Can you help me do a super budget ($1000) trip?

[Natalie's Mommy]

you could use the 2 days tickets you need to buy as part of the cost for next years APs

 

[Desnik]

Did you know that when you get the free dining you only have to get a 2 day ticket for everyone? I just checked the Disney site and came up with a price of $967.37 for 4 nights at ASMo, 2 day passes, and free dining (thats quick service dining). $989.97 for Pop, both prices are for standard rooms. Also, your 2 yr old can eat off your plate, no? As for gas, can you purchase some gas cards wekly (maybe $20) and work that into your weekly food budget until your trip? Maybe save your extra change to save up $200 before you go?

Just trying to throw out some other options or ideas for ya! I know how it feels to really want to try and squeeze in a trip! We are going in Aug & I am trying so hard to come up with a way to get there before then for just a quick trip but I live in NY & airfare is crazy! Good luck with your planning!

 

[newdeal]

Ok well to get under that price you will need to do some serious saving. Staying onsite is never the best deal and if you have a car I would suggest either seeing if your resident pass provides free parking (I know the regular annual pass does, not sure about the resident pass) or you could park at Downtown disney everyday and take Disney transportation into the parks for free. A bit more inconvenient but that is really the best you can do. For hotel room at that time of year if you stay offsite you are probably looking at $30 a night just reading the trip advisor reviews to ensure you aren't getting a bug infested place (we have stayed at nice enough places for less than $30 a night in Orlando). Most of these off site places provide continental breakfasts that you can eat and possibly bring a few things with you for the day as snacks (muffins, banana, whatever). You can easily pack a lunch everyday since you will have a car there will be easy access to a grocery store. Since you already have tickets you don't have to worry about that so basically its $200 for gas, $210 a week for hotel, leaving $590 a week for lunch and dinner which you can pack yourself and eat the free breakfast at the hotel. That is no problem at all to get in budget. Heck we are flying from Buffalo, staying a week offsite, rented a full size car for a week and are sitting at $900 for three adults and an infant all in, we just have to pay for food (and tickets but that isn't a problem for you)

 

[newdeal]

Just a general tip for people also. If you are looking to Fly and stay off site the absolute best deals are to book the whole thing through JetBlue. If you do this even if flights are crazy they give you a super deal. The same package on JetBlue.com that we booked was around $350 more on Expedia. Reason being because right now the flights for three people would have been $750 for three people and we booked flights with hotel for a week on jet blue for the same price so basically free hotel because instead of $250 a person if you booked the flights separately they are only charging $190 per flight (I can tell because that is the difference between booking the package for 2 people vs 3 people so the increase is the price they are charging for the flights). No other airline does this but BUF to MCO for $190 is about the best you can hope for so it ends up being a great deal

 

[fakereadhed]

As far as food goes, it is fair to add the amount you'd spend at home that week on top of the $1000 since you won't be eating at home.

Doesn't go as far at Disney though!

 

[love__goofy]

Ok, so a couple years back we had seasonal tickets, and we went down for free dining. What we did is when we checked in we turned those two day tickets into "hard" tickets so they weren't attached to a name, then we got home, we sold them on eBay. They went for nearly the gate price. I don't think this is illegal...I'm sure someone will let us know if it is.

So if you can swing the total out of pocket with the two day ticket until about a week after you get back, after you sell the tickets it will only cost you the price of the room, and you get free food.

That would be the cheapest way to go to stay on site and take advantage of their free food!

 

[brymolmom]

I know you don't want offsite - but I would rather have that than NO WDW at all!! And I disagree that paying $15 per day doesn't make it worth while - you can save hundreds sstaying offsite. I would definitely do it and do offsite like this:

Offsite condo rental for 1 week: $400
Groceries for condo (with foods that you like since you have full kitchen): $100.

Parking 6 days x 15 = $90

That leaves you about $200 that could likely get you one CS meal per day at the parks.

Just bring your other meal in a cooler OR just grab a pizza on the way back to your condo for your evening meal.

