For all you budget gurus: A challenge!

[HunnyPots]

We have gone to WDW two years in a row now and had planned to skip 2005 to give the budget a break. But the kids and I REALLY want to go back next year! I know the only way I can talk DH into it is to do it on a much smaller budget. Here's where I need your help!

We spent around $3200.00 each trip.

We stayed at CBR and ate all our meals at the parks or at our resort food court plus we had two or three character meals per trip.

In 2003, we drove but this year we flew as we got tickets for $165 rt.

We also have two pluses left on our PHP tickets from this year.

We are willing to stay at a value resort rather than a mod but we do want to be on property.

I'm fine with bringing breakfast food from home and maybe doing some sandwich meals in the room, as well.

It will be me, dh, 17 year old dd and 14 year old ds.

What do you all think? How much could we shave this budget down?

Thanks!

 

[disneysteve]

My first suggestion would be to reconsider staying offsite. You could get a lot more space for less money than a Disney value. I can't imagine putting 2 adults and 2 teenagers in a room at All Stars. Plus you could have a full kitchen as well.

Drive. That way you'll have a car and be able to get to the grocery store and eat some meals offsite. Even $165 for air is still nearly $700 for all of you.

Skip the character meals that aren't buffets. Personally, we think a buffet lunch like Crystal Palace is well worth the money even if there were no characters.

Make lunch your big meal since prices can be cheaper than dinner.

Eat breakfast in your room. We always do this whenever we travel anywhere (unless the hotel includes breakfast). We bring cereal, pop-tarts, granola bars, etc. Once we arrive, we buy milk and juice and we're all set. We spend $2-3 for breakfast instead of $15 or more.

Bring snacks into the parks. We do buy some favorites like Dole Whip and ice cream bars, but we carry in pop-tarts, granola bars, candy, cheese and crackers, etc. There's lots of stuff you can bring in that is easy to carry and doesn't need refrigeration.

DRINK WATER. This is always my biggest money-saving tip. I'm amazed when I hear how much people spend at Disney on soda and bottled water. Water is free. Get a good wide-mouth sports bottle with an insulated carrier. Fill it with ice and water each morning (or freeze it partially filled overnite if you have a freezer). Throughout the day, just get more ice from any restaurant and refill with more water. If you really don't like the water, which some people claim, than bring some powdered drink mix to add.

You can certainly do a trip for 4 for way less than $3200.

 

[Amirah95]

How long did you stay the other two times last time? Maybe you can cut your trip shorter than usual will save you some money.

 

[HunnyPots]

Steve, I totally agree with you on the water thing. We found the water to be pretty bad in 2003 but not bad at all this year so we drank gallons of the free stuff!

Amirah95, this year we stayed 8 days. Six in the theme parks, one at typhoon lagoon, and one at disney quest. Next time, I'm thinking I could get by with four days at the theme parks and one day at a water park. I'd only have to buy the 4 day ph's since we still have plusses left from this year.

As for my food budget so far, it looks like it would be about $350 if we ate breakfast in the room everyday, three days of sandwiches in the room, one dinner at chef mickey's, and the rest counter service. MUCH less than our last two trips!

As for accomodations, well... I'm trying to keep an open mind! I really don't think dh will even consider offsite, though. He really loves not having to drive anywhere once we arrive.

OK - great tips so far! Keep 'em coming!

 

[RobinMarie]

Here is what I did to shave costs my last trip - saving from our last trip in April to the recent trip in July.

Stayed on site for 3 nights - I find this gets my Disney fix but we stayed in a larger condo the first week for about the same price as the 3 nights.

Used my Disney Visa to buy little things. I had 50.00 on my rewards card and used it to buy: candy in Epcot, stroller for Epcot day, quick lunch at MK, lunch at FW, hot fudge sundae at MK.

Used MY Points rewards for a 25.00 gift card and Memolink for a 25 dollar gift card - 2 meals for us. Also had a 10.00 Walmart card we used to pay 50.00 in total for enough food for 10 days of breakfasts, snacks, several lunches and juice boxes/bottled water.

Saved my change, including my 1.00 bills everyday. I had 46.00 in singles and 100 in change. I used the money for Mousekeeper tips, sky cap tips, paying remainder of what gift cards did not cover, my daughter's arcade trips, gas money.

Purchased 2 Q&C lunch vouchers - this provided PLENTY of food for 2 meals for my dd and me while staying at POFQ.

