Doing Disney for ONLY $2000.00 Realistic? or NOT?

[SunnieRN]

we are hoping for August 14-20 possibly maybe the 21st...but I dont think we can add an extra day and still stay under 2000.00.

We have the money to spend more...but I am very frugal...and want to get the most for my money...

Frugal is good!! Vacations however, I try to be realistic, vs frugal!! I scrimp to save for my vacations. I really believe however, that with gas, road meals, keepsakes etc, that I would plan on $1000 above your package price. Just because you bring it, does not mean you have to spend all of it. This would allow your children some money for something special also, with the policy of when it's gone, it's gone!!

The QS dining plan is MORE than enough food and you never have to eat a burger or hot dog, unless you want to!! Having a refillable mug for the resort, we would get water with our meal there, to save for in the park. The two snacks are an awesome addition to the meals. Look on the restaurant/dining board to see the 2010 snack list! It is awesome! Kids/adults get the same use of a snack credit and the snack credits can really jazz up the very boring (my opinion only) kids meals!

Have a wonderful vacation!!

 

[jgates]

It would work fine for us. We did several massively budget trips to Disney. And controlling souveneir spending is practical anyway.

Suggestions for hotels on the way down.........

Make sure you pick something clean, but also try to get something 'known' with a decent continental breakfast. Even if you have to pay $10 more for the room, it can save $20 to $30 on breakfast. Or get you filled up enough that you can do a light lunch during the day. Search for Comfort Inns, Fairfield, Holiday Inn Express, etc. Super8's are sometimes ok, but sometimes have cruddy or no breakfast. It will help if any of your driving days are weekdays instead of weekends.

I apologize that I didn't catch the kids age in 1st post, but we have always driven very long days. Normally took 2 days to drive from Wisconsin to Disney. (Now we fly).

We did the mugs the last few trips. We purchased 2 or 3 for four of us. In the morning our son would go for his run & stop & get a beverage on the way back. Then we'd all go to food court for breakfast & the rest of us would get a beverage. If he was still thirsty he would fill up a mug when we left again. (no flames for 2 people sharing a mug please- we do buy new ones each trip!). At night we could get a soda or tea before bed.

In the parks the popcorn buckets also make a good souveneir. We love the popcorn & save the buckets for saving coins, tossing in stuff on the counter, etc. I think we have one from every park now.

Does the regular Amtrak run anywhere near where you live or come out anywhere close to Disney? Sometimes they run some great specials. But you would have to pack food as it can get pricey to eat in their snack bar.

 

[blondietink]

If the poster does POP during free dining, then she will get mugs for everybody as POP has the QSDP included. Another suggestion is if the original poster belongs to any hotel clubs, like Trip Rewards, etc., she might be able to stay for free in a hotel on the road.We belong to several hotel travel clubs and are point horders throughout the year. We usually have enough points to stay for free down and back along the road somewhere. We have traveled long distances with our children since they were babies and have never had issues with a long drive. They grew up driving. When kids understand theya re going to see Mickey Mouse, you will be surprised how patient they can be. Our drive takes 24 hours, which we break up into a long first day of 16-18 hours and then the 2nd day is much shorter. I think it can be done for $2000!

 

[jgates]

Barb - definitely sounds like our drives!

Great recommendation with the hotel points - just make sure you are not stopping @ premium destinations when you stop. Example - do not stop at Atlanta - try an hour or so past Atlanta. Point redemption values will change dramatically depending on location. (Which is why I NEVER redeem outside of Disney - way overpriced on points vs. paying in cash).

And I noted the last time I went to book at Holiday Inn Express, they offered a combo of points plus $60 or something like that. Nice clean hotels, nice breakfast & if you can get a pool & pull in an hour early for the night it gives them something to look forward to.

And if you like the challenge the hotel guides that they have at the rest areas on the Interstates often have coupons for decent places. One co-worker did an entire trip with that adventure & only had one bad hotel - which her hubby picked - and she never let him live that down LOL. We have gone both ends of spectrum - staying nicer like I mentioned above & having breakfast included. As well as (southern end of Indiana - 1st nite stop on multiple Dis trips) we always picked the Super8 because it was about $35 cheaper a night than anything else at exit. Then buzzed thru McD's for a $12 breakfast the next morning and saved the difference. Not pretty-not fancy but it was clean and kept us in budget.

I never even flew until 2000 & that was for work. All our trips were driving. It just didn't pay to spend over $1000 on airfare when we could do the driving for so much less. Now with more limited schedules with adult & nearly adult kids, if it's a Dis trip we try to find a good airfare & drive and save 2 extra vacation days.

