Finding A Way! Disney Birthday on a Budget PTR 5/10/15-5/17/15

[dzfitch]

The first thing you should know about me is that I am a die-hard Disney Cruise lover, but often when we cruise, we sail out of Port Canaveral so I can usually squeeze in a trip to WDW at the same time. This year, however, we will be cruising out of Miami so *GASP* we wont be piggy-backing a WDW visit this time!

The second thing you should know about me is that I have to have something coming up that I can plan and work towards. If I don't have something to plan, I feel off balance and ungrounded. Yes, I have a Disney Cruise planned in October, but thats 10 months away! I need something sooner.

The third thing you should know about me is that I am recently divorced and 4 months ago I moved away from everything I have ever known in Los Angeles, to start over from scratch in Salt Lake City. For the first time in my life, I am paying all the bills on my own (no roommates or husbands to split the cost with) and I have taken a 40% paycut from what I was earning in LA. So I am on a budget, to say the least.

I am also a 34yo woman with no kids.

The Disney bug bit me about 2 weeks ago. I was looking for something in my purse and I stumbled upon an old Magic Band from a previous trip. I thought my boyfriend, Jason, must have put it in there as a subliminal message. We went to WDW in October 2014. It was his first trip there and he loved it, so I thought this was his subtle way to either remind me how much fun we had, or his way of telling me that we should go back. Either way, the wheels started turning.

When I got home that night, I pulled the Magic Band out of my purse and held it up. "I got your message!" I said, but Jason looked confused and insisted that he had not put the Magic Band in my purse. I decided that it must be the Universe speaking to me, and who am I to deny the Universe?

BUT I am on a budget!!! How am I going to be able to plan and afford a trip to Disney? Ive got bills!!

So for the last 2 weeks, I have been casually looking at package prices and hotel prices and on Friday (1/9/15) I sat at work, racking my brain for ideas on how I could make some extra money. I thought about my recent move, and how I have so much stuff that I never use - maybe I could sell something? It was worth a shot. I went home from work, dug out some stuff from my closet and listed it on Ebay. Lo and behold, I sold a Disney Dooney handbag and 3 sets of limited edition pins in the first night! I have 5 more auctions up right now, and so far I have made $455! Yes! Now I have a teeny budget to work with!

I already knew that Disney's spring room only offer has the steepest discount in May, which happens to also be my birthday, so I decided I would plan to book 5 nights at the cheapest Disney hotel I could find for the first week in May. This happens to be All Star Music and the total for 5 nights was $435 - just inside my budget from my Ebay earnings! I was about to book it, when I suddenly thought maybe I should check my timeshare exchange and see if there are Disney Resorts available for May.

I had little hope at this idea, because Disney Resorts are rarely available on my timeshare exchange, and when they are I never seem to have enough points for them anyway. So you can imagine my shock when not only was a Disney Resort available, but it was also available for the second week in May and I also had enough points! I had to pay some fees to book it, but the total was going to be $485! This was just a little bit over my Ebay budget, so I felt nervous and started thinking about the pros and cons when suddenly, completely out of the blue, my friend texted me a picture of myself, standing in WDW.

I decided it was a sign! The Universe speaks! I booked the timeshare! I went from planning to stay 5 nights at the smallest Value resort to booking a 7 night stay in a 1-bedroom villa at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa!

I looked up the same room at SS for that same week. If I had booked it through Disney, it would have cost $2600 (and I never would have been able to afford that). So far, this girl on a budget is feeling pretty Mouse-Savy!

Earned $455 (Ebay sales)
Spent $485 (timeshare rate)
OOP spent $30 (Timeshare cost $485 - Ebay earnings $455)
Saved $2115 ($2600 room rate - $485 timeshare price)

Stay tuned, because I plan to continue finding more ways to save money and make this budget trip happen!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Way to save some money! Joining in!

 

[ElsasMom]

Way to go!

I'm a big coupon-er and I hit up all the FL resident deals, almost never go for more than a day & bring my own food most of the time. Where there's a will there's a way!

