Cheapest disney trip :

[Proudmilitarywife]

What was the cheapest you have ever done a disney trip ?
What did you see and do on the trip ?
How long as the trip ?
How many people in your party adults and childern ?
And what year did you go ..hehe?

Thanks for the answers just trying to find out the avarage on what people can spend . I have seen some people spending 5000-150000 and well i am not that type of person . I want to enjoy the mouse but i want to enjoy other things threw out the year also .

Thanks in advance !

 

[kilee]

So many things factor in here. We recently did a last minute trip for just under $2500.00. That was for 2 adults and a 9 year old. We ate alot, and bought many souviners. We stayed off site-- Day's Inn (internet rate of $31.99 a night) for 7 nights. Also, I rented a Dodge Intrepid from Alamo for $233.00 for 10 days after tax. We drove down. I had printed coupons from roomsaver.com and got a room at a Comfort Inn in SC for $34.00. Also, I printed many coupons for the local restuarants near our hotel. We had one meal a day in Disney, and lots of snacks. In the end I had enough left over to also get my 11 rolls of film developed at the Walgreen's by our hotel.

 

[JetMom]

We last went in Oct. 2001. There were 5 of us - Myself, DH, and DS's 9, 7, and 3 1/2.

We drove from NY to FL ( ~$85 in gas -- those were the days!) staying one night on the road each way.
($30/night on Priceline)

We spent 5 nights at the Fairfield Inn ($20/night on Priceline w/ free breakfast buffet)

We spent 4 nights At the Dolphin ($99/night teacher rate).

We joined AAA for ticket discounts and discounts on everything at US/IOA.

5 day Parhoppers x 5 = $1100

2 day US/IOA passes x 5 = $400

Sea World tickets x 5 = $205

Food $125 x 11days = $1375

Souveniers =$500

We actually came home with about $350 left over.

So we did 5 people for 11 days hitting 7 major parks and typhoon lagoon twice with several special meals (H&V, Rose &Crown, Donald's Breakfast, Hard Rock, & Benihana) for under $4000.

We were pretty proud of all the bang we got for the bucks.

 

[poober25]

We had our cheapest trip ever in Jan. of this year. All we actually spent outside of our regular monthly budget amount was $252 for 7 nights at OLCC through Skyauction. Total we spent on trip was under $900 for 2 adults and, DS4 and DD1.

Here's the breakdown:

7 nights at OLCC $252. Spent one night with friends in Jacksonville.

Gas $64.79

Park tix $250 (bought Ap's in Oct 2002. divide by 4 for the # of trips we will do before expiration. Next 2 are May & Sept.!!)

Groceries & Food $260.77 (included 2 character meals Cindy's with vouchers and Garden Grille and 1 trip to B&C with voucher.)

Souvenirs $30 (included disposable cameras and the diapers we had to pay an arm and leg for at MK the day we forgot the diaper bag, last day in parks.)

We spent 7 days in the parks. Took in drinks and snacks in cooler part of diaper bag. Ate 1 meal in parks ea. day, breakfast in condo ea. day except Cindy's and dinner in condo most days, or we ate someplace where kids ate free or really cheap. Never bought a drink in the parks (or snacks).

This was a great budget trip, but we spent WAY more in Oct. mostly because we didn't decide to upgrade until about 4 days into trip, so we weren't planning on being back for 3 or 4 yrs.

Like I said, everything but park tix and hotel was in our regular monthly budget for food, gas, & entertainment, and the park tix were already paid for. I hope we can do this well in May.

 

[punkin]

6 years ago, mu husband, my daughter and I did 4 days at disney for under $1500 including food (mostly counter service, but we did do a luch at brown derby and 2 dinners at Epcot), airfare (we got a really good deal), park tickets (AAA), and fleabag motel (we had ants everywhere, but if memory serves it was about 19.99 per night during the summer). We were poor and this was all we could afford. A good time was had by all.

 

[mum4jenn]

We have had many trips where we do not spend a bunch of money. Two adults and one child. We get 3* Priceline hotel for $30 a night (going in a couple of weeks and had to settle for $40 a night) We bought 8 day tickets over a year ago and each time we go we only go to the parks two or three days so the tickets last a long time. We take one day to stay at the hotel and swim and we do one day at the Disney outlet stores. We eat breakfast at one of the buffet places on International Drive for around $5 a person. DD eats free and we just have to buy her drink.

We went last October for I think 4 or 5 days and we spent around $1000. That was with eating at The Boston Lobster Feast which is usually the most we spend on meals. We took a cooler also and a couple of days we ate sandwiches in our room.

