DVC trip on a tight budget

[Jonell]

Hi all..I'm trying to avoid cancelling our Sept trip. If we get to go we will be on a tight budget. We're having a horrible year and I've never had to do a WDW trip on a budget. I already have annual passes so I won't need to buy tickets. This trip will mean no DP for us. No fruitty drinks by the pool (unless I make my own) No Dole Whips, and other things I really enjoy each trip. I know many DVC members don't do the DP and cook meals. But we love to eat out and TS meals are a big part of our vacation. Has anyone ever gone from getting the DP every trip to only eating in the villa and cooking? How did this work out? Thanks

 

[smnslc]

We did the dining plan once and after paying gratuity it actually cost us more money than oop because we had 9 people with us that trip. I have aslo priced out what the difference is for our next trip in Feb and oop is the cheapest for us. We usually do 4-5 TS reservations and the rest CS. We usually will cook breakfast in the villa and eat out for lunch and dinner. If you have younger kids try splitting a meal for them. In my family there is DD(7), DH, and me. A lot of times I fiind that I can purchase to adult CS meals and she will eat off of our plate. For instance at Pizzafari in AK we purchase 2 Cheese Pizza with caesar salads, if you cut each pizza in four you have 8 slices of pizza. My husband and I usually eat the salads. DD will eat 3 slices of pizza, I eat 1 or 2 and my husband will eat the rest. Add on a cookie for desert for my DD cause she can't live without it.

Also try eating late lunches for dinner and maybe a snack later if you are hungry.


If you have kids I think most kids love chicken nuggets, you can split an adult chicken nugget between two kids easily. Also Pizza is always an easy thing to throw in the oven and eat while everyone is having a pool day. Also remember Disney does allow you to bring in food and beverages, so try packing your lunch a couple of days you will see it actually takes less time to eat your own and you are off to the next ride. We always carry a bookbag and bring in our own bottles of water. We freeze them the night before and put a small freezer pack in the bag to keep them cold.

I can go on and on about saving. Just remember there are a lot of people who go and only eat CS and are very happy with it, I believe that is why Disney has the QS dining plan. I beleive you can do it and still enjoy your trip.

 

[stmize]

We did that very thing for our May trip. We bought dvc in Nov 2010 so we had 2010 points which they banked for us and our 2011 points. My intention was for my mom, dd, ds, and myself go and hang out at the resort and not do the parks. hubby was planning on staying at home to work and keep the dog so we wouldn't have to board him. We booked a studio since we were only going for 4 nights to save points. We planned to take a cooler with lots of sandwich stuff and drinks. We had a/p's I had bought but not redeemed yet at cust svc so if we wanted to go to the parks we would have just bought mom 2-3 days Ph's. Well mom bailed on us a few days before. I had only allocated $800 for trip including gas money from Chatt, TN. Then hubby decided he was going so then we had to board our dog $100, gas was about $550 (we have an armada suv) but we did take cooler full of sandwich stuff, chips, breakfast cereal, bread and milk, juice, cokes, canned chilli, etc even had stuff left over. The first night we were there we ate at Olivia's. Since hubby went we activated our a/p's in the evenings only. we hung out at the pool, had lunch and ate cs at the parks even indulged in mickey ice cream sandwiches, some adult beverages, bought some dvc only pins for lanyards. We ended up using about $1100 vs the $800 but we were okay that would have been used at home anyway for gas/and hubby food had he not went. That even included food on the way down and back ($75-100) so we had about $350 for other stuff. The kids had money for rept cards and allowance that they spent and they knew once it was gone it was gone. We had a great relaxing time. Now for our Nov trip (1 week) we had already added on the ddp and pd for it prior to our May trip. but we plan on taking drinks and breakfast food with us to save snack credits for eatable snacks not just drinks.

 

[Chuck S]

The DDP would always cost us more than paying cash for our Table Service meals.

First off, even on a budget, you still need to eat. Pick one or two of your favorite Table Service places, and pay cash. Try lunch instead of dinner, it is usually cheaper.

