Has anyone had to downgrade their WDW trip and still loved it?

[ptrbryant]

Like many others, our finances aren't where we'd like them to be right now. Yet, we're hoping we don't have to completely eliminate our annual WDW vacation. The problem is, we've gotten into a routine with it that we love and can't figure out where we could compromise without thinking we shouldn't have taken the trip at all.

In the past, we've rented points to stay in a DVC studio for 5 weeknights(can't beat the $130/nt. and no taxes) and stayed 2 weekend nights in a Value or Mod. DH hates driving, which would take us a day and a half each way and we can usually get fares on SWA for about $450 for the three of us (DH, DS11 and myself). We've always rented a car for less than $150 and, since we need to drive to church while there (Catholic), it's not much more than renting a car for a weekend/day.

DH is adamant that if we go to WDW, he wants to stay on-site.

Has anyone else changed the way they vacation at WDW and been just as happy with the pared-down version? We stayed 2 nights at Pop Century last year and it was a nightmare---really because of rude smokers in a non-smoking bldg., so it was an isolated incident. But, I don't think I can get DH to go back there. I'd have a better chance with ASMo or ASMu. Thing is, this vacation needs to have relaxing, downtime to it, which seems harder to do at a Value.

We've had a very stressful year with an older, difficult relative here who has somehow become our responsibility--mainly since we're the only ones in the family who live in the same town! We also homeschool DS who has an auditory processing disorder and I cannot tell you how much we need some kind of a vacation!!!

Thanks so much!

Karla B.

 

[SandraVB79]

When we go to Disney (whether it is DL, WDW or DLP), there is not much to downgrade, since we go "low-budget" already. IMO, a good vacation isn't made by the hotel you are staying at. Yes, it needs to be clean, but you make a good vacation with the things you do, things that create fun and happy memories.

Incidents with smokers can also happen in very expensive resorts.

We stayed at ASMu in October, and I found it wonderful. There was a fountain in front of our building, pools were nice, CMs were very very nice, ...



If budget is a problem but you need vacation, why not take a non-Disney vacation? It will give you a break from the everyday life, while not paying Mouse-inflated prices? And trust me, there are nice things in the world outside Disney too

 

[snomofinn]

Were in the same boat, we've been taking a yearly trip every March to Disney since 1993. We stay at the CBR every year, except in 1994 and 1995 we stayed at the WL. I will not trim down our Disney trip, this year I actually added a day, were staying 9 days instead of 8. (and I wondered why it was so much more this year) Were in a routine as well, and my DH wouldnt have it any other way, he likes things the way they are. We go every March usually around the 12th or 13th and we stay the same place, and get the same package...do you want to hear something else???? We even get the same flight every year! I did save on the airfare this year because I had 2 vouchers from American Airlines that I used. We always make sure we have money for Disney!

 

[ptrbryant]

I hear what both of you are saying...

We have family who live all over the country, so we do visit places other than WDW. In December, we visited family in Philadelphia and NYC. The other year, it was Seattle and Minneapolis. But, as many of you know, a "family visit" trip is rarely relaxing...it's usually busy and hyper-scheduled to fit in everything everyone wants to do.

We'd really like to go someplace warm and since Florida is much closer to us than California, it's cheaper to go there. Of course, once I talk about different Florida ideas (St. Augustine, etc.) everyone realizes that it's just a couple of hours from WDW and wonders why be so close and not go there?

I don't know...maybe I'll wait and see if we get a tax refund this year!


I appreciate the opinions!
Karla B.

 

[harleyquinn]

We had planned to do a 3 night DCL cruise/4 night POR, but now we'll just do a week at POR. Just that will save us $1000. And then we won't be getting the DDP this year (hate the changes), which will save another $500+ upfront and then we'll eat all CS and bring snacks and breakfasty stuff with us like we did on our very first trip.

I can't believe I'm going to go in August again. I keep telling myself it's not worth it after I leave, but by January, my tune has changed. (DH is a teacher so summer is our only viable option).

 

[kfeuer]

I confess I have trouble understanding the mindset of "I must stay at (fill in the blank) expensive onsite resort or I will have a miserable vacation". A well-planned offsite vacation can be so much fun. However, if you decide it's going to make you miserable then it absolutely will.

For myself, I'd take a low-budget Disney trip over no trip any day. In fact, I can't ever see us doing a high-budget Disney trip. If we're going to spend thousands of dollars there's many other places I'd rather go to. The perceived value of a deluxe trip just isn't there for me (and the one time we stayed deluxe was when they had that great fairytale package, so we had an awesome rate).

