What is you least expensive trip to WDW ?

[indimom]

Our cheapest trip was in 2012. We were two adults, and two teens. We stayed four nights/five days. We stayed at Ft. Wilderness in a tent and we had two day park tickets with water parks and more. We spent one day at Epcot, one at DHS, one at BB, and one at TL. Total cost OOP was for five days groceries from Walmart (which wasn't much more than a typical week's groceries) and gas for the drive down. I used Disney Rewards to pay for the campsite and park tickets (and one day snacking around World Showcase). An awesome deal and a fabulous trip! I would happily do a repeat.

Knowing that camping is not for most people, I think you're best way to reduce your cost for the trip, are your food costs. I wouldn't cut back on tickets because it won't save that much and being able to go to the parks every day is huge for us. You could eat breakfast at the resort, pack some snacks for the parks and do one meal in the restaurants for a lot less than your estimate. We did that on our 2010 trip when we stayed for two weeks. That trip cost us $6,000 for food, hotel, park tickets, and transportation. Again, with four Disney adults and 10-Day Hoppers with WP&M. I think we did about 5 sit-down meals and 7 counter-service meals during that trip. The rest came from our cooler.

 

[cbellasmomma]

I'm still trying to nail down my food budget - any insight is most welcome!!

Room / Tickets: $1700
6 Days / 5 Nights at the Poly for 2 Adults, 1 Child (she turns 10 mid trip - yay!) Includes 6 day tickets and 1 waterpark pass for DD and I - DH has unexpired tickets to use and is only there for half the trip

Airfare: $700

Food: $700? (will be DD and I for 3 days; then all of us for the next 3 days)
ADR's:
1900 Park Dinner for DD and I = $80
BOG Breakfast: $30
Ohana Breakfast (for 3): $85
Garden Grocer: $50
We are doing the Pirates and Pals Cruise but my mom paid for that.
I am planning on eating out most of the time but not TS. We have never been to Disney and I don't want to feel obligated to go back to the room for lunch if we are having fun. That said I plan to order turkey and cheese from Garden Grocer....and wine Is $700 enough?

Souvenirs/Misc/Mouskeeping: $200

TOTAL: $3,300

 

[averysmom]

Our least expensive trip was in 08 or 09. It was buy 4 days, get 3 free (room, tickets and dining), plus a $500 gift card. Plus, allegiant air had just started flying out of an airport close to us, and the four if us flew for $400. Our tickets there were like $29.00. I think our 7 day trip, with tickets, food and flight and hotel came to around $2000

 

[tasha99]

For what we got, it was in '09 or so. We were upgraded from ASMU to a 1BR at OKW, and had free dining. We've only been to WDW 2 times in the past 10 years or so, so that would be it, of the two trips, lol. (Going again this summer--we've been mostly DL visitors, because it's so much cheaper and easier to get to for us.)

 

[Flamingeaux]

Can't come up with a figure but it would have to be one of the trips we made with an AP. If you prorate the cost of the AP over the four trips we made the park tix cost would be very low. Also we got a great deal on those APs, it was one of those buy 4 get three free and when we upgraded to APs we had a discount coupon - something like 10% off. We stayed at a value and had a room or AP discount. We drive too.

 

[artemis4]

Here is our budget for food, transportation, lodging, tickets and parking. Our trip is 7 nights in Orlando offsite, 6-7 people (tickets for 6 as our son's friend is buying his own ticket, but food for 7), 6 day base tickets, 2 nights in hotels on the road trip.

Food: 935
Gas: 750 (this gas budget is bloated as I assume $4/gallon gas to prevent surprises)
Lodging: 674
Tickets: 1889
Parking: 102
Total: 4350

We also have a bit over $500 in Disney Visa Rewards that will be used for 6 CS lunches, 2 CS dinners and a few snacks in the parks, so the actual oop will be a bit less than $3850 for these five categories.

 

[disney-inspired]

We like staying on site for 10 nights
We are 4 adults, DH, DW, DS, DD
May 1 to May 10

Food = breakfast in the room, $80 per person per day = $3200
Tickets = 10 day adult basic = $1492
Airfare = JetBlue = non-refundable tickets = $1200
Pop Century Preferred room = $1694
(we want to be close to the bus stop and food area)

Our total WDW no-frills BUT still magical vacation = $7586

How can we bring down the price?