Eating in the room isn't too bad, as long as you break it up with a meal or two out at your favorites.

Will you have a car (are you driving?) there are some pretty good, reasonable, offsite options for meals as well.

It will still be a fun trip, and you won't feel quite as much like you're "just" eating in the room with a couple of meals out.

 

[arthur06]

Some of our best trips are budget trips. At the end of the day, the things you remember are the moments as a family and not what you had for dinner on a Tuesday night.

 

[Jonell]

Thanks guys. We are driving this time. I also invited my mother to go along with us. I invited her back in the spring before my husbands work slowed down. She will need a 7 day park hopper and a scooter. I am going to pay for these things because I invited her and I don't feel right making her pay for anything. So that will be myself, DH,DS9, and mom. I'm thinking that maybe $200-$250 for groceries for the week will be enough and we can cook a big breakfast and eat before the parks, have a snack in the afternoon and make something quick for dinner each night (like a skillet meal or spaghetti and some veggies). I'm hoping we can keep our expenses under $1200 including gas. Any other sugesstions?

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Restaurant row on 192. 3 miles "off-campus" from AKK. Next problem.

 

[sweetdana]

Sharing (except buffets) can save you $$.
DH, DD6, and I share 2 meals or 1 meal 1 app and a kids meal alot. It saves 10-30$. At TS, and QS as well.

Using the new pick a day DP, may make it so you can do 1-2 days of DP and use that for your TS meals.

Skipping pop, (or only with mugs), water the rest of the time. Know where it is free, and bring water bottles to fill.

Consider going off site to an apple bees for a sit down, and also DTD. Places like Rex, and Rain Forest are a little cheaper, that Cape May and Cheff Mickey.

Order pizza one night. (pick up if you have a car). Get enough for left overs for breakfast/lunch the next day.

Eat breakfast every day in the room, and bring snacks to the park. Get a bunch of bananas, and apples, and granola bars and stuff. (I do this anyway, but it saves a ton.)

Cook dinner in room 2-3 times, Spaghetti or BBQ.

Skip the rental car. Use Disney transport.

 

[SamSam]

I don't know your plan, but I believe renting a scooter 'offsite' may be cheaper than renting at WDW. The DISabilities Board has lots of info for scooter rental.

 

[Deb & Bill]

It's a lot cheaper to buy 2 liter bottles of soda or packages of Kool-aid (yes, I drink the real stuff, not the DVC Kool-aid) than to fill up on Disney beverages. We bring our panini maker along, get some tortillas, cheese, avocado, chicken and make sandwiches. You could probably even make that in a frying pan, you just have to turn it. And if you have a slow cooker, try a dinner in the slow cooker.

Publix has some great food and I didn't feel the prices were any higher than we had at home.

 

[rlovew]

Go to Publix for groceries not Goodings. Logan's Roadhouse (it is on 192) has dinner specials from 4-6pm on Mon-Wed if you want a steak dinner at some point. There are tons of places to eat off-site.

The only other thing I would suggest is maybe talking to your mom- let her know what is going on and see if she can afford to cover some of her things. Expect the scooter rental to eat into a lot of your budget- it will probably cost significantly more than her ticket.

 

[Jonell]

I don't know your plan, but I believe renting a scooter 'offsite' may be cheaper than renting at WDW. The DISabilities Board has lots of info for scooter rental.

I did rent her scooter from offsite and it was much cheaper. Are we allowed to use a slow cooker at the resorts? I would love to use one but it makes me kind of nervous. I don't want to burn down my beloved BWV with my dinner cooking while I'm at the parks

 

[Jonell]

Go to Publix for groceries not Goodings. Logan's Roadhouse (it is on 192) has dinner specials from 4-6pm on Mon-Wed if you want a steak dinner at some point. There are tons of places to eat off-site.

The only other thing I would suggest is maybe talking to your mom- let her know what is going on and see if she can afford to cover some of her things. Expect the scooter rental to eat into a lot of your budget- it will probably cost significantly more than her ticket.

