Does this sound like a lot?

[G. Fite]

OK-My 3 kids were doing Little gym last semester and it cost over one thousand dolars for the semester! (yikes). We usually do a Spring Break Vacation ($700.00) and a summer vacation ($1800.00-2000.00). So, Mom (me) said "how about we don't do gym and we only have one vacation and we go to DISNEY?!"

YES the girls screamed ! and So, now we are going to Disney for 8 nights the Last weekend of May!

Here is the question: Our package through Disney (Water, hopping, dinner, 2 connecting rooms at all star Music) will cost $4293.39.

If we decide to join AAA and get their discount it will be $4024.91.

Obviously, this is higher than I orginally thought. We went 2 years ago (In January and paid 1100.00 for 6 nights with the Disney Visa deal. Of course, that did not include food.

For those of you who have spent this much on a Disney Vacation...Was it worth it to you? DH and I keep thinking of all the things we could buy with that money (stuff for the house!)

we know we could drop some things (water, hopping, dinner) but really don't want to do that!

Anyway, I guess I need some reassurance that this will be money well spent!

Thanks!

 

[lportuondo]

Well, if you think about it, if it cost 1000 for the gym classes + 2000 for a summer vacation, that gives you $3000 extra. If you get the AAA discount and subtract what you would have spent otherwise, that leaves your trip costing about $1000 (if you know what I mean). That is only about 300 dollars more than you would usually spend in a year. hope that was helpful!

 

[nickelsfamily]

YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION! ARE YOU FINANCIALY ABLE TO AFFORD THE TRIP? IS IT MORE THAN YOU HAVE SAVED?

MAYBE YOU WOULD WANT TO.... GOD FORBID ....SHORTEN YOUR TRIP BY A DAY OR TWO. (JK)

IF IT WAS ME, I WOULD KEEP THE DDP AND MAYBE DROP THE HOPPER AND KEEP THE WATER PARKS. IMO ON LONGER TRIPS MY FAMILY DOESN'T NEED THE HOPPER, BECAUSE THERE ARE MANY MORE DAYS TO SEE AND DO. THATS JUST US!

IF THIS IS WHAT YOU ALL DECIDE THAT YOU WANT TO DO THAN I THINK THAT THE PRICE IS WELL WORTH IT.....AS LONG AS IT IS AFFORDABLE!

 

[princessjv]

That seems a bit high for a value resort. Not sure how many are in your party, but could you do 1 room at POR (with pullout bed)? By including 'Dinner' are you referring to the dinning plan? If not, have you priced it seperately (tickets through a broker & room only)?

We stayed 9 nights at POR last fall for $2200*, including passes (2 adult, 1 child).

*This did not include food or airfare.

 

[mjmcca]

Why not try and do a single room at POR? they have ones with a trundle that the little one couls sleep on I just priced it out and it seems to be $3824.10. You also have to remember that your oldest is now paying adult prices for both the tickets and the meal plan. Having the meal plan may not be the cheapest way to go since a lot of 10 year olds dont eat that much.

 

[GeorgiaAristocat]

Here are my thoughts:

Looking at your kids' ages (5, 7, and 10), I would definitely keep the dining plan - you will have two of them eating for kids prices, and only one of them as an adult - you will have food out your ears, but would easily be able to swing several character meals, and probably even the castle by sharing some meals, which will be easy with your family's size. That said, if you are going this summer, you need to get on your ADRs!!!

Regarding the room - have you considered trying to stay in the Alligator Bayou section of POR? It just might reduce your price a little, although it then cuts you down on living space significantly, and reduces you to one bathroom. Just a thought.

Regarding the water park & more - how many "extras" you get obviously depends on your length of stay - look at it carefully, will you use them all? If you have 3 "extras" do you need as many park days? It sort of depends on your touring style. If a water park is a whole day event for your family - you won't need park tickets that day. If you intend to use them for DisneyQuest in the evening, then that's a little different. All I'm saying is, it might be a good idea to sit down and really plan out where and when you want to go, you may discover that you don't really need as many park days, etc. (although, the price is so minimal for any extra days past 5 that you get, that it is almost worth it for the flexibility.) I would, in this same analysis, also evaluate if you really need hoppers. Personally, I wouldn't go without the hoppers, but that is partly because of where and when I want to eat!

Obviously, the AAA pays for itself, and then some, and since you want the dining package, you WILL need to buy a package (including tickets) from someone. I think this is a no-brainer.

 

[princessjv]

That seems a bit high for a value resort. Not sure how many are in your party, but could you do 1 room at POR (with pullout bed)? By including 'Dinner' are you referring to the dinning plan? If not, have you priced it seperately (tickets through a broker & room only)?

We stayed 9 nights at POR last fall for $2200*, including passes (2 adult, 1 child).

*This did not include food or airfare.

Another thought just realized how many your are traveling with.

What if you get the dinning plan for part of your party, since you have 2 rooms (like 3 of the 5 of you?). That way you could use the points for sit down meals and CS on some of the days and either pay OOP for the rest,

 

[G. Fite]

Another thought just realized how many your are traveling with.

What if you get the dinning plan for part of your party, since you have 2 rooms (like 3 of the 5 of you?). That way you could use the points for sit down meals and CS on some of the days and either pay OOP for the rest,

Can you do this? DD (10) will never eat an adult meal Can we just use the DP for part of our party? We were planning to share lots of meals anyway!

