gmboy95-
It's a little hard to give REALLY good advice since you gave us a few unknowns. How large is your family and what kind of accommodations do you expect to use most often?
We are very cost conservative also at WDW but then it kind of comes natural as we are at home too. We bring any and everything within reason when we stay. About the only thing we go out for is soda, milk and more bread. I don't mind fixing things while on vacation but after all I am on vacation too. We always stay in a studio and make meals that take about 10 min. to prepare; usually sandwiches or something out of a can. We bring a small cooler that I put frozen sandwich meat, cheese, cream cheese, mayo, mustard, butter, pint of 1/2 & 1/2 for coffee, etc. I also pack a suitcase with sandwich veggies(lettuce, tomatoes, onions, peppers, mushrooms), canned meats( chicken, tuna, shrimp, crabmeat) , canned meals (soup, spaghettios, ravioli, beef stew,chili), cookies, crackers, pringles, dried fruit, canned fruit, bread, bagels, eng. muffins, peanut butter, coffee and filters, tea, and hot cocoa. It sounds like a lot but for 2 people a few of everything usually fits into 2- 19" wheeled pilot cases. And like I said we buy very little while there. Trip before last we spent $50.00 total from the store and all other food for 8 nights. Best we ever did! Since you can do laundry easily we have cut back on clothes and bring more food. Oh yeah, don't forget the laundry soap and dryer sheets. The use of the washers and dryers are free but the supplies are not and 1 box of soap will run you a buck. Some people pre-measure powder soap & put in zip-locks and some people use the new laundry tablets. Also bring extra shampoo as the little samples do not go far. In a 1br up you will get full kitchen supplies but in a studio you get 2 real coffee cups, 4 real glasses, a few paper plates, a few paper bowls, and misc. plastic silverware. Depending on your plans, you might want to bring a few things from home. I usually bring some thin plastic plates and bowls, a paring knife, and don't forget the can opener. Once again, you will need none of these things above a studio. We too usually eat out for lunch at a counter service in the parks and eat breakfast and supper in the room. I figure all the money we save on eating pays for the air fair for another trip. And since we stay in a studio, the points NOT used for the 1-br "pays" for another trip. So you can see, how we are up to 2 trips a year just like that.
We usually use mears and never rent a car anymore but for a family, Tiffany would be the better choice and then you could get the 1/2 hour grocery stop to supplement your grocery needs. We figure we save about 250.00+ each trip by not getting a car.
For passes we go for the annual passes and are up to 3 trips per life of the pass. It means 2 trips per calendar year with the 3rd falling just short of a full year. Then we space about 8-10 months before the next cycle. This lets us average less than 15.00/day each. At over 50.00/day now that's pretty good.
A co-worker just booked a week long package staying at the value resorts and her total for a family of 4 came to just a little less than I have budgeted for 3, yes 3 seperate week long trips at different times of the year for the 2 of us including everything (air, dues for points used, transfers, annual passes)except for food. And with our kitchenette advantage we will be able to do 3 trips for less than their one; not to mention they will be at the all-stars and we will be at BWV or another DVC resort. You can see how a few sacrifices add up to more WDW time.
Hope some of this helps you. Any more questions, feel free to ask away.
