Budget vacation planning help!

[Jennifer in MI]

Can all you budget minded Disney people help me with our next trip? We're driving down to Disney in January (7 - 14) and we're looking to make this as inexpensive a trip as possible (we're saving to go to Europe next year!!). We are a family of 6 - dh, me, ds13, ds12, ds9, and dd3 (ages at time of travel). This is as cheap as I can get it - around $2200.

Here's what I've got:

Drive down and back: $200 (if gas prices stay at $2.50, we stay with my sis halfway, we pack our own food and snacks)
Condo: $300 (we're splitting the cost of a 3 br with my bro and SIL)
Food: $200 (this is double what I spend at home, but I added some for convenience foods)
Tickets: $1300 (base 7 day from UT)
Parking: $84
One dinner out: $150 (or so - Cinderella's Royal Table for dd and me, Whispering Canyon for the boys)
I am not budgeting anything for trinkets. The kids have their own money to spend and we don't buy souvenir stuff usually. So, I think we'll be at $0 for that!

My questions:

1. If you have chosen to cook your own food, how do you do it? Breakfast is obvious. Lunch - I think I'll just pack sandwiches and sides and put it in a locker each day (is there a charge for these?). Dinner? I was thinking of going back to the condo each day with dd (she still naps) and cooking something simple and taking it back to the boys and eating it at the park. Any other options? The older kids will not want to leave the park midday!!

I know that AK closes at 5 in Jan. So, that day we'll just all stay until 5 and go back to the condo for dinner.

2. Is there any way to get cheaper parking?

3. Cheaper tickets? Those are just SO expensive! We are still considering an AP and taking a second trip down. (Actually, I was hoping to go this Sept/Oct during free dining, getting the APs then and using them for our Jan trip. Then, maybe we could go down one more time next year. But I'm not sure I want to feel obligated to go to FL just because we have APs. KWIM? Thoughts?)

4. Any options I'm not thinking about?

I'm a bit nervous about this trip. We've always stayed on property and gotten the meal plan. So, I'm worried this won't really feel like a vacation. Any good, fun stories while staying off property?

Thanks!!

 

[VAN]

Just a couple of things regarding leaving the parks and then going back. January is "normally" a slow time for WDW and the park hours are generally quite a bit shorter than other times of the year. Also, once the sun goes down it is very dark and cool. In other words, days at the park will be much shorter than during the spring/summer/fall months. I've been there in January before and it really gets dark fast. Even when you are staying on-site, it's like you are in bed by 9:00 pm !!!

Because you are staying off-site, you will not be able to take advantage of the EMH either.

I'd suggest you pack PBJ sandwiches, pringles, carrot/celery, etc to take in and plan to stay the entire day. If your kids need some down-time/nap, try going to one of the theatre-type attractions (think HOP at MK, AA at Epcot, etc). These are a great way for everyone to relax and get a few minutes of shut-eye. Riding the train at MK or the TTA can also be relaxing.

If you are at MK, you could also exit the park, ride the monorail or boat to GF and just relax on one of the lobby sofas. It can be quite peaceful and relaxing mid-day in their lobby, which is HUGE. Then just hop back on the monorail and re-enter the park.

Otherwise, it looks like you have everything really budgeted out. Since you have been to WDW before, I will not offer anything else other than to plan on staying the entire day.

Yes, they do charge for lockers, but I haven't used one in a lot of years so couldn't tell you the price.

 

[stahshee]

we eat breakfast in our Condo. We sometimes go out for lunch insted of dinner (we do it at our mid day break) We go back to parks then we come back and do pbj at night.

 

[DawnM]

We got APs this year and will use them for almost 6 full weeks total throughout the year! WHOOHOO!

Part of this is because DH's job insists that because of budget cuts they will no longer allow all of the carry over of vacation days (mostly because people were stocking them up to retire early with!) so he is having to use up his saved days or lose them.

We do SkyAuction condos and eat most of our own food.

The cheaper we can do Disney the more we can go back!