 

[Benducci]

We own a DVC so we stay there so our accomodations are pretty much taken care of. This year is tight for us - dh just lost his job. But we had planned this trip & I had the money set aside so we are going. He is confident he can find something else. But I want to not do things as expensively as we have in the past. So I am hoping to not buy a pass for every day in the park. Take a day & just lounge by the pool & try to find cheaper or free things. So far I found the campfire at Fort Wilderness. We love to ride the monorail so we will probably do that one day & tour all the hotels - we love to see the hotels! Eat breakfast in our room - still thinking of things!

 

[ptrbryant]

I confess I have trouble understanding the mindset of "I must stay at (fill in the blank) expensive onsite resort or I will have a miserable vacation". A well-planned offsite vacation can be so much fun. However, if you decide it's going to make you miserable then it absolutely will.

For myself, I'd take a low-budget Disney trip over no trip any day. In fact, I can't ever see us doing a high-budget Disney trip. If we're going to spend thousands of dollars there's many other places I'd rather go to. The perceived value of a deluxe trip just isn't there for me (and the one time we stayed deluxe was when they had that great fairytale package, so we had an awesome rate).

Right, we could only afford staying at WL in 2002/2003 when they had a rate of $119/night! Since then, the only way we can stay in a Deluxe is by renting points, as I said, at $130 inc. taxes, which I don't think is unreasonable. The thing we like about the Deluxes isn't so much the rooms (I agree, clean and comfortable are the main requirements) but the relaxing grounds. We always spend a day just sitting by the lake, going on the nearby nature trail, etc. I think that's the one thing lacking from the Values. The Mods have it, but their prices just seem way too high in general.

The reason for my post is to ask if anyone else found they downgraded and still had a wonderful time. Honestly, I can't imagine having a miserable time at WDW...just wondering which cost-cutting measures mattered the least in the end.

Karla B.

 

[HeatherC]

Kfeur - I totally agree with you. You don't have to stay at an expensive place to have a great time...it's the people your with and your whole attitude while there.

We usually do Disney once a year...but we stay offsite and have gotten some great deals for well under $100 a night. For example...we are staying at Regal Palms for 4 nights precruise in Feb...school vacation week too. I'm paying $80 a night for a 4 bedroom villa. That includes all the taxes. By doing this, we can stay longer and vacation more often.

Plus..since we've been so many times, we don't mind leaving Disney at the end of the day.

To the OP...I urge you to consider doing something like that. You will probably save a TON of money and may even find that there is a whole other way to "see Disney" that you may even like more. And if you already have a car, it's not that big a deal driving a few minutes more to get to the parks.

I hope you have an awesome trip either way!

Heather

 

[ptrbryant]

I've never been of the mentality that if you don't spend a lot of money, you won't have a good time. As I'd stated, the only way we've been able to stay in Deluxes is at very discounted rates.

My question was for those who have scaled down on trips:

Which aspect seemed to have the least effect on your over-all WDW vacation experience?
*Staying off-site
*Staying in a Value
*Staying less days in the parks, more days at the resort
*Having a shorter trip
*Driving vs. flying
*Not renting a car
*CS meals only, no TS meals at all

Thanks!

Karla B.

 

[vanyel]

I usually stay at a moderate as the resort, to me, is part of my vacation. What I will downgrade are:

Meals & souveniers

We don't go to WDW every year either.

 

[lorilori]

Since we go every year as you do, I'll chime in here.
LEAST effect on scaling down the trips is that we now stay offsite which is great in two ways: first the obvious of much less money spent (3 bedroom this past Thanksgiving week at Cypress Pointe for $576 TOTAL through alpharooms.com) and secondly, almost as important, space to unwind, get away from each other and sleeping better than all being in a hotel room. Oh and more than 1 bathroom! Next would be less days in the parks which is fine because we do go every year so we alternate. We'll always go to MK and Epcot, but will trade off each year between MGM and AK depending on what's going on in each park. Days in between park days we'll go to downtown disney, tour the resorts, walk around Boardwalk. My family actually prefers it this way so we're not overtired from doing a park each day. My last choice would probably be cutting the vacation shorter because we actually enjoy the 'downtime' of being away an entire week.

 

[delmar411]

I've never been of the mentality that if you don't spend a lot of money, you won't have a good time. As I'd stated, the only way we've been able to stay in Deluxes is at very discounted rates.

