Budget advice for fantasy family trip to WDW

[ChiCat]

I would really like to take my one brother and his family (wife and 4 kids) to WDW. This is totally a daydream right now but I've been thinking about it a lot. So before I get my hopes too far up I thought I would come to this board and get some practical advice first.

There would be 8 of us, 4 adults, and 4 kids aged 8-3 (the twins are 8). My brother and his wife wouldn't be able to pay for any of the trip it would be one of those unicorn "gift trips" from my and my DH.

I'm guessing we would have to rent one of those big vans from Enterprise (DH and I don't own a car and my brothers car isn't big enough for 8 people) because airfare could easily be $200 a pop and that puts us at $1600 right there although $1600 isn't the end of the world.

If we were to spend 4-5 nights at WDW, what would you suggest as far as keeping the trip as budget friendly as possible? If we flew instead of driving would two value rooms on WDW property be the cheapest option? And how much would you think a trip like this would cost total?

A big part of my hesitation is I have another brother with 3 kids, and his kids are terrible (he knows this, he doesn't discipline them at all) so I refuse to take them anywhere. So it's unfair and I know he would never say anything but I worry it would hurt his feelings.

Thanks

 

[HeatherC]

I personally think staying offsite in a villa is the cheapest and most relaxing way to go since you have a kitchen, several bathrooms and bedrooms, etc.

If anyone is a govt. employee, (teacher, town, city, state, etc) you can rent great places through GovArm.com and Getravelop.com for about $300 a week! SkyAuction also has condos in the same price a lot of times.

You can also rent a three bedroom at Bonnet Creek for around $110 a night including all taxes and fees. These units sleep ten people.

By doing this, you can eat breakfast in your jammies, make snacks for the kids and even a few easy dinners for far less than a restaurant. You would have to buy food at home, so just use your grocery budget that week to stock up. Maybe your brother can chip in on that since they would be buying groceries at home anyway. Things like a rotisserie chicken and bagged salad don't really require any effort if you don't want to cook.

Bring some drinks and snacks into the parks to save some money too.

For tickets I would sign up for the Mousesavers newsletter and buy them through the link at Undercover Tourist. I would not pay to park hop since a lot of time can be wasted going from park to park and budget is a concern.

You could also look into the YES program for tickets which would save money too.

Hope this helps give you some ideas! I know you will get some great advice on here.

If you want a character meal, consider it for lunch instead of dinner since it is cheaper.

 

[thehowells]

there are tonnes of house rentals available
i have found some on kijiji that rent 5 bedroom houses for under $1000 a week

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

If it were me, I would look at the Values with free dining during value season. 2 Value rooms still gives you plenty of room and 2 bathrooms. Being a Grand Gathering, they will try to get you as close together as possible. Take some breakfast items, snacks, and bottled water to take to the park.

I took my cousin and her 3 children and her sister, they stayed at Pop and DH and I stayed at AKL. We found it so much easier to stay on property, but we don't like to stay off property anyway, it's too much of a hassle.

 

[marmalade]

If it were me, I would look at the Values with free dining during value season. 2 Value rooms still gives you plenty of room and 2 bathrooms. Being a Grand Gathering, they will try to get you as close together as possible. Take some breakfast items, snacks, and bottled water to take to the park.

I took my cousin and her 3 children and her sister, they stayed at Pop and DH and I stayed at AKL. We found it so much easier to stay on property, but we don't like to stay off property anyway, it's too much of a hassle.

I will also suggest the Values during free dining. We did something similiar last year. We had 8, 5 adults and 3 kids and we stayed in 2 rooms at ASMU during free dining (end of August) and with flights from Buffalo, NY and the dining upgrade our total was around $4,500 for everything. That was for 8 flights, 2 preferred rooms at ASMU with the dining upgrade and 8 sets of 5 day tickets with park hoppers.

 

[mrsklamc]

If you stay onsite then you would not have to rent a car...BUT staying offsite offers a huge savings as far as food if you don't mind cooking.

We had an extended family trip with 11 people, and it was our second stay at Windsor Hills. It was wonderful- there were five bedrooms so folks could spread out, but a joint pool/hot tub and pool table for group hangout time as well.

 

[dfchelbay]

Maybe look into renting a member's DVC points. If they are unable to bank their points for some reason, they will rent them out for cheap. You may be able to get a 2 or 3 bedroom villa for just the price of the points, and they come with a kitchen, so you can save money by cooking a few meals in the villa. Staying on site will get you Disney Express from the airport too, so you can save on the car rental.

 

[Kay1]

I would get a big house with a nice pool and avoid Hoppers.

