Budget cut by 1/3-so sad :(

[Drewandwendi]

Due to an unexpected hospital stay for last week(grrr), our Disney budget has been cut to about $1750.00. This includes tickets, food, and any expenses other than the hotel stays and gasoline. I had so hoped to purchase 10 day plus, non exp. tix so that we could save 5 days for our next trip. What do you suggest we do now? We are staying off property, and the room is paid for. We will be there for 7 nights/6 days. We definitely want PH'ers, and I would like to take the kids to Disney Quest. Right now we have 3 PS's. There will be myself, DH, DD 12 and DD 6. Please make me feel less strapped!!

TIA,
Wendi

 

[littlestix]

Hi---- I only have 1 tip.....I would stick with expire tickets so that you have more money for this trip. If you get 10 day/no expire it will eat up ALOT of your buget because your 12 yr. old is considered an adult. I wish I had more advice but I'm seeking some for myself for my Oct. trip. Good luck,I know someone will be by to help you.

 

[antbritt]

Hi---- I only have 1 tip.....I would stick with expire tickets so that you have more money for this trip. If you get 10 day/no expire it will eat up ALOT of your buget because your 12 yr. old is considered an adult. I wish I had more advice but I'm seeking some for myself for my Oct. trip. Good luck,I know someone will be by to help you.

I definitely agree
10 day PH NO expire tix for your entire family are 1289 dollars on the WDW website or you could get 7 days PH w/expire for 855. I know that there are some discounts avilable but it wont make taht much of a differnce to buy the 10 day ones.
Good Luck
Hope your feeling better though

 

[CarolA]

I would go with the 5 or 6 day tickets that expire and skip Disney Quest. DQ is a lot of money or you have to add the "plus" options and you aren't going to use much of those. The saving over the "Deluxe all frills" 10 day ticket are going to be about $200 a person.

Where are your PS? You might cut back one.

 

[eeyore45]

I also understand, only it was my 19yr son that spent time in 3 hospitals!! Thank goodness all's good!! (he had a 6mm kidney stone, between stents, shockwave therapy, CT scans, and his college, it was 3 hospitals! eesh!!)

Budget tips, eat more in room foods, bring snacks and water, remember you're in Disney, a bad (low cash) day at disney is better than a good day at home (in snow!!)

You CAN do it, put your mind at it, and rest easy!!

 

[soccermom5]

try discount florida tickets, after alot of ticket pricing this seems to be the best good luck The Dis will get you there

 

[Drewandwendi]

CarolA-PS's are at Crystal Palace, Whispering Canyon, and Gullivors. Crystal Palace is a MUST, but the other 2 can be cancelled. Whispering Canyon is for lunch, so much cheaper than Gullivors. Which do you think will be more enjoyable to the kids if we only have to cancel 1?

I agree that we will be better off going the 7 day PH sans plus. It will be cheaper to just pay the admission price to DQ if we REALLY want to go.

Eeyore45-Shew-sounds like your DS had a rough time. Glad all is well now. I picked up MRSA (Masive Staph infection) while DH and I were out of town for our anniversary. 2 weeks later, I landed myself a nice little suite at the local hospital w/ a disgusting amount of antibiotics then came home with a PICC line and home IV. Just had the line taken out of my arm today WOOHOO! **NOTE: I will be traveling with Lysol and disposable toilet seat covers!! Our anniversary trip of overnight ended up costing us several thousand dollars.

Thanks for the suggestions. Please keep them coming. I'm still not at ease with such a small budget.

Thanks!!
wendi

 

[ptrbryant]

Oh my gosh, I'm so glad that you're better! Do you know how you got the staph infection? Our extended family has dealt with it too many times (in our case, each time the staph infection happened at a hospital itself).
We're also going in October and are trying to pare down the money needed. I have to agree with the others...don't go with the 10-day non-exp. if you don't have the cash now. I figured that if we bought the 7-day exp. php, it would be fine--even though I liked the idea of the "savings" of the 10-day deal. It's never a savings if it's putting you in debt!
One other thing, my DH and I were just saying that we often feel so over-stuffed after some WDW meals...this time, we're going to try to split some meals and that will take a big chunk out of our dining expenses. For example, a burger at Sci-Fi Dine In is 1/2 lb.---really, a 1/4 burger is more than enough, esp. when the fried practically need a whole plate by themselves!

Best wishes,
Karla B.

 

[kilee]

On our way home from Disney in 2002 my DH got bilateral kidney stones- w/ a MRSA infection from the stent placement. We had no insurance and the bills added up to more than my mortgage.

We are in the same trip budget crisis as you. We have airline tickets for 4/12-4/20. Without going into the whole saga-- it looks like we can still go but the trip budget has gone down to nil. We too were going to buy longer tickets so we'd have them for next time. We're actually down to only 2 park days now. We're also only doing 1 PS. Hopefully it's warm and sunny because this trip is going to be more about relaxing and swimming at the pool. It's still 2 days at disney and 8 away from the snow and cold--- so I'll take it even if I have to penny pinch this time!

