Anyone tried a "Budget" trip at Christmas before?

[labdogs42]

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

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

Did I forget to mention that I'm the queen of enabling? Sorry about that! Maybe I'll see you in the World in December now!

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!

Yeah, I hear you about driving, but that's one thing we won't do to save $$. It is Auto Train or fly, so that's assumed in the budget. AT is looking good right now. Price is more than we payed last March, but not by much. We love having our own car there, too. (and we had it narrowed down to August or December, too!)

I understand pulling the kids out of school is a hassle; so, if that is your issue than you have less options.

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.

Yes, shooting to not take the kid out of school. That was a pain last March and he was only in first grade! Don't want to do that again.

Yep, AP's will save on parking. So, I'm going to keep researching off site hotels. We go to Disney enough that I like to try new things. We've done at least one of each class of hotels onsite, we've done a rental house, so maybe it is time for an offsite hotel! I'd like one with a nice pool so if we decide the parks are too crowded, we can go back and hang out at the pool. Off to research!

 

[sharonmickey]

Sorry OP - I don't have any money saving trips. However, I took DD and her fiancee to Disney this past Christmas. It was the best trip!!! We were able to go the week before Christmas and left on December 23 which was the day prices went up. If you decide to go I hope that your trip is as wonderful as ours was.

 

[*Seanaci*]

We've made the Christmas trek 2 times. First time was off property (2003)...and only 3 adults. Buses to/from the parks were a nightmare...and we often found ourselves taking a cab back to the hotel at night. Since we stayed off site, all meals were in the parks as we didn't want to waste time going back to the hotel and crossing the street to a fast food joint or sit down joint (where prices stay the same throughout the day).

2nd time we made the trek (2008) was 4 adults and a 14 month old. Knew we'd be staying onsite due to the bus nightmare in the 1st trip. Driving is never an option for us to Disney as we'd have to add 2 days on either end of the trip for driving time. So flying it was. Since we didn't buy DS a seat, airfare was cheaper for us. Thought Not sure if Autotrain would have saved us any money vs flying, but it is def something to look into for future trips seeing as we will now have to look at buying 5 seats vs 4 (we vacation with my parents because they are so attached to us and my son). As far as meals go, we were in a family suite at AllStar Music so ordered in some quick breakfast foods and snacks; as well as cases of water and pop/soda. We always ate our big meal at lunch as it was cheaper...and dinner was snack-ish food in the parks or if we were really hungry, we'd have counter service somewhere. We found the buses to/from parks to be packed, but well worth it as people on Disney transport (or so it seemed to us) were more willing to stand and let a mom and her kiddo sit down rather than stand for the ride (something that NEVER happened during our 2003 trip while staying off site).

As for the crowds...yes it was crowded. But if you can learn to let go of any notion of running from ride to ride and doing parks commando, you'll enjoy yourself. We each made a list of our Top 5 must do's (rides, food, parades, shows, etc) and made sure to hit each persons Top 5 (some of the Top 5 were a must do on each of lists).

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I just couldn't stay quiet, sorry. OP, good luck with your trip. We went last Christmas on our most budget trip, which in reality was really our most expensive trip. I would do it over in a heart beat, but to say it was budget, well, that was not the case for us.

Please don't get discouraged if you can't get to that magic number. After all it is Christmas, and how do you say no to an ice cream, special meal, etc. Christmas is a special time at Disney, so I hope you can keep it special and not have to keep worrying if it is in the budget. I really dislike being a scrooge, I am not. Just wanted to put it out there that maybe it really will be more expensive than you are thinking now when you get there.

 

[labdogs42]

I just couldn't stay quiet, sorry. OP, good luck with your trip. We went last Christmas on our most budget trip, which in reality was really our most expensive trip. I would do it over in a heart beat, but to say it was budget, well, that was not the case for us.

Please don't get discouraged if you can't get to that magic number. After all it is Christmas, and how do you say no to an ice cream, special meal, etc. Christmas is a special time at Disney, so I hope you can keep it special and not have to keep worrying if it is in the budget. I really dislike being a scrooge, I am not. Just wanted to put it out there that maybe it really will be more expensive than you are thinking now when you get there.

Budget to me means saving where I can so I can splurge on the stuff I want to splurge on. So, if I can stay offsite for $125 a night and save on parking by getting AP's which I can use again in August, that's my idea of budget. If I can take the Auto Train for less money than flying, that's budget. I want to hit some character meals, the Lego store, buy the Photopass CD, etc. So I'll do all of that and skip staying at the Wilderness Lodge (at least for this trip! )

 

[ShortStuff]

We went at Easter in 2011. We stayed onsite, renting DVC points. We had breakfast in the room, and QS lunch in the parks, off site and QS for dinner.

We found (and many will take this as blasphemy), that we did better crowd wise, avoiding the parks with EMH in the mornings.

The parks were crowded, the resort was crowded and the counter service locations were CROWDED, so we learned by day 2, that is was important to eat at odd times. Either early or late.

Our most relaxed meals were in our room, or off site. It was a blast, but crowded. Lots of park closures.

