Need to save as much as I can!

[mommy2_3]

We are planning on going back in May. Well im in charge of getting the tickets and hotel room. I want to try and save as much as I can. would it be better to stay off site? i need a room for 2 adults and 5 kids. ages 1-8. we stayed onsite last year and loved it! so did my kids! we stayed at ***. we loved how we were pretty close to the parks, the swimming and a movie under the stars, the unlimited free drinks with the purchase of a mug, and then when we accidently left my baby boys favorite blanket there in the room along with another blanket, they had found it and shipped it back to us with a nice little note. it was just a great experience all along. so im really wanting to stay on site again. but im also wanting to save as much as i can. if i can get a hotel and tickets (5 day no hopper tickets) for about $2000 or less that would be awesome! last time we ate breakfast in the hotel except for the first morning there. DH surprised us with breakfast in the food court. then we always had lunch in the park. we ate dinner in the park twice, but otherwise we ate at places outside the park, like taco bell, mcdonalds, ect... we also brought a little bag filled with snacks for the kids and we each had our own water bottle that we would fill and use those little packets of iced tea, lemonaid, fruit punch, ect.... to flavor it. i plan on doing all that again.

 

[Malibustyle23]

We are planning on going back in May. Well im in charge of getting the tickets and hotel room. I want to try and save as much as I can. would it be better to stay off site? i need a room for 2 adults and 5 kids. ages 1-8. we stayed onsite last year and loved it! so did my kids! we stayed at ***. we loved how we were pretty close to the parks, the swimming and a movie under the stars, the unlimited free drinks with the purchase of a mug, and then when we accidently left my baby boys favorite blanket there in the room along with another blanket, they had found it and shipped it back to us with a nice little note. it was just a great experience all along. so im really wanting to stay on site again. but im also wanting to save as much as i can. if i can get a hotel and tickets (5 day no hopper tickets) for about $2000 or less that would be awesome! last time we ate breakfast in the hotel except for the first morning there. DH surprised us with breakfast in the food court. then we always had lunch in the park. we ate dinner in the park twice, but otherwise we ate at places outside the park, like taco bell, mcdonalds, ect... we also brought a little bag filled with snacks for the kids and we each had our own water bottle that we would fill and use those little packets of iced tea, lemonaid, fruit punch, ect.... to flavor it. i plan on doing all that again.

Can't abbreviate All Star Sports that way Are you children's ages correct in your signature? I don't think it will be possible to do a vacation with everyone for that cheap. 5 day base tickets for 2 adults and only 4 children through WDW are $1857.36 while you can get them cheaper elsewhere that won't leave you much room for lodging.

 

[MOpGrad2013]

We stayed offsite recently. Putting in dates for a mid-May week would cost about $950 + the parking fee at Disney ($17 each day) = $1035.

I am thinking a family suite at the values would run $350-400 per night.

 

[mommy2_3]

Can't abbreviate All Star Sports that way Are you children's ages correct in your signature? I don't think it will be possible to do a vacation with everyone for that cheap. 5 day base tickets for 2 adults and only 4 children through WDW are $1857.36 while you can get them cheaper elsewhere that won't leave you much room for lodging.

lol i know that always looks bad! last year we did 2 reg. rooms that connected. but we also had an extra adult. i think we may do that this yr to. i take one room with a few kids and dh takes the other with a few. it worked well last time.

 

[powellrj]

As long as you have a car, off-site would be a real budget saver for your family. You can rent a condo for less than the price of 2 value rooms, plus you would have a full kitchen and laundry.

 

[crisi]

The kitchen can really save money. When you don't even swing by Taco Bell but instead use a $1 box of pasta and a $2 jar of sauce, or have taco night, or with the ages your kids are - kraft mac n cheese and chicken nugget night....

We had my girl scout troop in Hilton Head and they went grocery shopping and cooked - and managed to spend $70 on groceries for the week.

 

[lizerbug]

I live in the Seattle area and got a Groupon e-mail yesterday for the Wyndam at Downtown Disney for $64 a day (I think) for a standard room. There were other options if that one doesn't meet your needs. Right across the street from Downtown Disney and they have their own park shuttles. If you searched the Groupon site, you could probably find the offer. Great lodging prices in a great area.

 

[mommy2_3]

The kitchen can really save money. When you don't even swing by Taco Bell but instead use a $1 box of pasta and a $2 jar of sauce, or have taco night, or with the ages your kids are - kraft mac n cheese and chicken nugget night....

