Family of 6!!!

[Mamaoftwo24]

Help!!!!! My fiancé and I are planning a trip for us and our 4 kids... As you can expect taking 4 kids is expensive. Does anyone have money saving tips and such that can help us save money? We are going before the 30% is over so we will be saving that on the rooms of we book through Disney. Does anyone know of other places that save us money. My fiancé has AAA but unsure what that will save us... Anyone use them?!

Thanks so much!!!!!!

 

[growinupdisney]

We are a family of 5 this what we do:

.eat breakfast in room ( muffins, donuts, granola bars, cereal etc.) we drive so not an issue on bringing stuff I know some people have food deliver from Garden Grocery but it works for us to bring from hone I start ahead of time keep a container and when I go to grocery store and if something is on sale and we can use on trip I go ahead and pick up and keep stored til the trip.

.bring snacks (small stuff nabs,slim Jims,gummies)and drinks into the parks, yes you get free water and we have done this but I do bring in at least 1 water/ soda/Capri sun for everyone and the 2 more! The bag will be heavy with drinks but if you have a stroller no issue if not a stroller then alternate carrying and by lunch and the day progresses it gets lighter. We save at least $25 a day just by doing this ( most of the time we get counter service ask for 5 cups of ice and share a drink from the bag that we have enough throught the day)

.We all at some point or another eat a kids meal they are big enough and half the price as an adult meal, we also sometimes share a meal they can be really big and I had found myself in past trips throwing away a lot of food so that's why we started doing this. For ex. Some places have a pizza and salad my daughter and I would each get to slices and half a salad each plenty of food for us! One time my husband ate the pizza and I had the salad. We don't always share it just depends on how hungry we are at the time.

I usually plan my budget at $120.00 a day this includes 2 counter service meals and a snack or ice cream for everyone we have never gone over this amount usually under!

Also, check allears.net and look at the menus for each restaurant you can find counter service that fits your needs and price them out. I usually pick 3 places at each park so when we are hungry I see what we are close and we go there!

I do know that a lot of people trying to save bring sandwiches etc. but we do love to eat at Disney so we don't do this but if I was extremely tight on money I would hesitate.
Hope these tips help!

 

[Feberin]

I only have two kids but we stuck to a tight budget. We also saved money by getting breakfast in our room. I feel it saved us a lot of time in the mornings as well since we took turns eating and dressing. We drove, which also saved money and allowed us to easily go grocery shopping. However you can get groceries delivered alternatively. We packed our lunch along with snacks for the day. This saved us a lot of money since we only ate one meal "out". My kids love PBJ so it was really simple to make their lunch. My husband had lunchmeat sandwiches and I got chicken salad at the grocery store to make mine. We also stuck to water to drink including ordering it when we did purchase a meal. This saved money and was healthier. Plus we went in May so drinking just water helped keep everyone hydrated.
We also stuck to a budget of $20 for souvenirs per person. Everyone picked out one small item and that was it. It saved money and we didn't have a mess of stuff to take home.

 

[Hans Olo]

We're a family of six as well. I found the best way to afford staying on Disney property for us was to rent an RV from Greenburg and stay at Fort Wilderness. It comes out to less than $200 a night which was a lot cheaper than getting two rooms anywhere else.
Plus they have plenty of outside space so they won't feel so cramped and still be kids
We also plan on driving. That will save us about $1500 right there.

 

[lisski76]

Help!!!!! My fiancé and I are planning a trip for us and our 4 kids... As you can expect taking 4 kids is expensive. Does anyone have money saving tips and such that can help us save money? We are going before the 30% is over so we will be saving that on the rooms of we book through Disney. Does anyone know of other places that save us money. My fiancé has AAA but unsure what that will save us... Anyone use them?!

Thanks so much!!!!!!

Stay off site so you can have more room for less money. People often own timeshares and rent them out. You can check ebay, vacation strategies and Google others. Also buy your park tickets from undercover tourist, they are cheaper and will mail you the hard plastic tickets. Bring your lunch to the parks and eat breakfast before you go.