Dawn

 

[TiffanyK]

Here's a link to an article on my blog about how we packed food to be "assembled" at our rented house last year. We planned our meals just like we would have planned ADRs, taking into account which park we would be in and what time we would want to be at the house. Sometimes we ate lunch at the house, sometimes dinner.

 

[HeatherC]

Did you book your condo already? Reason I'm asking is because at that time of year you should be able to get one through SkyAuction or condodirect.com for about $300 total. That would drop your lodging to $150 and save you $150.

If anyone in the family works for the govt....federal, state or town, you can also rent them from govarm.com or getravelop.com.

We prefer staying offsite actually. Just like the space and freedom to spread out in different rooms. More vacation like for us.

As far as dinners or lunches we've done the following:

Rotisserie chicken and salad and some bread from Publix
Frozen Meatballs with Sauce/Pasta...my daughter actually prefers this cold the next day.
Bag Salads with some frozen shrimp cocktail for protein.
Cook up a box or two of frozen fried chicken...you can take that to the parks the next day with some veggies and good cheese.
Taco Salad...make tacos the night before and throw everything together in the morning in tupperware for a cold salad at lunch.
Throw a steak on the grill and slice for the next day. Yummy with salad and crumbled bleu cheese.


Hope this helps!

 

[Mama Steph]

Hey stranger!! We stayed in a 5 bedroom vacation home in April and only ate TS once and CS twice. We had cereal or bagels for breakfast every day. Bagels were good when we were running late because I could just put cream cheese on them and toss em in a bag and we could eat them in line or as we walked through the parks. For lunch we took sandwiches (the guys made these every morning while mom and I got everything else ready). We also took apples, peaches, pretzels, cheese, crackers, granola bars, etc. We used a big bag cooler that we set in the 2nd seat of the double stroller. By the time a 2nd kid needed a ride, the cooler was empty enough that I could put it underneath. We froze about 6 water bottles each night as our ice packs and pulled them out as we got thirsty. We put all the snacky type stuff in snadwich or snack bags. More wasteful that i like to be but it was so nice at the parks when someone got hungry they could just grab a bag of something and I didn't have to ration it out.

We went home some afternoons for a midday break and other days we stayed at the park until a bit later and went home for the night. Our dinner times/plans were never set since we liked to just see how everyone was doing. We had plenty of food at the house that we would cook when we got home. Burgers, oven ready pizzas, premade pasta that just needed to be reheated, etc... We did get an ice cream bar or popsicle just aboiut everyday but we planned that ahead of time. Definately could have gotten away with only once or twice if we had told the kids ahead of time but that was our splurge everyday and kept us from all the other snack in the parks.

I wanted to precook a bunch of meals and freeze them and toss them in a cooler for the drive down but dh nixed me on that idea. You could certainly go that route though and have very little to do once you're there.

As for tickets, we ordered our with the MS link for UCT. It saved a bit but our tickets for 9 of us were still more than our rental house. I'm going to see what AAA has right now. I would love to also get their preferred parking pass. I am thinking about buying 7 day base tix this August and upgrading to APs to use when we go back in April and then sneak in another trip in June or July before they expire. And what do you mean you don't want to feel obligated to go to FL because you have APs? I can think of no better reason!! I would only get the APs for myself and the 4 youngest though as dh and ds1 would not be going in August and would most likely not go back next summer.

We need to plot (oops, I mean discuss) this more. Lets get together for coffee or at least a good long phone chat soon!!

~Steph

 

[runwad]

I do like most of the previous posters, stay offsite, eat in our condo, pack our lunch in a backpack cooler to take in the parks, go home and eat dinner. One thing I didn't see mentioned was bringing a crock pot. We like to put roasts or chicken in the crock in the morning then when we come back at night dinner is served. We had room on the drive down to bring all of our own food, so we had the frozen roasts, chicken and we even brought our own pasta sauce for dinner one night. We loved to eat out on our screened porch, since we don't have this at home the kids now associate it with vacation and look forward to it.