Dropping down ticket days will reduce costs minimally unless paired with a shorter stay in general.
Going from 10 day to 6 day = - $170.00
Going from 10 nights to 7 nights = - $373
Savings: $543

Also $80 a day per person seems too much if you are eating breakfast in the room, unless you are planning to do 2 TS meals each day which may seem excessive after the first few days.

 

[sachiiiii]

Minus food, our November trip is looking to be about $1500. That's a roundtrip flight for 2 adults, 5 nights in a value resort with 4 day parkhopper tickets.
So with food and souvenirs it will be around $2000. We also have a few Disney gift cards to use while we're there.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

Check out the DoubleTree in DTD and that will give you more room and they often have specials. Get a grocery order and eat counter service and you can drop the food costs easily by 50-60 percent. Also as others have said you can drop a couple park days. 10 in a row may be brutal. The most I ever did was 5 in a row and I was wiped out for days after that.

 

[All Tangled Up]

For those of you who need help saving on food I recommend checking out this thread. And you can save even more by bringing food from home, or ordering it from a grocery store service etc.

 

[DawnM]

We go much cheaper, usually staying 10-14 nights off property.

$500 for 14 nights off site
$400 for food (grocery, eating out with coupons and discounted gift cards, Disney rewards visa points)
$1200 tickets
$100 or so for parking

$2,200 for 5 of us.

We can do it cheaper sometimes, but now that prices have gone up on just about everything, it is harder to do.

 

[Anchored]

Our least expensive trip we are doing this August!
We are from FL and are that is our "home of record" but DH is military and we live in VA
We booked a 2 bedroom condo at Orbit One - we paid for one week and got one week free through the Armed Forces Vacation Club - Total was $396
We have FL resident weekday select annual passes - we will be spending 18 days in the parks this year, 10 on this trip. The tickets are like 240 with tax so I will say the ticket for this trip (just me and the kids, DH is deployed) will cost $400 total for the 3 of us ($133.33 each)
My usual 2 week grocery budget is $250, I will buy groceries for 2 meals a day in the condo and not count that, and do mostly QS meals (about $30/day x 10 days in the parks) I do have 3 TS meals planned, and I will budget about $80 for those. so $540 extra for meals, another $150 or so for snacks
I can drive in my Camry to Savannah, GA before I need gas, at about $40/tank so $80 in gas each way. We stop for the night at Grandma's house for free
$400 lodging
$400 tickets
$700 food and snacks
$160 gas
-----------------
$1660 for 3 people for a 14 day vacation

 

[seashell724]

Dawn M...where do you find deals like $500 for 14 nights?!

We go much cheaper, usually staying 10-14 nights off property.

$500 for 14 nights off site
$400 for food (grocery, eating out with coupons and discounted gift cards, Disney rewards visa points)
$1200 tickets
$100 or so for parking

$2,200 for 5 of us.

We can do it cheaper sometimes, but now that prices have gone up on just about everything, it is harder to do.

 

[DawnM]

Dawn M...where do you find deals like $500 for 14 nights?!

I use SkyAUction.com, buy $250 certificates (7 night stay) and then go to ResortCerts.com to redeem them. We have always traveled off season so I can't comment on peak travel times.

ETA: Yikes, it looks like even those have gone up in price.

Here is a link:

http://www.skyauction.com/deal-of-the-day.do

 

[dhardawa]

Our cheapest trip was around 2007. We booked through Southwest Vacations. It was:

7 nights in a value resort
Park hopper tickets for 7 days
Free dining (this was when value got the regular dining plan and it included appetizers and tips)
Airfare

The price? $599 per person. Insane! It was August and HOT, but how can you say no to that price?

