Jot down everything that will cost money at Walt Disney World, including what your family says they must do while there. Items that will cost money include airfare, hotel accommodations, meals, theme park tickets, recreational activities and souvenirs. Add a miscellaneous category so you bring additional money for unexpected expenses.
Write down approximate dollar amounts of what everything will cost and put in order of most important. For example, hotel accommodations, food and airfare will be at the top of your list because there will be no vacation without these items. Things such as souvenirs and recreation activities will be at the bottom. This way if you financially come up a little short, you can take the money away from the things that are not so important.
Figure out how much money you need for your vacation and divide that dollar amount by the number of paychecks you have left between now and your vacation. The total you get is the dollar amount you need to save out of each paycheck. Plan to stop saving a few weeks before you leave on vacation. This way, if something happens and you come up short, you still have some extra time to save the rest. Pull the money from your paycheck and put it into a vacation-only account.
Buy multiple-day theme park tickets. However, if your vacation is going to be five days, only buy theme park tickets for three days or four days. This way you will not be wasting money on a day you may not use and can spend time at your resort enjoying the amenities. A majority of your vacation budget is for hotel accommodations, so you might as well enjoy what you are paying for.
Have the family help. During your savings period hold a yard sale and put all of the profits away in an envelope for the vacation. Have everyone help out by cleaning out their rooms and putting items in the sale. Not only will they be helping pay for vacation, your home will be completely cleaned out of stuff you no longer need. Also, have the kids put their allowance, or part of it, into a fund for their souvenirs and offer them additional money for helping with projects around the house.