We also will take our camper down there and stay at Fort Wilderness but if we can get a priceline bid for cheaper we stay in a hotel.Otherwise we cook several of our meals at the campground.

We buy most of our gifts at the outlet stores but we do buy several things at Downtown Disney also. DD is 5 so she loves getting a new Princess Nightgown each trip.We also HAVE to play Pirate Golf on International Drive which is so fun for DD and cheaper than the mini golf at Disney.

You CAN spend a great deal less than some of the other amounts I have read about. I know I did not include the ticket prices but we paid for those already so we consider them sort of "free". Last trip we also spent one day at Universal on some tickets that we bought several years ago. Our 5yr old will be making her 10th trip in a couple of weeks and it is all because we do NOT spend a bunch of money on these trips. We live close enough to drive and sometimes we will come for a long weekend. You do not have to go to the parks EVERYDAY to have a blast.

 

[Proudmilitarywife]

Well i am glad that there are people that go and don't spend a ton . We would like to be able to go once a year but we would also like to be able to still have cable intrent and go out to eat during the year . As well as going to the lake a few times during the summer . So to spend alot of money like i hear about is just not possiable for us .

Thanks to everyone that has responded .
I think if we buy Seasonal passes this trip it will cost us a little more but i also think that it will save us on next years tickets . I think we will make lots of trips off the disney property to get food just to make it cheaper .

Thanks agian anyone eles out there ???

 

[CarolA]

You keep posting about buying seasonal pass, but I see you live in Alabama. You must be a Florida resident to get the seasonal pass and my sources tell me they are fairly strict on this one.

 

[mum4jenn]

I am sure they mean Annual Pass

 

[Proudmilitarywife]

Yes we are florida residents but cause hubby is military we were forced to move to alabama . Still being florida residents the whole time he is in the service . Lots of military member that live one place are uaulyy residents of another state . Basically so when they get out of the military they can transfer to there "home " state .

So yes I mean seasonal pass . With the florida residents / military discount .

Hope that made sence .

 

[Grog]

Cheapest I ever did...

1997
Two persons

We stayed six nights on I-Drive (can't remember the motel...it changed names right before we got there....even confused the cab driver) at about $35 a night

2 four day hoppers to WDW

2 single day tickets to USF

managed to get a really great fare on Southwest ($150 each)

Not counting food and things we bought while we were there, the whole thing came to just under $1000

Now it would be a bit more though. The Park hoppers have increased by about $50 since then, and the cheapest air I have found to Orlando is about $200 before taxes and fees.

My last Disney trip was to DLR in August of 2001 but it was part of a larger trip so it's hard to break it down.

MY upcoming trip to DLR was a package from Soutwest. We're getting airfare, six nights at Paradise Pier Hotel, five day hoppers, transportation from the airport and even threw in travel insurance (a must these days!) and it came to $1950. We could have got it about $200-$300 cheaper but wanted to stay at a Disney hotel. We'll be spending about another $100 when we get there as we decided we wanted to do USH as well

 

[idontknow]

I went one year by myself and it was the BEST trip I've ever taken! LOL I spent a total of $350, but I did have a few GCs from rewards programs that I used. I paid $59 for the ASmo, $48 for 3 days car rentral and really cheap on the food since it was just me. I left Sat early morning and returned Mon late night. It wasn't long, but it was worth the money!

DS and I are going in May from Sat to Wed. We got the Swan for $69 a night. ($312) DS had an airline voucher for $48 and our tickets were $136.50 before the voucher. (then the priced dropped to $132.50 so we have a whole $4 for our next trip) I ordered 5 Q&C vouchers for a total of $56.25. We'll use those for our big meals, AK meal vouchers for others and for the last 3 meals we grab counter service. The car rental, for right now, is $110. So far, that is $702 for 5 whole days. We buy tickets when we can get a good deal (ticketmania's 5 day 4 plus ticket last fall) and we only use a day or two each time we are down like mum4jen does.

 

[Pig Pen]

Since you are military, can't you get the SOG discount? This may help and let's you stay "in the magic".

Cheapest trip? Probably in June 2000 - We drove to Florida w/ a 2 day stopover at Disney (AK, Epcot), stayed at a Days Inn for $40 per night with free cont breakfast. We ate one meal each day in the parks. Then on to Key West (the real island, not the resort)!

