Can anything be lowered on my budget?

[worm761]

Anyone care to help me lower my budget? LOL We have some different priorities right now so no trip in the budget. Of any kind, not just Disney. But we have had a really really rough year. Lost relatives, lost a pet, lost members of our military family to orders all during furloughs. And we are looking at more furloughs again next year. To say I really need a break is not an understatement. BUT if I want to pay for a trip then it has to come from somewhere other than the household budget. Enter rewards programs. I think I might be able to pull off a trip. Hoping anyway.

So here goes...We are Florida residents but 8 hours away from Disney. We are a family of 4. DH and I, DS will be 18, and DD will be 4. I figure we can take a cot or blow up mattress for DD. I also figure we can take breakfast with us so we only have to eat 2 meals in the parks. Also, we cannot share foods. Just not gonna happen. DS eats too much. DH eats his own meals. And I refuse to eat the mac and cheese DD insists on eating. She is fairly picky (I know, my fault, but she is at about 5% on the weight scale so I let her eat what she will eat).

Here is my budget:
200 - gas (most likely less but I would rather over budget here)
800 - resort Sun to Sat based on current discount for October
900 - weekday select passes (cheaper than the FL 4 day hopper)
600 - 2 meals per day in the parks not including 2 Epcot day/evenings
300 - Food and Wine Festival booth eating guesstimate for 2 day/evenings

Grand total is 2800.

Any suggestions or have I gotten it as low as it can go? I don't want to give up Food and Wine. Not sure if that budget is too low or too high yet. I figure I will tweak it when the prices for the food this year come out.

 

[kiramay]

What kind of things do you plan to eat? Table service, character meals, quick service? Your dining budget might be too low. We did 1 buffet a day for 5 days and only 3 other QS meals, and spent close to $1000 for 2 adults and 2 kids (2 year old ate "free" at the buffets).

We ate breakfast in our room, packed snacks and water for the park, and really filled up at the buffets.

 

[ilovemk76]

Here is my budget:
200 - gas (most likely less but I would rather over budget here) Your MPG and miles is not negotiable. So this is a set number.

800 - resort Sun to Sat based on current discount for October This is set by your resort choice. Costs could go down by staying at a cheaper place.

900 - weekday select passes (cheaper than the FL 4 day hopper) This is a set amount based on how many days you want in the park and the passes you picked.

600 - 2 meals per day in the parks not including 2 Epcot day/evenings What kind of meals are these? This would be $600 for 5 days of eating. I believe this number is too small. That is only $120/day for 6 adult and 2 child meals plus snacks.

300 - Food and Wine Festival booth eating guesstimate for 2 day/evenings This is definitely too little. That is $150/day for two meals. DH and I did the F&W festival. We spent $100 at just dinner time. We had drinks and split items.

Grand total is 2800.

See red above

IMHO, your estimate is too low. I would add about 50% more for food. Are you planning on buying anything?

 

[scanmom]

You can get a condo for much less than staying onsite, and you will have a lot more space and a kitchen. You can pack a crock pot and food and make easy meals to eat in. Just put them in in the AM, then take a break from the parks at about 4 PM for an early dinner, then back to the parks for evening fun! This will save you TONS of money. Plus, I bet you will be much more comfortable with the extra space. We have 4 children, and we stayed offsite many times. It's not a big deal to drive to disney. In fact, many times we were so glad we weren't waiting for a bus with the mobs!!

 

[delmar411]

You can stay offsite for much less

You can bring items to pack for lunch and eat either a cheapie dinner in park or go off site for cheap - hit up cici's or sweet tomatoes

Park tickets and gas are pretty much set

F&W is pricey. We spent around $200 there in just one evening. I'd pick your favorites and price those out, I believe the menu is available online.

 

[tink2dw]

Food and Wine Dates - September 27 - November 11, 2013

800 - resort Sun to Sat based on current discount for October

If understand properly You are staying On Resort Property, Sun to[thru]Sat?? Isn't Friday, Saturday 2 of most expensive days??

3 Adults and 1 child, it is extra hard to find beds for 3 Adults. For Instants,
Value, Pop Century - Bedding - 2 double beds or 1 king bed,
All Star Movies - Bedding: 2 Queens or 1 King bed.

Moderate,
Caribbean Beach -Bedding: 2 double beds -
Port Orleans Resort - Riverside, Bedding: 2 double beds, Bedding: 2 queen beds and a trundle bed

900 - weekday select passes (cheaper than the FL 4 day hopper)

So, these are not useable on Sat or Sun! 2 of your 7 days?? won't this mess with your plans?