I'm not going to lie when I finished reading I had tears in my eyes I was so happy for you. You're going to have an amazing birthday!

 

[dzfitch]

HI again! Lets talk airfare! I am accustomed to flying out of LAX to Orlando and I know that anything at or below $300 is a pretty good deal, however I have had to do some research on flights from SLC to Orlando. The only prices I have seen for the dates I am going are $340+ and they haven't budged an inch. On a whim, I decided to search Orbitz using flexible dates and *like magic* I found round trip flights, leaving Saturday May 9th at 11:59pm, arriving Sunday May 10 at 6:25am and departing Orlando on Monday, May 18 at 6:30am. Both of the flights are nonstop and they are both on Delta, which is my most frequent airline so I am always excited to rack up more Skymiles!

Since the returning flight leaves a day after we check out of SS, I need to book an extra room so I searched Orbitz and was able to find a room at All Star Music for $99 (including tax). However, after applying a 15% off coupon and the Orbucks I just earned from booking my flights, the room comes to $80.

So my flights went from costing $680 for 2 people to $532. After the cost of the additional hotel night, the savings is $68 (yay!)

Additionally, 4 more of my ebay auctions sold, bringing in a total of $606! So here are my costs and savings so far:

Hotels = $485 + $80 = $565
Flight = $532
OOP cost = $489 ($1097 hotel & airfare - $608 ebay sales)
Savings = $2183 ($2115 from hotel savings + $68 flight savings)

more savings to come!!!

 

[dzfitch]

So in the last week, my whole life changed. My boyfriend's 14yo daughter moved in with us - unexpectedly - which is AWESOME! She is wonderful, a budding vocalist and a treasure to be around. Why am I including this in the trip report? Well, because now we will be adding an extra person to our Disney fun! The only hiccup is that she was not in the budget, so I have had to do some creative thinking about how to afford this.

My first step is to get her flights taken care of. I have 17,494 Delta Skymiles. We are flying Delta and I looked up the miles exchange for the corresponding flights, but they are WAY out my point range. However, a one-way ticket on the same flight as our return flight is 17,500 points. I am just 6 points shy of having enough points!! Arg!!! So I searched Delta to find out how I could get more points. I could buy 2000 points for $70, but that seems like a lot of money when all I need is 6 points Then I saw that I can exchange points from other point programs towards Delta Skymiles. I looked through the participating point programs and saw that Hilton Honors points are transferable - now we are talking! I logged in to Hilton Honors and saw that I had 26,000 points available. I transferred 20,000 Hilton points in exchange for 2000 Delta Skymiles. The point transfer could take up to 30 days, which is ok because our trip isnt until May.

Next, I got onto Orbitz and found that JetBlue has a one way flight that leaves Salt Lake at exactly the same time as our Delta flight and it arrives at exactly the same time in Orlando (are JetBlue and Delta partners? Because this could literally be the same flight, the times are identical!). This flight is $169. It would be ideal if we could get her on the same flight as us, but the one-way ticket on our flight is $277 (the roundtrip price for our flight is actually cheaper than the one-way ticket, $266 - unbelievable. I don't understand airline pricing at all). So after looking at the options, it seems like the most affordable choice is the one-way JetBlue ticket for $169 + the one-way Delta ticket for 17,500 Skymiles + $6 handling fee. Thats $175 for her flights. The cheapest roundtrip flight I could find was on Delta for $266. Thats a $91 saving!

feeling pretty mouse-savy Scrooge McDuck would be proud!!!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Yay for saving more on your trip!

 

[ElsasMom]

Yay, the more the merrier! Way to keep saving!

 

[dzfitch]

So - it turns out having a 14yo in the house is EXPENSIVE! She is involved in MMA so her appetite could rival Monstro's and I find myself constantly going to the store for more food. I am a habitual Target shopper, but I decided to switch over to Walmart because I had heard about the "savings catcher" app and I wanted to see how much of a savings this actually would produce. So in the last week, I have been to Walmart 3 times and I scanned my 3 receipts and so far I have earned $9.57 in Walmart money back! Why is this important? I will explain.