 

[danetter]

You said you have 20.00 accounted for Mousekeeping. You can save that 20.00 and tidy the room yourselves and put it towards something else. When we go we don't have them come into the room to clean everyday, maybe once in the middle of the week we are there. We are a family of 4 and we have gone during free dining the last 3yrs and between my husband, both DD's and me we share a lot. Sometimes its me and my husband sharing, another me and my oldest DD, and some my DD's sharing. So we are not sharing no two of the same meals all the time. FYI, my husband can put down a meal and he gets full even when we share.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Ok, so a couple years back we had seasonal tickets, and we went down for free dining. What we did is when we checked in we turned those two day tickets into "hard" tickets so they weren't attached to a name, then we got home, we sold them on eBay. They went for nearly the gate price. I don't think this is illegal...I'm sure someone will let us know if it is.

So if you can swing the total out of pocket with the two day ticket until about a week after you get back, after you sell the tickets it will only cost you the price of the room, and you get free food.

That would be the cheapest way to go to stay on site and take advantage of their free food!

COMPLETE ILLEGAL! They arrest people daily for this. My Aunt works at the ticket fraud dept and see's it all the time. Dont do it. They can track that ticket back to the orginal owner even though there is no name on the ticket. You have to exchange the ticket that orginally had your name on it for the one without the name. So the computer can keeps track of this transaction. When they find out who original owner of the ticket is they will cancel your existing pass. They deny entry to the park for the person with the illegal ticket. So the person who you sold the ticket to could press charges against you as well.

 

[stitchlovestink]

COMPLETE ILLEGAL! They arrest people daily for this. My Aunt works at the ticket fraud dept and see's it all the time. Dont do it. They can track that ticket back to the orginal owner even though there is no name on the ticket. You have to exchange the ticket that orginally had your name on it for the one without the name. So the computer can keeps track of this transaction. When they find out who original owner of the ticket is they will cancel your existing pass. They deny entry to the park for the person with the illegal ticket. So the person who you sold the ticket to could press charges against you as well.

I'm not saying that selling them is the right thing to do as they are supposed to be non-transferable... BUT
How can they press charges against the seller?? It's not like the seller sold 'stolen' goods. The original owner did pay for them. So I think this would be a case of let the buyer beware.

 

[newdeal]

I actually dont think this is illegal. Perhaps it is in florida but in the majority of states i am sure there is nothing preventing you from doing this

 

[Bonniec]

I know you don't want offsite - but I would rather have that than NO WDW at all!! And I disagree that paying $15 per day doesn't make it worth while - you can save hundreds sstaying offsite. I would definitely do it and do offsite like this:

I totally agree. Some Disney is better than no Disney. I don't see it happening on your terms but it doesn't mean you can't have a blast on the cheap.

1. Look into Wyndham Bonnet Creek. You can get the resort for around a $100 or even just under a night. Because it's a time share, you will have to do a lot of research and digging to get it that cheap. Look at the thread here on it for ideas and check out ebay. The place is not Disney but on Disney property. They have a shuttle so no parking fees. They have a full kitchen and 2 bedrooms so plenty of space and the place is a paradise. They have wonderful grills where you could sit out and grill some burgers and dogs. I don't think for a second you would feel bad about staying off site while there.

Because you have a car, you can look into other similar places too that might be even cheaper. But this is where I would really recommend. Look at the picture threads on it.

Also, you might want to check out their presidential suites for your next non-cheap trip. We got a 4 bedroom pres for $180 a night (at: pics are here starting at post #98. You can also view pics of the regular room in that thread). After staying there, I would never stay at Disney again.

There is no housekeeping at Bonnet which might be a bit of a downside. But then again, no tips.

2. Eat breakfast and dinner at your resort, then snack your way around the world. You can get plenty of snacks for $5 or less. Cupcakes, muffins, and sandwiches from bakeries are $5-6 and very sharable.

Some CS meals are big enough to share and some are not. Look for places with rotisserie chickens. Also, certain kids meals are a decent size. The chicken meal at the BBQ in Animal Kingdom comes with 2 drumsticks. The mac n cheese meal at Columbia Harbour House is a good size.

I buy a kid's meal when I crave a soda or juice. Otherwise, I snack. This way, you still get Disney food and don't feel like you are missing out.

