Any more places to cut corners?

[BestDayEverx4]

I am the person who never pays retail for anything, even though I could! Haha- I love bargaining and getting the biggest bang for my buck... That said, planning a trip to Disney for us is a completely un chartered territory. I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing even though I keep trying

From my research this is the most current planned budget I have. Is there anywhere else I can look to save? Any place I need to plan for more? Any other expenses i need to plan for not previously thought of?? Thoughts??

Package for 6 (2 adults, 11, 8, 4 and 2)
$3769.00

Includes
2 rooms at Pop
Tickets to Park (base tickets, no park hopper)
Free DDP plus upgrade to Reg. and $200 for tips
Parking

Gas- $500
Travel Hotels- $200
Travel Expenses- $100
Souvenirs- $600

Total: $5719.00

 

[Dan in AL]

It would be an extremely tight squeeze, but i think you could book one room @ Port Orleans Riverside. You would have one bathroom and very little wiggle room in the room. Standard room should be just under $3000 for the same package and if you get free Disney Dining it would be the disney dining plan.

 

[deakam]

First off, there is no guarantee of free dining so when planning a budget I would include dining and then pocket the cash if free shows up. Second, with a family of 6 you will automatically be charged 18% tip on all sit down meals. My family of 3 the tip at roughly 20% runs about 20 dollars a meal. Also the regular dining plan only offers 1 table 1 counter an 1 snack per person for each night, so if your family is a 3 meal a day family you might want to add in some extra cash for food at Disney. If you are staying on property parking is free. Water. Since it sounds like you are driving I would suggest bringing bottled water with. Or you can invest in a refillable water bottle with a filter, it helps remove some of the bad taste of Disney water, or some of the little packets of flavor to add to water. No matter what time of year you are at Disney you will need water. Also we do very little shopping when there. My kids collect pins and they are allowed one new pin per park every trip. We do some pre-trip shopping at the Disney store or for the little ones anything Disney for a much more reasonable price. We usually put a new "thing" on top of the outfit set out for the next day once the kids go to sleep. They actually believe that Mickey of Tinkerbell left them a gift every morning. I do purchase a new photo frame every trip for my favorite photo from that trip. I would also recommend the Memory maker package. You get all of the ride and dining photos on top of any other photos taken by Disney photographers. They can do some really cool stuff and you can then go online and add borders and things.

 

[BestDayEverx4]

I was planning on dining not being for sure so going ahead and planning for paying for it is a good idea! Thanks! Also, I always budget for at least 20% tip... I'm guessing since it would technically be 5 of us and a little guy that they will not add gratuity? Does that sound right or would they count him as a 6th person?

I looked into doing POR but we really just prefer having the extra space and bathroom! Plus my sister and brother in law may end up coming so then we would still be able to add them to our rooms without having to change rooms.

How much is the Memory Maker?

 

[deakam]

The 2 year old counts for dining. There is a max capacity at all restaurants. You will be considered a party of 6. I agree with the 2 room strategy. The extra bathroom is a lifesaver. I would also suggest that when you book your dining that you pick buffets and family style places because that way you will not need to pay out of pocket for anything for the 2 year old. Otherwise he/she will have to eat off of your plate. Even extra drinks such as milk or juice will need to be paid for out of pocket. Some entrees at Disney will be no problem sharing with a 2 year old and some will be a problem.

The Memory maker was $149.99 pre ordered and $199.99 at the parks. I have not checked for this years trip so it may be more.

Some of our fave buffets and family style places are

Magic Kingdom--Liberty Tree Tavern---family style
Crystal Palace----buffet with Winnie the Pooh characters
Magic Kingdom resorts---Chef Mickey's with Mickey Donald Pluto Goofy
1900 Park Faire with Cinderella Prince Charming and the ugly Stepsisters. I was just looking at the list of Dining Plan spot and the Mary Poppins Breakfast for this spot is listed but the Happily Ever after dinner is not so I would double check that this one takes the dining plan.

Epcot----The Garden Grill--family style----love this place.

