Anyone tried a "Budget" trip at Christmas before?

[labdogs42]

I got the idea in my head of doing a Disney trip during Christmas week this year and now I"m trying to figure out the cheapest way to do it (of course!). So, if you have done a budget trip at Christmas time (or another full price peak week), what are your tips? Stay offsite? I'm contemplating the Caribe Royale Orlando which has great MouseSavers rate at the holiday time (looking at the regular suite, not the villas), Annual Passes (because we plan to go back next August), and taking the Auto Train. Thoughts?

 

[GoofyMomInOhio]

We've been considering this as our Christmas gift to the kids this year. We are considering staying on property for the early EMHs. With the kids getting older and my job in the schools, it is getting harder and harder to sneak away to Disney. We already have tickets and my DH has the week scheduled off so we are waiting on DS's hockey schedule.

 

[pigletto]

While I haven't done it, I have found myself thinking about it a lot. Like any trip your core expenses are going to be "the big four"

1. Transportation
2. Lodging
3. Tickets
4. Food.

The more creative and flexible you can be with each one will be your savings. We have AP's so that knocks out ticket cost.
Lodging is obviously going to be higher than any other time of year. Onsite is obviously best so that if the parks close you still have access. I did read in the phased closing schedules that the DTD hotels have access a little longer and they'll probably have some deals so they are worth considering.

For us the auto train works out as expensive or more than flights, so the option becomes drive or fly. I could live with the drive, but weather worries me. So I pick a price point that I won't go over and if I can't find it, we drive. It hasn't happened yet though.

Food will be a BIG one. If you can plan to eat offsite a few times, and in your room some (assuming you get something with a kitchenette or even fridge and microwave) it will keep things much much more reasonable.

In the end, what ends up stopping me every time is crowd anticipation.
We go often enough that I think I could go with the flow and enjoy things like mini-golf and looking around resorts and watching fireworks instead of trying to get on every ride. But my kids are pretty used to low crowd times and being able to ride what they want so I don't know that they would be able to adjust their thinking.

Good Luck with whatever you decide

 

[LovesTimone]

I would play the numbers game and look at the big picture, take all cost into account.

Staying off site -
1) Lower pricing per night, look for hidden fees such as how much to park at the resort per night? what is the resort fee? For instance DH and I just stayed in Jacksonville at the Crown Plaza the rate was good 129.00 per night was listed on the web site, then they add in resort fee was around another 30 dollar per night, then parking which was 15 dollar a night so that good rate really cost us 174.00 plus tax a night. Check out any other add ons such wifi, and such.

2) You will have your car to get back and forth to the parks, which takes up time = driving, parking, tram riding, monorail or boat ect. just to get to the parks, Paying for parking at the parks, as well as traffic in Orlando during Christmas is. Paying for gas

3) Sometimes the parks are at capacity during this time of year and then they close them... then you have to wait to get in.. or not.

4) No EMH, which really helps during peak times.

5) No dinning plan option - Character meals and sit down dining price go up during peak times as well. For us we love to see the characters in their holiday attire

6) No disney magic at the resort.

Staying on site:

1) The per night will be higher - no paying for parking at a disney resort -The price you see includes the resorts fees on line.

2) Transportation - you could drive to the parks but you will not have to pay for parking or you can use disney transportation. Less time wasted in the car to and from the parks.

3) EMH -You can get to the into the parks and stay late, and have less risk of not being able to get into the park of your choice

4) Dining plan is offered, there are options for every budget and touring style, we love... love being able to have everything paid for up front, except for tips and souvniers and the all important adult beverages.

5) There is something magical when you return to the resort at night and the Disney magic is all around you. Nothing can compare with that feeling... Magical

 

[dzorn]

We have not done Christmas just for the crowds, but you may want to consider how much more the autotrain is going to cost you vs driving.