 

[Drewandwendi]

Karla, yes, I picked it up at a casino in Biloxi, MS. I know the EXACT place it came from. This is gross and probably TMI, but I sat on a toilet seat and in urine. I remember going, "Oh, GROSS", but it was too late. I had to GO so bad and decided not to squat. TRUST me, that wont happen again. MRSA is generally picked up in a healtcare facility, but I was lucky enough to pick it up elsewhere. I am very lucky though, as there are 2 patients in the hospital with it now. One is a 15 yo gilr that has been in there over 2 months, and the other lady has been in over 3 weeks. I caught it early, and my docs were very aggresive. I NEVER want this again. To top it off, DH broke his foot, came down with the Flu-stomach and regular, and almost cut his finger off while all of this was going on, so he was out of work (no pay) as well.

Anyway, I guess I will go back to my original plan, which is to make trips back to the hotel (on 192, 1 mile from ?World Dr.) for lunch and to eat breakfast in the room. I am a Low Carb'er, so sandwiches dont really work for me, but there are plenty of other options. We are doing this trip with all cash, as I refuse to pay for our vacation after the fun is over. DD 6 and I will share meals when possible, but DH(big guy) and DD 12(skin and bones-metabolism to die for) are big eaters. I'm guessing $100/day in the parks, but will shoot for much less. I just dont want to panic if we decide to eat in the park instead of going back to the room, KWIM?

Ok, I will close the jabber jaws!!
Thanks again!!
Wendi

 

[C.Ann]

Karla, yes, I picked it up at a casino in Biloxi, MS. I know the EXACT place it came from. This is gross and probably TMI, but I sat on a toilet seat and in urine. I remember going, "Oh, GROSS", but it was too late. I had to GO so bad and decided not to squat. TRUST me, that wont happen again. Wendi

-------------------

Wow! You can get a serious staph infection that way? I'll have to make EXTRA sure that my granddaughter NEVER EVER sits down on a strange toilet!!!! So glad you are okay though.. I once had to come home with a PIC/IV line too.. Had a nasty case of gas gangrene in my right hand and almost had to have it amputated.. Two weeks in the hospital recovering from surgery and a month of IV at home was enough to make me extra, extra careful about a repeat performance, but somehow I never even thought about staph..

I'm sure you'll still have a great time.. Sometimes "budget" trips turn out to be the best!!

 

[Drewandwendi]

Yikes, C.Ann! Yes, Staph is highly contagious. I am in serious search of disp. toilet seat covers. I know they make them, but not sure where I have seen them. I am also looking for small cans of Lysol. One will accompany us in our beloved backpack, that's for sure. Lysol has to sit on a surface for 5 minutes, and until dry to really take full effect, BUT spraying and wiping will often do the trick as well. Another "killer" is something called Rocal. This can be mixed and pkaced in a small squirt bottle. It also has to dry tho. Again, better than nothing!

 

[seashoreCM]

If you have yet another trip in your sights, do everything possible to get the 10 day non-expiring pass. YOu save money in the long run.

Can you make do without park hopping?

You should be more careful about not touching food with fingers. This is one advantage of sit down restaurants. Just about everything you touch at WDW, handles, railings, doorknobs, ride seats and cabins, etc. could have more bacteria than the toilet seats.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/dispass.htm

Once I was with a group of people and we were trying to decide where to go for dinner. I suggested "Let's go to a place where the food is customarily eaten with fork and knife, not with hands or chopsticks". I was not interested in McDonalds or Pizza Hut.

 

[seashoreCM]

On our way home from Disney in 2002 my DH got bilateral kidney stones- w/ a MRSA infection from the stent placement. We had no insurance and the bills added up to more than my mortgage.

Consider filing for bankruptcy. Not necessarily to actually go all the way through to CHapter 7 (you can if you wish), but to induce creditors to knock off the interest and (particularly hospitals) cut you a break on the original amounts charged.

It is not immoral or unethical to do something taht results in a discount given begrudgingly or reluctantly, if you were charged more than they get for treating insured patients.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Hi DrewandWendi!
I'm so sorry to hear about your string of bad luck. Doesn't it always seem as if it all comes at once? I'm glad that you're thru the worst of it. You certainly deserve a Dsieny trip now.

With only $1700 and change to work with, you'll need to pare down the extras a bit. Forget the 10-day passes for now. It's not worth going into debt over them. Get at least the 5-day MYW Base ticket ($198/$159 at Ticketmania) and at most, go with the 5-day MYW Hopper (expiry) for $228/$191. Although your DD12 is certainly old enough for DQ, the 6yo might not enjoy it as much. I suggest skipping it until the next trip. That would save you the cost of the Magic Plus option or 4 DQ passes (about $92 at Ticketmania).

For the meals, I would keep the CP PS and the Whispering Canyon PS. Drop Gulliver's. If you notice that money is tight as your week progresses, skip Whispering Canyon.