I spend all my free time day-dreaming about our trip and crunching numbers to figure out how I am going to pay for the rest of it. But I am determined to make this work! I have stayed a SSR once before, and I loved it! But that time I stayed in a studio and this time we have a 1-bedroom villa, and that has started the wheels turning. I have trolled the web for years, in search of ways to save money at Disney. For my purposes, I usually travel during Free Dining, which is obviously a huge money saver. However the next biggest money-saver that I have come across seems to be eating in your hotel room. Now that I will have a full kitchen, it seems like a no-brainer that if we eat the majority of our meals in the suite, we will save big bucks!

So here is where the Walmart Savings Catcher comes into play - I am planning to continue to do my shopping at Walmart for the next 3 months and letting my savings add up. Then when it comes time for the trip, I am going to convert my Walmart savings into a Walmart card, and I will use that to spend on groceries in Orlando. It feels like free Walmart money to me!

I'm feeling like the Money-Saving MVP right now

 

[dzfitch]

So just wanted to post some planning updates:

Delta canceled our flight into Orlando! I had to argue with them to get them refund the fare without a penalty. They did offer to reschedule us on another flight, but they all had connections and were several hours apart from the original flight, which wouldnt work because we have the 14yo flying out on a different flight that was leaving SLC and arriving in Orlando at the same time as our original flight. If we changed flight times, it would mean she would have to wait for several hours in the airport for us to arrive, and that is not an option. So Delta refunded us $133 each. I decided the easiest way to book flight would be to jump on the same flight as our teenager, so I booked 2 one-way tickets o JetBlue for $169 each. This is an increase of $72 for both tickets, which I was not planning on, grrrrrrr. But it is what it is!

Next, I spent hours today researching rental car prices for our trip. I searched for so many offer codes that I felt like my finger were going to fall off from typing! I finally found a rate on Expedia from Fox Rent a Car for $147, which includes tax and fees. It is for a midsize car, and this was the BEST rate I could find!

Then, this afternoon I got an email from Undercover Tourist, informing me that Disney World park ticket prices are going up tomorrow! Arg! I have found that Undercover Tourist has the best rates for tickets, and I usually buy my tickets through them (unless I am doing free dining, in which case I buy direct through Disney). But I was planning to use my tax refund to pay for the tickets, but I hadn't received the refund yet I figured I was just going to have to accept the fact that I would pay a higher price than expected for my tickets. BUT then something amazing happened - I opened my mailbox when I got home from the gym tonight, and my California State Tax Refund had arrived - the best part? I was only expecting $341 from this refund, bu apparently I made a mistake when I added my totals, because the California Tax Board adjusted my refund to $1075!!! This was over $700 more than I was expecting! And this meant I could buy my tickets tonight, before the prices go up! I purchased 3 8-day tickets (no hopping, no frills). The total from Under Cover Tourist was $1033.53 - I am excited to see how much they are going to go up tomorrow, so I can figure out how much I saved by buying today!

As of this moment, I have earned $1,139.69 from Ebay!

My Walmart Savings Catcher balance is up to $27.44! We will be using this towards groceries on our trip.

Here are my expenses and savings as of now:

Hotel:
7 nights at Saratoga Springs = $485 (valued at $2489.20) - savings of $2004.20
1 night at All Star Music = $80.71 (valued at $104.70) - savings of $23.99
Round-trip airfare for 3 people = $753 (valued at $1095) - savings of $342
8-day park tickets for 3 people = $1033.53 (at the moment, valued at $1067.13) - savings (as of now) $33.60
8 day car rental = $147 - no savings, this is just the lowest price
Walmart Savings Catcher = $27.44 - Savings of $27.44 (this is basically free Walmart money)

So far the total spent has been $2,499.24.
Income from Ebay is $1,139.69.
My California tax refund was $1075.
After subtracting my Ebay and tax funds, I have only spent $284.55 - And at the moment the trip is valued at $4,903.03. Thats a legitimate savings of $2403.79 - thats almost 50% savings on the cost of the trip!

