9 of us wanting to go on the cheap!

[LilMamiBella]

I'm trying to plan a trip for two 6 year olds, a 9 year old, an infant, and 5 adults. One of the kids goes to public school and so I need to pick a time that is not very crowded. Where's the best cheap place to stay for all of us?
Best price to pay on tickets? I've always stayed on site so I'm thinking we'll need to stay offsite this time. But it'll probably be cheaper cause we'll probably eat dinners offsite.

 

[irene_dsc]

No idea if it is the cheapest, but have you considered camping? (Camelotcats' pre-trippie inspired me on that one, fwiw - I think there was a post that said you could have 10 people on a site, tho I would definitely check that out!)

 

[LilMamiBella]

I don't think any of the adults would want to camp.

 

[RyJMom]

Last April 8 of us stayed at a Windsor Hills pool home for $160 a night ($80 a night each family) The kids loved having their own pool and it was so nice to be able to eat breakfast before we left. We also packed and took our lunch w/us most days. Before we left I figured I would not like taking in our lunch- thought I might feel as if we were missing something. Did not seem that way at all. It was nice to stop for lunch and find a good spot w/out having to worry with lines. I know this saved a ton of money. The cheapest I found tickets was with Undercover Tourist w/the Mousesavers discount. Good luck with your planning.

Veronica

 

[Disney 'Ohana]

I too would look into a vacation home.

 

[Heather543]

We stayed at a vacation house when we went last year. I chose it because there were 9 of us and it was cheaper and more space than hotel rooms on site. We had one kid under three and another that had just turned 4, so I thought about trying to squeeze us into 2 hotel rooms, but we would really have needed 3 to be comfortable. And the price turned out to be too much. We are always on a serious budget on vacation. Although I really wanted to stay on site, it turned out really great. We were at Windsor Hills too I think. We had our own pool and a five bedroom three bath house with a nice size kitchen and living room for about 160 a night. We were much happier there. There's a great playground on site. We checked in at four and walked around the neighborhood that afternoon. Our trip included me 31, my aunt 39, my parents 50's, my daughter (7 months) my little sister (4), and my cousins, 21, 17and 13. Talk about wide age ranges and interests.

 

[kokomos]

I found a 4br villa that will sleep 10 for 100.00 a night for the week of Christmas 08 . Its at seven dwarfs lane. Im renting through VRBO and that saved me quite a bit ,but they do sponser this website depending on when you decide to go you may be able to get a great deal.
btw villas of Seven Dwarfs Lane and Dream Villas of Orlando are the same place.

http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/DreamsVillas/#dsc-dvo

 

[tink576]

Look into rental homes in the area...you can have your own private pool plus a full kitchen, plus it's probably cheeper then a number of hotel rooms...then you can just hit publix and save on food also

 

[ajcolorado]

We went to Disney World as soon as school got out this year. We arrived on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and found the crowds very managable. We used a good touring plan with "best days" information so that we were going to a park with lower crowds. If you're staying off property, you need to be very aware of which park has an Extra Magic Hour so you can avoid that park.

We stayed in a great 3-bedroom Condo at Windsor Hills. We had a full kitchen & a washer and dryer, which was great and helped save money. We paid $85 per night - it came to about $100 per night with taxes. We rented through this owner: http://www.tonylopes.com/wh.htm

We did have to rent a car because there is a $10 per person, per day charge for the shuttle from Windsor Hills. Of course, that added $12 per day for our parking.

We also looked at the Seralago Hotel & Suites which were very reasonably priced and have a free shuttle. www.seralagohotel.com/ However, the shuttles weren't the most efficient - some have you arriving well after park opening. It can also be hard to see fireworks, etc. That was what pushed us towards a condo w/ mini-van.

We planned a schedule that only visited one park per day so that we didn't need the park hopper option - that saved $45 per person + tax. That'll be a savings of $405 + tax for your group.

Here's a link where you can get a list of free things Disney doesn't advertise:
http://www.buildabettermousetrip.com/15FreeThings.html

Maple Leaf Tickets is a legitimate ticket discounter - no timeshare presentations or that type of thing: http://www.MapleLeafTickets.com/?a=719

 

[LilMamiBella]

We went to Disney World as soon as school got out this year. We arrived on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and found the crowds very managable. We used a good touring plan with "best days" information so that we were going to a park with lower crowds. If you're staying off property, you need to be very aware of which park has an Extra Magic Hour so you can avoid that park.

We stayed in a great 3-bedroom Condo at Windsor Hills. We had a full kitchen & a washer and dryer, which was great and helped save money. We paid $85 per night - it came to about $100 per night with taxes. We rented through this owner: http://www.tonylopes.com/wh.htm

We did have to rent a car because there is a $10 per person, per day charge for the shuttle from Windsor Hills. Of course, that added $12 per day for our parking.

We also looked at the Seralago Hotel & Suites which were very reasonably priced and have a free shuttle. www.seralagohotel.com/ However, the shuttles weren't the most efficient - some have you arriving well after park opening. It can also be hard to see fireworks, etc. That was what pushed us towards a condo w/ mini-van.

We planned a schedule that only visited one park per day so that we didn't need the park hopper option - that saved $45 per person + tax. That'll be a savings of $405 + tax for your group.

Here's a link where you can get a list of free things Disney doesn't advertise:
http://www.buildabettermousetrip.com/15FreeThings.html

Maple Leaf Tickets is a legitimate ticket discounter - no timeshare presentations or that type of thing: http://www.MapleLeafTickets.com/?a=719

Thanks Aj!