Can I do it for less?

[jeepgirl30]

Okay, DH said we could do a Disney trip if I can do it for cheap. Here is the nitty gritty... DD is now 4 1/2, DS is 2. My parents want to go too. They are planning on driving and may or may not take the kids with them, they offered! I have a freq flyer ticket with Cont but it may be less on another airline. We do not have restrictions as to when so I want to go during value season. I want to go prior to DS turning 3 so we don't pay for him. He will be 3 in Nov. We are planning 5 nights.

I plan to do All Star Movies. I called AAA and for All Stars, Sept 29-Oct4, 5 day hopper tickets (since its the kids first time I don't want to be stuck at one park each day). We want to do a lot of character meals, again DD's first trip and she is a princess freak so it looks like for us the dining option will be good. My parents eat very little so they are opting out on the dining. For our package AAA is quoting 1407.01. I think that is really good. We are not getting an AP.

Is there something I could do to get a better price?

thank you!

 

[InstImpres]

Is this for one room or two (since you said your parents are going?)

Also, how many people are getting the passes (4 adults and 1 child?)

 

[MrsPete]

With children that young, I wouldn't buy 5-day hoppers for a 5-day trip (unless you're planning to save part of the tickets for a future trip). With children that young, you're very likely to spend a day or two at the hotel just playing in the pool or a day at Downtown Disney. You can easily plan plenty of character meals for your non-park days.

If I were in your shoes, I think I'd buy 3-day hoppers. I don't think it'll affect the quality of your trip one iota, and it'll save a good bit.

 

[zippehsmom]

I would also try pricing everything out separately. I just booked Pop for value season w/AAA discount and it is $61 + tax per night. I would also look on allears.net at menus and try to figure out exactly how much I would spend on meals, you might find that you may not spend as much as you think, especially with little kids that could share meals with you and DH.

zippehsmom

 

[jeepgirl30]

The price I listed above is just for one room with DH, myself, DD5 and DS2. My parents will get their own room, tickets, etc. I figure if I can get our trip at the least expensive than I can apply the principles to their trip as well.

The price includes MYW Dining and hopper tickets for DH, myself and DD5. DS gets in free.

We will be there 6 days and 5 nights. I wanted 5 day hoppers so the kids can pick which parks and when. I am not getting the option for water parks, they are too young and the pool will be enough for them this trip.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

I would also price everything seperately. My dd went to the water parks when she was 1 1/2 her first time and had a great time! We go every trip, she is now 5 and can do more slides and things, but we still spend some time in the kid's area. We usually share meals, like the other poster said, especially dd and me. She's usually so excited she doesn't eat much, so we usually do one or two character meals just for photo ops, not really because she eats,lol! I would also go with 5 day hoppers, if you're paying for 5 nights at the resort, I would want to spend as much time as possible in the parks, but that's just the way we do it...we're sort of commando,lol....We have AP's now, since we go 3 or 4 times a year, and so always book room only, but before I found these boards we went twice on packages, and I cringe at the thought of how much money we wasted on "flex features" and "options" that we didn't use.

 

[tjp78]

When we took our daughter in 2003 our first family trip, She had just turned 3. We bought our tickets at our offsite hotel & the man said that we should not buy a ticket for her if they asked just say she was turning 3 later in the year.
We never once got asked about her age or anything. But we did destract her though when going through the line to enter, just incase they did ask her how old she was.

 

[sanibelover]

If you are set on a package, then AAA is probably the way to go, BUT....

You will almost certainly be able to do it cheaper by booking everything yourself. I would think about not doing too many sit down meals with 2 little ones. You know what your habits are, but kids usually don't want to sit for very long at a restaurant. Maybe a couple of character meals, but other than that, I think counter service would be the way to go. You'll have to weigh the costs here. You can't get a discount on the room with the dining package. If you book a discounted room (with a code), you can't get the dining package. Only you can decide what's best for you. September has historically had some of the best discounted room rates available - $55 + tax or $61/ night for the value resorts.

Also, I agree with the poster that said you probably don't need 5 day hopper passes. Your best bet would be to pick a park, go in the morning, then go back for a nap, then go back in the evening. I would imagine with the new extra hours at certain parks that this strategy can work even during value season. Don't underestimate how worn out your kids will get with 5 days of park touring. I think you will have a much better time with a couple of "down days" thrown in. That time of year can still be really hot, and you will get worn out from being on the go constantly. Also, if someone should get sick (it happens all of the time - so many people and germs at Disney...) and you paid for 5 days, oh well. There aren't any refunds and the tickets expire unless you pay for the no expiration option.

We went a couple of years ago for 5 days with 2 children ages 6 and 9 and only did 3 days of park touring - it was plenty. They wanted to swim in the pools more than anything anyway. With kids as young as yours, a Disney vacation really does have to be about them. You will all be miserable if you try to push them.

Rethink hopping. This is a huge time waster. It took us over an hour to hop from MK to Epcot one day. Sometimes it goes smoothly, but sometimes it doesn't.

You can do it on the cheap, but packages are for convenience only - not to save money.