 

[lisajl]

Here's a link to an article on my blog about how we packed food to be "assembled" at our rented house last year. We planned our meals just like we would have planned ADRs, taking into account which park we would be in and what time we would want to be at the house. Sometimes we ate lunch at the house, sometimes dinner.

Wow! I just looked at your blog...you eat better on vacation, than we normally do here at home! Wow! That food looks great!

Lisa

 

[Jennifer in MI]

I'd suggest you pack PBJ sandwiches, pringles, carrot/celery, etc to take in and plan to stay the entire day. If your kids need some down-time/nap, try going to one of the theatre-type attractions (think HOP at MK, AA at Epcot, etc). These are a great way for everyone to relax and get a few minutes of shut-eye. Riding the train at MK or the TTA can also be relaxing.

If you are at MK, you could also exit the park, ride the monorail or boat to GF and just relax on one of the lobby sofas. It can be quite peaceful and relaxing mid-day in their lobby, which is HUGE. Then just hop back on the monorail and re-enter the park.

Otherwise, it looks like you have everything really budgeted out. Since you have been to WDW before, I will not offer anything else other than to plan on staying the entire day.

Yes, they do charge for lockers, but I haven't used one in a lot of years so couldn't tell you the price.

Thank you! I hadn't thought about the GF for the day we're at MK! Dd and I will definately do that for some down time. If I remember correctly, the AK closed at 5, MK at 8, and Epcot at 9 that time of year. I don't remember HS time. So, it's really only the MK and Epcot days that I will need to find a place for her. She'll make it to closing at AK and then we'll leave for dinner.

Thanks again!

we eat breakfast in our Condo. We sometimes go out for lunch insted of dinner (we do it at our mid day break) We go back to parks then we come back and do pbj at night.

That's a thought - lunch back at the condo. But now I'm worried about the time it'll take. Thanks for the idea!

We got APs this year and will use them for almost 6 full weeks total throughout the year! WHOOHOO!

Part of this is because DH's job insists that because of budget cuts they will no longer allow all of the carry over of vacation days (mostly because people were stocking them up to retire early with!) so he is having to use up his saved days or lose them.

We do SkyAuction condos and eat most of our own food.

The cheaper we can do Disney the more we can go back!

Dawn

Wow! 6 weeks! That's awesome! My dh can take vacation when he wants, but I don't think I could ever convince him to take 6 weeks off! He's a bit of a workaholic. You are really lucky!

Here's a link to an article on my blog about how we packed food to be "assembled" at our rented house last year. We planned our meals just like we would have planned ADRs, taking into account which park we would be in and what time we would want to be at the house. Sometimes we ate lunch at the house, sometimes dinner.

Thank you!!! I bookmarked this. You meals look really good!!! I hadn't thought about planning meals like we did ADRs. Makes perfect sense!

Did you book your condo already? Reason I'm asking is because at that time of year you should be able to get one through SkyAuction or condodirect.com for about $300 total. That would drop your lodging to $150 and save you $150.

If anyone in the family works for the govt....federal, state or town, you can also rent them from govarm.com or getravelop.com.

We prefer staying offsite actually. Just like the space and freedom to spread out in different rooms. More vacation like for us.

As far as dinners or lunches we've done the following:

Rotisserie chicken and salad and some bread from Publix
Frozen Meatballs with Sauce/Pasta...my daughter actually prefers this cold the next day.
Bag Salads with some frozen shrimp cocktail for protein.
Cook up a box or two of frozen fried chicken...you can take that to the parks the next day with some veggies and good cheese.
Taco Salad...make tacos the night before and throw everything together in the morning in tupperware for a cold salad at lunch.
Throw a steak on the grill and slice for the next day. Yummy with salad and crumbled bleu cheese.!

Thank you!! Yes, we did book our condo. We got the rate of $466/week at Windsor Hills. I will definately look at Skyauction, but I spent SO much time researching places that I'm not sure I want to do that all over again. But, I'll definately look.

Thanks for the food ideas too! I've written them down. I love how you reused dinner for lunch the next day! Makes it really easy.

