Budget planners needed - planning July trip - help!

[polkadotladybug]

Hi everyone -
We got a magic code that everyone talks about - LOL - so we booked 8 nights at Pop - at $59/night WOOHOO! for July 1-8. We did the room only option to get the great rate. I considered upgrading to preferred, but when I talked to her - they didn't have any preferred rooms left - I can always check back though. Plus when you do room only, you have a smaller down payment and don't pay for balance till you get there (which gives me more time to save up versus balance paid in full at 45 day mark).

We are debating on the food program, but honestly think we can eat for cheaper that 700 bucks - I would love to do it for a few days, but the whole time - nah. We are frugal and share meals, so we can do a couple character meals. I also don't like the stress of having dinner reservations every night - sometimes we are in the middle of doing what we are doing and like to just grab some food whereever we are. Plus sitdown dinners take a good amount of time to sit down for....LOL The food amount is incredible though and it seems like an awesome deal and I toy with the thought, but at this time - we aren't doing it.

I am looking at different rates for a 7 day hopper pass (no waterparks /does expire) - The rate from Disney is 871.18 - NOT IN A PACKAGE -but purchased separately - is cheaper than if we got the same exact thing but rolled it into a package. WHy - I have no idea! I don't have the figures in front of me, but the CM even thought that was wierd. ANyway - I am also checking into the prices at Ticketmania and elsewhere - a 7 day pass is a 7 day pass, no matter where we buy it -right?

IT would be two adults and two children (ages 8 and 5)


My question is - if we do room only - and they buy the tickets separately from Disney (not in a package, but in advance) or from Ticketmania or elsewhere, do we still have all the charging privileges and the one card for everything deal? Meaning - if we get tickets elsewhere - will we have our room key and then our tickets separately? Will we be able to send purchases back to the hotel? Will we be able to charge all our purchases to our room, so as to avoid carrying a credit card around?

Is this the best deal? Quite frankly - my head is swirling with all the figures out there.....LOL Am I missing something? We would like to be in the parks for 7 days - (well maybe 6 even if we decide to stay 7 versus 8 nights, but cost from 6 to 7 is what 2 dollars? LOL)

Can anyone give any tips towards cutting our costs? We bring breakfast foods, snacks, sodas and bottled water - and brought sandwich stuff so that when we went back to the room - we would have lunch, swim, nap then shower and go out around 5 or 6 so we could stay out late.

A package gives me peace of mind, but being more expensive for the same thing combined with payment being needed so much earlier - makes it a not-so-hot deal.

Any "disney planners" wanna take me under your wing and help?

RIght now -the costs are -

$526 8 nights at Pop Century
$871.18 - 7 day park hopper MYW passes (2 adults, 2 kids - 5 and 8)



I'm off to take my little one to preschool - I'll check back later -

Thanks in advance!
Carol

 

[canwegosoon]

Are you signed up to recieve Mousesavers newsletter? If not you should...great info on tickets!!!

Did you think about getting the 10day no expry? On this trip you could do 5 days and 1 day at Blizzard beach or Disney Quest/DTD and a resort character meal. Then on your next trip ( ) you could do the same thing.

You are right to book everything seperatly. I also agree with littleones you really end up sharing a lot of meals. Plus it can take up a lot of time to have sitdown meals.

We budget $100 a day for meals/ some sovies. How are you set for airfare or are you driving? You are going to do the disney transportation right? You are doing great!!

 

[fam4jc]

Unless Disney comes out with a package deal you are better off keeping your great room only rate and purchasing your tix seperately. I would not recommend a pref room at the Pop. I hear that lots of their rooms are just great - ask for a particular building go to the pop thread and ask a few questions. If you are going to bring food, are you going to bring a cooler or get the fridge? The fridge is small and cost $10 a night (just fyi). I would recommend bringing a cooler if you are driving. YOu can fit a gallon of milk in a cooler - I don't think one would fit in those tiny fridges.

You can't add the dining option to a room only reservation so don't worry about that. You can eat very well if you bring your own snacks, drinks, and breakfast items. You could even bring sandwich fixings for some smaller lunches. Nobody really eats 3 full meals a day at disney. That's alot of food b/c their servings are generally very big. Look for the best bargains on the types of foods your family likes ie: the buffets, meals you can split, etc. Try looking at allears.net.

I would plan on having aleast one character meal. It really is fun. Breakfast is the cheapest and if you can get a very early reservation (like 8am) you are in the park before it opens - way cool!

I just bought my 2 dd's their myw park hoppers at ticketmania. No problems at all and a little cheaper - there was a link from the mousesavers news letter. I don't think you can get the newsletter now and we aren't allowed to forward it.

I don't like to stress about money on my vacation. I have a goal in mind on daily budget for food and extras, but I always provide a little more just in case things are more expensive or something comes up that we want to do or eat taht I hadn't originally planned. What I'm saying is it's always a good idea to give yourself some wiggle room!

Have a great trip!

 

[O2BNWDW]

If you put a credit card down when you check in you will have room charging privileges. And yes your tickets will be seperate from your room key if you purchase them from an outside source.

As long as you are staying on Dis Property you will be able to send purchases back to the room.

Hope this helps!