We were also there over 4th of July......very interesting is the best was to describe that. Reminded me of Disneyland on July 17, 2005.

 

[Nomad70]

We did a last minute Disney Christmas trip back in '09. We were able to get a good deal on a room at POR for a week and we got our tickets at the travel center on the military instillation we lived on at the time. We budgeted around $5000, but we didn't spend nearly that much for the 5 of us. We never do the DDP, just not economical in our case. We always budget everything, X amount for food, X amount for gas (we drive), X amount for resort room tips each day (I make little hand made cards and envelopes with $ everyday), X amount for each kid to spend per day. And so on...I want to say we MIGHT have spent $3000? We are not interested in spending lots of cash on souvenirs other then what the kids want (though they are just happy to be there!). And my husband and I always split our meals when eating out. We just don't eat that much. Oh, and we always use CASH, NEVER credit cards. We saved the cash over a month before we went. We loved Christmas at Disney World, it makes it that much more special. But, of course, Halloween is my all time fav! I wanted to say, the parks didn't seem any more or less crowded to us.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Budget to me means saving where I can so I can splurge on the stuff I want to splurge on. So, if I can stay offsite for $125 a night and save on parking by getting AP's which I can use again in August, that's my idea of budget. If I can take the Auto Train for less money than flying, that's budget. I want to hit some character meals, the Lego store, buy the Photopass CD, etc. So I'll do all of that and skip staying at the Wilderness Lodge (at least for this trip! )

I am really glad you look at it that way. We put together our budget, and it just didn't fly once we were there. As I said, I would never take it back and I would do it again in a heartbeat, I just would not have put a number in my head like I do with all my other trips.

 

[pigletto]

Well Captain enabler .. I did it. We're booked.

The ticker is staying the way it is because it's a surprise trip
We'll go the week before Christmas. I had a free dining PIN for that time and just decided to go for it. It will be our last Disney trip for awhile and it will be the major Christmas gift for the kids. One last trip out of the AP's as well.
I book my ADR's tomorrow. I've NEVER planned those this quickly
So looking forward to it!!!

 

[labdogs42]

Well Captain enabler .. I did it. We're booked.

The ticker is staying the way it is because it's a surprise trip
We'll go the week before Christmas. I had a free dining PIN for that time and just decided to go for it. It will be our last Disney trip for awhile and it will be the major Christmas gift for the kids. One last trip out of the AP's as well.
I book my ADR's tomorrow. I've NEVER planned those this quickly
So looking forward to it!!!

Nice! That sounds awesome! I didn't even pull the trigger on my trip yet! Way to go! I hope you have a great time!

 

[Alexander]

We visit WDW for Christmas every-other-year. We usually stay for 2 weeks. One week in a DVC using our points so no OOP expense there. The other week we stay at Bonnet Creek. We rent a two-bedroom villa that sleeps 8, has a full kitchen, 2 full baths, living room, and dining room. We are able to get this for $1,000 for 7 nights.

We do the parks very little as the crowds are insane. We have family in Tampa and Vero Beach so we spend some time with them. We usually will take in an Orlando Magic B'Ball Game and a Tampa Bay Buccaneer Football Game. This year we are going to Cirque with the whole family one night.

I order food from Dinner A'fare that feeds us dinners and leftovers for lunches.

 

[w84no1]

I have never been at Christmas time. I have been in Oct/early Nov 3 times. This year I have booked LM room at AoA for Dec 27 - Jan 5. This trip is a Christmas present for my 3 kids DS(7), DD(5), and DD(2).

To save money, I have been paying my reservation with Disney gift cards from Target (5% off with redcard) and this has saved me a few hundred. I use mypoints.com when I shop online and I have enough points to get a Landry $75 gift card (Yak and Yeti, T-Rex, Rainforest Cafe). I use a $25 gift certificate for a character meal at Garden Grove from restaurants.com ($2 on sale). I am not saving a ton of money, but every bit helps.

 

[CharlaA]

I am planning a budget Christmas trip for this year. So far my room costs are reasonable at ASSp, we will probably drive to save $, we will do tickets from Mousesavers/UT. I'm still working on the food part.

 

[tinkmom2]

We went in November. The closer you get to Christmas, the more expensive it is. We still had the "Christmas" experience with the MVMCP and the resorts were all decorated. We were also still able to get free dining which saved us a ton.

The only holiday we have celebrated at Disney is Easter. Just IMO I would rather have the extra money and not be penny pinching during Christmas. Also we come from a cold weather state and I was always afraid of getting snowed in here and not making it to Florida When we were down at Disney during Easter we had a blizzard back home and almost had to spend an extra day in Florida! Poor us!

 

[pigletto]

We went in November. The closer you get to Christmas, the more expensive it is. We still had the "Christmas" experience with the MVMCP and the resorts were all decorated. We were also still able to get free dining which saved us a ton.

The only holiday we have celebrated at Disney is Easter. Just IMO I would rather have the extra money and not be penny pinching during Christmas. Also we come from a cold weather state and I was always afraid of getting snowed in here and not making it to Florida When we were down at Disney during Easter we had a blizzard back home and almost had to spend an extra day in Florida! Poor us!