 

[AnOtHeRdIsNeYfReAk]

I realize most people would NOT even consider this(myself included), but when my sister and I were young my parents would drive straight down without staying at a hotel. My dad would sleep the day before we left and they'd pack us in the car in the middle of the night. My mom, my sister and I slept for several hours until morning while my dad drove. When we woke up we stopped to wash up, eat our packed foods, ran about and used the bathroom. Then dad would sleep while mom drove. During the day we stopped every few hours or so just to stretch our legs. We lived in upstate NY at the time so it took a good 24hrs to get down there, but we did save some $$.​

Also it won't save you a whole lot of money, but if you're not as Bat$#!%-insane as my parents were there's always the option of camping. There's quite a few campgrounds very close to I-95 in the Carolina's. Just look online for the ones with the real bathrooms and hot showers. I'm not picky, but thats a must for me. If your car is big enough (and comfy enough) you don't even need to set a tent up. Sleeping bags under a tarp works pretty well. Bring some outside toys for the kids. Most places have grills so you can throw some frozen burgers in the cooler and they should be thawed by the time you need them. That'll be a mini trip itself.​

We always have a blast on these "budget" type trips. Another way to save on souveniers is to not buy them in the parks. Go to the Disney Outlet in Orlando. You'll save so much money. We used to bring a case of bottled water, but now we bring a re-usable water bottle and some flavor packets. That way we don't have to worry about spending any extra money on drinks. Also bring a bag of munchies your kids like. That way you dont waste a QS credit if one of the kids isn't that hunrgy. My 7 year old neice would often munch on carrots, sugar snap peas and hummus as a meal. $2000 is doable, but you need to be flexible.

$300 - gas (I used gasbuddy.com with my car info)
$80 - 2 campsites (Bring a big cooler with meals and snacks)
$1400 - 6 day base tickets, Pop Century and free dining for 2 adults and 2 children (I used Sept 8 - Sept 13 as a guide)
$200 - Souveniers

​

 

[Minnie]

For the $ spent driving you "might" be able to find airline tickets for lower, use the Magical Express, and not spend all those hours in a car

Make sure when you are budeting this trip you leave room for emergency spending. Accidents happen and you shoudn't be without some sort of emergency funds

 

[daddyof2]

When I went to DW we flew southwest dings 39.00 and 49.00 4 people a park and fly in philly 2 hrs from home total was round 500 for the price I figure we bought 3 days and a lot less driving for me ( we used dis transport)

 

[taximomfor4]

I say it depends on your philosophy, to some extent. For example, we are a family of 6. Only 1 is still considered child-priced, so FIVE of us are adult priced. We have to have 2 value resort rooms. We booked 7 nights in 2 rooms at POP, with free QSDP and 5 day tickets (will most likely add a 6th day, but cost will be negligible). We have never stopped at a hotel on the way down or back, so I won't even budget that. The gas for our minivan at 3.40/gallon is about $320, driving 1040 miles each way. We will eat the same things on the road as we would have at home, so no counting road food...and we will bring some quickie breakfast things, also that we would have eaten at home. And here is the big one: we don't really get into lots of spending money. Each trip, we cash in the change jar, divide it by 4 kids, and THAT is all they get. $25-35 per TRIP. They browse all week, but don't buy till the last full day of the trip.

Total for us:$2717 (2 rooms@ POPx7 nights, 5a tix +1c tic x5 days,freeQSDP)
$320 (gas in minivan there and back)
======
$3037

If you want to add in the change jar (3 yrs worth) even though its not from our budget, lol, add in $140 which is $35x4 kids for a grand total of $3177. Really, your biggest variables will be hotel each way (we don't, many do) and souvenirs (which we pretty much don't believe in, so we keep the souvie budget miniscule)

 

[soonerfan2008]

We have done elaborate trips, as well as budget trips. All are great fun, and I like to travel both ways. Really, Disney is a great place to plan a budget trip because there is so much to do that is included in the price of a ticket.

Some of the shows are nearly as elaborate as what you could pay $$ to see on Broadway. The food is varied, and you can find great counter service meals to split for a low price (when you consider the price of 2 meals elsewhere). We go often enough that we don't really buy souvenirs anymore, but you can get great deals on Disney shirts online, and most big box stores carry cute Disney merchandise for just a few bucks.

I think you can stay within your budget, or at least very close once you factor in travel expenses. I also like to get the most bang for my buck because I like to travel, and saving money means I can plan another trip!