3 travelers share their summer vacation receipts, from a $2,000 road trip to a $15,000 family getaway

You can’t put a price on a memorable summer vacation. Or can you? Summer doesn’t officially end until the end of September, but summer vacation season is sadly, definitely, decidedly, over. And it leaves in its wake something far less exciting and carefree: the bill.

But how much did we spend on vacations this summer, and what did that buy? Three brave women with wildly different travel plans — a babymoon at Disney World, a multicity extravaganza, a modest family trip down South — gave us nosy people the ultimate end-of-summer gift: a peek at their receipts. Read on to see how they splurged, saved and used.

The happiest babymoon on Earth

Name: Sarah

Occupation: Spiritual life coach

Vacation destination: Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

Total number of travelers: Two

Length of trip: Seven days, six nights

Total cost: $8,479.78

Sarah (who, along with our other sources, asked not to share her last name) and her husband's Disney trip this summer was a three-fer: Part anniversary celebration, part chance to check out the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival and part vacay ahead of welcoming a new bundle of joy to their family.

Pre-travel expenses: $539.43

We bought two pieces of luggage before the trip. I also got a blowout.

Transportation: Points + $264.21

Usually, the round-trip flight from Michigan to Orlando is about $300. But we used credit card points for our flights this time, so the only flight travel expense we had was for two checked bags for $70 each ($140 total). We took Ubers to and from the airport, and I took one Uber off the park premises for a total of $124.21.

Hotel: $3,889.36 + $264

We stayed at the Beach Club Villas, which is right outside of Epcot. We paid a down payment, and then the remaining balance at the end, for a total of $3,889.36. The only extra activity I did was get a massage at the hotel spa, which was $264.

Food and drink: $1,556.41 (plus $11.68 for water)

I thought we did pretty well as far as food goes. On the way down, we bought two big bottles of water for $11.68 (!). We ate our meals at the restaurants on Disney property and at the festival at Epcot. It has around 30 outdoor kitchens set up, selling small plates that are all around $5 to $8. We had a couple of reservations at the nicer restaurants, and on our anniversary, we ate a nicer dinner at one of the Disney hotels. Being pregnant, I was also all about the park snacks; I even had the snack spots mapped out at Magic Kingdom. My husband was the only one indulging in cocktails, which I think helped keep costs down too.

Park passes: $1,455.32 + $311

We went to all four parks: Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Disney Hollywood Studios. We bought slightly discounted Park Hopper tickets on Undercover Tourist. We usually do that if the discount is big enough to be, say, the cost of a whole meal. We saved maybe $70 off the regular Disney price.

Souvenirs: $188.37

We shopped around a little bit. We went to the Japan Pavilion and my husband got a Zelda water bottle and umbrella — that’s what he’d probably say was the best purchase. We didn’t purchase any ride photos or anything, but what’s cool is that on some rides, they actually let you download the photos for free.

A trip down South using credit card points

Name: Samantha

Occupation: Work in higher ed

Vacation destination: Charleston, S.C. and Savannah, Ga.

Total number of travelers: Four (two adults, two children)

Length of trip: 12 days

Total cost: $2,063.78

Samantha and her family visit family in South Carolina annually, so they plan ahead by accumulating credit card and loyalty points to cover their travel expenses.

Transportation: Points + $973.78

We’re strategic. I use a JetBlue card one month, a Marriott card the next, for example, to help rack up the points. So we used 26,000 points for one round-trip ticket, and paid $621.78 for the additional round-trip flights. Because we have the JetBlue card, we didn’t pay to check a bag or use wifi on the plane.

We parked in a lot near the airport, which cost $80 for the length of our stay, and took the bus to and from the airport from there, which was $36 total.

Once in Charleston, we used our family’s car. We rented a different vehicle for our three-day trip to Savannah, which is about two hours away, for $236 total.

Lodging: Points

We stayed with my in-laws in Charleston, and my husband and I did one overnight getaway to Kiawah Island, about an hour away from Charleston, which I booked for 35,000 Marriott points. It was a crazy deal because those rooms usually go for something like $400 per night.

We used 55,000 IHG points to book our two-night stay in Savannah.

Food and drink: $639

Our first meal was at the airport. We got there early to avoid construction traffic, but then ended up being there for around three and a half hours. So we got Shake Shack, which was $50 for four sandwiches, fries and drinks.

In Charleston, we spent about $80 on meals, which doesn’t include meals our in-laws paid for, groceries they bought and meals they cooked (they like to cook at home). On our overnight trip, we had one nice meal out and lunch (and some frosé on tap) from the hotel, for a total of $150.

