Are they pullin a fast one on me?

[SILVER52900]

Ok I am paying 2300 dollars to go to disney. These are the details of the trip. It is me and my boyfriend that are going. We are going July 9-19. We are staying for 10 nights at POP Century with the dining plan. We are also doing a 7 day park hopper. We didn't have any special discounts or codes or anything. We have until May 25th to change any aspects of the vacation. Do you have any suggestions on how to get our bill lower? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. By the way we only have 500 more dollars to go.

 

[Priorityonecb]

That price sounds about right to me. You could knock about $1,000 off if you could go in August or September during the free dining period.

 

[IDoDis]

Taking off the food plan would take around $650 off the price, but then you'd have to add back in what you actually need to spend for food. You could save a little by not doing the park hopper and just staying in a single park each day.

Did you book with AAA? You could get the package with them but would receive a discount on the room portion of the package, assuming there are rooms still available with the discount. That would shave between $100 and $200 off your bill.

 

[Samsma]

Also, you might want to subscribe to the June/July codes watch to see any new codes that come out, and www.Mousesavers.com.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

You could save some money by booking everything separately instead of booking a package.

10 nights @POP w/ AAA discount = $938
2 7-day MYW Base tickets from a discount broker = $412
Food for 2 people @$20pp per day = $400
Total = $1750 (saving you $550 over the cost of a package)

Of course, there are some drawbacks to the above plan. You won't eat as well as you would on the dining plan. You won't be able to park hop (that would cost you an additional $66). And, it would also be dependent on whether there are AAA rooms available for your dates and whether you have a AAA membership.

If your dates are flexible and you can wait until August 13 to take your vacation, then you could do the free dining plan. The same package that you currently have booked would only cost $1380. And that's without needing AAA or sacrificing the great meals that you would get on the dining plan.

 

[LakeAriel]

$20 a day to eat? The given estimate is $50 a day per person. Disney is not cheap! With all that walking you'll want to be well fed and hydrated! How come for August Pop comes up at $111.00 per night? Seems high. I stayed there last Septmeber (end) for $77 per night.

 

[Luv2Roam]

I thought the same -- $20 pp a day to eat. Yikes!
It could be done. But I would not want to do it unless I HAD TO.
Counter service would only go so far with us...

 

[zurgswife]

Go in Aug or Sept

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

$20 a day to eat? The given estimate is $50 a day per person. Disney is not cheap! With all that walking you'll want to be well fed and hydrated! How come for August Pop comes up at $111.00 per night? Seems high. I stayed there last Septmeber (end) for $77 per night.

It is possible to eat for $20 pp per day. You don't eat well (all counterservice, breakfast in the room, shared meals, no soft drinks or bottled water - just drinking fountains and tap water). There are people who do it sucessfully. For someone who wants to do Disney on a limited budget, food is one area where you can control your costs.

September is Value Season for the value resorts, The majority of August is not. Hence the difference in price between your Sept. 2005 resort costs and the cost of staying in Aug. 2006. That $111/night also includes the tax, which your $77/night probably did not. Tax at POP is 11.5%, at the AllStars it's 13%.

 

[annie1995]

Tax at POP is 11.5%, at the AllStars it's 13%.

Why is there a difference??!!

 

[DVCLiz]

It is possible to eat for $20 pp per day. You don't eat well (all counterservice, breakfast in the room, shared meals, no soft drinks or bottled water - just drinking fountains and tap water). There are people who do it sucessfully. For someone who wants to do Disney on a limited budget, food is one area where you can control your costs.

This just sounds miserable to me. Ten days with just tap or drinking fountain water? Shared meals at counter service places only? Breakfast in the room every day? Sorry, but I'd rather not go if I had to scrimp THAT much.

I don't think the OP was asking how cheap she could get it - just some general ideas to shave that package price a little.

 

[AlleyKat]

For someone who wants to do Disney on a limited budget, food is one area where you can control your costs.

Budget or no budget, I agree!

 

[LakeAriel]

It is possible to eat for $20 pp per day. You don't eat well (all counterservice, breakfast in the room, shared meals, no soft drinks or bottled water - just drinking fountains and tap water). There are people who do it sucessfully. For someone who wants to do Disney on a limited budget, food is one area where you can control your costs.

