Least Expensive Disney Trip

[Potterholic85]

Good day, all. Let's talk numbers!

...well, maybe not numbers so much...

Think of your least expensive Disney World trip. How did you do it?

For my hypothetical shot-in-the-dark trip for next year for three adults, I have the price at about $850 a person, including food and souvenirs. My third biggest goal in my life right now is to get that number down.

 

[MattRyan]

2 people for 8 nights we had...

Lodging: $650
Tickets: $600
Airfare: $500
Food: $800

Not bad for two people...

 

[worm761]

Our last trip was a 4 day trip for a family of 4. 2 adults, 1 Disney adult, 1 under 3. I already had tickets so that helped a LOT. We spent right around $750 including room, gas, tolls, and all food and souvenirs.

Our next trip is looking to be around $1100 per person. I would love to get it down some more. Lodging is what is killing me for this trip. The kids cannot share a bed. DS will be 18 and DD will only be 4. So I need 3 beds and there aren't many options onsite for that.

 

[larryz]

Cheapest trip was a day trip from the Tampa area, well into our year on annual passes, so I figure it cost us about $25 each to get in plus about $150 for food and gas...

 

[4kids4karen]

Our last trip was a 4 day trip for a family of 4. 2 adults, 1 Disney adult, 1 under 3. I already had tickets so that helped a LOT. We spent right around $750 including room, gas, tolls, and all food and souvenirs.

Our next trip is looking to be around $1100 per person. I would love to get it down some more. Lodging is what is killing me for this trip. The kids cannot share a bed. DS will be 18 and DD will only be 4. So I need 3 beds and there aren't many options onsite for that.

Put mom and DD in a bed. Then dad and DS in a bed. I know it's personal preference but I have no issue putting my kids in the same bed even opposite gender. My second DS has gotten into the habit of not wanting to share a bed with anyone so he gets the couch/chair (if there is one) or floor (even without an air mattress). His choice! Sleep in a bed with your brother or the floor! If he chooses the floor so be it.

 

[MattRyan]

Our last trip was a 4 day trip for a family of 4. 2 adults, 1 Disney adult, 1 under 3. I already had tickets so that helped a LOT. We spent right around $750 including room, gas, tolls, and all food and souvenirs.

Our next trip is looking to be around $1100 per person. I would love to get it down some more. Lodging is what is killing me for this trip. The kids cannot share a bed. DS will be 18 and DD will only be 4. So I need 3 beds and there aren't many options onsite for that.

Is that $750 figure per person???

 

[4kids4karen]

2 people for 8 nights we had...

Lodging: $650
Tickets: $600
Airfare: $500
Food: $800

Not bad for two people...

$800 for food can be cut dramatically. My DH use to get frustrated when we ate out as most people in my family (even the oldest boy) never finished our food. At Disney we can't take a too go box either. So what we do is split plates. Disney gives way too much food. We know who has similar taste in food so they sit next to each other and share a plate. We just ask for extra plates to split it.

We went to Bush Gardens last week and DH didn't listen to me and ordered DS his own fries. We spent $41 on lunch for four which included one refillable souvenir cup. DD wanted mac and cheese which was extra. DH and I split the sample BBQ platter. The kids each got something different. We ended up throwing out half the fries. Of course DH said he should have listened. The mac and cheese I ended up splitting. I think the extra fries and mac and cheese added about $8 more to the meal.

 

[4kids4karen]

Is that $750 figure per person???

I think they did intend it to be $750 per person since now they need an extra bed increasing lodging and the price going up to $1100 per person.

 

[eisforpants]

I vacationed for 16 days, 10 days being disney for a total of $2200 for all 3 of us. That's about $46 dollars a person per day.

I try to keep all my vacations under $50 dollars a day per person.

 

[Fivemuggles]

We went 4 years ago, booked 3 rooms w our extended family at pop w free dining. For our 2 adults and 3 kids (none over the adult age limit) we paid around 1800.

Pop overbooked so we all got upgraded to a Deluxe for free- SSR! This was also before values had only CS meal plan, so we stayed in a deluxe w free dining for 7 nights and 7 days at the parks.

We are going back this fall for 8 nights and 7 park days for 3,500. Quite a difference!

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

Good day, all. Let's talk numbers!

...well, maybe not numbers so much...

Think of your least expensive Disney World trip. How did you do it?

For my hypothetical shot-in-the-dark trip for next year for three adults, I have the price at about $850 a person, including food and souvenirs. My third biggest goal in my life right now is to get that number down.

In your hypothetical shot in the dark what resort were you thinking and how long were you planning to stay? Do you need to account for flight as well?

Our least expensive trip was flying on a Friday morning, staying at value and leaving Monday evening all during value season. We only have time to hit our most favorite attractions and restaurants but it is a nice way to fit in a Disney trip on a small budget. We also get the hopper so we can see all 4 parks over our two and two half days.

 

[MattRyan]

$800 for food can be cut dramatically. My DH use to get frustrated when we ate out as most people in my family (even the oldest boy) never finished our food. At Disney we can't take a too go box either. So what we do is split plates. Disney gives way too much food. We know who has similar taste in food so they sit next to each other and share a plate. We just ask for extra plates to split it.

We went to Bush Gardens last week and DH didn't listen to me and ordered DS his own fries. We spent $41 on lunch for four which included one refillable souvenir cup. DD wanted mac and cheese which was extra. DH and I split the sample BBQ platter. The kids each got something different. We ended up throwing out half the fries. Of course DH said he should have listened. The mac and cheese I ended up splitting. I think the extra fries and mac and cheese added about $8 more to the meal.

