How Much Does It Cost To Go To Florida?
Florida is often referred to as a “Once in a lifetime trip”, and one of the reasons for this is down to cost. If you are looking to take a trip to Florida and want to understand the undertaking of the cost that is associated with the trip then keep reading, as I will breakdown every cost from our trip.
For reference, this is all based on a family of 5: 2 Adults and 3 Children under the age of 10 and we travelled in June 2024 for 2 weeks.
We aimed to keep cost down as much as possible when it came to everything we booked in advanced such as flights, accommodation and tickets to allow us to ensure we had ample spending money available while we were on holiday.
Flights
We flew direct to and from Melbourne Orlando International Airpot (MLB) with Tui. The reason we made this decision was down to cost. It was significantly cheaper to fly here than to fly into Orlando International Airport (MCO).
We researched flight data are were hopping to pay around £500 per person so we continuously tracked flights and managed to get our flights for less than that in the Boxing Day Sales on Tui’s Website.
In total it cost us £2,160 for 5 flights with 3 25KG suitcases. We also had to option to bring a 10KG carry on suitcase and 1 personal bag each also.
Car Hire
We chose to hire a car as we did not want to rely on shuttle buses and taxi’s while in Florida. Another reason for us to fly into MLB was we found the car hire prices were a few hundred pound cheaper than to pick up the car at MCO.
We booked an Intermediate 5 Seater SUV via Discount Florida Car Hire. This was large enough to fit 3 large suitcase in the boot. This cost £620. This covered 2 drivers and the car was provided through Alamo.
https://www.discountfloridacarhire.co.uk
Accommodation
We chose to stay offsite as we planned to visit Disney World and Universal, as well as having a list of restaurants we wanted to visit.
We stayed in the Lake Buena Vista Area in the Buena Vista Suites Hotel. The hotel was the perfect location for our plans, it was 15 minutes drive to the Disney Parks, 30 minutes drive to Universal, 10 minutes drive to Walmart and 20 minutes drive to International Drive.
We booked a One Bedroom Queen Suite which had 2 Queen size beds and a living area with sofa bed. This cost £1832 and the price included resort fees.
This included a free buffet style breakfast and the hotel offered free parking. We booked via booking.com.
https://www.buenavistasuites.com
Tickets
Tickets for Disney World and Universal are more than likely going to be the more expensive part of your trip. We purchased a 14 day combo ticket via Attraction Tickets.
This gave us access to:
All 4 Disney Parks (Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot & Animal Kingdom) and the Water Park (Typhoon Lagoon was open during our trip). We also got free magic bands and free Disney Memory Maker as part of a promotion at the time of booking.
Both Universal Parks (Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure) and the Water Park Volcano Bay.
We paid £4,212 in total, we utilised a Black Friday deal which gave us 10% off the original price of £4,680. We chose to add on the Flexi coverage to our tickets so if our plans needed to change we were eligible for a full refund, this cost £25pp (this is included in our paid price listed above).
Attraction Tickets give the option to pay a deposit at the time of booking to secure your ticket price and then you are required to pay the remaining balance by 6 weeks prior to your trip. You do not get charged any extra fees for taking this option and can make payments as and when you chose via their website. Click Here for a link to their website.
Note: You will not receive your tickets until you have paid off your tickets in full.
ESTA’s
All 5 members of our family needed ESTA’s, this cost £85 in total ($21 pp). Ensure you apply via the official website as some third party sites will overcharge for the application.
Tip: ESTA’s are linked to your passport so if your passport expires you will need a new ESTA regardless of the ESTA expiry date.
Airport Parking
We required Airport Parking for our vehicle at Manchester Airport, this cost £110 for Meet & Greet Parking at T2. We booked direct with Manchester Airport.
We also try to secure a discount code for before booking, the codes are ever changing so check out google before booking!
https://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/parking
Spending Money
Spending money is probably the biggest variable when it comes to a trip to Florida. There are ways to be conservative with your spending while in Florida, we had allocated £3000 to spending money which at the time based on the exchange rates provided us with roughly $3800 for 2 weeks.
We stayed offsite, which meant when attending the parks we had to pay for parking. This cost us roughly $400. (Disney Parks charge $30 a day and Universal $35 a day.
Food and Dining Cost roughly $1600 for the 2 weeks, we did not eat on site at either of the parks but did purchase drinks, ice creams and snacks at the parks some days. This also included a play pass in Chucke E Cheese. This included tips when eating. (It’s worth noting this did not include alcohol with any meals, we opted for soft drinks which are always, in our experience free refills. I did note that alcohol was quite expensive in the majority of restaurants we visited so this will add to your spending if you are opting for alcohol.
Groceries and Pharmacy Costs came to roughly $250 dollars, majority of this was at Walmart and Target for snacks and drinks for our hotel room along with merchandise we purchased for 2 adults.
Gas/Petrol cost us $75, this was refilled once about 8 days into our trip and then a top up before returning the car at MLB airport as it was a full to full tank agreement on our car hire.
Our Children all had saved some Birthday and Christmas money which allowed them to purchase merchandise so I haven’t included d that in the overall spending figure. But for reference each child spent roughly $150 and were able to purchase multiple items in Target, Walmart and the parks with that.
That brings our total spending money as a family of 5 to $2325 dollars (£1900).
Total Cost
Overall, our family’s trip to Florida in June 2024 cost approximately £11,000 for two weeks. While this is a significant expense, we found it to be worth it for the unforgettable experiences we had. By strategically planning our flights, accommodation, and tickets and setting a clear budget for spending money, we were able to enjoy everything Florida has to offer. If you’re considering this trip, careful planning and taking advantage of deals can make it more manageable, ensuring you create cherished memories without unnecessary stress over finances.