Price Breakdown

The cost of our Fall 2009 trip is probably going to be one of the most inexpensive WDW trips we've ever taken. Thank the Lord because we aren't made of money here. I consider myself an expert at saving money on a WDW vacation. And in these tough economic times, you sort of have to be if you want to feed your WDW addiction regularly. So, let's take a look at how much this amazing vacation is going to cost us.

For my birthday, my family pitched in some money for me to get an Annual Pass to WDW. I have to put a lot of my own money towards it but that's okay. An AP gains you access to all of the four major WDW parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom) for 365 days from the day you activate your AP. Disney also releases room only discounts different times of the year. You can also get many discounts on dining and merchandise, as well as free parking. I wanted an AP so I could take friends more easily. I could get money off the hotel room and my park tickets will already be paid for. Really, I am just looking for a way to make it to WDW as often as I can. :)

For an Annual Pass in 2009, the cost is $499.00. The average 7 day park hopper ticket is just over $300. Or... somewhere around there. If I plan on going to the parks for more than 10 days within one year, I am saving money.

By me having an AP, it threw a bit of confusion into the booking process. We ended up having to book everyone with a one day base ticket. Once we get to the parks on our first day, we'll just upgrade Matt and Mom to a 7 day park hopper. I won't need to upgrade my base ticket because i'll have my AP. The upgrade will cost them $216.00 each.

The cost of 3 adults, with 1 day base tickets, staying at Pop Century from September 29-October 6 is $1022.85. That is $340.95 per person. Then add in the cost of the ticket upgrade for mom and Matt... $557.96.

Remember, we won't be paying for food this entire trip unless we chose to eat something off of the dining plan. The DDP is very flexible and always works very well for us. On the DDP, you get 1 snack, 1 Quick Service Meal, and 1 Table Service meal for each night of your stay. I can't even explain how much food this includes. Often times we don't even use all of our snack credits up. It's just so much food to consume in one day!

I looked yesterday morning at flights and found some really great prices that I just didn't want to wait on. With my luck, they would go up as soon as I decide to wait. Well, what I found was round trip flights out of Detroit International to Orlando International for just $139.19 per person! That's great! I am happy to report that I booked 3 people today for just $417.00 round trip! Paying for things makes it feel so official... :)

The breakdown looks like this for mom and Matt...

Upfront part of package = $340.95
Ticket upgrade = $217.00
Flights = $139.19
__________________________
Grand Total = $697.14

The breakdown for me looks like this...

Upfront part of the package = $340.95
Annual Pass = $500.00
Flight = 139.19
__________________________
Grand Total = $980.14

It's a small price to pay for one heck of a vacation.