 

[yecats]

Can't say it was my cheapest trip but certainly the longest trip. Went Dec. 2002 and bid for hotel on P.line for 10 nights ($450 including many amenities, movies and some drinks). We had 6 day PHP for 2 adults and 5 consective day passes at US/IOA for 2 adults ($420 each person). Ordered dinner shows off of Ticketmania and CirqueDS tickets ($200). We drove and spent about $100 for gas. We decided to stay offsite so that we could eat better in and out of the parks. We did bring some breakfast cereals and snacks and bought milk and juice locally as we had a nice size refrig. in our room. We ate breakfast 5/6 days at Shoneys. We had PS ressies in the parks everyday at the nicer rest. (Garden Grill, LeCellier, Lib. Tree, TTS) mostly for lunch in order not to eat too much junkfood. We did spend most of our money in food this past trip and a number of dinners offsite at nice rest. as well ($1,000). In total the past trip totaled about $2500.

 

[Ithastobe]

Next trip 4/27/03 - Budget is $1,500.00 or less. Here's how it pans out.

1. What did you see and do on the trip? Going to AK, MK and MGM.
2. How long as the trip ? 7 days.
3. How many people in your party adults and childern ? 2 adults and 2 children
4. Leaving 4/26.. here's how I figure:

Airplane - FREE - Our last trip to Disney 10/02 we gave up or seats due to overcrowded flight and re-directed ourselves to Tampa and received 4 free round trip tickets on United.

Hotel - FREE - Well, kinda - we bought a timeshare from Hilton Grand Vactation club, we pay yearly dues but no outlay this trip.

ParkHopper - FREE - Cashed in HiltonHonor points for 2 adult, 2 children 4 day hopper Plus tickets. (Saved $758.00). Plan on going to MK, MGM and AK. We're going to only use 3 days up of the hopper, and sold a day to my DH's co-worker for $150.00.

Rental Car - FREE - the $150.00 from the day park hopper along with a cash out from another CC award program will get us a VAN for a week.

Food - Spluging here - Have PS for Cindy's (61.00), and Breakfastaurus (61.00), other than that we plan on eating in our room for Breakfast and Dinner - having lunch in the park at counter service. I've collected several gift cards from rewards programs so that will save for like Olive Garden, Marconis Grill etc.

We are budgeting $1,500 for groceries, airport parking, park parking, souveniers, meals etc. We will go to a parks every other day, drive to the ocean on day - and the rest lay around at the pool. The HGVC has a lot of lunchtime activities for the kids and because our one still needs a nap, will head back to hotel for nap, catch early dinner, and return to park.

 

[mad4themouse]

Awesome budget, Ithastobe! I'm on a mission to see how much of my next trip can be paid for using rewards. You're an inspiration!

 

[Lucky4me]

January 25-Feb.1, 2003 7 nights

DD7 and me

Airfare-$220-Airtran direct flight from ROC $59 each way- +$100 credit
Hotel-free (stayed at a DVC Grand Villa with sister)
Park tix- $378 4 day hoppers, had 1 day left on old passes
Food- $300 (snacked our way through Disney. Only 1 character meal)
Car- Priceline-Avis Olds Alero- $130 including all taxes


Total- $1028
Only spent $275 on food so total trip was $1003

I was very happy with this last minute budget trip!

 

[626]

I grew up in south Florida, so I went to WDW often, but I remember once going for less than $200! I lived in Pompano Beach, and my mother and I had driven up to West Palm Beach for something or other. As we were getting ready to drive back home, I jokingly made the comment that we should go north instead of south and hit Disney World for the weekend. She said "Ok" and the next thing I know we were on our way to Orlando! It was crazy! We didn't have a camera or a change of clothes. My mom didn't even have her insulin! We stayed at one of the All Stars that night (I don't remember which one) and bought Planet Hollywood shirts to wear the next day. Looking back, it was probably one of my most memorable trips to WDW. My only regret is there was a Christmas ornament I wanted and didn't buy and it was gone by the time we went back a few months later (If any of you have a Circle of Life glass ball from the Magic Kingdom purchased sometime around 1994 consider yourselves lucky!)

 

[gm]

we will be going for 21 days this year and here is what I have budget from my past trips:

3 annual passes that I bought last christmas by trading in several days left from my hoppers I had. total I paid after disney minusing the hoppers was $136 for 2 adults 1 child so no expense for passes this year.

Got disney cash for Christmas from all relatives in the amount of $500 which will be used for fun and character meals at disney.

driving own van so no airline expense

staying at dolphin for $69.00 thru priceline. Also at hard rock hotel with entertainment discount

I am taking several items from the dollar store including light up neclaces, bracelets, etc for the kids.

I am doing this trip on a budget because I want to go back during Christmas too

 

[Kurry]

gm: So, you can trade in Park Hoppers for Annual Passes? Can you explain to me how you did this and where?

Thanks!