Just Back - great time, low expenses!!

[frost5000]

I just got back yesterday - had a great time! Without this board(and Mary at Mousesavers!), I wouldn't of been able to do half as much, and would of spent so much more!! Thank you to everyone who helped me plan along the way. Here's the final expense rundown for me and ds9 & ds11 (my sister went also but paid her own way):
Hotel - All Star Sports - $49 a night - total 6 nights $329 (my sister paid $129 so my cost $200)
Airfare - RT Philly to Orlando $135 pp ($405 total - my mother paid for us as an early Christmas gift (yippee) so no cost for me)
Main Park Tickets - $380 (3 day bounce back tickets 2 adults & 1 child, we had 1 hopper day left from several years ago - so 4 park days total)
Disney quest - $75 (aprox.) - used DC discount
Water park (free, we also had one "plus" option left on our old tickets)
Transportation to and from Orlando airport - $6.60 rt (took Orlando bus $1.10 pp each way - leave extra time, it kinda sucks, so keep saying "I'm saving sooo much money doing this"... over and over in your head...)
Maid - $4.00 a night/ 6 nights - $24.00 (sister paid for last night - my cost $20.00)
Spending money - $380 (for myself and children - I actually brought $100 more and didn't spend it - how great is that!!) - all food (we ate breakfast in the room, and brought snacks to the parks, we only ate counter service (we are from NYC and have lots of nice eating choices at home)/ drinks (we drank at the hotel bar every night (20%+ tips included) - this is a vacation after all!)/refillable mugs/passport books for Epcot/2 stuffed animals/ pressed pennies/ pressed penny book/small souvineers for people at home.

Total cost for me and kids - $1,060.60
with airfare - $1,465.60
I'll post a trip report soon !! Any questions, I'll be glad to answer! Thanks again to this board and Mousesavers Mary!!:D

[flyingcircus]

OK!!! Way to go!!! You're da WO MAN!!:D

[Robinrs]

You are definitely a Budget Queen! I can definitely relate to the restaurant thing, I work in radio and we get free meals at all of the best restaurants here so we don't need to splurge on food when we vacation.

You used LYNX to get from the airport to Disney? I didn't know that was an option. Could you elaborate?

[frost5000]

Lynx bus service runs directly from the airport - there were lots of signs in the airport so we found the stop very easily. You take bus #11 (it costs $1.10, and you need to ask for a transfer) to the city bus stop (you won't miss the stop - all busses stop here - it's kinda yucky, but very well marked so you can find your transfer bus without a problem) and transfer to bus #50. We found that the busses didn't seem to run on schedule, at least for the 2 times we rode. The actual bus schedules don't coincide very well (20 min. delay between transfers), but because the busses didn't seem to follow the schedules much we didn't have to wait more than about 5 min. to transfer. The busses run every 1/2 hour from both the airport and Disney. They drop you off/pick you up at the Ticket and Transportation Center in Disney. We had 2 carryon bags each, and wouldn't recommend taking the bus with any more. It saved us well over $50, and made Disney seem so much sweeter when we got there. If you are used to public transportation, I'd say go for it. If you've never taken a city bus before, or if Disney transportation is a problem for you I'd recommend finding another way. It worked out just fine for us. Hope this helps!

[leslieh]

hey could you please explain to me how the bus works from the airport to Disney. Ive called and tried to figure it out on my own. So when we just need to get one person to Disney instead of getting a rental car, etc. Please email me at lescas@hotmail.com with directions. Thanks ahead of time. When i called the bus service there was no buses to the disney/village area but that has been a few years ago.

[leslieh]

Sorry, i didnt read further down the posts. Thanks for the info. She what I get for jumping ahead of time. Thanks. Leslie H.

[Beanie]

Wow...great budgeting!! Way to go! :)

[EpcotBill]

frost5000,
I'm curious. Your rate at ASSp sounds like an AP rate. If it was, did you have an AP? Did they ask to see your AP when you checked in? Maybe this was some other $49.00 rate that I missed.

[KarenT]

....how long did it take you to get from the airport to TTC then to the AS?




KarenT

[frost5000]

Sorry I haven't been online much - been working a lot! 1. For the hotel - I got a code rate from Mary's site (Mousesavers), it was not an ap rate, and I didn't have to show proof of anything when I arrived. In fact I prepaid in full when the 1 night was due, making check in and out very nice experiences!!
2. The bus from the airport - It's hard for me to gauge, as our bus was in an accident on the way there (another story entirely, but not the busses fault and more of a freak thing, no one was hurt, but it took up some time). I left about 1 1/2 hours to make all connections and it worked out fine. Since we were arriving early (9 am flight arrival) we arrived at our hotel about 11:30 am with the accident time included. Going back the whole process took a little over an hour, but I'd recommend leaving the extra 1/2 hour just in case.
Also one last budget note - I paid for everything in shifts ( airfare was supposed to be April, but my wonderful mother gave the airfare to me for Christmas, tickets in May, hotel in June, souvie money in July, food money in August, last min. expenses in Sept (tips, bus fare, extra just-in-case money)., and used only cash (I got all ticket money in travelers checks so I wouldn't get it mixed in with souvie or food money). I used envelopes to put each days money in, so I would be less likely to over spend. I put any left over money at the end of the day in another envelope - I brought this back with me - at the end of the trip I had $100 left and no Disney bills!!
Hope this helps!!
Nicole

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

WOW Way to go Nicole

[Poohbear123]

LESLIEH: Try this Link: www.golynx.com

[frost5000]

Leslieh and all others interested in Lynx - I was just told that bus #51 also stops at the airport (we saw it there, but didn't want to risk winding up somewhere in Orlando without a car...) and the bus station. You can take it instead of bus #11, and it works out better with bus #50's transfer schedule.

