can I save $2,000 by dec

[NancyIL]

There are lots of great money-saving tips here - both for before and during your trip. I think it's easier to save by cutting back on your expenses at home before and after the trip - than it is to deny yourselves at WDW. The garage sale idea is great - especially since it's better to get rid of clutter than it is to box it up and move it to your new house. Good luck!

 

[luv2nascar]

I am feeling better about it than I was
saving change like crazy & cutting back on eating
out & groceries
I agree much easier to cut out before to save
than to scrimp at disney

I have $56 in change rolled for trip
& found $40 in DD that I haven't spent
don't ask me how I didn't spend $40 in DD but
I still have them.
Today is DD birthday & her $30 she got is being
saved for the trip for her to spend
plus now we have $96
WOO HOO I think we are off to a good start

Keep thinking of me

 

[travelitis]

You are off to a good start! Congrats! At this rate you'll definitely get that money saved.

While some people would look at my list and think it's scrimping, we don't feel we are deprived at Disney. My money savers have other benefits that are every bit as if not more important to me than the money. BTW I have done the "cut every possible corner" routine to take my kids to Disney, and I'd rather make cuts at home AND on vacation.

We don't want to waste too much valuable touring time sampling restaurants because we go when hours are short. We like a character meal or full service restaurant for an afternoon break. B-fast or supper in the room is a time-saver and more relaxing than sitting in another restaurant. (Pizza delivery or something precooked works great, because I'm not cooking on vacation!)

The fanny packs and water bottles keep my kids happy, and ward off a whole lot of whining and complaining.

Staying at a timeshare gave us a huge jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom, full living room, fully stocked kitchen, 2 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and a home theater for so much less than onsite. I used to be a hardcore stay onsite gal, but it's so nice to put a movie in for the kids while DH and I head for the jacuzzi. We need our alone time to survive.

My point being that you have to decide what cut-backs work for you and which feel like real deprivation. There's nothing wrong with not getting everything you want, but what works for us might not for other people. Keep the Grand Floridian, we want our romantic tub, plenty of space, and adult quiet time!

 

[milmore104]

I know you can do this! I am doing the same thing righ tnow. The only thing is I'm going to suprise my DH with the trip. We just closed on our new house and have been in it for 8 days now. So I know where your coming from. I have been saving money fro this trip since we came home from the last one but with a new house you never know what your going to get! I had to spend our trip money on redoing our DD's bathroom. I figured it was better she didn't fall thru the floor. But I am still determined to go. I found that if your anything like me it's hard to save money and say don't touch it. What I do is go to TDS eveyweek and buy $100 in disneydollars that way they can't be used and you'll save the money in no time. Also you can cut that budget down. If your driving then you can pack your own food. Also I know it's great to stay onsite but shop around you can get a house for the week for around $200-400. Also you could cut your hotel cost down when your driving down. either you and your DH take turns or go online and research find out about where you want to stay and find some hotels in that area. You'd be suprised at what deals are only afford online. Also you can go on e-bay and buy your tickets. There are a lot of people that want to sell there unused days on there PH tickets. Or stop at the FL info center. they sell discounted tickets. I believe there is a link on the dis for them.
I hope it all works out for you I know you can do it.

 

[bethsg]

Ok, you can save money by flying... the fares are great, and you save gas and tolls, and hotel night if you shorten stay. Plus you won't be exhausted. I am sure you can get a great deal now to MCO, and use Mears for transportation. It can really be cheaper to fly.

 

[MEM]

I agree that flying might be cheaper -- I got tickets from Boston to Orlando for four people, R/T for November 2002 for $160 each including all taxes and fees. And the fares have come down since then. I consider the wear and tear on my car and my family to be an expense and budget accordingly.

If driving for you is the only option, I personally would spend the money on the no-frills hotel on the drive down and back to ensure two well-rested drivers and the safety of others on the road. This is not a budgetary item to cut corners on, IMHO. Your original plan to stop at your parents' house sounds very reasonable.

 

[travelitis]

We're driving 20 hours to Disney, too, but we will stop overnight. Flying is more convenient, but no matter how cheap airfare gets, driving is going to be less expensive than flying. I used Mears Shuttle once, and won't do that again. I ended up really missing that rental car which is another expense to add to flying. Our transfers saved us very little over the car rental and our new camcorder battery shorted out the first day. Disney was doing inventory and didn't have our very common battery anywhere, so we had to rent a camcorder one day and do without the others. With a car we could've gotten another battery for $40 (Disney's price was $70). Our movies are our favorite souvenir. Flying is less expensive if driving time costs you unpaid time off work or you work for an airline. In case you think this means I don't fly, I've flown 5 of the 7 times I've gone to WDW.

 

[KJMAX1]

I wanted to add that my husband and I used hotwire.com and priceline.com for our hotel stays on our drive from Seattle to Phx, and LA for Disneyland. Both hotels we never paid more than 40.00 for, and both were suites with an entire kitchen etc.

 

[izzarelli]

Glad I started reading this thread, everyone has great ideas!

Another thing we do is sell our read books to Half Price Books. Between the 2 of us we have a ton of books just sitting around (or packed in boxes) that we were never going to read again. (and I'm a novel junkie) I took a load of them this week & made $45 that I bought Disney Dollars with.

Good luck to everyone!

 

[tater bug]

There is very little I can add to these wonderful tips, but if you can, put your $1 up, too. You will be surprised at how fast that pot of money grows. And when you reach a certain $ figure ($50) go the TDS and get DD.

Good luck with the trip and congratulations on the new house!