Ready, Set, Go......

   Planning a Disney Vacation can be a daunting task. Even with the hundreds of resources out there. Different travel agents, books and websites all have different ideas about vacation planning. So who do you listen to? Who do you trust? Where do you start? In every trip that I have ever taken or planned for families I always start at the same place.  A BUDGET!
   The first step in setting a budget is to decide how much you can afford to spend on a vacation. Be realistic when setting a budget. Understand that your budget should include EVERYTHING. Heres an example of what I budget:

  Tickets: $700 (2 adult 2 children for 3 days)
  Gas: $200
  Hotel: $350 (5 nights @ $60 a night plus fees)
  Food: $700
  Spending: $90 ($30 per adult $15 per child)
  Emergency: $100
         Total: $2,140

  Now understand that this budget takes into account that NOTHING is free. I always over budget. For example even if my hotel offers breakfast I budget money to eat breakfast. Why? Because if I don't someone will be starving and I will have to spend I didn't plan on feeding that person and then I feel guilty about over spending. Another way to cut cost is travel when most people don't. Meaning stay home on holiday and summer breaks. Ticket prices go down from September to April, that is also when Disney does all there specials. In the past the Disney company has had some great deals during the "off season" i.e. everyone gets in at kids price, buy 3 days get 2 free etc. Hotel prices also go up and down with the seasons. So if you want to save some cash travel from September- April. Another HUGE saver is to budget your spending money. There is so much stuff at Disneyland its very easy to let your spending get out of control. I gave each of my kids (ages 2 & 4) $15 and told them that's it. They spent the first 2 days we were there looking for the perfect souvenir. It was fun for them to search out what they wanted for the amount they had.
   I hope that this will help you get a budget started. In my next post I'm going to go over planning your meals and how to budget and save in that category.