I understand the mentality to not want to be penny pinching during Christmas. I thought long and hard about that. What it came down to for me was that I always always spend more at Christmas than I intended to. I set a budget, and to be honest, blow it every time. We also celebrate Christmas with the extended family who all get the kids something. Usually what happens is that there is so much to open that I always walk away thinking "We could have bought HALF of that stuff and the kids would have still been happy."
So every year I shop sales and scale back a little more.

I am not willing to forgo Christmas all together. But what I am going to do is start picking up little things here and there now, and then each child will have a few things to open from us on Christmas still, but no big ticket items this year (no video game systems, iPods,computers ..whatever).
They don't need it and they are old enough to understand that the trip is a huge gift and be thankful for it.

 

[w84no1]

We went in November. The closer you get to Christmas, the more expensive it is. We still had the "Christmas" experience with the MVMCP and the resorts were all decorated. We were also still able to get free dining which saved us a ton.

The only holiday we have celebrated at Disney is Easter. Just IMO I would rather have the extra money and not be penny pinching during Christmas. Also we come from a cold weather state and I was always afraid of getting snowed in here and not making it to Florida When we were down at Disney during Easter we had a blizzard back home and almost had to spend an extra day in Florida! Poor us!

I decided to use Disney as the kids Christmas present when I asked them what was the best present they got from Santa last year and none of them could even remember.

I asked them about the last Disney trip from 2010 and they can give me every detail back. Made it an easy decision Memories over material stuff wins every time.

 

[labdogs42]

I decided to use Disney as the kids Christmas present when I asked them what was the best present they got from Santa last year and none of them could even remember.

I asked them about the last Disney trip from 2010 and they can give me every detail back. Made it an easy decision Memories over material stuff wins every time.

Curious how old your kids are? My DS is 7 and he does love Disney, but he loves Christmas, too. Trying to figure out if he'll "get" the trip is part of the whole Christmas gift thing. (of course, Santa will still bring some presents, but obviously less than some other years)

 

[w84no1]

Curious how old your kids are? My DS is 7 and he does love Disney, but he loves Christmas, too. Trying to figure out if he'll "get" the trip is part of the whole Christmas gift thing. (of course, Santa will still bring some presents, but obviously less than some other years)

6, 4, and 2 - they have so many toys that they don't play with any of them. Of course they will still get presents, but they are all going to be Disney themed this year. And no big ticket items

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Jessica, he'll get it.
I always ask my kids big Christmas at home or Santa and Mickey.
Santa and Mickey win every time!

We bring a small tree and some mickeyhead stockings I made. They get maybe 2 gifts under the tree and the full stocking and that's about it.

We've done Disney at Christmas on a budget before but we were also lucky with free airfare and free hotel points (Hilton DTD, very nice place and they had a bus to the parks). I also had AP's so all we needed to pay for was souvenirs and food (no table service meals that trip)
This year we are staying at the Fort for the first time. The gas for the RV is cheaper than flying now and less of a hassle than funneling 4 kids through security.

My BFF is coming with me and they are staying at All Star Music and they booked through AAA. I think she's in slightly under $5000 for 10 nights with the basic dining plan.

Just keep in mind if you choose offsite the parks will close due to capacity and the first to get shut out are those staying off site.

 

[labdogs42]

We visit WDW for Christmas every-other-year. We usually stay for 2 weeks. One week in a DVC using our points so no OOP expense there. The other week we stay at Bonnet Creek. We rent a two-bedroom villa that sleeps 8, has a full kitchen, 2 full baths, living room, and dining room. We are able to get this for $1,000 for 7 nights.

.

I'd like to hear more about Bonnett Creek. I like the idea of having lots of space, especially at Christmas time. I have always been interested in Bonnett Creek, but I never quite understood how it works. Any suggestions for booking? How do I get it for $1000? That sounds great!

6, 4, and 2 - they have so many toys that they don't play with any of them. Of course they will still get presents, but they are all going to be Disney themed this year. And no big ticket items

Yeah, Mine does, too. And he loves to buy stuff when we are on vacation, so part of his gifts might just be a big old Disney gift card!

Jessica, he'll get it.
I always ask my kids big Christmas at home or Santa and Mickey.
Santa and Mickey win every time!

We bring a small tree and some mickeyhead stockings I made. They get maybe 2 gifts under the tree and the full stocking and that's about it.

Just keep in mind if you choose offsite the parks will close due to capacity and the first to get shut out are those staying off site.

We will be taking the Auto Train, so I can pack our little fake tree in the car and sneak in a tote with gifts and stockings. As for getting shut out of the parks, if it is that crowded, I probably don't want to be in the parks anyway! How early do they usually fill up anyway? But, if we stay somewhere with an awesome pool and space to spread out in the room, I won't mind too much. We go to WDW enough that we don't have to be in the parks all day every day ayway. We will probably get AP's this year because we know we will be going back in August 2013 before we go on our first Disney Cruise! So, I'm less worried about getting shut out of the parks than I am about having space to stretch out and not spending an obscene amount on a room.