Check out www.MouseSavers.com - prices increased for 2013

Are you a Military Family check this out,
http://www.wdwinfo.com/discounts/discounts-military.htm#tickets

 

[HeatherC]

Check into offsite. SkyAuction, GovArm, Getravelop, condodirect, all have rentals for like $350 for an entire week...including taxes!

That alone will easily knock $400 to $500 off your budget.

Don't forget to include your weekly food budget into your budget since you would still have to eat at home. That could be more money for eating out.

I always cut back on groceries the month before we vacation and save the difference for vacation. Amazing what I can save if I know vacation is in a few weeks.

Crockpots are great in a condo. We also will pick up a rotisserie chicken and bagged salad for dinner, takeout fried chicken, grill a steak, pizza, etc. Only takes a few minutes and you can save a ton on food.

We have also eaten a huge lunch and then just snack for dinner. Works great at buffets like Crystal Palace since lunch is less money than dinner. We eat a big breakfast in our villa, book a late lunch and then just snack for dinner. This works great if you don't want to leave the parks and come back.

Have a great trip!

 

[Keli]

Last two trips we've stayed at Wyndham bonnet creek. You can usually get 2-bedroom condo for average of $100 a night. Awesome place! Love it.
We use their transportation, so no parking fees.
I cook breakfast at condo every morning (or we eat cereal, toast, etc). We pack heavy snacks in our backpack and take that with us. We'll usually just snack while at the parks but last trip it seemed like we ended up eat counter service there fairly frequently too.
Then in the afternoon/early evening we leave and either eat dinner at a local restaurant or my husband will show off his grilling abilities (huge gas grills for guests at bonnet creek). I've also cooked in the condo a few times too, depending on what everyone was in the mood for at the time. We have all adults on our trips so everyone pitched in to help. If its only you doing the cooking then you might want to avoid cooking dinners (I would!)
Cheapest way to go for sure, IMHO and also the most freedom/least pressure for me. Plus I LOVE all the extra space.

 

[tzeitel]

If you are military then check their tickets/room discounts

I usually budget $100 for food per day for our family of 3 if we are doing CS. I do pack breakfast stuff and some snacks so that budget is for 2 meals and a snack each.
Disney does offer FD during Oct so that might help with the food budget.

Target has the 5% discount when using their card - 5% off is better than nothing! We have bought $1000 worth of Disney cards for $950. That money and the cards I have accumulated from reward sites is our food budget on our upcoming trip.

I signed up for the Landry's loyalty program (actually signed up DH since his bday is in Oct) which is $25 to join but they give you that money right back as a welcome reward. On DH's bday month (and 15 days of the following) they give him a $25 reward. With that and the cards I got from MyPoints we will eat for free at Yak & Yeti.

There are discount gift cards to Wolfgang Puck (20% off) on Costco online. Earl of Sandwich has an email club which gives you a brownie when you sign up and a free sandwich on your bday.

I booked our hotels (AoA and POR) through Travelocity and Ebates. Travelocity had a 15% off code (they have them all the time) and Ebates gave me 6% cash back.
For our tickets I went through UCT before prices went up. We also got tickets through Orbitz and Ebates - ebates had a 10% cash back.

 

[stazmatic]

See red above

IMHO, your estimate is too low. I would add about 50% more for food. Are you planning on buying anything?

If they eat just counter service, with breakfast in the room and bringing their own snacks and drinks in the cooler, $600 is generous. A meal for 4 at Casey's can be as cheap as $30 without sharing. What really costs so much is the drinks. Either bring your own drinks in a cooler or get free water. If you know DD is super picky bring along something you know she will eat like a PBJ and then buy her a cookie so she feels like she is "eating out" too. Esp when it comes to Food and Wine - there is very little offered for picky kids there. Then extra money for you to have a grown-up drink!

I do think you need to add money for souvies for your 4yo. Or maybe encourage her to ask relatives for Disney $ so she has something.
Or maybe not - my kids have been there so many times they don't want anything any more. The last two trips they have had the same $50 gift card and it still has money on it.

I also second staying at Bonnet Creek or another condo since you will be driving anyway. If you have to stay on property try to eat at their food court. I think they are a better value than the parks counter service. You can also order an entire pizza for something like $18 and it's pretty decent too. Even ordering two at $36 puts you well under budget for a meal.

 

[hsmamato2]

since you're driving, you should stay offsite, it appears there are multiple great options within a mile of the parks, Worldquest resort is 99.00 per night for a suite with kitchen (check for deals) or one of the DTD specials, some of them even have free breakfast...
for qs only I budget about 100.00 per day for 4, but we tend to share drinks and snacks. You can always drink ice water (free) to save also-
never been to food and wine, but that can get pricey.....