 

[kisaacs]

We're going next summer with 6 adults and 2 kids. After doing lots of pricing, we found that a house with a pool off site made the most sense for us. We found a 5 bedroom house with 2 "lightly" themed rooms (one Mickey and one Minnie) that sleeps 10 for $102/night in Indian Creek. We're staying for 10 days for $1020 including tax.

That allows us to eat breakfast in and spend the money on things we really want to do - like going to the parks and eating with the characters. We can't do the dining plan this way, but I think it'll still come out cheaper, and with much more space. The space is especially nice with little ones who go to bed earlier or nap during the day (ours will be 3 and 4).

Good luck!
Kristen

 

[hineshm]

I agree with finding a house or condo to rent outside of Disney property. It will be much cheaper.

I also think that if at all possible go on the off season.

You can eat breakfast and dinner at the house. I know it is vacation and everyone does not like to cook, but you can make a lasange and freeze it at home then bring it with you. You can also cook other dishes and freeze and transport with you. This will save you money and you will not be cooking the whole time on vacation just heating the food up.

Driving will be the cheapest way.

If your brother and his family have never been to Disney, just buy the base ticket without park hopping.

 

[blessedby3]

I was just pricing a trip a couple of hours ago. We are a family of 6 (well, dd21 will be getting married before our next trip--so she probably wont go). My dmom wants to go, so I am back up to 6. We usually get 2 rooms at POP when we want to do a more budget trip, and free dining is the best route for us as breakfast/lunch/or dinner for 6 gets expensive (even with CS).
The prices I have for us for next Nov:
9 nights
8 day base tickets
2 rooms at POP (not preferred)
free dining (assuming it is offered again)
TOTAL= $3999.44.
We will drive unless I find a terrific deal on flights.
I also priced out Bonnet Creek. I know this sits right beside POP and I wouldnt mind staying here, but I dont want to go off property. I was given the price of $120/night for a 2BR and $180/night for a 3BR (so Im not sure where HeatherC found a price of $110/night for a 3BR--but thats a great deal if it is true!).
So at Boonnet Creek it breaks down like this:
$120/night x 9 nights= $1080
8 day base tickets (5A, 1C)= $1631
Parking x 8 days= $112
Food for 6 ($65 meal (CS) for 5A and 1C x 2 meals a day)=1170 (This doesnt include any snacks....you get 2 per person per day on the CS dining plan)
TOTAL= $3993

So, for $6 more I can stay on property and use WDW transportation, have access to EMH, etc. When I put in for Room Only discounts, the savings are not as good. Free dining works for us and we love the CS plan so no need to upgrade.
Basically 9 nights for 6 people right under $4000. 4-5 nights for you with all the kids being under 9 would be quite a bit cheaper!
Its so nice of you to do this for your brother and his family

I went ahead and checked prices for you...5 nights, Nov 26-Dec 1, 2 rooms at POP,free dining (if offered), 5 day base park tickets:
Room 1--$1615.36
Room 2--$1615.36
TOTAL=3230.72
This is the time frame we are going...the week after Thanksgiving. It may be a bit more depending on the time of year you go.

 

[gk90]

You've gotten some good advice already.

As to driving vs flying, with 4 adults you can share the drive, and you don't need a big big van. Toyota Siennas and Honda Odysseys both have 8 seater models, and since the kids you're going with are small you should be ok--a bit cramped but doable, we've done it twice, 4 adults and 4 kids in a Sienna. Our ride was 1125 miles each way.

We rented a Sienna from Hertz 2 years ago and liked it so much that we bought our own last year. I just found out that our local Toyota dealership also does rentals. You can also look up threads on car rental deals on the Transportation board.

 

[blessedby3]

You've gotten some good advice already.

As to driving vs flying, with 4 adults you can share the drive, and you don't need a big big van. Toyota Siennas and Honda Odysseys both have 8 seater models, and since the kids you're going with are small you should be ok--a bit cramped but doable, we've done it twice, 4 adults and 4 kids in a Sienna. Our ride was 1125 miles each way.

We rented a Sienna from Hertz 2 years ago and liked it so much that we bought our own last year. I just found out that our local Toyota dealership also does rentals. You can also look up threads on car rental deals on the Transportation board.

We own a Toyota Sienna 8 passenger van and just this past June we piled 8 people in it (DH, Me, DD21, her friend 21, DS16, his friend 16, DD12, and DD3 in it for a 9 hour drive to WDW). We had a car top carrier on the roof and while it was a bit crowded, I would do it again. Rentals can get so expensive.

