How much money do you budget for family vacations?
How much should a family spend to visit Disney? Or Universal, or Six Flags? It doesn't cost anything to imagine visiting places around the world, but when it comes time to turn your travel dreams into real vacations, a plan has to fit into your budget.
Many of us have learned how to get the most for what we spend on theme park trips. We price ticket options, including seasonal and annual passes. We might use airline and credit card rewards and gift card discounts to save money. We look for times of year when destinations might be offering lower rooms rates, ticket discounts, and perks such as free dining plans.
But ultimately, you have to pay something for your theme park trip, no matter how many deals or discounts you can find. That's when it's time to set the budget.
Some of us set aside money every week or month to pay for future vacations. Others are willing to charge up to their credit limit. Regardless of how you pay for your vacations and get-aways, I would love to hear from Theme Park Insider readers how much they spent on these trips last year.
Given that Theme Park Insider tends to attract people who are fans of multiple parks and brands, I suspect that people around here are more likely than not to mix things up and visit a variety of destinations, from Disneyland and Walt Disney World to Universal Orlando and parks in Tokyo, Paris, Abu Dhabi and elsewhere. But I could be wrong (and often am), so you tell me.
Let's ground this in real data. Look at what you and your family spent over the past 12 months. How much did you spend on theme park tickets, meals, and souvenirs? If you traveled to the parks, how much did you spend on flights, cars, and gas? On hotels? Add it all up and give us a number... or, at least your best estimate. Then tell us how your plans might be changing in 2026.
I hope that these numbers provide some context to others who are thinking about their travel plans. To help other readers, what are your tips for affording a theme park vacation? On the flip side, what bad advice is out there that you would like to keep people from following?
Replies (2)
$30,000.
2025 was a mix of solo and family travel. A few countries in Europe (France, Italy, Greece), some domestic travel (mid-west/west coast and Grand Canyon), Australia, and Asia (China, Japan, Hong Kong), with a Disney Cruise thrown in during the summer.
Trips that included a Disney theme park visit (Japan, Hong Kong, China, Paris) ranged anywhere from $1000 - $6000.
Living in Central Florida greatly helps reduce costs visiting Walt Disney World or other Orlando attractions.
2026 we intend on spending around the same amount, though the only ‘theme park’ specific trip will be to Singapore to board the Disney Adventure, and possibly Lotte World in South Korea. That trip will cost around $11,500 - by far the highest we’ve spent on a single destination… but flights to Singapore are not cheap.
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2025 > 2026 for theme park budget at least for us.
For 2025:
-we flew to Singapore to go to Universal Studios Singapore HHN
-Flew to Universal Studios Orlando HHN
-Flew to Universal Studios Orlando for Epic grand opening weekend.
-Weekend getaway to Hershey Park
-Weekend getaway to Kings Dominion & Busch Gardens Williamsburg
-plus 2x visits to Universal Horror Unleashed in Vegas (HHN)
For 2026 planned so far:
-Universal Orlando for Mardi Gras
-Universal Orlando HHN
-Likely no other visits for 2026 since we're expecting.
2025 wins by far.