I'd say for the amount of activities you have that is actually pretty good!!
I haven't added up the expenses for our "budget" HHN trip. Ignorance is bliss right? Although I do know from my bank balance lol! The one thing we don't get more of is time. So time with loved ones is worth way more than any amount of money.
Your pet nanny is quite a bit more than mine. Ours charged $15/visit.
Our car rental for 4 days was $142 from alamo, skip the counter, no prepaid gas etc. I had DD toll tag so that made navigating to Harbour Lake from/to airport easy. Not real cheap but that came with free upgrade to midsize too.
Is your TS cost because you own multiple weeks? I used an accomodation certificate for our HHN week, so I consider our MF and II membership "paid" with our June vacation. To get dates I needed I had to use the $325 week instead of the $225 one. One thing I love about Universal is the discount for AP's everywhere. Sounds like SW has good ones as well, and may need to keep an eye out on black friday for deals. I wonder what will happen as the masses flock to Disney for star wars next fall/winter...
Hope you feel better soon!!!
Yes, I should have stayed in the dark where the budget was concerned
. I'm not sure why it feels different to know the cost BEFORE we travel.....afterward, maybe it all feels justified because you have the happy memories to go with it?
Definitely one of the pitfalls of having six months to plan is the adding on of all the extras......which are going to be AWESOME, but sure do add up. To think this was supposed to be our "budget resort vacation"
.
Our pet nanny charges $25 per visit. We have her in twice a day, once in the morning and one in the evening. So that's $50 a day, plus we leave a 10% gratuity. It sounds like a lot, but I have to say.....its wonderful peace of mind
. We get photos texted to us on every visit, a quick update on what they were up to while she was there, and full written notes (with lots of little tidbits to make us smile) when we get home. She was superb (and went above and beyond the call of duty) when we were without power on our spring trip, so we feel a small tip is warranted. I'd love something more affordable, but not for less quality care. Thankfully Steve feels the same way, and every time I cringe at the cost, he gives me a kiss on head and says
"It's worth every penny, sweetheart. Gotta have those babies well looked after while we're gone". Another reason why I love him so.
I am feeling MUCH better these days, thank you so much for asking!
I'm glad I went to the doc last Friday, as I was much improved by the time Monday hit. Just in time for month end at work
.
Our timeshare cost is the annual maintenance fee for one week. I suppose I could not count that in.....most folks don't seem to calculate that in as a cost of their trip, since they are "out" that money regardless......but I think it should be included, if you want a fair assessment of the overall financials. Thankfully we don't have any costs for the timeshare on top of the maintenance fee (no initial purchase price to factor in), and for a 1260 square foot villa, under $1000 a week is steal. Definitely cheaper than a nightly rate if booked directly with SVR.
So two of the cats used to be outdoor cats, but when we moved last year we kept them inside at first, and they decided they liked that better. We have a fenced in backyard, so the dogs are welcome to stay out, only Scruffy does, Scout and Maggie are wimps and prefer the A/C. Since we got all the animals except Scruffy as puppies or kittens, they have grown up together, so they get along great. Scruffy needed a swat or two (from the cats) to learn the cats don't want to play, but other than that he is family now too.
Our pet nanny is quite a bit cheaper even with all our animals, my wife's neice stays at the house for the week with the animals. As she is in college but still living at home, she refuses to take more than what we give her ($300, split between my MIL and us) because having a place to herself for the week is such a huge bonus.
A little disappointed this morning, I had bought Braves playoff tickets to surprise my wife with a night away this coming weekend (since our alone time will be non-existent on our trip), but it required the Braves to get the #2 seed. They didn't, so now the tickets I have are for Monday, and as game 4, not even a sure thing to happen (If Braves sweep, or more likely the way they have been playing, swept, no game 4). And work schedules mean that if it does happen, will have to drive up and back the same day (3 hour drive one way). Oh well, save the $140 the hotel cost I guess.
You are so fortunate to have a trusted family member to provide good care to all of your animals!! And at such a GREAT price!
I definitely miss having neighbors that we know well to do cat care for us while we're away. I'm sure we'll make those connections after a certain amount of time here in MI, but for now....its the professionals or bust. (it will only be my wallet busting, I guess
)
So sorry to hear that the Braves didn't do as well as you had hoped
. We cheer for all the Toronto teams, so we know that disappointment well
. Hopefully they won't get swept in their series and you can at least pull of Plan B!
We have Trails End booked for 5:40 pm on Tuesday night. I'm hoping after spending the day at Magic Kingdom we can have dinner, wander around the camp ground to check out the decorations and maybe catch the campfire!
I'm booked in a two bedroom in the Fountain section, I booked through RCI, so I'm not sure how they allocate rooms. I've gone back and forth about asking for anything specific. Based on the pictures I've seen, I think we'll be happy with any room!
If I'm still awake on Wednesday night, the Tacky Tiki Bar could be a plan!
That's the same time as our Trail's End ADR. Perhaps we will see each other there! We should be easy to spot.....Steve and I will be in matching Sleepy Hollow t-shirts. Steve's a big guy so we're generally tough to miss
.