Denise in MI

 

[andrews_dad]

We do Xmas week annually. Usually Dec 26-Jan 3... along with everyone else on teh planet it seems. We stay off site. Rates usually higher than an other season. We've stayed at everything from a tiny ratty room at Seralgo for $30 a night that week, to renting full sized homes via homeaway.com for several hundred a night with friends in tow. Finding great rental car rates is nearly impossible. I have June 14-24 mini van reserved at MCO for $257 all in at alamo.. 10 days. I have Dec 26 mini van reserved for $489 all in, 8 days! Tickets for your flights will run you a solid 25% more than usual. crowdfs are insane, and not just at the parks. Last two years there was NO parking at the airport at BWI on dec 26. None. not in private lots. not in airport lots. nowhere. attendants were suggesting people park at a local place of business and call for cab to drop you off. then the parks so filled fast passes all gone by 11 am and gates close due to max capacity. arrive late in am and it might take a full hour to get from the car to the gate at mk due to lines at ferry or monoraIL. all that said we do it every year and love it. takes a special breed

 

[NotUrsula]

We do it every few years, and the key to it from our POV is Starwood Points. 50K of them buy you a room at S/D for 5 nights, which gets you onsite for both MVMCP purchases and park capacity closing purposes.

 

[GMU MOM]

I have also been thinking about spending Christmas week in DW but I can't seem to keep costs low enough to make a decision. We are going in November so I thought we could upgrade our tkts to AP's since we will be going again next year.
We would also drive, it's about a 14 hour drive but we're ok with that. DH loves driving and we would have enough time. For meals, we would still do a couple TS meals but mostly CS and definitely have breakfast in the room.

However, the main thing i'm having difficulty with is lodging. I'm usually able to get great TA rates but everything seems to be blacked out for discounts.

I would also love to hear from those that have managed to do a budget trip that week.

 

[thelionqueen]

I would play the numbers game and look at the big picture, take all cost into account.

Staying off site -
1) Lower pricing per night, look for hidden fees such as how much to park at the resort per night? what is the resort fee? For instance DH and I just stayed in Jacksonville at the Crown Plaza the rate was good 129.00 per night was listed on the web site, then they add in resort fee was around another 30 dollar per night, then parking which was 15 dollar a night so that good rate really cost us 174.00 plus tax a night. Check out any other add ons such wifi, and such.

2) You will have your car to get back and forth to the parks, which takes up time = driving, parking, tram riding, monorail or boat ect. just to get to the parks, Paying for parking at the parks, as well as traffic in Orlando during Christmas is. Paying for gas

3) Sometimes the parks are at capacity during this time of year and then they close them... then you have to wait to get in.. or not.

4) No EMH, which really helps during peak times.

5) No dinning plan option - Character meals and sit down dining price go up during peak times as well. For us we love to see the characters in their holiday attire

6) No disney magic at the resort.

Staying on site:

1) The per night will be higher - no paying for parking at a disney resort -The price you see includes the resorts fees on line.

2) Transportation - you could drive to the parks but you will not have to pay for parking or you can use disney transportation. Less time wasted in the car to and from the parks.
3) EMH -You can get to the into the parks and stay late, and have less risk of not being able to get into the park of your choice

4) Dining plan is offered, there are options for every budget and touring style, we love... love being able to have everything paid for up front, except for tips and souvniers and the all important adult beverages.

5) There is something magical when you return to the resort at night and the Disney magic is all around you. Nothing can compare with that feeling... Magical

I wanted to add that during this peak year, with resorts & parks at capacity, Disney transportation will also be at capacity. In my many years of visiting WDW, I've never had a bus trip take less time to get to a park than having a car. Just my .02

 

[Desnik]

I'm trying to plan a budget Xmas trip too. We have a 9 day trip planned for this Aug using our points.(we are DVC members) But we don't have anymore to use or borrow so I have a delema! I can change our room size in Aug & have enough points to stay at SSR studio for 5 nights Xmas week. Or I can keep our current trip the way it is & we can stay at AOA for Xmas week in a LM room for $1000. We would have to drive because the airfare from NY is not budget friendly! We have done the drive before & I swore I wouldn't do it anymore but if driving is the only way to get a Xmas Disney trip then I'll do it! We could bring drinks, snacks & breakfast items & do 1 special diner & CS for our meals. I would upgrade our passes for our Aug trip to AP's but that's a lot of money! So I'm not sure what we are going to do.

