Thank you for sharing this great report/photos! I recall from your planning that for a period of time you were not too excited about your trip, especially the FP system and potential wait times for rides.
Now that you are back, was it worth it? Would you look forward to going back?
Yes, inquiring minds want to know. i’m still on the fence about a return trip, myself.
I’ve been meaning to come back to this thread with somewhat of a costs/ROI summary - I’ve just had my time come to me in tidbits, not chunks, all week.
Over the years WDW has gone from being a place I thought was a great first choice to being further down the list. Contributing factors have mostly been the increased costs to visit, as well as the increased work required to plan. It was always prudent to study up, but it seems imperative now. I won’t argue about it, but in many ways I think attention to customer service is slightly down, as well, making it harder to justify the increased cost and work to visit. In short - I really process the ROI. At the same time our family has realized how much we like variety. Road trips, cruises, beach vacations and even camping are all on our list now. We driven 3,000 miles in two weeks with a two year old - and the kids still gush about how great that trip was.
If you’ve read this far - I do think our ROI for this trip was satisfactory.
From a monetary standpoint, it really didn’t “cost” me too much.
Our vacation was 11/11-11/21 - 10 nights.
Our 5D PH tickets were $378 pp - so I spent $1890 on the five.
MVMCP tickets were $516.54.
Airfare was $950.
My rental house was $1000 for 10 nights.
The car was $468.77 which had been shopped and reshopped via AutoSlash.
We had a campsite for seven of the nights which was $568.16.
Of those costs, however, I had churned $880 directly toward the airfare - so air cost me $70 out of pocket.
I churned $540 directly applied to the house - so the house cost me $460.
My mom paid for the car.
My sister paid $490.53 of the campsite (I had paid the deposit months before) so I paid $77.62.
Air + house + campsite = $607.62.
Add in tickets it came to $3014.16.
Meanwhile, I had churned other cards and earned over $2000 in credits for other things for our family.
It made the vacation FEEL like it cost very little.
Now - to be fair - I probably would have churned cards anyway. But I would have done so for any thing to feel free (carpeting, dishwasher, flooring, etc.).
I also spent close to $300 on groceries for the week - we had 10 breakfasts, 8 lunches and 1 dinner out of that. I had $50ish in gas for all our running around (Tampa and back included). Meanwhile, with cancelled reading tutors and Spanish teachers back home I save $200. But now I am getting nitpicky.
Our tickets also included the education piece “Caring for Giants” and the homeschool party event.
AND - this is key - I DID NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR ANY UP-CHARGE EVENTS or PPO meals to get the rides and shows I wanted. I came away feeling like the only things we didn’t get to do were because we became too cold to persevere to the end of the day. We didn’t miss things because it was too crowded or I couldn’t afford them. In comparison this was our trip in 2016: Link to Disboards I also didn’t need to use two sets of MBs like I did that year. I DID still use the campsite.
Would I go back? - yes
Will I go back soon? - nope - not until there is a bunch of new things. I am so bored by much of it.
Will I go back in November? - mmmmm - THIS is hard. The price point was very good with the homeschool tickets, and crowds were very comfortable, but it STUNK to be so cold.
Thank you for prompting me to come back to this.
In the past DH and I have never asked my mom or sister to pay for anything toward the house or meals, etc. Just their own tickets. When they offered to pay those parts I was very thankful. This “girls’ trip” was not our family trip for the year. That was a cruise/road trip. Adding this on was totally extra.
Thanks for that detailed response. The thing about CC points, etc. is exactly what you said- it FEELS like it’s costing you less. Whether it actually does depends on one thing- would you try that hard to churn cards if you weren’t going to WDW? (Other people might work extra hours or have a garage sale to raise the funds, it’s kind of the same- extra effort to pull off the trip).
If you would work the same amount anyway, then it’s really costing you. That’s what we do, which is why I’m constantly comparing a trip to WDW with other endeavors. I know that those FF miles could go toward a fare that we actually need, and not to WDW. Going to WDW takes away from something else.