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

Just a bit of a reality check on the airfare. Southwest has the cheapest non-stop flights to Orlando and even using them with tax you are looking are more like $250-$300 per person for airline tickets. So that's more like $2,400 budget. You can go through Direct Villas and rent a 4 bedroom vacation rental home for less than $100 a night and have a kitchen to fix breakfast in every day. Since you would only be staying 5 nights it would probably be a better deal if you could book 2 value rooms and get free dining for everybody. But if you can't get free dining, staying offsite would be cheaper. You are looking at almost $300 per adult for 5 day tickets plus two hundred and something for the kids tickets. So at least $2,000 for tickets unless you start adding water park or hopper options then it will be more. I wouldn't feel guilty about not taking your other brother to Disney if his kids are really bad. Especially if they are bad and he knows it but won't do anything about it then he doesn't deserve to get taken on a vacation. He deserves to stay home with his bratty rotten kids and long for a Disney trip. I have a pet peeve with ppl who won't make their kids act right and let them be little brats. Which is quite a lot these days.

 

[mistysue]

We find the value hotel during value season with free dining to be the best value. I don't want to have to grocery shop and cook when for $100/night we get 2 free meals each and they drive us around. Plus, we use the refillable mugs while we are eating and use the meal plan to get a bottled water or juice for later. You can save your desserts for snacks later. Then snack credits for breakfast- lunch and dinner are included in the room price.

 

[kerplop]

Keep in mind a few things with value hotels. One the beds are double/full sized so sometimes getting two adults into one can be kind of a struggle especially if you're used to bigger beds. And since you can only have 4 people per room in a regular two-bed room, you will either have to put all the kids in one room or split the kids with you. Since the youngest is too old to be an infant, you can't just get a king size and have the infant in there. Also room connecting is not guaranteed so you may end up with rooms across a hall or down a couple doors - which means you need adults in each room. If all of that is okay for you I would recommend a value with free dining. With that big a group it'd be nice to have your meals all set up and it's not too horribly expensive to bump up to the regular dining plan from quick-service if you want to go that route.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

We find the value hotel during value season with free dining to be the best value. I don't want to have to grocery shop and cook when for $100/night we get 2 free meals each and they drive us around. Plus, we use the refillable mugs while we are eating and use the meal plan to get a bottled water or juice for later. You can save your desserts for snacks later. Then snack credits for breakfast- lunch and dinner are included in the room price.

That's a great idea.

Dh and I stayed off property one night in Dec 2010, it was only supposed to be because we were arriving late and I had some rewards points that I needed to use, well we ended up arriving earlier than expected and went to the MK, even with just the 2 of it it was a major hassle to get to the parks and back to the hotel that evening. I have never been so happy to check in at Pop as I was that next morning and I have vowed that I will never stay off property again.

 

[Bonniec]

Staying on property is awesome, but it is SOOOO much cheaper to stay off property when you have a group of 5 or more. We can never afford to stay on site.

Last time we stayed at the Palisades resort and it was awesome! It's about a 10-15 minute drive for $100ish a night. 3 bedrooms, living room, 2 bathrooms (one with a soaker tub), full kitchen, and washer dryer.

You can also rent a three bedroom at Bonnet Creek for around $110 a night including all taxes and fees. These units sleep ten people.

Okay, do share! I loved Pailsades but Bonnet is RIGHT THERE, lol

 

[HeatherC]

Blessedby3 ...I really did get a 3 bedroom at Bonnet Creek for $110 a night. We are renting through 5starresortvacations and staying April 12-22.

I actually found out about them here on the Dis boards. Other places to rent from wanted more money...(vacation Upgrades, Farrell's, etc) the most expensive was $130 for a three bedroom...so $180 sounds very high.

Hope this helps someone out!

 

[Bonniec]

Also, other ways to save money.....


1. Don't eat at the parks, or eat lightly. When we go, we snack at the parks. They have some wonderful snacks for under $5 that will fill you right up. The bakeries are the best, plus you can usually find a yummy sandwich for $6.
I will also eat kids meals or share an adult meal because they are a decent size.


2. Don't buy drinks at the park, they are so expensive. Sometimes I will buy a soda, but usually in a kid's meal...or I will hot up Club Cool at Epcot for free soda. Beyond that, get ice water from the quick service vendors. It's free.

3. Bring snacks with you into the parks. We eat meals at our hotel and then snack on Disney food or whatever we bring in.


4. Save up by adding money to Disney gift cards. You can keep adding to them and that wa you won't be able to spend what you saved up on anything but Disney. There are some online places to earn extra cash from surveys and stuff, like Quick Rewards. I earned $100 in just over a month and my Disney gift card is in the mail.