 

[pigletto]

So guess who answered this post this morning and then spent the whole day pricing out Christmas options
I blame you labdogs42.

We already have AP's. We could attempt to rent points for a studio (if anything is available) or stay value to have access to the EMH and transportation.

Our dates would likely be the 28th or 29th to the 7th. Looking at crowd calendars it would be a madhouse until after New Years but then we'd have 4 or 5 days of moderate crowds which we've done before. So the focus would be on things other than rides for the first part of the trip.

If we drove we could do deluxe ddp so we could eat for entertainment those first few days (kidding.. sort of.)

We could go instead for a week in February but we've been fortunate to go a lot so I don't think anyone would be too traumatized by not getting to do and see it all. We'd just go with the attitude that we're there to enjoy the atmosphere, have some great food and deal with what comes.

We'd be driving essentially from Buffalo in the winter though which is an entire other set of worries.

Regardless.. the ball is rolling in my mind now and that's never a good thing

 

[thelionqueen]

So guess who answered this post this morning and then spent the whole day pricing out Christmas options
I blame you labdogs42.

We already have AP's. We could attempt to rent points for a studio (if anything is available) or stay value to have access to the EMH and transportation.

Our dates would likely be the 28th or 29th to the 7th. Looking at crowd calendars it would be a madhouse until after New Years but then we'd have 4 or 5 days of moderate crowds which we've done before. So the focus would be on things other than rides for the first part of the trip.

If we drove we could do deluxe ddp so we could eat for entertainment those first few days (kidding.. sort of.)

We could go instead for a week in February but we've been fortunate to go a lot so I don't think anyone would be too traumatized by not getting to do and see it all. We'd just go with the attitude that we're there to enjoy the atmosphere, have some great food and deal with what comes.

We'd be driving essentially from Buffalo in the winter though which is an entire other set of worries.

Regardless.. the ball is rolling in my mind now and that's never a good thing

Love this post! The Dis has saved me and COST me TONS of $$ over the years. Gotta roll with the tide sometimes...lol!

 

[Eeyore98]

I have two options priced out right now for future trips for us - August and December. I always look at flying vs. driving, offsite vs. on, etc.

The prices I have for a "drive and stay offsite" trip are virtually the same between August and December. The only difference would be if we choose to eat at a buffet or other fixed-price place like CRT...then we would be subject to the peak season dining price hike. But even then, that extra cost is fairly negligible.

In comparison, the costs for any trip that involves flights and/or staying onsite are obviously much more expensive around the holidays than in mid-late August.

Now, this does mean we'd have to be up and at the parks early (and preferably at a non-morning-EMH park), and have to pay for parking every day. But for what it would cost us to stay onsite instead, I'd say it's definitely worth it!

 

[brymolmom]

Not peak week but earlier in December. To save $$ we did this:

1) Since we mostly wanted to look at the decorations - we went for a shorter trip - 5 nights. It did save some cash.
2) We have non-expiring tickets that we use for shorter trips - we used 2 days of these and spent a full day resort hopping to check out the decorations plus we bought MVMCP tickets to hit MK on our 3rd park day (these tickets were NOT budget and, IMO, not worth the money at all).
3) We stayed offsite at Staybridge Suites LBV - got $75 a night for a 2 bedroom (that my sis and bil split with us - so $40 a night for us). This place really saved us $$ - it includes a FULL HOT breakfast - we had a huge breakfast every day...a very small lunch (that we would eat offsite or bring to park or have very small CS) and then dinner. Even with the $120 in rental car, gas and parking we saved a ton this way.
4) We only ate at one TS place - also got takeout from a couple places and bought a frozen pizza from the grocery store for a meal.

It was great. Would definitely do it again!