The scooter rental is only $190 for 8 days while a 7 day park hopper is something like $350+.

 

[SLM]

There are grills you can use-hot dogs and hamburgers one night? A half of a spiral ham is less than $20.00 and with salad/corn and rolls you'll have dinner and enough for sandwiches by the pool the next day. Bring/buy your own bottle of wine and popcorn to enjoy on your balcony. You still have several weeks before your trip-is there time to save for one night out so you have a special occasion to look forward to? I know it isn't the trip you'd planned, but your giving your mother some special memories and hopefully you'll look back and remember it as a fun vacation.

 

[Jonell]

There are grills you can use-hot dogs and hamburgers one night? A half of a spiral ham is less than $20.00 and with salad/corn and rolls you'll have dinner and enough for sandwiches by the pool the next day. Bring/buy your own bottle of wine and popcorn to enjoy on your balcony. You still have several weeks before your trip-is there time to save for one night out so you have a special occasion to look forward to? I know it isn't the trip you'd planned, but your giving your mother some special memories and hopefully you'll look back and remember it as a fun vacation.

Thanks..The spiral ham is a great ideal I do plan on bringing my own wine. Buying wine/cocktails at WDW cost too much. Although you can buy a decent bottle of Chardonnay at the market on the Boardwalk for under $20. My goal with this vacation is making sure my mom has a good time. It's her first trip to WDW and I want to make it special and unfortuantely it will have to be a vacation that is budgeted. I know she will understand since many ppl are falling vicitim to our economy. I think she will be fine with eating in the villa since I know she will be tired after the parks and prob won't feel like getting dressed for dinner. I'm just going to look at it as I'm using a part of my DVC resort that I never used before...The KITCHEN!!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

We were at WDW in June in a GV at OKW. We were there for seven nights and aren't coming back for over a year, so we bought park hoppers for eight days. I only used four of those days. The rest of the time I spend watching TV, playing with the computer, watching the golfers and just relaxing. I think it was the best trip ever.

 

[DVCconvert]

I agree on Publix over Goodlings for shopping...also that cooking in your villa can be just as pleasant as eating out...break up your meals, making a mix of a couple meals out/eating in/using the BBQ's will make it much more interesting.

 

[searlproudbottom]

We just got back from our trip of eight days at BLT. On this trip both of my daughters brought a friend so having six in our party we were on a fixed budget as well. I had purchased a soft sided, insulated and collapsible lunch bag from REI for $ 16.00. It had a handle as well as a shoulder strap. We ate breakfast in our room mostly bagels, English muffins cereals and fruits. We kept bottled water in the freezer. For lunch we were able to pack six sandwiches a frozen bottle of water and 3 apples in our REI lunch bag. The frozen bottle of water worked great to keep our lunch cool. After lunch the lunch bag fit in our day pack. We also brought a tube of Pringles to the parks every day which we kept in a day pack. We purchased refillable mugs on the first day and had dinner at Contempo Café and at a couple of nice table service restaurants. I thought we did good as far as breakfast and lunch goes. I spent $ 300 from Garden Grocer that covered a party of six all over 13 years for 8 days. I am thinking we averaged $3.00 per meal per person. If you do Pizza you will want one with a cardboard pizza pan. The one we purchased fell though the racks of the oven.
Searl

 

[Antonius215]

There is also a Super WalMart nearby if you really want the lowest prices. Definitely do NOT shop at the Goodings. We use our crockpot at least once per trip and we always have our breakfasts in the room - nothing major, just muffins, toast, fruit etc -mostly because we don't want to clean up. After that we bring snacks with us, do a quick-serve for lunches and then splurge on dinner for half of the nights.

I agree with the others -there are plenty of good restaurants just a short drive away on 192 if you want to dine out at non-disney prices.

 

[disneybirds]

We have done it all from the full dining plan to cooking in the room. This past May we cooked in the room most nights. I have to say that I actually enjoyed eating in the room. We had 9 people, so eating out every night would have been a 2 to 3 hour event. We usually order pizza one night from a chain restaurant there in the area.