 

[chimilady]

If they eat just counter service, with breakfast in the room and bringing their own snacks and drinks in the cooler, $600 is generous. A meal for 4 at Casey's can be as cheap as $30 without sharing. What really costs so much is the drinks. Either bring your own drinks in a cooler or get free water. If you know DD is super picky bring along something you know she will eat like a PBJ and then buy her a cookie so she feels like she is "eating out" too. Esp when it comes to Food and Wine - there is very little offered for picky kids there. Then extra money for you to have a grown-up drink!

I do think you need to add money for souvies for your 4yo. Or maybe encourage her to ask relatives for Disney $ so she has something.
Or maybe not - my kids have been there so many times they don't want anything any more. The last two trips they have had the same $50 gift card and it still has money on it.

I also second staying at Bonnet Creek or another condo since you will be driving anyway. If you have to stay on property try to eat at their food court. I think they are a better value than the parks counter service. You can also order an entire pizza for something like $18 and it's pretty decent too. Even ordering two at $36 puts you well under budget for a meal.

I agree with the meal estimate being on point. Especially if you do counter service and share meals. I found that we share now, as otherwise a lot of food is wasted. Especially with kids meals, I can tell you that our girls split the kids meals because those portions are normally huge for them. If they're still hungry, we just buy another. For adults, we eat kids meals for breakfast and are full until mid-day, when we split a counter service lunch. It's funny, last year I thought all of this business of sharing was just cheap, and now after just coming back, I realize Disney gives you way too much food, and how we just share.

As for souvineers, I do not come from the mindset that kids need them all the time. Especially if you're FL residents and your tickets are good for a year, since there is little doubt you'll be back.

 

[disneychrista]

I agree the food budget would be just about right, for counter service meals with tap water. Most meals run $8 - $12 depending on where you go. Also if you haven't already take a look at the menus on allears.net to get an idea of what is available at what prices.

 

[worm761]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions.

Offsite is not really an option. DH would rather not drive especially after having a drink or two at Food and Wine. So onsite it is. That is why I was looking at values.

I figured $40-50 per meal. If we do get to go then I will bring the small stroller and bring a cooler with drinks/snacks. I also plan to bring a lot of DD's food with us. She is only 3 (will 4 at trip) and more of a grazer than an eater.

As for souvenirs, we have been and will go again so they really aren't a priority. DD is perfectly happy with a new lovey so the cost of a stuffed animal. Last time we were down she got one at Rain Forest Cafe using what was left on the gift card from dinner. At a bargain too! DH found one for a whole $4!

 

[auntmeme7577]

Just FYI, Wyndham Bonnet creek does have a shuttle service to the parks. It's reliable and costs very little.

 

[brymolmom]

You can definitely do it for less.

You can get a condo for maybe $400 - $500 for the week offsite.

Breakfast in room...You can bring in one meal per day with you to the parks and only worry about one meal per day...Likely could shave at least a couple hundred off of the onsite food costs.

 

[Surfinpiratee]

DBF and I are staying off site with a kitchen for $100a night. We are Also going to be eating all of our own foods. Maybe going out to breakfast once or twice. And grabbing something to eat in the parks during the day a couple times.

 

[TwoAtDisney]

I agree DH shouldn't drink & drive, but what about you not drinking too much to drive? I'm assuming since you posted here, you are the one concerned about saving money. In order to do that, someone needs to sacrifice. Are you that someone? If not, & DH is not, then you'll have to bite the $ bullet.

I can see lots of places for you to reduce your costs, as many others have posted. However, those reductions are based on what I & others are willing to do in order to go to WDW. And it appears, as is your right & preference of course & I'm not faulting that, that you don't want to sacrifice any portion of your trip.

So I guess what you are really asking is can posters offer advice as to whether they think your estimates are reasonable, not how you can change your plans to save money.

Good luck & enjoy.

 

[DCDisney]

I think the budget will be very tight on food. The QS prices have gone up you should definitely check the online menus at allears to do some guesstimates. One cheap option that is very tasty is Earl of Sandwich at DTD. Another is to order pizza one night . We love giordano's and they usually have certificates on restaurant.com. Drinking water will be a must. Snacking at the food and wine may not be a thriller for the kids. Perhaps you could offer them a choice of a gift card to use for snacks throughout the trip and food and wine so they can have mickey bars, fun candy, etc. The samples are pretty small so you will need a lot to make a meal and the drinks aren't cheap at all. Perhaps you can even buy a few gift cards for gas and such before you go?