Bring your own water bottles into the parks. Buy Crystal Light or bring iced tea/Koolaid to add to the water if you're not big water drinkers. This will save you a bundle on water or soda costs. Share meals when possible. Look for deals like the Meal Plus program at AK or order kids' meals if you're not a big eater. Do breakfast in the room...oatmeal, bagel & cream cheese, fresh fruit or juice, coffee from the coffeemaker. Plan on ordering a pizza to share for dinner one night.

You can still do this and have a wonderful time. Remeber, it's about being there and being together. Everything else is just icing on the cake.

 

[Southern4sure]

Hi Drewandwendi !! Former Mobilian here - until about 2 months ago.

I think a $100. a day is doable with the exception of the PS's. Are these for lunch or dinner? If the PS are for lunch, trust me, you wont need a big dinner later. If the PS are for dinner, eat light most of the day or you wont be able to eat all the food. We ate a light breakfast at the Main St Bakery...for under $20. It was me, DH, DS 14 and DS 8. Sure it didnt feel us up, but it was light and quick. Does the hotel your staying in provide any sort of breakfast? If you were to purchase your own filtered water bottles, you can get free ice water at the counterservice rest. then you would not have to haul around all the water bottles you brought...that gets heavy. Keep in miind, at WDW when you order, you get HUGE portions, even at the counterservice. At the sit down rest. your DD 6 eats well for around $5.00 from the kids menus. Go to www.allearsnet.com and you can see most if not all of the rest. menus and prices. For the low carber, dont forget about the smoked turkey legs...$5!!

PM me if you have any questions.

Southern4sure

 

[Colinsmom]

Yikes, C.Ann! Yes, Staph is highly contagious. I am in serious search of disp. toilet seat covers. I know they make them, but not sure where I have seen them. I am also looking for small cans of Lysol. One will accompany us in our beloved backpack, that's for sure. Lysol has to sit on a surface for 5 minutes, and until dry to really take full effect, BUT spraying and wiping will often do the trick as well. Another "killer" is something called Rocal. This can be mixed and pkaced in a small squirt bottle. It also has to dry tho. Again, better than nothing!

Target has 5-packs of toilet seat covers for about 99 cents in the aisle where they have their travel toiletries! They are by either Charmin or Cottonelle. While you are there, grab a couple of bottles of Purell by the soap aisle - those come in very handy at Disney!

Hope that this trip is much less eventful than your last trip!!

 

[Local_Girl]

Drewandwendi,

We're scraping also to pull together enough for our trip in---accckkk---27 days!! While I'm excited that the trip is quickly approaching, DH and I are in panic mode, LOL!! We've had some unexpected medical and car expenses come up as well and it's been a struggle to save for the trip. Fortunately, we're driving and both the tickets and our hotel stay are paid for. We're staying offsite in a condo (12 days) and will eat all breakfasts and at least 6 dinners in...and we plan to do picnic type lunches whenever possible. We are taking my MIL for her first time to WDW and had planned to pull out all the stops to show her a great time...but instead we're having to tighten our belts quite a bit. Thank goodness she is so easy to please and has no expectations about the trip (except for LOTS of walking!!).

I agree with what's been posted regarding where to cut back to save some $$. Breakfast in room, meal sharing, taking snacks, bringing your own water, etc. are great ways to save on food expenses. Keep your most special PS or 2 if you can and pick the counter service locations to get the best bang for your buck...considering both food and theming. I would also skip DQ unless the 12 year old is REALLY counting on it, and if so, perhaps he could go with one parent while the other does something with your youngest (pool time or DTD perhaps?).

Hope you and your family have a wonderful trip, in spite of budget restrictions! Just being at WDW is magical!!

 

[canwegosoon]

You've gotten great advice.
I'll add my money savings advice.Get double burgers and an extra bun, bring a Brita bottle with you, try to skip sodas(using icewater w/crystal light or brita), do a very late character meal as a Brunch if you must do a character meal. Try to have a pool/ dtd day, take the DVC tour (there's usually some kind of give away, and no pressure to buy) If your family really wants to do DQ, give up something else. Take Mears or a taxi (if magical express isn't operating yet). Bring your own or Eat as much counter service as possible. Check out Earle of Sandwich @ DTD.
Read http://www.mousesavers.com/meals.html, and I like www.itasoftware.com to check flights.

Good Luck, have a great trip!!!

 

[HenDuck]

I'm glad that you're feeling better. When we returned from Samoa, my DH and another friend both had nasty staph infections. The doctors in the US didn't appreciate how nasty and both guys had to bear repeat rounds of high dose antibiotics. Yuck!

As for us, we've been going through a similar situation. We have yet to book our trip for next spring, waiting for the frequent flier dates to come due.

I originally wanted to stay at a deluxe WDW resort, then decided it would be wiser to stay at a vacation home, like we did in '99. Now the budget continues to get cut even farther (maybe no jacuzzi, smaller home, maybe condo or townhouse?...you get the picture... )

We may have to pay taxes this year.

We will probably have to replace one car this year.

All of our home improvements are costing more than we thought they would.

It just never ends.

Soon, my trip will have evaporated into nothing...

I am still budgeting and scrimping and hiding extra money here and there and hoping for the best.

I know how you feel.

Good luck!