Animal Kingdom----Tusker House---buffet---the Animal Kingdom usually closes early enough that we have a light lunch and then head over to the Poly for a wonderful family style meal at O'hana

 

[BestDayEverx4]

Thanks!!! Those are almost just what I have planned so far!!! I have Chef Mickeys, Princess Storybook, O'hana, Garden Grill and Mama Melrose to take advantage of the Fantasmic dinner deal. We are staying 7 nights so I still need to figure out one more TS so ill check out your other options

 

[boiledpeanut]

Since you are a budget minded lady, I think the souvenir budget s pretty high. We would set an amt per kid, and us and that's it. Say $50. One or two nice souvenirs and that's enough... My two will search, save, add budget to find the best item.

 

[megan10310]

I am the person who never pays retail for anything, even though I could! Haha- I love bargaining and getting the biggest bang for my buck... That said, planning a trip to Disney for us is a completely un chartered territory. I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing even though I keep trying

From my research this is the most current planned budget I have. Is there anywhere else I can look to save? Any place I need to plan for more? Any other expenses i need to plan for not previously thought of?? Thoughts??

Package for 6 (2 adults, 11, 8, 4 and 2)
$3769.00

Includes
2 rooms at Pop
Tickets to Park (base tickets, no park hopper)
Free DDP plus upgrade to Reg. and $200 for tips
Parking

Gas- $500
Travel Hotels- $200
Travel Expenses- $100
Souvenirs- $600

Total: $5719.00

One of my favorite money stretching strategies on the dining plan is to use counter service credits to get 2-3 meals to share for breakfast or lunch. The plan does not differentiate between kids/adults for counter service and we never eat everything if we order a meal per person. Some of the counter service meals are big enough to share even if you are hungry. We like to snack, so this saves room. Also we prefer to eat lunch at a location with free refills. There are a few that are set up like that. You can also request free ice water at any location.

 

[worm761]

The dining plan only covers 2 meals and one snack. In my family we are a three meal a day family. And we eat snacks at Disney. So my suggestion is to pack some breakfast foods you can heat up in the food court at Pop. Breakfast sandwiches, burritoes, bowls. Pancakes and waffles. We also bring juice and milk for the kids to have with breakfast.

One place you can save is to pack a picnic lunch for the drive down. We stop a rest area with picnic tables and eat lunch. Clean up. Then pull out some bubbles for the kids to chase around the grassy area to run off some of that energy that has been building in the truck.

I earn gift cards for restaurants to pay for dinner. Swagbucks and MyPoints have many different ones. Not sure when you are planning on going but you could definitely make enough to pay for a meal in a month or so on Swagbucks. Or gas cards. Swagbucks has gas gift cards. Not real sure how they work since I cash out for Amazon or Paypal but I do know that they have them.

 

[BestDayEverx4]

Swag bucks!!! Great suggestion!!! I will def do that between now and then. We aren't going until December so plenty of time!

We plan on eating breakfast at the hotel every day except for our Ohana breakfast and doing lunch and dinner at the parks plus a snack but also brining extra snacks and drinks in case. Where can I researched more about which quick service places have larger servings/better options?

With the spending money, I honestly just wasn't sure what to expect so I budgeted $100 for each person. I hoped it would be high but prefer to over budget/underspend then to under budget/overspend!

 

[SEA333]

We are a family of 5 (me, DH, DS13, DD9, and DS7) and stayed at POR very comfortably.

We were there for 4 nights/5 days, with three-day park tickets. This is a place I saved since I knew my kids would want pool time and those were our travel days anyway (the last day we had a late flight so we swam at POR for a while, then went over to POFQ for the rest of the day until it was time to leave for the airport at 4pm). We had free dining for the reg plan, which was more than enough food for us. We went to Walmart the 2nd day because DS7 ended up bein allergic to the detergent in the sheets at POR and we needed to get some Benedryl. We picked up some fresh fruit, cereal bars, and a couple snacks for the morning/late night. We woke up fairly early - I don't think we made rope drop, but I do remember hardly any crowds and we were in Canada and England in Epcot before they opened.