September is Value Season for the value resorts, The majority of August is not. Hence the difference in price between your Sept. 2005 resort costs and the cost of staying in Aug. 2006. That $111/night also includes the tax, which your $77/night probably did not. Tax at POP is 11.5%, at the AllStars it's 13%.

Thank's Lisa. DVC has different value/peak times. I was curious!
As for food, dining, especially at Epcot, is one of my favorite activities at Disney. I wouldn't survive on $20 a day! With the new dining plan for $18 more you have two great meals a day plus a bottle of water or other snack. I'd skip a park day first and swim!

 

[annie1995]

It is possible to eat for $20 pp per day. You don't eat well (all counterservice, breakfast in the room, shared meals, no soft drinks or bottled water - just drinking fountains and tap water). There are people who do it sucessfully. For someone who wants to do Disney on a limited budget, food is one area where you can control your costs.

When we went in 2004, we were on a limited budget. We did eat breakfast in our rooms, all but one day, we ate at POP's food court. We brought botteled water from home, saved a ton right there, we did eat at all counter service places, with the exception of one night we ate at Rainforest Cafe. We bought the refillable mugs from our hotel, so thats where we got a lot of the extra drinks, coffee, tea, etc. We ate just fine, the CS choices throughout the parks are great, you will never be without a lack of food choices. I can't remember what it cost us per day, we are a family of 4 two adults, and two kids. You can try and book through AAA, and see what that would save you. Hope I helped you in some way!

 

[lark]

Why is there a difference??!!

Different counties.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

This just sounds miserable to me. Ten days with just tap or drinking fountain water? Shared meals at counter service places only? Breakfast in the room every day? Sorry, but I'd rather not go if I had to scrimp THAT much.

I don't think the OP was asking how cheap she could get it - just some general ideas to shave that package price a little.

Oh, I agree that it wouldn't be enjoyable dining. And I don't think that I would ever try it myself (except for the water thing, I rarely drink soda and I bring a filtered water bottle that I refill at the drinking fountains). But there are a lot of people who look at a Disney package and the restaurant costs and they decide that Disney is too expensive to ever go. If they get creative with how they dine, they can cut costs. The $20 pp/day is an extreme example, but I've seen people on the Budget Board do it.

As for food, dining, especially at Epcot, is one of my favorite activities at Disney. I wouldn't survive on $20 a day! With the new dining plan for $18 more you have two great meals a day plus a bottle of water or other snack. I'd skip a park day first and swim!

Believe me, I'm with you on that one! If I could dine my way around the World Showcase, I'd be a very happy woman! I think that the dining plan is a great value for adults who want to purchase a package. Free dining is even better. That's why we tacked on a few days at WDW prior to our cruise this summer.

I guess I just wanted to let the OP know that there were options available to cut the cost of her trip. When everything else is pretty much set in price (park tickets, room rates, airfare), dining is the one area that you can adjust the spending to fit your budget. Good luck to the OP in whatever way she decides to go!

 

[DISUNC]

Ok I am paying 2300 dollars to go to disney. These are the details of the trip. It is me and my boyfriend that are going. We are going July 9-19. We are staying for 10 nights at POP Century with the dining plan. We are also doing a 7 day park hopper. We didn't have any special discounts or codes or anything. We have until May 25th to change any aspects of the vacation. Do you have any suggestions on how to get our bill lower? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. By the way we only have 500 more dollars to go.

We are also staying at the POP from 7/23 to 8/2 (10 nights) with a 10 day parkhopper + (waterparks,dq). There are just 2 of us me & my 12 year old nephew (adult in the eyes of disney). With the AAA room discount it comes to 1528.00!

The 3 day difference on the tickets is only maybe 12.00 (not much at all). It is the dining plan costing you the extra $. Figure out if you both are really going to eat 70.00 a day (not the excact amount, but close). That will bring down the bill $700.00. Then again you will lay out the $ while you are there. Try the AAA discount too.

Once you go with the dining plan, and add up the days...it seems rather hefty! For us it wouldn't work, since my nephew eats like a bird....and I really only need one good meal a day. A hot dog or a trip to McDonalds for lunch/dinner is fine by me! Also when we are down in WDW, I usually have a nice lunch in one of their restaurants. It is the same food as dinner, only much cheaper. Then we usually go back to the hotel swim/np breaks. For you two the dining plan may be great!

Good luck & have Fun!