First Family Vacation on TIGHT budget

[my3pauls]

We are considering a family vacation for the very first time, and like everyone else are on a VERY tight budget.

I recently received a PIN from Disney offering the "Free Disney Dining Plan" when I book a 4 night/5 day vacation package at a Value Resort including accommodations and Theme Park Tickets

The price for a family of 4 (2 adults, one jr, one child) is $1,284, if between 8/23-10/1 or 11/29-12/17. It's only $104 more if between 10/2-11/24. Sounds incredible, right?

My concern is this - I have two other adult age children (22 and 20) that we want to bring along. Does anyone know if I can request this package and add two more adults to it, or will I need to reserve a second room for them? Also, does anyone know if it's more cost effective to book the same exact package for that 2nd room even though it's only two more people, or will they offer a less expensive but comparable price for the 2nd room since I'm booking two rooms rather than one. Furthermore, my goal is to limit our amount to $2,000 if at all possible. We are in Ohio, and plan to drive to save $$. We originally considered staying elsewhere near the coast, and spending a day or two at Disney. However, when you consider the cost of tickets alone, I'd spend almost $1,000 for a 2-day pass for the family - not to mention food. Then, there is the cost of hotel, daily food, etc....This makes much more sense.

Can anyone out there PLEASE advise a newbie here? Thanks!

 

[duffy]

First, the package that says 2 adults, a junior and a child: is that what your group is? If so, and you want to add 2 more adults, then yes, you'd have to get another room IF you stay at the values. They don't sleep more than FOUR people.

Consider the All Star Family Suites at the All Star Music resort. These are basically 2rooms, connecting, with a queen-I think-bed in one room, and furniture that easily folds out to sleep another 4 people in the other room. There will be 2 bathrooms and a mini-kitchen too. These suites can be hard to book, however.

DisneyWorld consist of 4 major parks. Our family can easily spend 2 days in Epcot alone, another 2 day in the Magic Kingdom, and one each at the Studios and at Animal Kingdom. You will certainly want to spend more than "a day or two" total at DisneyWorld. If you look at ticket prices, you'll see that adding days means a lower cost PER DAY when you buy more days.

For example, (without looking it up) take the price for a 6-day ticket, and compare it to a 7-day ticket. You'll see that adding the extra day only adds a few dollars to the cost. I'd never buy just a 2-day ticket. Even if I only HAD two days to go, I'd buy a much longer one, and add the non-expiration option, so that I could go the 2 days, and save the other days for a later trip.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Also the scenario they provide is really just more of an example pricing for an average family. You can stay as little as three nights, or up to 14. You can have whatever mix of people you want to pay for.
But as pp stated it will depend on how many are exactly in your party and their ages.
Your best bet is to call Disney and see what works for you. There are a lot of package options. And the free dine is a WDTC package.
Good luck. You found a great web site to help.

 

[Mommytobree]

At a value you'll have to book 2 rooms to add more people on. So, value season, that would be an extra $82 + tax a night, plus the cost of the tickets for each adult. I doubt it can stay under $2000.00. For 6 nights for my family @ a value during free during value season (I have to book 2 rooms as well) 3 adults (13 y.o considered adult) and 4 kids it is $2800.00

 

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

We are considering a family vacation for the very first time, and like everyone else are on a VERY tight budget.

I recently received a PIN from Disney offering the "Free Disney Dining Plan" when I book a 4 night/5 day vacation package at a Value Resort including accommodations and Theme Park Tickets

The price for a family of 4 (2 adults, one jr, one child) is $1,284, if between 8/23-10/1 or 11/29-12/17. It's only $104 more if between 10/2-11/24. Sounds incredible, right?