Hey stranger!! We stayed in a 5 bedroom vacation home in April and only ate TS once and CS twice. We had cereal or bagels for breakfast every day. Bagels were good when we were running late because I could just put cream cheese on them and toss em in a bag and we could eat them in line or as we walked through the parks. For lunch we took sandwiches (the guys made these every morning while mom and I got everything else ready). We also took apples, peaches, pretzels, cheese, crackers, granola bars, etc. We used a big bag cooler that we set in the 2nd seat of the double stroller. By the time a 2nd kid needed a ride, the cooler was empty enough that I could put it underneath. We froze about 6 water bottles each night as our ice packs and pulled them out as we got thirsty. We put all the snacky type stuff in snadwich or snack bags. More wasteful that i like to be but it was so nice at the parks when someone got hungry they could just grab a bag of something and I didn't have to ration it out.

We went home some afternoons for a midday break and other days we stayed at the park until a bit later and went home for the night. Our dinner times/plans were never set since we liked to just see how everyone was doing. We had plenty of food at the house that we would cook when we got home. Burgers, oven ready pizzas, premade pasta that just needed to be reheated, etc... We did get an ice cream bar or popsicle just aboiut everyday but we planned that ahead of time. Definately could have gotten away with only once or twice if we had told the kids ahead of time but that was our splurge everyday and kept us from all the other snack in the parks.

I wanted to precook a bunch of meals and freeze them and toss them in a cooler for the drive down but dh nixed me on that idea. You could certainly go that route though and have very little to do once you're there.

As for tickets, we ordered our with the MS link for UCT. It saved a bit but our tickets for 9 of us were still more than our rental house. I'm going to see what AAA has right now. I would love to also get their preferred parking pass. I am thinking about buying 7 day base tix this August and upgrading to APs to use when we go back in April and then sneak in another trip in June or July before they expire. And what do you mean you don't want to feel obligated to go to FL because you have APs? I can think of no better reason!! I would only get the APs for myself and the 4 youngest though as dh and ds1 would not be going in August and would most likely not go back next summer.

We need to plot (oops, I mean discuss) this more. Lets get together for coffee or at least a good long phone chat soon!!

~Steph

LOL Steph! It was so much fun stalking (um, I mean following) you on Facebook while you were at Disney. I was SOOOO looking forward to your updates and pictures. Thanks for your help with this. I love reading how other families work this out.

Oh yes! We definately need to get together - a phone call just isn't the same!!! And, I could use a night out. All this baseball is starting to drive a mom crazy! (Actually, it's the keeping-the-three-year-old-happy-so-mom-can-watch-baseball that's driving me crazy!!!)

I do like most of the previous posters, stay offsite, eat in our condo, pack our lunch in a backpack cooler to take in the parks, go home and eat dinner. One thing I didn't see mentioned was bringing a crock pot. We like to put roasts or chicken in the crock in the morning then when we come back at night dinner is served. We had room on the drive down to bring all of our own food, so we had the frozen roasts, chicken and we even brought our own pasta sauce for dinner one night. We loved to eat out on our screened porch, since we don't have this at home the kids now associate it with vacation and look forward to it.

Crock pot - check!!! I don't know if we'll have room to bring our own food. I was planning to have it delivered to make it easier for us. Eating on your own screened porch sounds like a lovely vacation memory for your kids!!

 

[englishteacha]

It might be fun to go on a grocery run when you get to FL. Let the kids pick something special that they don't normally get at home. They sell "Mickey Bars" in the grocery store there! They're not the same as the ones in the parks, but they're still cool. I don't know what it costs to get groceries delivered but I'm usually too cheap to pay someone to do something for me that I can do myself.

You're there from the 7th-14th? Will you actually go to the theme parks all 7 days? If not, maybe cutting down to 5 or 6 day tickets would be an economical change. I know it's not much cheaper to go 5 days vs. 7, but it might be worth checking. I haven't stayed at Windsor Hills but I've read that they have some really cool facilities-theater, pool, etc., so maybe your family would like a hang out day with a DTD evening?

