Any suggestions

[ky07]

Just wanted to see what anyone thought would be on this.
Me and my family really don't take too many trips due to not having much money but we did take a trip to us and ioa earlier this year and want to go next year but here is the problem and that is the only way we can take trips is when we get back our income tax.
The only problem is that due to my Dw making more this year we will get back less and we have maybe a couple of options and that is staying 4 days onsite or 6 to 7 offsite cause with food and all we can't afford 7 days onsite.
So what do you guys think ????
We really love us and want to go agian next year.

 

[MagiKitty]

I myself like to keep to a tight budget all the time. The only advice I can offer without details (IE the size of your family, the time of year you'd like to visit, your food preference) is to PLAN PLAN PLAN. Would you be driving or flying down? If you stay offsite, a rental car would probably be best. If you do decide to fly, join the mileage club so you can get emails about specials. Also do this for rental companies. I join restaurant mailing lists and get free appetizers or BOGO entrees that I use on my trip. I use the Entertainment Book and Orlandocoupons.com for extra savings. I'm always looking for ways to save a little here and there.

My personal opinion is that anything can be done with a budget. You may not be able to do everything in the manner you'd like, but the most important thing I think is to have those memories with your family. I remember going to Orlando with my family as a child, I have no recollections of where we stayed or what we ate. But I do remember the great times we had.

Good luck with you plans and hope you are able to make that special trip.

 

[Darcy03231]

I would do the four days on-site for the FOTL privileges, unless you're going at an off time when the parks won't be busy. With FOTL you should be able to do and see everything in four days.

 

[Lisa P.]

If you're able to go in offseason, enjoy the easier pace of a longer stay offsite. This assumes you will have a vehicle (your car or a rental). Offsite shuttles are terribly limiting.

I join restaurant mailing lists and get free appetizers or BOGO entrees that I use on my trip.

Would you please share more about this? Which restaurants in the area are likely to offer these - or - which have offered them in the recent past? Thanks for the tip!

 

[MagiKitty]

I got these off the Freebie Thread in recent weeks. I signed up at Noodles.com, Longhorn Steakhouse, and Buco di Beppo's websites, gave them my emails, and joined their clubs. Noodles gave me a BOGO entree coupon, Longhorn and Buco gave me free appetizer coupons.

There's a spot for birthday/anniversaries on the personal info so put one of the dates of your vacation as your "birthday" and a week or two before you go they'll send you a special coupon. Most of these coupons do have expirations of about a month or so. I personally haven't checked out other websites, but I'm sure other restaurants offer clubs also.

We mostly stay in the off season offsite for about a week and have a rental car, usually Nov/early December so we're able to go out and try all sorts of restaurants mostly on I Drive and on 192. We also use it to do some early holiday shopping and go to the grocery store to stock up on snacks and water for the hotel.

 

[ky07]

Thanks guys for all the info and if anyone can think of anything else please feel free to let me know.

 

[cheetara]

This sounds just like the situation we're in too. We're trying to plan our 1st trip to US/IOA in April '08 on a tight budget. We decided this trip to stay offsite for a longer period time (6 nights, instead of doing 3 night onsite).

I signed up for the Orlando Magic card at orlandoinfo.com and with the card depending on what time you go, you can get some good deals on offsite hotels, etc. I've also found at my local wal-marts here in upstate NY that they have the universal orlando gift cards for $25 or $50. So I picked one up for a dinner or snacks at the parks or gifts, etc.

Hope this helps, I'm always looking for ideas for our trip is US to save some money.

 

[Darcy03231]

For restaurant coupons go to www.restaurant.com. I did this before we left and saved quite a bit that way. At the time they were running 60% off.