My concern is this - I have two other adult age children (22 and 20) that we want to bring along. Does anyone know if I can request this package and add two more adults to it, or will I need to reserve a second room for them? Also, does anyone know if it's more cost effective to book the same exact package for that 2nd room even though it's only two more people, or will they offer a less expensive but comparable price for the 2nd room since I'm booking two rooms rather than one. Furthermore, my goal is to limit our amount to $2,000 if at all possible. We are in Ohio, and plan to drive to save $$. We originally considered staying elsewhere near the coast, and spending a day or two at Disney. However, when you consider the cost of tickets alone, I'd spend almost $1,000 for a 2-day pass for the family - not to mention food. Then, there is the cost of hotel, daily food, etc....This makes much more sense.

Can anyone out there PLEASE advise a newbie here? Thanks!

Yeah, IF you have 6 people, you'll need two rooms or the suite at AllStar Movies. I think it's actually a lttle cheaper to get the two rooms vs. the suite, and you'll get an extra bed, but you'll lose the kitchen and fridge. I think your best bet is to just call Disney and price it out! Best of luck! Let us know how it all works out.

 

[Disneydreamer5]

Hey I just wanted to try to help you out here.
I have 7 in my family and the best way to save money would be to get 2 rooms at a value resort and when you make your reservation you tell them you have 4 adults and 2 children and then they will connect the 2 reservations for you.
The other thing that I wanted to let you know is that although the dinning plan is offered as "free" you will need to still pay for your tipping out of pocket so please keep that in mind when you are booking your Dinning.
For a fast example say you decide you want to have dinner at Chef Mickeys which is a base buffet price the cost I believe is somewhere around @26.99 per person and I want to say $18.99 for children under 10.( I could be a little off with this so you will need to go to the menu section on this board to double check my price quotes)
For 4 adults and 2 children your cost of dinner would be around $150.00. Then because you are a party of 6 they add an 18% graduity to that which you will have to pay out of pocket. which would be $27.00. Which is great but something I wanted to make certain you are aware of.
So its somothing to look at when you are picking which table service resturants you want to eat at. We have reservations at Narcossee's for my DD12th birthday and that is going to run around $450 which mean we will be tipping somewhere in the range of $77 dollars.
The other way to save alittle money is to opp for a base ticket rather then hoppers. There is a lot to see and do in Disney and although the hoppers are great, if you are on a budget I would say to go without them this time around.
You can come and go from one park per day as many times as you want with the base ticket and if you find you need the hoppers later on they can be added at anytime during your stay as well as the water park.
Hope this helps you a little and try not to over think it all to much. You are going to have an amazing time whatever you do.
Pixie dust to you & your family and Welcome

 

[my3pauls]

Thanks for all of the great information.

I have found that, so far, my best bet is booking 2 rooms in a Value Resort. I have received a pin by email for a 5 day/4 night stay with 5 day park passes, and the Disney Dining Plan (not the Quick-Service offered in other Value Resort packages).

I was offered a price of $1280 for the first room with the standard 4 people (2 adults, one jr, one child), and $840 for the 2nd room (2 adult children ages 22, 20) - and, my 1st choice (Pop Century) is for this offer. When I tried to price it myself, I could only get All-Star Movie. So, for about $2100, 4 adults and 2 kids will get the 5day/4night, 5 day park passes for each person, and the Disney Dining Plan for $2,100 - total.

I'm also told it's being held on a courtesy reservation until August 3rd at this rate.

Now, I'm wondering....I'm seeing a lot of people stating that they called today and asked about fee upgrades (I know their PIN was for an upgrade, not the pkg one that I received). Is it possible that if I call WDW directly to book this pkg that I may receive something even better just by asking for it, if it's available? It looks like they're trying to fill the rooms they weren't initially offering at the promotional price that aren't taken.

Any thoughts?

Thanks again, everyone!!!

 

[jessaboo]

My mom just likes to be on here for the dancing pictures...

 

[my3pauls]

Don't pick on me! Where do you think you get it from, huh?

 

[cydswipe]

A while back, someone had posted an Air Tran $25 coupon. People were booking one way flights using the coupon and then booked return flights with the coupon... I had already booked, but it would have saved us $200

I believe it is for travel through December...

Hth

 

[my3pauls]

My mom just likes to be on here for the dancing pictures...