Thanks!

 

[1of6]

In doing connecting rooms, you can get the dining plan for only 1 room and split it between you all. Now this means you can't do TS everyday on the plan but you can do some.

 

[princessjv]

Can you do this? DD (10) will never eat an adult meal Can we just use the DP for part of our party? We were planning to share lots of meals anyway!

Thanks!

With 2 rooms, it is not a problem. You will however have to book the rooms seperately, I think. You may then want to get seperate passes (through a broker) for the children not included in the package. That way you will save a bit more.

 

[G. Fite]

In doing connecting rooms, you can get the dining plan for only 1 room and split it between you all. Now this means you can't do TS everyday on the plan but you can do some.

Did you do this? It sounds great! We can pay OOP for ten year old to order off kid menu and since I am a vegetarian I would be happy with a salad and a bite of something here and there. Getting the DP for DH and 2 DD would cost much less! Plus we would not have so much food! That was a big worry of mine as well!

Thanks for the advice!

 

[1of6]

We did it the begining of Feb. and it worked great. I'll tell you the short story, well maybe short, okay not so short.

8 of us total in connecting rooms at POP. DH, me, DS9 and DD7 with the dining plan, my mom, aunt, my DS4 and DD2 without it. We were there 6 nights. This gave us a total of 24TS credits, 24 CS credits and 24 snack credits to split.

Day 1- We got there around 2 and ate about 3:30 in the food court. Paid oop for everyone. Carried snacks to the park and skipped dinner altogether.

Day 2- Breakfast in the room (stuff we brought), lunch-not really. Everyone had snacks and we got 3 orders of fries to split. Dinner-we ate at H&V in MGM with the Fantasmic package. Our CM took 7TS credits (DD2 was free) off my card. Not a problem!

Day 3- Breakfast at Ohana's-again I had the CM take 7 TS credits off my card. Lunch-we ate at Electric Umbrella at Epcot (CS). I think we got 3 bacon double cheeseburger meal combos, 2 kid mac-n-cheese meals, and 2 orders of extra buns (at $.60 each.) DH had a double burger, DS9, me, mom and aunt each got a single burger. The other 3 kids split the mac-n-cheese. We had extra food and we only ordered 5 CS meals for the 8 of us.

The rest of the week went just like this. We did 1 more character meal and used 7 TS credits on it leaving us with 3 TS credits. We used them at Planet Hollywood. We also had 2 meal vouchers (that came with our booking package) so we paid oop for 2 meals.

This worked out great for us. We had to buy an extra drink with some CS meals but mostly we just shared. We always headed out each day with our refillable mugs (we got them for the adults only) full and it gave us a spot to split up drinks from CS. Then everyone had their own cup.

I hope this helps. PM me or just ask if you have more ?.

 

[eeyoregon]

Do you fly? Does Southwest Airlines service your airport? We found great deals at SW Vacations website: www.swairvacations.com

Your price seems very high and I'm sure there is more affordable somewhere

 

[runwad]

If it were me I'd want to keep it simply and just get the room at POR Alligator and the meal plan for everyone. Seems like too much to have to keep straight with 2 rooms some people on the dinning plans other not, but hey to each his own.

 

[G. Fite]

With 2 rooms, it is not a problem. You will however have to book the rooms seperately, I think. You may then want to get seperate passes (through a broker) for the children not included in the package. That way you will save a bit more.

Thanks! I just changed our reservations and was able to use the AAA discount on the room with out the package. Doing it this way saves us 686.00! I fugured we would spend maybe $200.00 paying for meals out of pocket but we sure save some money in the end.

We will have 24 TS, 24 CS and 24 snacks! As I understand it we can still share these credit right? Me and hubby can share one of his TS credits while the 3 kids share 2 TS credits? I am glad we won't have so much food to eat! 5 apps, 5 entrees and 5 desserts is WAY too much food for my family!

 

[G. Fite]

If it were me I'd want to keep it simply and just get the room at POR Alligator and the meal plan for everyone. Seems like too much to have to keep straight with 2 rooms some people on the dinning plans other not, but hey to each his own.

Our first reservation was at POR but you still only have 2 beds and one bathroom. So, we decided to pay a little bit more and get 2 rooms at a value resort. Then we will have 4 beds and 2 bathrooms.

We even looked at the cabins but you still only have one bedroom. Trying to sleep all in one room is never fun for us!

We did it last visit but the kids were younger then.

 

[G. Fite]

I am so excited! I just updated our reservations. I put DH, DD-7 and DD-5 on the dining plan and upgraded their tickets FREE with the Disney Visa offer! DD-10 and I will not do a package but will use the AAA room discout and purchases tickets seperately. So, the total difference is $988.00!!!! We will share the dining credits and pop as needed.

 

[G. Fite]

I am so excited! I just updated our reservations. I put DH, DD-7 and DD-5 on the dining plan and upgraded their tickets FREE with the Disney Visa offer! DD-10 and I will not do a package but will use the AAA room discout and purchases tickets seperately. So, the total difference is $988.00!!!! We will share the dining credits and POP as needed.


Thanks for all the advice folks!

 

[princessjv]

I am glad it worked out! What a savings you have now! Have a great time!

 

[new_mouser]

The last weekend in May is Memorial Day weekend - one of the busiest times of the year for vacations. That's why it cost more to go than in January.