 

[flamingglobessigmund]

If I had to do this, I'd take my:
crock pot(s)
rice steamer
bread machine
portable grill

Meat and veggies into the crock pots (frozen corn does really well in the crock pot)
Get the rice cooking at nap time and set on warm until dinner
Bread machine timed so the bread is ready when we get in (get boxed bread mixes)
grilling some nights so DH can give me a break from cooking

 

[Jennifer in MI]

It might be fun to go on a grocery run when you get to FL. Let the kids pick something special that they don't normally get at home. They sell "Mickey Bars" in the grocery store there! They're not the same as the ones in the parks, but they're still cool. I don't know what it costs to get groceries delivered but I'm usually too cheap to pay someone to do something for me that I can do myself.

You're there from the 7th-14th? Will you actually go to the theme parks all 7 days? If not, maybe cutting down to 5 or 6 day tickets would be an economical change. I know it's not much cheaper to go 5 days vs. 7, but it might be worth checking. I haven't stayed at Windsor Hills but I've read that they have some really cool facilities-theater, pool, etc., so maybe your family would like a hang out day with a DTD evening?

Do you know how much it is to get groceries delivered? I hadn't checked in to it, but wanted to save time. I usually like grocery shopping, but in a strange store, I get all turned around and frustrated - especially with all my kids with me! LOL

Yes, we're there from the 7th - 14th. Right now, the price on UCT is the same for a 5 day as a 7 day. We thought we'd go ahead and get the 7 day so that we have the option of going to a park the first night we're there - and not feel like we're wasting a full day ticket on a few hours. Actually, on the 14th we're going on a Disney Cruise (another reason this portion of the trip needs to be cheap!). So, I thought maybe we could use the 7th day on the way back home.

If I had to do this, I'd take my:
crock pot(s)
rice steamer
bread machine
portable grill

Meat and veggies into the crock pots (frozen corn does really well in the crock pot)
Get the rice cooking at nap time and set on warm until dinner
Bread machine timed so the bread is ready when we get in (get boxed bread mixes)
grilling some nights so DH can give me a break from cooking

Great ideas - thanks!! I hadn't thought about bringing my bread machine - but it's a wonderful idea! I also love the idea of dh cooking!!!

 

[TiffanyK]

We had groceries delivered last year from We Go Shop. I can't remember how much it was, but it was so worth it. The service was fantastic. I made a list that said things like "hamburger buns - cheap store brand" and "enough cut fruit for 13 people". The woman who did our shopping did a superior job. She delivered it right on time.

We packed much of the food on dry ice (see that link above), but there were some things that just don't travel well and it worked to order those.

 

[mom4graceandlogan]

On a side note, when planning out your days take into account you will be there during marathon weekend, so take traffic into account, some roads will be closed. Even with the marathon the parks are not that busy. I will actually be there the same time. We will be staying at a DVC kitchen and we usually go for at least 10 days so on our last trip I started trying to think of things to eat in the villa. I was going to start freezing meals 2 months ahead, basically make an extra Lasagna, spagetti etc. to spread the cost out and keep it easy. I would not bother to go back to the room cook and bring it back, I would just pack more in the cooler, Grilled chicken wraps, cold pizza etc. would be fine. I am even going to grill chicken in advance and bring it. I think as tricky as meals are snacks, real budget busters , but it is nice to have a little extra for a popcorn(which smells so good when your there etc.) We save money buy sharing our treats. Buy 2 churos for the 4 of us, 1popcorn later etc. Saves money and gets you a bite of the treat etc. One thing to consider since you still have time is to have the kids ask for disney dollars as presents in lieu of gifts for any birthdays or Christmas for their "treat money". Also pack snacks in baggies in the morning and start planning that way in advance. For instance our family loves Cheez its, they pack easy, and Target has them on sale for $1.75 and has sent out a coupon. I got triscuits for .88 a box last week with coupon. If there is something your family loves and it goes on sale in October go ahead an buy it(assuming not expiring). Adding $2.00 here and there to your grocery bill in the fall is easier than the $100.00 of snacks you buy all at once right before the trip.