Breakfast was included at both of the hotels we stayed at, so most of our meals out were in Savannah. We stopped on the way for some roadside peach cider (I had to try it!) and a few other snacks, for about $30, ate dinner out both nights ($83 and $75, respectively), had two lunches out ($60 and $55) and made one Burger King stop when the kids wouldn’t stop whining about being hungry ($33.) We also got ice cream on the first night; that cost $23 for four kiddie scoops.

Souvenirs: $45

My husband likes to get stickers for his water bottle; that’s his usual souvenir. We got a few of those, and he also got some comic books for $35. In Savannah, we went to Tybee Island, which has a marine science center where you can meet sea turtles, alligators and snakes. We got each of our two kids a tiny turtle souvenir there for $5 each, so $10 total.

Excursions: $325

In Charleston, we went to the Children’s Museum ($60 for four tickets) and took the kids to a trampoline park one day, which was $50 for admission and the socks we had to buy, along with $20 for the arcade. We also went to my in-laws' pool, the local playground and a splash pad for some free activities.

One extra thing we did without the kids was treat ourselves to massages. It was $320 for the two of us for a couple’s massage, and we applied our health insurance’s gym reimbursement to budget for it. We got $300 total, and used that to pay the bill.

In Savannah, we went to the Tybee Island Marine Center ($42 for all of us), and an art café called Henny Penny, where the kids could do art sessions with paint/decoration supplies ($65 including food, the art sessions, coffee and souvenir items). On our second night, we took them for late-night mini golf ($24) and go-karting ($64).

Miscellaneous: $81

I bought some Advil at the airport, which I remember specifically because I couldn’t believe it was $6. We also had to do a few Walmart and Dollar Tree runs for things we either forgot or were too bulky to pack, like a training potty for my daughter.

A multiweek, multicity whirlwind

Name: Emily

Occupation: Works in the tech industry

Vacation destination: Aruba, Cape Cod, Boston and Pittsburgh

Total number of travelers: Five (two adults, three children) in addition to multiple relatives who joined the trip

Length of trip: Three weeks

Total cost: $15,325.03

When Emily did the math on her big summer vacation with her big extended family, she was … a little perplexed. “If someone said to me, 'You’re gonna have a $15,000 trip,' I would say that’s so fancy and luxurious! This did not feel luxurious. All we got was three screaming kids in a new location."

Pre-travel expenses: $349

We bought a few things beforehand: a new suitcase for $209, a suitcase repair kit to fix a wheel on an existing suitcase for $12, some packing cubes for $30 and a few toys for the kids to bring for $98.

Transportation: $9,598.03

We flew from San Francisco to Pittsburgh, where my sister lives, then from Pittsburgh to Aruba, then Aruba to Boston and then from Boston back to San Francisco. For four people plus a lap infant, it was $5,700.90, plus some miles. We checked bags (and our baby car seat) on each flight for a total of $390, and paid $8 for wifi on the flight from San Francisco to Pittsburgh.

We were able to get picked up and dropped off at most of the airports, but we split parking for my sister to leave her car at the airport in Pittsburgh ($210), and rented minivans and two additional car seats in both Aruba and Boston/Cape Cod. In Aruba, we paid $1,815 for the rental and $37 for gas, and in Massachusetts, we paid $1,340.13 and $97 for gas.

Lodging: $2,131.63

We stayed for free with my parents in Pittsburgh and my in-laws in Boston. My In-laws also paid for our stay on Cape Cod.

In Aruba, our extended family stayed in the same complex in different condos. We split a three-bedroom with my sister and her family, which was $1,842.05. We also rented a crib there for $105, some additional baby rental gear from Babyquip for $177 and a $7.58 movie rental to keep six kids sane nightly.

Food and drink: $2,585.37

We bought some airport/airplane snacks and food at all of our destinations (($240.37), as well as groceries in Aruba and Cape Cod. We split the grocery costs, including wine, with my sister in Aruba, and did a date night in each location. We also did a fun cousins' night out, a few nights of takeout in Aruba and morning coffee.

On Cape Cod, it was lots of ice cream, a couple of fast food stops along the drive, pizza one night at the arcade and breakfast/coffee/doughnuts out a few times. The split was $854 for groceries and $1,491 for meals out.

Excursions: $607

I got a massage ($170) and my husband went golfing in Aruba ($160). We also went to the museum in Pittsburgh ($114), and to the carousel and arcade with all of my nieces and nephews on Cape Cod ($163).

Miscellaneous: $54

Our son started potty training in November and does great at home on his little potty. We thought that would translate to a big toilet, so we didn’t pack his potty (it’s also large). Then we got to Pittsburgh, and he panicked at the sight of the big toilet. Instead of having an accident or letting him somehow hold it for three weeks, my husband sprinted to Target to buy a small seat insert for $14 to hopefully make it more comfortable. It had Bluey on it, so that also served as motivation. We also paid $40 for an ED (Embarkation/Disembarkation) card, which was necessary to get into Aruba.