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

We are a family of 6 as well. Eating outside of the parks helps a lot. We usually leave around lunch time, and come back after dinner. It gives everyone a break to go swimming, or we go to the outlet malls. Food in the park us really expensive and usually not very good. We do a few special meals each trip, but I'm not paying $10 for a burger that isn't any better than McDonalds.
We also do a lot of our souvineers ahead of time. Target has Disney stuff in their dollar bins all the time. And I get shirts and stuffier at the Disney Store when they are on sale.

 

[MandiC]

We are also a family of 6. Room would depend on how old the kids are for me. Plus if you have one or more who are younger than 3 you can stay in a normal room (if you have 1 who is younger than 3 you can stay in a room at Port Orleans Riverside, if you have two younger than 3 you can stay in any normal room). We plan on staying in either a family suite at All Star Music or in the cabins at Fort Wilderness. For us, the benefits of onsite are worth it. Plus if you don't stay on site you will need to figure out transportation that will fit the 6 of you plus pay parking ($15 a day at the parks).
Saving money on tickets...Undercover Tourist if you don't buy direct through Disney is where I am told prices are cheapest. We bought through Disney because we got a package deal. One thing to take into consideration is adding days after the first few doesn't cost that much more.
Transportation TO Disney is probably one area where you really could save lots of money. My husband is opposed to driving but if we drove it'd save us quite a lot of money.
Food. If you don't drive you can order food from Garden Grocer to be delivered to your room to help you save some money. You can carry food in if you are interested in doing so. You can get free ice water from any counter service restaurant.

 

[kam1011]

You might want to consider renting DVC points and staying in a 2BR villa. We stayed at Art of Animation last week and it was very crowded in the room. When all the beds were pulled out, we were tripping over suitcases and stuff. We had to be super organized to make it work. We normally do 2BR villas. We also normally drive because for like $400 worth of gas we can get the entire family there. Plus, we have the flexibility of the car without needing to spend more money on a rental.

 

[Mamaoftwo24]

Thank you all for your advice. We actually booked at all star movies and we are staying april 2-8... Five days at the parks so we will do every park and then double up for MK... We will be driving and will be bringing food for breakfast. We ended up with the dining package because we wanted to give the kids some of the experiences of some of the awesome dining options. Will be celebrating two kids birthdays and mine (of course) while we are there. This will be DD's first visit where she is tall enough to ride everything. She is so excited.

Now just counting the days... 16 days

 

[mjkacmom]

Thank you all for your advice. We actually booked at all star movies and we are staying april 2-8... Five days at the parks so we will do every park and then double up for MK... We will be driving and will be bringing food for breakfast. We ended up with the dining package because we wanted to give the kids some of the experiences of some of the awesome dining options. Will be celebrating two kids birthdays and mine (of course) while we are there. This will be DD's first visit where she is tall enough to ride everything. She is so excited.

Now just counting the days... 16 days

Before adding the DDP, did you check and see if there are any ADR's you can get? It would stink to pay for the package, and not be able to eat where you would like. You can eat at WDW restaurants without the package, usually for less money.

 

[Mamaoftwo24]

We got most of the restaurants we wanted but I understand what you are saying. We divided out the price and it seems to be cheaper for us.

 

[maxiesmom]

Did you put in a request that your rooms connect? If not, do that right away! Even if you book 2 rooms under 1 reservation you still need to put in a request that they connect (have the inside door between them). But please be aware even with the request it is not guaranteed they will connect. The odds are with you but sometimes they simply don't have connecting rooms to give out.

 

[smd8z]

We order groceries from Garden Grocer and eat breakfast on the rooms. We also but Disney GC at Target before we go with our Target card (saves us 5%!). We use the cards to buy food and gifts at the parks.

 

[Mamaoftwo24]

We did request connected rooms. Thank you for asking in case I had forgot. Also I have wondered about the ordering food at Garden Grocer... How does that work?

 

[smd8z]

Garden Grocer is fantastic; you can order online, and they will bring the food to the resort where you are staying . You pick a window of time for them to deliver it, and the desk normally keeps it for you in a refrigerator if you order perishable food. They deliver to any of the Disney resorts and a few other ones in the area.