It could of been cut but we enjoyed eating at a lot of TS during our days! Although, it did go overboard compared to what we normally we do.

We had Ohana, Sanaa, SciFi x2, Chefs de France, BOG (lunch and dinnner), and more.

 

[DisneyLandMan]

This trip in 18 days is probably gonna be my cheapest per person. Flights were 175 per person, i gave a friend of mine $300 bucks to use his timeshare that he was gonna lose anyway, and i booked a rental minivan for $200 even. Add the 400 for park tix per person for Disney and Universal and food and it will be about $700 per person for 7 people. Not too shabby.

 

[Stinky_Pete]

Not sure I get the point of the question.

Are you looking for ways to save on your Disney vacation? If so, I'd need to know what your current plans are.

Or are you just trying to "benchmark" your own costs against others? I don't see where that would get you. People can spends thousands and thousands on their WDW vacation, depending on where they stay and what they do. Have you priced a trip at the Poly and one of those Illuminations cruises? YIKES!

This coming trip I used frequent flyer miles for the flight, am using ME instead of renting a car, and staying at ASMo with a room discount. I plan to purchase gift cards at Target using my Red Card and Pharmacy discount to pay for the trip. But I expect to drop serious coin at the F&W festival. So I don't have the exact amount yet.

 

[Potterholic85]

In your hypothetical shot in the dark what resort were you thinking and how long were you planning to stay? Do you need to account for flight as well?

Our least expensive trip was flying on a Friday morning, staying at value and leaving Monday evening all during value season. We only have time to hit our most favorite attractions and restaurants but it is a nice way to fit in a Disney trip on a small budget. We also get the hopper so we can see all 4 parks over our two and two half days.

Here's what I have so far for a 4 day/5 night vacay in November/December:

Resort -- Staying in a Pop Century standard room: $597 (booking through Expedia)
Park Tickets -- 4-day Base Tickets: $872.85 (buying through Undercover Tourist)
Rental Car -- $202.07 (through Budget, none of our cars are "drive to Florida" safe)
Gas -- $280.00 (driving from Ohio, if gas is $4 a gallon by that time, and we have a full size sedan)
Food and Souvenirs -- $200.00 a person (if we drive, we can pack a lot of our own food, but I still want to eat at Crystal Palace and Sci-Fi Drive-In)

So about $850 a person.

I'm just trying to see if anyone has any good ideas as to how to cut the price anymore through their own experience. Because I honestly can not find a way.

 

[angierae]

I would have no problem putting 18 y/o and 4 y/o opposite gendered kids in a bed. Then again, I am pretty laid back about "opposite gendered" stuff in general. I'd share a bed with a friend of the opposite gender and not worry about anything untoward happening.

 

[catra121]

I went in September 2010...just me and my mom. Our total for the Disney trip was $1500 for room, tickets, and dining.

We stayed at Pop with free dining and upgraded the dining to deluxe dining plan. Our stay was 5 nights/6 days with park hopper tickets. We arrived early on the first day and flew out late the last day to take advantage of as much park time as possible.

I charged tips and any purchases back to the room so I could keep track of spending. I full expected to spend about $500 or so...but ended up only charging $200 back to the room with all those things. We ate 2 meals a day...all table service.

Only other purchase was we prepaid for the photopass CD so that was another $100.

Our flights were paid for with airline miles...so that was no OOP cost for us.

All told...for everything including the photopass CD...we paid $1800 for two people.

 

[aanderson5]

We are trying to go cheap this year. It will be me, my Mom, DS(7) and DD (2). We are staying at a value with a 20% off pin. Got 2 of our tickets 'free' with airmiles and bought the 3rd from UT. Plan on bringing snacks/breakfast and limiting our food budget to under $60/day. We also got a pretty good deal for airfare (around $1100 for the 4 of us).

We are actually looking forward to not being on the dining plan and having no TS meals. On our last trip we seemed to waste a lot of time waiting for ADR's. It didn't help that the weather was bad and we were traveling with friends who were not on the same schedule as us. We spent more time waiting than doing.

 

[tinkerbellybutton]

Our least expensive trip was the first time we took our kids. We shared an offsite condo with 2 other families. The condo was only $400 for the week, so our share was just $135. Both our kids were 2 and under so they didn't need tickets. I think our 5 day hoppers back then we're around $200 each. We brought around $500 in spending money.

So for a 7 night trip we spent a total of a little over $1000 for a family of 4!


I think our "most bang for the buck" trip was back in 2007. We did 8 nights at CSR. We were 2 adults and 2 kids, 5 day hoppers, and the original dining plan. That's when the dining plan included appetizer, entree, and dessert, and the tips were included back then. Our total was just $2400! Not bad for 8 nights, onsite at a moderate resort, plus tickets and food for a family of 4! I'd give anything for those kinda prices again.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

I assume you are thinking 2014 trip? Remember Sunday - Thursday in early November & December is likely going to be your cheapest time for the room rates so adjusting the stay to match those dates might save you $20 a night. Stay away from higher rates near Thanksgiving and Christmas. Also, you might find the ticket and room stay booked through Disney is cheaper and gets you the extra coupon goodies. Not sure I see many other ways to save on gas, rental car etc.

Keep your eye out for pin codes you might receive and offers for discounted room stays etc. If Disney comes out with a free dining offer next year then you could add an extra night but get the free dining included. Just some ideas.