 

[Bell30012]

Psst, DVC! You can head on over to the point rental section here. DVC doesn't get more expensive at Christmas. Why? Who knows but I've used it to spend Christmas at WDW once. After seeing that crowd, I opted to not do that again.

 

[thelionqueen]

Psst, DVC! You can head on over to the point rental section here. DVC doesn't get more expensive at Christmas. Why? Who knows but I've used it to spend Christmas at WDW once. After seeing that crowd, I opted to not do that again.

Christmas is the highest number of points throughout the entire year. Earlier in December points are reasonable but Christmas week..no..very high point values to stay and are likely already booked with the exception on SSR & OKW which are both lower point values and great places! Definitely worth a try

 

[crazelion]

I have July 4th and Labor day at WDW. Once I stay onsite and offsite. We going Christmas week to WDW for a family reunion. Gasp we choosing to stay offsite for one because we getting awesome at Residence Inn in Lake Buena because all the family there before the cruise. I have family of five and no staying in mod or new family suites at WDW. Plus I can pay for the hotel room with Marroitt Gift cards and the hotel room will be free. I know to get there early and plan to stay the parks. Eat at off peak times too. I am crowd train already because I work at baseball park use to sold out crowds. LOL

 

[nepean]

We have spent two of the last three Christmas holidays at WDW. We stayed offsite both trips and got lucky with rates. The first time we stayed at HOmewood Suites just outside the east gates. It was a new hotel that had delayed opening and we booked in June and got a fabulous rate for two weeks. Last year we were there for 22 nights and got a great discount since we booked two rooms for such a long period of time. I called the hotel directly and asked for a long term rate. These rates were not non-cancelable. We drive from Ottawa, Ontario and we have hit really bad weather but with snow tires and being used to snow we just kept going. This year we are going after the new year for marathon weekend and a full month. Got a great off site long term rate. Check with hotels many are willing to make a deal if you are staying for 3 weeks or more.

Nepean

 

[MEM]

Just yesterday we booked a split stay during Christmas week at AKV Kidani Village and SSR. We didn't want to wait that long to book but we recently bought a resale of VWL and the points only appeared in our account yesterday. There was very little availability at any DVC resort in a studio.

We have APs so the big expense is the airfare - I was able to get SW out of T.F. Green for $140 each way which didn't seem too bad, considering the $500 RT we paid per person for Spring Break in 2011.

Airfare $1120
Food $800 for 8 days for 4 adults - highly variable - might do DDP
Kennel $270
Parking $130

Total $2320

 

[Bete]

Then do a 2 or 3 star off site resort that includes breakfast and preferably one that offers a true hot breakfast. Next, load up eating that included breakfast meal; so, it can last you all day until dinner. Some resorts have included shuttle service to the parks. You may have to pay a small fee for that service. I would drive because it will be easier not to eat on Disney property. Go grocery shopping and eat simple meals with what you buy. Bring your own snacks to the park. You can bring your own sandwiches, too for those with a bigger appetite. If you buy a park meal consider sharing the meal.

If park capacity looks like it's going to be an issue then arrive early and stay until you want to leave for the day.

You can get free ice and tap water in the parks. You can bring flavored powders to add to it.

I don't really find it that enjoyable to go during Christmas week and I rather go during the holiday season, but we like early December. It's much cheaper and much less crowded. I believe you can accomplish double the fun not going Christmas week. I understand pulling the kids out of school is a hassle; so, if that is your issue than you have less options. If that's the problem I would try Thanksgiving time. You will have the holiday season at that time, but smaller crowds. With a weekend and the two days off for that holiday the kids wouldn't have to miss too much school. It will still be busy, but not quite as bad. There are some free Disney dining promos around with pin codes right now; so, we are all hoping there will be a general public offer for the same free dining coming
along soon. In this case I would stay at the cheapest Disney value resort.

The other possibility is to find ways to cut your home budget now and put the savings toward the trip. For example, do not eat out for the rest of the year.

Disney is going to get their park ticket money out of you and there's no way around that situation. Since, you are getting annual passes you'll be okay for parking and you won't pay that fee.