So, I paid approx $2100 for the 4 nights/5 days, 3-day park tickets for the 5 of us. Dining was free. We paid $628 (including one checked bag) out the door for round trip Spirit airfare (and lived to tell the tale!!!! LOL). We spent $68 on a full size car rental (DH works for a company owned by a major car rental company, so we get an employee discount). We bought each kid a $50 Disney giftcard to spend any way they wanted. We brought $500 for tips, souveniers, extra food, incidentals (like the Benedryl), etc.

So, in total for the entire trip:

Resort and tickets: $2100
OOP Meals: $25
Tips (4 TS meals): $120
Airfare: $628
Giftcards: $150
Car Rental:68
Gas for rental: $25
Walmart: $30
Souveniers: $100
Limo to the airport: $115
Breakfast at airport: $20
Grand Total for trip: $3381

We brought cash back home with us, and stopped at Goofy's Candy shop in DTD on the way to the airport to use 8 remaining snack credits that we never used on the DDP. I was surprised that we had them left, but we would usually eat a snack before leaving the hotel room and then not be really hungry until around noon, then by the time we were hungry again after our CS lunch, it was really, really close to our 6-7pm ADR. We never really had time to get hungry enough to use a snack credit! The last day, we used OOP cash to buy two CS lunches to round out the three CS credits we still had left. DH and I got shrimp po' boy sandwiches at POFQ and they were really gigantic...we could have easily shared two between the 5 of us and used the snack credits for a side like soup or something, but we didn't know it before we got the order.

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Since you are a budget minded lady, I think the souvenir budget s pretty high. We would set an amt per kid, and us and that's it. Say $50. One or two nice souvenirs and that's enough... My two will search, save, add budget to find the best item.

Agreed. I only spent about 100$ in souvenirs. And that's because I had gift cards...if I didn't have gift cards..I probably would have spent less


We just got back from a trip and we drove. We brought a cooler and filled it with food and brought other food as well. We always had cereal in the morning, and made sandwhiches and brought them to the parks. And we even pre made some of our dinners!

 

[disney*mom*82]

It sounds pretty good along with good advice. Another thought is if you eat at the resort food court, make sure to use your refillable mug for drinks and get the drink that comes with the meal as a bottle of something for later. We did this a lot and always had a soda/powerade/juice/milk for later.

Pack some good snacks for the parks. With the ages of the kids, they will want to snack. Pack a few favorites and maybe a few new things. But, be sure to use your snack credits. We always try to make sure we are using them about daily and we forget and end up taking home a bunch of snacks in the end.

Souvenirs, I too do $50 per person in this area. Sometimes one spends a little more and another spends a little less. One nice thing to keep them at this budget is their own gift cards. Dont buy cheap toys or things you can find at the store, just a special shirt or a special WDW exclusive item. If your children tend to want everything, bring a few cheap gifts from home. You can find many at Dollar Store or since you have a lot of time you can keep an eye on clearance items.

Consider adding the photo packages. If you want this make sure to pre-order, it will save you money.

And as mentioned, they will charge gratuity with your party cause the 2 year old counts. Great tip with splitting meals. We do this a lot too. Split 2-3 quick service for 2 meals a day and then have your table service for the other meal. Some snacks also are great light meals.

The amounts look good to me though, best to expect a little more and then nice to have a little extra cushion for later.

 

[pixiemama91]

You could pack some cereal and some fruit and maybe a few other items and just buy some milk. I also like to pack some of the applesauce pouches for snacks in the park as well as some granola bars. I would also save the bags of carrots and/or grapes that would come with the kids meals for snacks later if my DD didn't eat it all.

 

[Gracie09]

I see parking on your list. Parking where? If you are at resort parking at the resort and parks is free.

 

[BestDayEverx4]

Yes that's why I included it in my package price.. It was a factor for me when doing an onsite and offsite comparison chart.

 

[robinb]

One of my favorite money stretching strategies on the dining plan is to use counter service credits to get 2-3 meals to share for breakfast or lunch. The plan does not differentiate between kids/adults for counter service and we never eat everything if we order a meal per person. Some of the counter service meals are big enough to share even if you are hungry. We like to snack, so this saves room. Also we prefer to eat lunch at a location with free refills. There are a few that are set up like that. You can also request free ice water at any location.