Fountains is our favorite section of the whole resort. I am sure you will be thrilled with ANY building you are assigned to. If you are averse to stairs, you'll want to request a ground floor.....but if you don't mind the walk up and down from your villa, the third floor units have vaulted ceilings and skylights, which are super lovely!
The plans really look good. If you can fit the walrus tour in and switch the sea lion one to Sunday then I would do it.
The total is what it is, it's worth the enjoyment
Considering I'm a bit blown away by the total right now, I think we'll hold off on adding the walrus tour just yet
. It might be a spur of the moment add-on. But I completely agree, every dollar always seems to feel worth it once we're there.
Thanks for sharing your budget, Gina. It helps to see that our expenses are in line.
We are heading to Sea world, Discovery Cove and Aquatica in a few weeks.
So exciting!! What are your dates?
I'm glad to know that your costs sound like they are similar to ours. Not so bad after all then, huh?
I love seeing that you have a new PTR up! I know I've said it before, but I love following along and reading. It makes my sleepy nights with the baby that much more tolerable! I also don't hardly read about folks going to SW, so it's nice to read about their offerings during different parts of the year. We'll be in Florida/Orlando in late November, early December.
Thank you so much!
Your kind compliments just made my day. So glad to have you reading along!
I love Orlando during the holiday season......you are going at a GREAT time
. Are you doing SeaWorld's Christmas Celebration while you're there? Or a
MVMCP?
Found your new thread! I still have to read it but wanted to get my foot in the door.
We've been back from Orlando for 2 weeks now so you know what that means? Time to book another trip! We will be ending our AP year with one last trip Jan 2=Feb 6 and we'll be FLYING this time. I found airfare for really cheap so we did the fuzzy math and decided to book. Now need to stalk rental cars because they're really expensive right now.
Welcome home!
Yay for booking another trip!
That's the best antidote for the coming-home blues. And how nice to escape the cold northern winter during the worst part of the year. Am I reading it right that you'll be in Orlando for a whole MONTH?
Lucky ducks!
Gina, I have read most of your past trip reports, but always after they have been completed, I think. So I don’t know that I have posted on one. My family (DH, myself, DS 15, and DD13) vacations have benefitted greatly from reading your reports.....convinced us to go to SW, DC, stay off site, etc. So a HUGE THANK YOU to you. I have looooved reading about all of your adventures.
I have a friend and her DS14, traveling to Orlando to visit her parents for New Years. They are planning to stay in Vista Cay and go to SeaWorld on New Years Eve. I also recommended ICE to her based on your reports. However, I can no longer find your reports. I was going to have her read them.
Do you still have your old reports? If not, could you post a few quick tips to me (esp. regarding SW Christmas experiences) to share with them? And/Or photos? Thanks so much.
Looking forward to reading about your upcoming “wild” trip.
Welcome aboard! Thanks for reading along!
These threads should be the ones you are looking for.....happy reading! And if you have any specific questions, feel free to ask away.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/j...ney-universal-seaworld-–-dec-2016-tr.3598944/
https://www.disboards.com/threads/i...–-an-offsite-non-disney-christmas-tr.3472126/
Ugh, my evil eye is not working, hurricane forecast models are almost all showing something tropical in the vicinity of FL for our trip starting next weekend. Only one shows anything strong, but that might be the best option, because that model misses FL and takes the rain with it. The rest show a tropical depression/weak tropical storm basically dumping inches of rain for days over FL.
Oh no!!!
Say it isn't so!!
Hopefully the system weakens or turns or otherwise disappears. Sending good weather thoughts your way!
It's so maddening when Mother Nature rears her ugly head.
23 Days till my last day of work; 24 Days till our flight leaves!
Here is what our budget has broken down into:
Flight - $1277.20
Timeshare Transfer Fee - $159 (we own in Branson, so this is what we pay to Transfer to another Westgate Resort)
Westgate Room Hold $50.00 (this will get refunded after the trip)
Alamo Car Rental with Military Leisure Coupon - $259.02
Gas for Car - $50.00
SeaWorld Tickets - $0.00 (Waves of Honor Tickets)
SeaWorld Parking - $30.00
SeaWorld PhotoKey & All Day Dining for 2 - $138.75
Return to Sleepy Hollow - $120.00
Military 4 Day - 3 Park Universal Tickets - $470.00
Universal Parking - $100.00
Universal Orlando 4 Day QS w/Freestyle Cup - $119.96
Universal Orlando Scaractor Dinning - $106.48
Universal Halloween Horror Night Frequent Fear - $227.90
Universal 5 Day Photo Package - $60.00
Total: $3168.31
Total per Day (8 Days): $396.03
Total Per Person Per Day: $198.01
This isn't including some meals that are on GC
Your total looks excellent
. Y
I noticed you don't add in your timeshare maintenance fees to the overall cost. Taking those out of my total, I think we're almost neck-and-neck.
I had to search for her December 2016 trip which included Christmas at Sea World. Another option would be to YouTube the events they offer. Many of the vloggers hit all the various holiday happenings around Orlando. (Tim Tracker, Midway Mania, etc)
I LOVE youtube for the vlogger videos. Tim Tracker is one of my favorites!
Perhaps we can plan to meet up at the Tacky Tiki Bar for a beverage on Wednesday evening, after we are back from Discovery Cove.
So excited!!