Drink ice water from the vendors, it's free.

You can always bring food into the parks. Occasionally I do this, but mostly I just snack.

Look at Disney Food Blog and All Ears, and do a search for eating cheaply.




I know you said these things were not options. But I'm just letting you know you can still go very cheap without feeling like you are missing out ont he Disney experience.

 

[Marionnette]

Ok well to get under that price you will need to do some serious saving. Staying onsite is never the best deal and if you have a car I would suggest either seeing if your resident pass provides free parking (I know the regular annual pass does, not sure about the resident pass) or you could park at Downtown disney everyday and take Disney transportation into the parks for free. A bit more inconvenient but that is really the best you can do. For hotel room at that time of year if you stay offsite you are probably looking at $30 a night just reading the trip advisor reviews to ensure you aren't getting a bug infested place (we have stayed at nice enough places for less than $30 a night in Orlando). Most of these off site places provide continental breakfasts that you can eat and possibly bring a few things with you for the day as snacks (muffins, banana, whatever). You can easily pack a lunch everyday since you will have a car there will be easy access to a grocery store. Since you already have tickets you don't have to worry about that so basically its $200 for gas, $210 a week for hotel, leaving $590 a week for lunch and dinner which you can pack yourself and eat the free breakfast at the hotel. That is no problem at all to get in budget. Heck we are flying from Buffalo, staying a week offsite, rented a full size car for a week and are sitting at $900 for three adults and an infant all in, we just have to pay for food (and tickets but that isn't a problem for you)

Disney buses do not go to the parks from the Downtown Disney area. They go to the resorts. Disney saw money being lost and parking spaces meant for shoppers being taken by parking scofflaws. And the buses do not run until later in the morning, when the stores and restaurants open. So anyone who thinks this is a brilliant stroke of genius to save money should reconsider the idea. You will lose a lot of park time in order to save that $14 parking fee.

 

[HayGan]

COMPLETE ILLEGAL! They arrest people daily for this. My Aunt works at the ticket fraud dept and see's it all the time. Dont do it. They can track that ticket back to the orginal owner even though there is no name on the ticket. You have to exchange the ticket that orginally had your name on it for the one without the name. So the computer can keeps track of this transaction. When they find out who original owner of the ticket is they will cancel your existing pass. They deny entry to the park for the person with the illegal ticket. So the person who you sold the ticket to could press charges against you as well.

They are non-transferable once they have been used. No one is suggesting that she use them and then sell them. If you sell them for face value or less before they have been used then that is completely legal.

 

[dhardawa]

I would cut out the money for mousekeeping. They are union and paid well. This is not a position that relies on tips.

 

[Andrea]

I have no advice, but i loved some of the ideas in this thread. I think i am going to buy a gas card and start putting a few dollars here and there.

do you just stick with one chain ? We live in georgia, I wonder how hard it would be to find the same gas station on the ride down and back ?

 

[englishteacha]

As someone else said, I'd rather stay offsite and eat frugally than not go at all. Oh, wait. That's what I do.

 

[Nayan]

Ok well to get under that price you will need to do some serious saving. Staying onsite is never the best deal and if you have a car I would suggest either seeing if your resident pass provides free parking (I know the regular annual pass does, not sure about the resident pass) or you could park at Downtown disney everyday and take Disney transportation into the parks for free. A bit more inconvenient but that is really the best you can do.

Please do not let me see you, or anyone, say this again . Disney used to offer buses to the parks, but thanks to folks taking advantage they do not anymore. Keep it up and free parking at DTD might go away as well and that would truly suck for those of us locals who like to go eat there.

 

[Bonniec]

Not just that but it isn't worth it. Last year we had seasonal passes and twice I tried parking at DTD, taking a bus to a resort, then going to a park. It takes SO much time out of your day.

The OP would be better staying off site and choosing a cheaper hotel that includes free shuttle.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

As someone else said, I'd rather stay offsite and eat frugally than not go at all. Oh, wait. That's what I do.

We always stay offsite and really, it's not a huge deal. We usually stay very close to Disney so it's only like a 10 minute drive. Yeah, you have to pay for parking but our savings more than makes up for paying the parking price!