Move over, Uncle Scrooge!!!!!!

 

[DisneyHoover]

Wow that's some pretty incredible savings -- I'm impressed by your thriftiness!

 

[dzfitch]

WE LEAVE ON SATURDAY!!!! I am so excited - After 4 long months of planning, it is finally almost here!

In the last couple months, my Ebay has slowed down - because I have basically sold all of my Disney pins and Disney Dooney & Burke bags! So I have put my focus on food - how am I going to be able to feed 3 people for 8 days?! The answer is a combination of 2 things. First, since we are staying in a 1-bedroom villa at SSR (MY FIRST TIME IN ANYTHING BIGGER THAN A STUDIO!!!) we are going to be preparing food in our suite. We are going to be renting a car ($147 total - after two months of research, this is the best price I can find) and going to Walmart for groceries. The second is gift cards from Mypoints. I am a shameless Mypoints point hoarder and I was able to turn in enough points for a $100 cash deposit into my paypal account, which will go towards the rental car.

I have hoarded a whopping $37.57 in savings catcher rewards from Walmart. I am also going to turn in enough points for $100 Walmart egift card, which will be delivered to my email. That will be $137.57 to spend on groceries. We are planning to eat breakfast in the suite and pack lunches to take to the park. And since we have a rental car, we will be returning to the hotel for some dinners.

I also turned in enough Mypoints for a $50 gift card to Rainforest Cafe. I then went on the Rainforest Cafe website and I signed up for their reward card. The card cost $25, but I was immediately given a $25 credit to any Landry's restaurant. Then, since my birthday was on May 1, the reward card gave me an additional $25. All together, that is $100 total towards Rainforest Cafe. We have 2 separate dinner reservations for the Disney Springs Rainforest Cafe.

I searched online to see what other rewards programs the restaurants at Disney might offer, and I found that Earl of Sandwich has one, and it offers you a free sandwich when you sign up. So I signed each of us up for memberships (the memberships were free) and we each received a coupon for a free sandwich. Then, again, since my birthday was May 1, the reward club sent me a free birthday sandwich, soup or salad coupon. We will be eating dinner at Earl of Sandwich in Disney Springs one night.

I love pizza, and I am a member of Papa John's rewards program. I have earned a free pizza, which I have been saving for this trip. I have also turned in enough Mypoints for a $10 Papa John's gift card. I know Disney won't let pizza be delivered to the resorts, but since we have a car, we are planning to pick up Papa John's one night for dinner. We will probably order 2 pizzas, which will also *hopefully* give us some leftovers.

I think I have thought of mostly everything - now I just have to pack and go! Here are my savings totaled up:

Hotel:
7 nights at Saratoga Springs = $485 (valued at $2489.20) - savings of $2004.20
1 night at All Star Music = $80.71 (valued at $104.70) - savings of $23.99
Round-trip airfare for 3 people = $753 (valued at $1095) - savings of $342
8-day park tickets for 3 people = $1033.53 (valued at $1102.29) - savings $68.76
8 day car rental = $47 after the $100 in Paypal from Mypoints ($147 - $100 = $47 out-of-pocket) savings of $100
Walmart Savings Catcher = $37.57 - Savings of $37.57 (this is basically free Walmart money)
Walmart gift cards from Mypoints = - savings of $100
Rainforest Cafe = $25 (valued at $100) - savings of $75
Papa Johns = $0 (this is a generous estimate between the $10 from Mypoints and the free reward pizza) - Savings of $10
Earl of Sandwich = $0 (4 free sandwiches) savings of $26

So far the total spent has been $2,424.24
Income from Ebay is $1,634.21
After subtracting my Ebay sales from the total, that leaves a balance of $790.03 which has been spent on this trip - all of which was covered by my California Tax return. (My California tax refund was $1075)
And at the moment the trip is valued at $5,221.76. Thats a legitimate savings of $2,797.52 - thats a 53% savings on the cost of the trip!

I guess the only thing left to say is - "SEE YA REAL SOON!!"