to see what people spend and how they plan. This is a great thread.
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Our next trip will be in August. We plan to bring our four youngest kids (ages 3-13) and will be traveling from Reno, Nevada area.
We already have annual passes and have used them for two other week long trips this year so I think now they are free for us.
We will rent a mini van for the week and gas $450
Homewood Suites for seven nights includes breakfast every day and dinner four nights during our stay. $785
Groceries about $100
Spending money in the park and on the road about $500. We plan on one meal in the park each day and a few snacks.
Saturday is our blockout day so we will take Amtrak down to San Diego and do some sightseeing for about $300
Plan to spend about $2100
We rarely buy souveneirs at DLR and if we do they are very small items under $5 or so. We don't have room to travel with them and we don't like to take time away from the rides. We can get really good deals at DisneyShopping.com or the Disney Store in the mall. Even WalMart carries cute Disney clothes for the kids. We do like to wear Disney themed items while visiting the park. We did go to the Character Warehouse our last trip but felt the drive was too far and not enough things in season that we would want. We did buy a HUGE Tinkerbell tent there for about $25 that the kids play with everyday. So it is worth checking out if you really must have souveniers.
Christmas will be our next trip after this and we will spend more just because it is the holidays. We do this and buy very few gifts since we all have more than we need already. We have a great rate at the PP so accomadations will be about the same without meals included.
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