[chatty]

Boy; we should all rent your services out!! Your A-O-K-O!!!!!!!
Chatty

[frost5000]

You know what the best part is?? We didn't feel like we skimped at all. We saw everything we wanted to. This had to be one of the best (if not the best) trip I've taken! Just 6 months ago I was explaining to my children that I couldn't afford to take them (they really wanted to go, but we make so little money it seemed impossible). After finding this board and Mary's mousesaver site I was able to put together the trip (everything included) for less than 1/2 of what I was quoted for hotel/air/tickets alone. AMAZING!!

[mousemahoney]

Do you remember if the refillable mugs include milk for the children? We are leaving Wed and I am trying to plan what food to bring (we are driving- I'm trying to decide whether to bring milk or not since I have 4 kids ages 6 and under) I'm trying to save money anyway I can!! Thanks so much!!

[DiznEeyore]

I can answer that one. Unfortunately, the refillable mugs don't include milk. Wish they did!

[frost5000]

the refillable mugs included - soda, some sort of gatorade-type sports drink(included in the soda fountains), iced tea (again, in the soda fountains), hot tea(decaf/regular),coffee, and hot chocolate. I rarely ever buy soda at home (if someone's sick and needs liquids and special occations only) so my children loved the fact that I let them have as much as they wanted there. There was cream (non-dairy liquid) and sugar available for the coffee and tea. there was a toaster, microwave, and toaster oven available also. Pizza is your best food court deal - a large cheese pizza (fed all 4 of us) cost $15.00(with tax).

[dutton]

Frost500--Glad to see your budget w/food. My family and my sister and her family are going and December and we just decided to cut way back on sit down restaraunts and stick to counter svc, hotel and snacks that we bring. We thought it was just too much. I'm glad to see how you did it! Thanks!

[Cloudkicker]

It is reasuring that WDW can be done on a budget. Are there any grocery stores in/out of the park to decrease reliance on food courts for at least breakfast and lunches. Did the All Star room have any kitchen accessories; microwave, small frige, etc. Thanks for the great leads! :bounce:

[DiznEeyore]

Cloudkicker:

There are a couple grocery stores not too far from WDW. If you go to Downtown Disney, instead of turning left into the Marketplace, go a little further and hang a right onto Hotel Plaza Blvd. Follow it til it ends at Apopka-Vineland. Goodings is located right across the street in the Crossroads Shopping Plaza. Never been there, but I understand their prices are quite high.

A little further away is Publix, which reportedly has better prices. Go out the same way, turn right onto Apopka-Vineland, and Publix will be about 3-4 miles down the road on the left-hand side of the street.

Also, the Allstars don't have a fridge in the room, unless you want to pay $11/day. But you could take a collapsible cooler and fill it with ice to keep a few things cold. And the food court does have a microwave you can use.

Hope this helps! :)

[frost5000]

We tried the collapseable cooler idea . We brought bagels and creamcheese for breakfast and used the toaster in the food court. It kept the food cool, not cold and everything was floating by the end of the day. We fared better with dry goods stored in one of the dresser drawers. We brought - power bars (after day 2 we threw out the remaining bagels/ creamcheese), poptarts, dried apricots, apples, goldfish crackers, individual lunch box snack packs, carrot sticks, and juice boxes. I also brought ziplock bags, and packed individual snack packs for each day. The gift shop sold doughnuts and breakfast pastry as well as breakfast bars for standard retail prices (box of doughnuts - $3.49) which is much cheaper than the food court. We ate breakfast in the room, then ate the snack packs in the park, we bought a late counter lunch (around 2 or 3 in the afternoon) and bought an evening snack or if we were really hungry we bought a pizza when we returned to the All Stars. We enjoyed eating the snacks out of the backpack while in line. Our backpack was checked by security before entering each park, and they always allowed the food.

[mousemahoney]

Thank you so much for the food ideas- I am going to walmart tomorrow and was trying to think of non-perishables that weren't too 'junky' for the kids (and us) to eat.


51 hours and counting.....:bounce:

[jencap]

I am a budget queen as well - my husband and I will be in Disney 12/9-15. I have an off site hotel booked (Ramada Plaza - looks really nice) - because its giving us a free full breakfast buffet every a.m $59/night. I just saw - on this website somewhere - that Disney is offering the All Star Resorts for $59/night. But then we have to EAT in WDW and this adds up.... also, we want to do a day or 2 in Universal so will we feel "trapped" if we stay IN Disney??

[DiznEeyore]

jencap:

If you have your own (or rental) car, I don't think you'd feel trapped by staying onsite. On our first trip, we stayed at the All Star Music and spent time outside WDW (Sea World, shopping, etc.).

Under normal circumstances I'd say go for the onsite hotel, but now that benefits such as Early Entry are gone, then I'd definitely consider an offsite hotel, esp. one that offers breakfast. But remember that you will have to add travel time and daily parking fees if you stay offsite.

I guess what I'm saying is that ultimately, only you know what will work out best for your family. Let us know what you decide!

[frost5000]

Jencap - we stayed offsite last time we went. We didn't find any more magic at the all stars. It allowed us to go without a rental car, so we saved money, but we only did Disney. You might want to consider one of the downtown disney hotels, they seem to be offering very good specials right now, but I'm not sure if they offer breakfast. It sounds like you have a pretty good deal going right now, so be sure to add in the cost of breakfast to other rates.