Marriott rewards - I had enough points that I purchased my dd's 5 day phplus pass with them.

Car Rentals - check, check and keep checking for the best deals.

My annual pass this year was worth it - used it several days to save on parking when staying off site, 10% discount at World of Disney and 9 days admission this year to the parks. I did not include the hotel discounts as I found when I went others had access to the same discounts without the pass.

Good Luck!

 

[Chuck-PA]

Have you thought about sharing meals.

At some of the counter service stations and restaurants serving sizes are large. My wife and I have shared meals.

You can save money this way.

 

[fun & fancy free]

I don't know when you are going but there are alot of holidays coming up. My family always lets everyone know that we are going and some of the best gifts are disney dollars. These can be used for advance ticket purchase, hotel room, food and anything else in the WDW world. Your kids seem to be at an age where maybe they will forgo those new jeans if they know the alternative is more $ for WDW. Approach your DH with this agreement and maybe he will see how important this is to the whole family. I strongly believe if you want it bad enough you can make it work. My family of 4 stayed at AS movies and we found it to be just fine. We do not spend very much time in our room to us it is just a place to sleep.

Good luck.

 

[mad4themouse]

Let's say that you go for 4 nights/5 days and you purchase 3-day PHs from DisneountOrlandoVacation.com for the 4 of you. Your costs would be:

• 4 nights (value season) at a value resort $343.42 (2004 rack rate)
• 4 3-day PHs w/PI or DQ plus $740 (This includes taxes and shipping)
• Food for 4 for 5 days
• $500[/b]

Total so far = about $1600.

You would also need to add in the cost of transportation (either flying + ground transportation or driving + a place to stay along the way there and back). I'm sure that you can do it for less than $700.

Like disneysteve already stated, you'll get more space for the same amount of money offsite but if not having to drive once you arrive is a priority, then a value resort is a good alternative. Discount codes could make it more affordable but you have to be patient when it comes to waiting for them. The discounts for October & November have not been announced yet!

I also second the idea of drinking water instead of buying sodas or juice. We bought the Brita water bottles and used the California Innoventions bottle wraps to keep them cool and prevent the condensation from dripping on us. They worked like a charm and saved us a bundle on beverages.

All of the food courts have microwaves that you can use to heat a meal or you can heat water in your coffeemaker to make instant soup, oatmeal or cup 'o noodles. Have bagels, juice and those little cups of fruit for breakfast. Eat your big meal at lunchtime and then eat sandwiches back in the room for dinner.

The 3-day PHs from discountorlandovacation.com would give you 3 days in the parks plus a day or evening at Disnet Quest. Add your 2 remaining "pluses" for a day or two at the waterparks and you've filled 5 days.

Limit the souvenirs to very little or nothing. Have the kids spend their own money if they want something.

The point is that it can be done if you start out knowing that you're not going to have a deluxe "no-holds-barred" vacation. Good luck planning!

 

[momxx5]

We are in the same boat. We have gone the past 2 summers and I am thinking it will be a stretch to go again next summer. Mind you there are 7 of us in our family, next summer it would be considered 4 adults and 3 children. (DS turns 10 and little DD turns 3).

Both trips have cost us $5,000. We stayed at the Ft. W cabins for 7 nights, did a few character meals and ate mostly counter service.

I am really crossing my fingers for another FTP for next summer(I can dream....)

I think you will probably be able to get great "room only" rates. This past summer, and even the next coming months, the value resorts have rates as low as $49/night. POP is a great value resort.

Driving of course would be a great money saver too. We purchased a few cases of water and each took our own water bottle, it helped cut down on the amount of drinks we bought.

With your teenagers I think it would be hard to keep the food costs down. Maybe skipping the character meals, you have already done them, and could do them again next time around. Eating a big lunch and a light dinner works too. We almost missed some meals because we were busy having fun - LOL!

Good luck. I hope we all get to go to WDW next summer!

 

[Fridye]

Here are some other money-saving tips:

1) Bring an empty water bottle and fill it up with one of the sodas at Ice Station Cool.

2) The Chip and Dale campfire sing-along and movie is free at Fort Wilderness.

3) The ice cream social at Garden Grill in Epcot has characters and is cheaper than a meal. You and your husband could even do the free re-hitching ceremony for grins.