Don't pick on me, daughter. You get your personality honestly, at least!
- You make kitty cry, Jess!

 

[brighteyes]

Thanks for all of the great information.

I have found that, so far, my best bet is booking 2 rooms in a Value Resort. I have received a pin by email for a 5 day/4 night stay with 5 day park passes, and the Disney Dining Plan (not the Quick-Service offered in other Value Resort packages).

I was offered a price of $1280 for the first room with the standard 4 people (2 adults, one jr, one child), and $840 for the 2nd room (2 adult children ages 22, 20) - and, my 1st choice (Pop Century) is for this offer. When I tried to price it myself, I could only get All-Star Movie. So, for about $2100, 4 adults and 2 kids will get the 5day/4night, 5 day park passes for each person, and the Disney Dining Plan for $2,100 - total.

I'm also told it's being held on a courtesy reservation until August 3rd at this rate.

Now, I'm wondering....I'm seeing a lot of people stating that they called today and asked about fee upgrades (I know their PIN was for an upgrade, not the pkg one that I received). Is it possible that if I call WDW directly to book this pkg that I may receive something even better just by asking for it, if it's available? It looks like they're trying to fill the rooms they weren't initially offering at the promotional price that aren't taken.

Any thoughts?

Thanks again, everyone!!!

You can always call and ask if you have any pins associated with your name, some CMs will look it up for you, some won't. It's the luck of the draw. Go ahead and call, I say. Good luck to you, but if you dont' have an upgrade pin, at least you will still have a wonderful stay at POP!!

Stephanie

 

[Minder]

Check out the Free Dining PIN FAQ located in my signature below.

It answers your questions.

 

[marcielm]

Most of the people that have been getting the upgrades have been for 1 bdrm villas or studios. I'm not sure you can sleep 6 in them, and if you did get the upgrade you would get 2 rooms upgraded if you have 2 rooms booked. If you can swing the $2100 I say book the trip.

When you call Disney, they can't "offer" you something better without you having a code to inquire about. I learned this booking my trip last year. I needed a family suite, because we couldn't do the 2 rooms with all the kids being so little. My PIN didn't have any available, so I asked about any other specials that might save me money. I even told the CM that if he could get the trip under $2800 I'd book it right there. Well, he couldn't do anything other than offer me rack rate prices & rooms with my pin... which were always 2 rooms somewhere, or a deluxe that was waaaay out of my price range.

$2100 is a great deal. Book it if you haven't already! Like another poster mentioned, be sure and calculate how much your tips are going to be, so you won't have sticker shock when you get there. You can go to allears.net and see the different resturaunts. They also have the general pricing there, so you can get a rough estimate. We planned about $20 per ts meal for tips (but we only had 2 adults & 2 kids actually eating... the girls were 'free' because they were under age 3).

Thanks for all of the great information.

I have found that, so far, my best bet is booking 2 rooms in a Value Resort. I have received a pin by email for a 5 day/4 night stay with 5 day park passes, and the Disney Dining Plan (not the Quick-Service offered in other Value Resort packages).

I was offered a price of $1280 for the first room with the standard 4 people (2 adults, one jr, one child), and $840 for the 2nd room (2 adult children ages 22, 20) - and, my 1st choice (Pop Century) is for this offer. When I tried to price it myself, I could only get All-Star Movie. So, for about $2100, 4 adults and 2 kids will get the 5day/4night, 5 day park passes for each person, and the Disney Dining Plan for $2,100 - total.

I'm also told it's being held on a courtesy reservation until August 3rd at this rate.

Now, I'm wondering....I'm seeing a lot of people stating that they called today and asked about fee upgrades (I know their PIN was for an upgrade, not the pkg one that I received). Is it possible that if I call WDW directly to book this pkg that I may receive something even better just by asking for it, if it's available? It looks like they're trying to fill the rooms they weren't initially offering at the promotional price that aren't taken.

Any thoughts?

Thanks again, everyone!!!