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

Last year, we had five day MYW tickets from a previous year free dining. Upgraded to park hoppers about $120 for two
Airfare $288 for two and two suitcases round trip. Back packs free
Windsor Hills 1 week $599 Cleaning fee $75
Rental minivan from Sanford $288
Food- prepared all breakfast there, had drinks, many snacks and packed a small cooler. $87.00 grocery drinks
On site food 1900 Park Fare $50
Sci Fi $38
BOG Lunch $21
Counter service $180 snacks ?
OOP ?
$1,600 .....without the T-shirts, trivet, keychain.
The savings was having tickets left, cheap airfare and staying off site.

 

[TnTWalter]

best way to bring down budget is food and lodging. I'm sure you've received lots of advice. We have stayed onsite and offsite and much prefer offsite. Bonnet Creek is a very nice resort ON Disney Property but not Disney. It will cut your budget at least in half. Cheaper than that but still nice is Wyndham Villas. It is more of a condo complex where Bonnet Creek is a resort. Do less park tickets and spend less time at the parks by a few days. I know the tix aren't much cheaper but not eating at the park is cheaper. Or like one poster said, just go for a few rides; fireworks, etc. some of the days if you do 10 day passes. Or, you could have 2 lounge at the resort days [Bonnet Creek has many pools; lazy river; activities] you could pack a picnic lunch and spend a day at a beach {vero is closest?]; you could hit DownTown Disney; etc.]

 

[msdaisy]

My advice is pool days! When we do long trips, we do a park day, a pool day, etc. My two girls love the pool days I think more than the park days. We usually have 4 of each so that we visit each park once. It really gives you the chance to relax and enjoy your vacation. So, maybe consider 5 day tickets to cut down on costs.

Food - my family likes to eat. You can tell by my picture that I'm no skinny Minnie , but to be honest we get tired of eating while at Disney. There have been years that my children have said, "We have to go eat again?" I had buffeted them to no end on that trip. Now, we do breakfast in the room. My girls usually split a quick service meal for lunch so they can have a snack later. I now usually do about two or three nice meals per trip spread out throughout our 9 days. That saves us quite a bit of money. We are a group of 6 - my mom and sister always travel with us. Our food budget for next June is $1400. We will have plenty to eat. I know that some people would like to eat at signature restaurants everyday. It just doesn't work for us. I would rather eat cheaper and have fewer park days so that we can stay longer.

Luckily, that type of trip works for my group. My mom needs to recharge while my kids are having a blast in the pool. You may visualize a totally different type of trip for your family.

We have stayed at Bonnet Creek and loved it! The amount of room is so nice, and the property is lovely. We also enjoy staying on property. You could spend about the same amount of money on Pop versus Bonnet Creek. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. We decided that we will stay on property next summer, so I get wanting to stay on property even when you can get a way better deal offsite.

I so wish that Disney would come up with some kind of exciting promotion. I am tired of what they have been offering the last couple of years. It makes me jealous to hear about all of the buy 4 get 3 free deals.

 

[brazzledazzler]

Since DH & I are APs we generally only spend 2-3 nights in Disney. I think my best 'deal' has been this Labor Day.
1 Night @ B Resort & Spa in Downtown Disney (King Room) =Mousesavers deal $130 total with taxes
2 Nights @ Pop Century (Standard Room) =$198 total with taxes

It'll be a nice getaway I think!

 

[Misha72683]

This is our frist trip but it's looking to be pretty frugal. We have 3 adults, 1 child and an infant:

FD package at CBR (regular room): $2650 [we're Canadian, so it's costing us another $700 or so]. Our share is $1900 (or around $2700 CND). This is with a 4-day park hopper ticket.
MNSSHP: Roughly $280 CND
Gas: Bff is covering gas as we covered the hotel rooms along the way (using airmiles to do so).
MM: $115 (roughly $$150 CND) as we are sharing with bff
OoP food costs: roughly $350 CND. We have two OoP meals planned plus tip and alcohol (but neither of us drinks that much).
Souveneirs: $500 CND. $100 a day that we're at the parks. I doubt we'll spend it all though.
Misc: $300 CND for other expenses that may come up, including meals on the road.
= $4600 CND (so roughly $3400 USD) for two adults and two kids (age 2 and 4). I'm being cautious though and budgeting for more than I think we'll spend.