 

[IMALOVNDISNEY]

This is just my 2cents worth....
I agree about not staying anywhere but on property...That's one thing I won't give up. We have been 6 times in the past 5 yrs. give up
Our budget usually will cap at $3,000 for family of 4. We always go in the fall (it's cheaper)-
*We've tried the mod's, but, prefer All Stars. You're only in your room to sleep, so what's the point in paying extra.
*We also fly into Tampa. The flights and rental car are always cheaper going to Tampa.
*I pack a small suit case with snacks, (crackers, pop tarts, micro popcorn)and then stop at Walmart for the other things needed. (styrofoam cooler, water, deli meat/cheese, bread). Remember there are toaster ovens, and microwaves in the food courts. We use them all the time with our items brought from home. No one has ever said that we couldn't.
*Our food budget is $150.00 per day. This will include 2-3 character meals and the much needed Mickey Ears ice cream. We try to eat only 1 meal on grounds a day. We try to eat a large breakfast most mornings. (Sizzler's$4.99 all you can eat), this will allow you to skip lunch, and have an early dinner. Or have a quick breakfast, but, a large lunch. Remember lunch is always less expensive than dinner in the parks/resorts.
*My dd9 split meals sometimes and make a salad out of the free fixn' bar.
I have always said you spend the most on food while on vacation, so I have made it my mission to keep the cost as low as possible. My dh is always amazed at my tricks.

Feel free to PM or email me directly with any questions.
Have a Magical Day. Liz

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by IMALOVNDISNEY
Our food budget is $150.00 per day.

Depending on your eating style, you can spend far less than that. Last trip, we were 3 adults and 1 child. We averaged under $17/person/day for all meals and snacks, or $68/day total. It all depends on how fancy you want to get. We ate quite well and didn't feel we were scrimping at all.

Remember lunch is always less expensive than dinner in the parks/resorts.

This is true of the sit-down restaurants and buffets. I think the counter service places are generally uniform pricing all day.

 

[PattiPB]

I think you should stick with the mod resorts with kids that age. We love the values, but as teenagers, I think it'd be a bit tight and the mod pools are so much better.

I would do the following:

1. Eat breakfast in the rooms. Bring snacks/drinks, and maybe even make lunches a few days.

2. Drop the character meals! Your kids are a bit older, and you've probably done the ones they were interested in. Maybe let them choose one, book the latest possible lunch and call it dinner!

3. I'd get the 3-day tickets and run them ragged!

Seems very possible to me!

 

[speedyf]

Another money saving tip that I used on our last trip from Mousesavers.com....

Buy a double-cheeseburger and get an extra bun and split the burger. We did this several times at Pop Century's food court this last summer.

It was like $5.79 for a regular hamburger combo or $6.79 for a double burger. We asked for an extra bun....and they wouldn't even charge us for it!

So, 2 of us ate for $6.79 and we had the 1 refillable mug that we shared.

We never had a problem getting the extra bun.....

speedyf

 

[disneysteve]

Sharing meals is a must at Disney. Most of the servings, just like everywhere else these days, are ridiculously large. Most places the 4 of us got no more than 3 meals and still had food left over.

Also be aware at counter service restaurants that even though the menu may only have combo meals - burger and fries, etc. - you can just order the burger by itself. One order of fries easily serves 2-3 people so we would get 3 sandwiches and 1 combo meal. Saved a bunch that way and didn't waste so much food.

 

[Goobergal99]

Try sharing meals and limiting souvenir spending. Staying off site is a big no no for us as well. In my opinion it takes the magic out of a disney vacation. Half the fun is staying in disney!!!

 

[mtblujeans]

Originally posted by disneysteve
My first suggestion would be.....

I wholly agree with everything Disneysteve has suggested. His suggestions alone will save you big $$$. Hope you make your trip next year!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I love these tips...

IFyou drive--Wal-mart sells a "refridgerator" cooler--I think it is between $60 and $70. It plugs into a cigarette lighter and comes with an adaptor to plug into a wall. We used it when we went camping and for the first time--actually really consumed the food in our cooler.

You CANNOT put ice into--but you can put ina frozen water bottle. We actually bought a 50cent bottle of soda water and use that as our ice block.

This way you can keep stuff super cold and not have to replace the ice with hotel ice (which just melts quickly).

Of course if you are cramped on vehicle space--this won't work...we have a mini-van that has a 'lighter' plug in the back so we don't lose any leg room.

 

[Hygiene99]

We have Found the Food Voucher Around here to Be a big help
with the food portion of the trip

the ones from hotwire savings club ...