While the CS credits are "pooled", Disney's rule for the DDP is that children must order off the children's menu if it's available. I just wanted to make that clear to the OP since she is new at planning a WDW trip with the DDP.

 

[Schmeck]

We are a family of 5 (me, DH, DS13, DD9, and DS7) and stayed at POR very comfortably.

We were there for 4 nights/5 days, with three-day park tickets. This is a place I saved since I knew my kids would want pool time and those were our travel days anyway (the last day we had a late flight so we swam at POR for a while, then went over to POFQ for the rest of the day until it was time to leave for the airport at 4pm). We had free dining for the reg plan, which was more than enough food for us. We went to Walmart the 2nd day because DS7 ended up bein allergic to the detergent in the sheets at POR and we needed to get some Benedryl. We picked up some fresh fruit, cereal bars, and a couple snacks for the morning/late night. We woke up fairly early - I don't think we made rope drop, but I do remember hardly any crowds and we were in Canada and England in Epcot before they opened.

So, I paid approx $2100 for the 4 nights/5 days, 3-day park tickets for the 5 of us. Dining was free. We paid $628 (including one checked bag) out the door for round trip Spirit airfare (and lived to tell the tale!!!! LOL). We spent $68 on a full size car rental (DH works for a company owned by a major car rental company, so we get an employee discount). We bought each kid a $50 Disney giftcard to spend any way they wanted. We brought $500 for tips, souveniers, extra food, incidentals (like the Benedryl), etc.

So, in total for the entire trip:

Resort and tickets: $2100
OOP Meals: $25
Tips (4 TS meals): $120
Airfare: $628
Giftcards: $150
Car Rental:68
Gas for rental: $25
Walmart: $30
Souveniers: $100
Limo to the airport: $115
Breakfast at airport: $20
Grand Total for trip: $3381

We brought cash back home with us, and stopped at Goofy's Candy shop in DTD on the way to the airport to use 8 remaining snack credits that we never used on the DDP. I was surprised that we had them left, but we would usually eat a snack before leaving the hotel room and then not be really hungry until around noon, then by the time we were hungry again after our CS lunch, it was really, really close to our 6-7pm ADR. We never really had time to get hungry enough to use a snack credit! The last day, we used OOP cash to buy two CS lunches to round out the three CS credits we still had left. DH and I got shrimp po' boy sandwiches at POFQ and they were really gigantic...we could have easily shared two between the 5 of us and used the snack credits for a side like soup or something, but we didn't know it before we got the order.

Why did you need a rental car (only for that one trip to Walmart?) and need a limo to the airport? That's $238 you might not have needed to spend, IMO.

 

[robinb]

Why did you need a rental car (only for that one trip to Walmart?) and need a limo to the airport? That's $238 you might not have needed to spend, IMO.

My guess is that it's the limo to/from her home airport instead driving and parking.

 

[SEA333]

Why did you need a rental car (only for that one trip to Walmart?) and need a limo to the airport? That's $238 you might not have needed to spend, IMO.

The rental car was decided well before needing to go to Walmart - we decided that we did not want to wait for busses/etc in the planning phases, and since DH gets an employee discount for working for an affiliate of the car rental company, it was only $68 for the week, and worth the convienence. There were many times while we were there that we commented how glad we were that we had it! (especially for our trip to the store)

The limo was a complete luxury and part of the surprise for the kids (we surprised them with the trip the morning we left). We did not want to pay $30/day to remote park and take a shuttle to the terminal at the airport, so we had always planned to take a cab (we live in the Chicago suburbs, and this is common practice to Ohare airport). Because we had five people and needed a mini-van cab, the cost difference between the taxi and one-way limo service to the airport was about $40. DH thought it would be worth the money to see the look on the kids' faces when they saw a limo in front of the house. (and it was worth it. Amazingly priceless to see their reaction!!! LOL) We took a cab home from the airport after the trip for $65. Both fees/tips were part of the $500 for incidentals.