But, I’m pretty much coming down on it where you are- I’d like to go back, but not for a while. It really is magical, but we, too, underestimated the effort it takes. I thought it would just be a fun jaunt after school let out in May, and we all happened to be on the east coast anyway. LOL. Was I wrong!
I could have had all new doors in my house for the cost of MVMCP. 
Being cold totally sucks. As I was reading your report I was thinking that the earlier sunset time in November vs. August means a lot more after dark touring time without bumping bedtime too late, and I definitely preferred the parks after dark. Universal was sort of tolerable in the heat because it’s so compact. I for sure would not go to WDW in August again, even though we generally had great crowd levels, because it was just way too hot and I found myself thinking a few times (notably at Epcot) that it would be a much more enjoyable experience if we weren’t sweltering. But freezing’s no good either.
I’m impressed by how you set up the trip money-wise and not paying for up-charge events other than MVMCP (which is more of a ticket than the other up-charge stuff). I like how the after hours party and the Caring for Giants were included with the homeschooling group – was that all part of the 5D PH tickets? I really liked that our last 3 nights of hotels in Orlando at the Swan were on credit card-generated Bonvoy points, because they made it feel like a bargain even though, opportunity cost-wise, it wasn’t. Those points would have been worth more swapped over to frequent flyer accounts for future flights.
I’m where both you and @Pod are – I’m not opposed to going back and there are experiences that weren’t part of our trip that seem like fun (and DS11 wants to beat more Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom villains), but not for a while. There’s only so much vacation time and there are many places I want to spend it.
Thank you for your trip report – it made the vacation rental + campsite option seem a lot more appealing.
And I hope the all new doors are feasible before long. 
That’s a great point.
The cold doesn’t bother me as long as I know it’s coming. But, I’m about to go cut down a Christmas tree in 15 degree weather, so I may not be the best judge of that.
Where is it 15F? Ouch.
The other time I went in November was 2007. Getting dark early actually took me by surprise that trip. Daylight savings time begins the exact day we arrived. With lots of little kids, I was a little stressed out by being plunged into darkness at 4:30 PM. This time around, I was mentally prepared for that. And the parks certainly were beautiful after dark. Especially with the Christmas Decor! But, I had anticipated about 10° warmer.
Yeah, not having the weather you were expecting is hard. At least in August we knew it would be sweltering.
Montana. But it’s a dry cold! 
We’re thinking about doing the campsite booking as well. Did you check in online for that? Did you ever need to go to the campground for anything? Any other tips or tricks I should know?
Hi. I think I forgot to answer you elsewhere! I’m sorry.
We’ve reserved a campsite twice now and I still have never set foot on the property. Intended to this time, but my family ended up requesting a do-nothing day… we checked on online. I got a text that my “room was ready” around 1PM on our check in day while we were at MK.
You did excellent. A family bonding and fun time while being a good steward of your finances.
Thanks again for sharing a detailed trip report!
Isn’t that the sad reality of adulting?
So true. Tonight the family saw this year’s Warren Miller ski film, Timeless, and now suddenly the Alps are the next vacation destination. Coming from where we are, it’s not that much more costly than a trip to WDW, given the per-day cost of our last trip.
Or we can go to Jackson Hole, which is close. Where the rich and famous hang out, and a ticket there is $99, single day no deals. Who knew that would be a cheap vacay in comparison? 
I think WDW is becoming a global destination resort, so the concept of going every few years but spending more is pretty consistent with that. I also like the spacing of about every 5 years- it means that there are so many new attractions. This summer there was SDD, 7DMT, ASwS, FOP, Navi, etc. it was great! Next time, it’ll be the whole SW area, new EPCOT areas, TRON coaster, plus the SW hotel if we are lucky.
I’m a little behind in your report, but where did you find Robin Hood and Brer Fox? Those are some harder characters to find! Great report, by the way!!
K Enny the seafaring saboteur
