Much cheaper when you don’t take spouses and children with you!
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No one understands this like I do.
Under normal conditions, however, driving there and back shouldn’t cost $1000.
We have always stayed off property and a recent search has shown me the rental house costs are still much less than on property.
I have always needed to be extremely frugal when visiting WDW and $7K for three people would be a hard pass for me.
I am NOT a good enabler. 
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Any discount come out yet? Have you looked at renting points or switching to a cheaper resort? Convention tickets?
Plenty of way to save
But treat yourself, you deserve it!
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I would also say, track flights via google- I have saved alot of money by watching prices and rebooking!
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I wanted a big celebration for a major birthday so I went to Disney. Felt silly about the whole thing, in the months/days before the trip. But the trip was awesome.
So go. Celebrate. 
In my estimation, the big 3 in a Disney budget are lodging, park admissions and food.
It sounds as tho you’ve got a good lodging plan.
Convention tickets or park hopper tickets for only a few of the days you’re there can save money. For my birthday we stayed 7 nights but had only 4 park days. Small savings, as the price per day goes down, with more days on your ticket. But it’s cheaper in other ways to hang by the pool or resort hop than go in the park. The other big money sink is food. We used to get the combo meal at QS places and share. We also had snacks in the room. And limited our TS meals. Lots of times I’ll get an appetizer instead of an entree so I can get dessert too.
There are a variety of magical things to do. After all, it’s Disney World.
I doubt you’ll ever, in the future, say gee I wish I hadn’t celebrated graduating, as I’d been planning.
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You were asking about the cost of going to WDW compared to Europe. It’s cheaper for me to do a solo trip to Italy for two weeks than it is to do a solo trip to WDW for a week.
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I would definitely look at the convention tickets, they can be a great deal cheaper. But those four park, four day tickets are a nice price too! Maybe throw in a water park day and then you have five park days?
I’m headed iver to priceline to see what I can see for June!
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So the Paris part of my vacation for my family of 4 was less than $7000. But the flights were free (i paid with either miles or Amex points I can’t remember which). The flights for four of us would have been $6k. We stayed in a value hotel chain that I love which saved about $1000 from an Airbnb.
Ironically, Disneyland Paris portion is what sent me over the $7000 line, but I stayed in the Marvel hotel (most expensive at the time) and had the express passes each day. We went big as when weren’t sure we would ever go back.
That has been my experience too - I first stayed in CBR because it was the same cost as a preferred room at pop!
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Since the time you booked the package they may have added a new discount on the rooms - make sure you are getting the “stay longer and save” price on the rooms. That is about $80 a night savings at POR - and is a better rate than Priceline.
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I need more info on this chain for my 2025 trip!
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Yes! I priced this out for January. It wasn’t THAT much more expensive to be at CBR compared to Pop preferred. And the main pool (with a slide) and hot tub are winners for my family as we spend a good chunk of time at the resort. The vibe is calmer too.
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This sounds like research I need to participate in! 
I actually just had a solo day in France on Sunday as my DD was ill…and I didn’t like it very much. I think I am better with friends or family along. I was lonely! 
I think since I fly mostly free in the US (with points on Southwest or Alaska), and do not fly free to Europe, a week solo in the US parks would be much cheaper for me. More research (and more travel) needed for me!
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I’m a believer in efficiency and squeezing more out of a short trip than not going at all. Knocking off 1-2 days will have a notable impact on the total cost.
Last time we did 5 nights and 4 park days, which was the longest stay we’ve done. It felt perfect. In the past we’ve done 3-4 nights, even 2 nights with 3 park days.
But that’s just me - I know others value the longer stay and would rather not go as often.
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I agree with this. I think @kylehufford you could knock a chunk off of this trip if you look into priceline (and similar) deals or go to Pop. The 4 day ticket deal is nice! There are so many things to do at resorts. Putt putt and a pool day for a rest in between. You could do 5 nights if your flights are right.
Concur!
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@kylehufford congratulations on finishing grad school! I hope you can find a way to celebrate at Disney. The cost is rising. People are getting priced out (not just Disney-everything is going up). My only advice would be to set the budget you are comfortable with first and then figure out what charges you can make to stay within the budget.
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This is about $100 less per person compared to the 5 day base. You might want to cancel your package, buy the 4 day ticket, and rent points somewhere.
I don’t know what your moderate rate is but you can likely find OKW for $300 a night (possibly less) and take advantage of the EEH, which can help with fitting more into 4 days.
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It is ok to stay off-site. It may be cheaper than the Disney hotel. You can find a rental house for much less (I use a site called vacation by the mouse) but you can also rent DVC points (a site called Davids DVC) I have used both and both are legit. If you stay off site, I use Turo for car rental (it’s like a VRBO for cars) I use it for all my FL trips. If you stay off site, you will have to pay for parking at the parks, but you will not have to wait for a bus,… I like renting a house so you can have a full kitchen, a washer and dryer and a private pool.
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Welcome to the forum @kelweb_kelly_657507
I am another off-site/house renter. We are few and far between. 
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That four day ticket deal is amazing! I would personally cut back on days, get that ticket, and maybe stay at a value. I have looked at staying off-site, but it doesn’t make sense for me. I don’t rent a car and when I start factoring in uber/lyft to get to and from the parks it is often less expensive for me to stay on site where all transportation is included except to and from the airport. (RIP DME!)
My daughters and I went to WDW last summer and used those 4 day tickets. We arrived late Thursday night and left Monday night. And using TP and ThrillData, we were able to do everything we wanted to do. Only bought Genie+ for our HS day. It was a great trip! Since they announce they were bringing the 4 day deal back, I’ve been trying to figure out how to do it again!
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Please share the hotel name and where in Paris. I’m planning a trip in July.
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