We had my girl scout troop in Hilton Head and they went grocery shopping and cooked - and managed to spend $70 on groceries for the week.

yes i have been looking at Dream Villas of Orlando. i priced it and for a 3 bedroom its going to be under $800 for 7 nights. and it comes with a high chair and a pack n play. i am really leaning towards this. we can eat breakfast and dinner here. and lunch in the parks.

 

[ShariVT]

check out the bonnet creek thread on the orlando board. Almost like being on property.

 

[mrsabbott]

I often price out the cost of staying on site, but in the end, I can never justify the cost. We stayed off site and, as long as you have transportation, it is a great way to get more bang for your buck. I loved having the space, the washer and dryer were a life saver, and our resort had plenty of pools, a splash park, playground, and beach area to keep the kids happy on the non park days.
When trying to plan a budget vacation you have to go cheap where you can. I mean, tickets are going to cost what they cost. You might get a small discount somewhere, but in the end, you can't cut too many corners there. But there are tons of lodging options out there! Check out VRBO. I have found some good deals there.

 

[vleeth]

We stayed in a 4 bedroom condo at Emerald Island for under $100 a night. It was great. It's really close to the back way onto Disney property.

My youngest was almost 2 at the time. We ate breakfast in the condo (there is a Winn-Dixie close by) and went to the park for rope drop. We'd bring snacks with us and around 2:00 we would drive back to the condo and have a late lunch. My dd would nap and we would feed her in her stroller when we got back. Then we would have supper at the park and since it was the off season, we would stay until the park closed.

We had frozen lasagna one night and we also cooked, froze and packed meals from home.

The place we stayed at also had a high chair, pack n play and a stroller.

 

[ExpeditionEverest]

We are planning on going back in May. Well im in charge of getting the tickets and hotel room. I want to try and save as much as I can. would it be better to stay off site? i need a room for 2 adults and 5 kids. ages 1-8. we stayed onsite last year and loved it! so did my kids! we stayed at ***. we loved how we were pretty close to the parks, the swimming and a movie under the stars, the unlimited free drinks with the purchase of a mug, and then when we accidently left my baby boys favorite blanket there in the room along with another blanket, they had found it and shipped it back to us with a nice little note. it was just a great experience all along. so im really wanting to stay on site again. but im also wanting to save as much as i can. if i can get a hotel and tickets (5 day no hopper tickets) for about $2000 or less that would be awesome! last time we ate breakfast in the hotel except for the first morning there. DH surprised us with breakfast in the food court. then we always had lunch in the park. we ate dinner in the park twice, but otherwise we ate at places outside the park, like taco bell, mcdonalds, ect... we also brought a little bag filled with snacks for the kids and we each had our own water bottle that we would fill and use those little packets of iced tea, lemonaid, fruit punch, ect.... to flavor it. i plan on doing all that again.

One thing to consider is the convenience of staying on property. No need for a rental car, no need to pay for parking, extra magic hours.

 

[ICF]

Check out Windsor Hills --- 5 mins to AK -- 10/15 to the other parks. Very easy drive and you wont waste all that time waiting for buses to show up while hoping to actually get a seat to sit in after a long day at the parks.

We've stayed at Windor 3 times....when we went in early June 2013 -- we paid about $600 for a 3 bedroom townhouse with our own private pool.

 

[leebee]

Try USSSA for tickets. Apparently they are significantly cheaper, although you have to read the fine print, they are only valid for certain dates, etc. USSSA is a student sporting organization that sells tickets to everyone.
And YES, stay OFFSITE!

 

[nugov2]

One thing to consider is the convenience of staying on property. No need for a rental car, no need to pay for parking, extra magic hours.

IMO there is no convenience of staying on site at a value unless you really love EMH. The busses are awful(the waits at night to leave are crazy long) and off site at WBC or Windsor Hills you are just as close with a much nicer pool. If you are comparing deluxe to off site I'd say stay on site, but value/mod isn't worth it. The space, luxury, amenities off site are just so much nicer.


OP I see you didn't really eat on site so having a full kitchen would be great. We ate almost exclusively on site when we were at Windsor Hills, but it was nice to have the full kitchen for snacks and we did have enough of eating one day and enjoyed the option of just eating at the house. Also I wouldn't like being in two separate rooms I would much rather have my family all together. Good luck planning

 

[vleeth]

EMH aren't much of a perk when you have little ones anyways. The park with EMH may be great for the EMH part but are more crowded the rest of the day. You have to get up extra early or stay up extra late and those don't usually work well with little kids.