An Orlando vacation will provide memories for a lifetime. Thousands upon thousands of families each year plan their Orlando Vacation and visit attractions such as SeaWorld, Disney World, Busch Gardens, Universal Orlando, and many others.
All of this fun doesn’t come for free and planning the expense of a vacation will save you time and money. But how do you know how much your Orlando Vacation will cost? Below we provide you with an Orlando vacation cost estimator to help in your financial planning.
• Vacation Dates – pretty self explanatory. Enter in the dates of your trip and include travel days going to and from.
• Air Transportation – this includes airfare, checked baggage fees, airport parking, and transfers.
• Transportation – transportation costs add up quickly. These include car rental, gasoline, tolls, parking, rail/train tickets, taxis and public transportation.
• Food – this includes all sit down meals and snacks. You’ll also want to add in enough for gratuity.
• Lodging – hotel/motel/resort costs per night as well as gratuity for staff.
• Activities – sub categories include vacation package, organized tours, nightlife/entertainment, park entrance fees, and souvenirs/shopping
• Miscellaneous expenses:
o Travel insurance
o Passports, visas
o Pet care/child care
o Calling cards
o Internet
o Immunizations/medication
o Gear/luggage
Once you’ve got your expense sheet dialed in you’ll be able to plan without missing a beat. A lot of family’s taker a bigger financial hit than they expect because of hidden expenses so using a detailed expense report should help mitigate the problem.
Once you’ve got the categories outlined you can start planning where to stay and what activities you want to do. An Orlando vacation can be difficult to plan because the city has so much to offer.
Most families visit Disney World on their Orlando Vacation. Remember that sometimes less is more when you’re visiting Orlando. Disney recommends that you stay seven days when visiting Disney World because of its sheer size. Many families have made the mistake of trying to cram everything in a couple of days and leave feeling like they got short changed.
Disney World is four parks in one. In order to see all the sites and ride all of the attractions you’ll need to have the time to do it. Some families spend 10-11 days on their Orlando vacation and take a week to experience Disney, two days to see other attractions like Universal Studios and SeaWorld and then one to two days of time relaxing at the beach or by the pool at the hotel.
If you don’t mind your kids missing school then consider taking them during “off-peak” times. There will be less lines and a lot of great deals that save a lot of money. There is a downside to off peak times which are typically rainy weather or severe humidity. If you can stand the humidity late August is a good month to go because it is considered off peak and the kids are still out of school.
Tips to save for your Orlando Vacation
Many banks and employers encourage people to save and have great programs that will automatically deduct funds from purchases made or from your paycheck. Some employers have vacation and gift deduction plans where a set amount is deducted out of each paycheck. The money is pre-tax so your taxable income is less too. Ask your employer about doing an automatic deduction plan. That way you won’t have to rack up credit card debt to pay for your vacation and you’ll have it in case of an emergency.
Some banks such as 1st National Bank & Trust and Bank of America will round up each debit card purchase to the nearest dollar and put the extra change in your savings account. It’s like the modern day version of the coin jar. Before you know it you’ll have hundreds and hundreds of dollars saved up and you won’t even miss a beat because of the minimal impact to your budget. These programs are often called “round up” savings programs.
By using all of the tools mentioned above planning your dream Orlando vacation should be a lot less stressful. The last things you want are big financial surprises that cause your vacation to go awry.