My question was for those who have scaled down on trips:

Which aspect seemed to have the least effect on your over-all WDW vacation experience?
*Staying off-site
*Staying in a Value
*Staying less days in the parks, more days at the resort
*Having a shorter trip
*Driving vs. flying
*Not renting a car
*CS meals only, no TS meals at all

Thanks!

Karla B.

We've had a few budget trips when I went with my parents and those were trips I really enjoyed and didn't even realize they were on a budget.

Your budget looks good but to downsize the cost how about downsizing the actual vacation?

Like have a flight leaving after Sunday mass? That would be $150 savings on the rental car since no need for it.

Arrive Sunday and leave on Friday so no need to check out/in and pay for rooms you don't want to stay in.

Less days = less ticket cost = less meal cost = $?

That would still give you the *same* vacation w/o as much expense.

 

[tar heel]

For several years, we went to WDW at least once a year and either stayed in a deluxe or two rooms. We did not go from 2003 to the fall of 2007. Much of that time we had two kids in college! During the fall semester, my oldest did the Disney College Program. We took three budget trips to Orlando between August and January, and each was better than the one before! We did benefit from several free admissions, but the trips were still really cheap. Here's a brief description:

August. We (DH, me, DS19 and DS13) took DS and his stuff for the college program. Bought the cheap Universal tickets (about $80 at AAA) and did those parks. Did not go to Disney parks or buy any souvenirs whatsoever. Had a couple of nice meals at Universal and a free one (paid for with Disney gift cards from Sunshine Rewards) at Fulton's Crab House. Brought snacks, water, etc., with us. Trip was about $2,500 only b/c car a/c broke and had to be repaired in Florida.

October. DH, DS13 and I went to visit oldest DS. Stayed at All Star Sports and ate breakfast in the room, at CS and at the Food and Wine Festival. F&W was paid for with $175 in Sunshine Rewards Disney cards. Used DS's free park admissions. Spent under $700 total.

December. Christmas trip for all of us. Stayed at All Star Sports for five nights -- had to pay extra adult fee. Ate four sit-down meals and a handful of counter service. Had breakfast, snacks and soft drinks in the room. Used DS's free admissions and bought one hopper for $250. Used Sunshine Rewards gift cards for fun souvenirs. Had one of the best trips we've ever had. Spent under $2,000 for five people.

Our DS was working at All Star Music, so I walked through there several times and ate at the food court. I was surprised at how pretty it is. We did our Christmas day phone calls from a little courtyard with a fountain. We could not get a nonpreferred room there, though, so we stayed in Sports. Both times the rooms were brand new, staff was great, etc. There was even live Christmas music in the food court and at the bus stop and a couple days they were serving free Christmas cookies in the lobby. Keep in mind that the rooms at movies have NOT been redone.

 

[wisconsinmom]

I personally would skip renting a car. How much would it be to take a cab to and from church?

 

[rdevine10]

This is what I would consider...

We ususally go in Sept or May (both off season), so its typically cheaper. Right off I would:

Downgrade to a value resort. We usually stay at Pop. I know you said your last expeience wasnt great, but weve been there 3 times and really never had an issue. The resort is pretty big, so we spent an evening walking around the whole thing.... and I hope I dont get flamed for this, but whats to say you cant use a walking trail at another resort? Its not pool hopping.

I would not rent a car.

I would look to go when there is a promo code going on, like 40% or free dining. (Check out the rates and code board).

I would eat breakfast in your room daily (we acutally find this to be a lot easier!).

I would consider getting MYW base tickets with NO hoppers, and make sure you plan your day accordingly.

2 years ago we did 6 days/5nights 2 adults, 3 year old and 1 year old for 1675 including airfare and free dining. So, playing with dates can save a lot (if thats an option).

And lastly, I would consider driving if you really need a car. And, if you do decide to stay off site, start researching Sky Auction. We are staying in May in a 1 bedroom condo offsite for $200 for 7 nights How can I beat that??? Corse, its really a Sea World Trip and hopefully the P & P party, but, if it meant not going or staying off site, Id stay off site in a minute!

HTH!

 

[HayGan]

Well we haven't downgraded resorts in the sense of booking one level and then downgrading but we have stayed at all levels of resorts. We love the Poly but there is no way we can afford it every trip. We have stayed at Poly, Hilton DTD, POFQ, OKW and POP. Every single trip was fantastic! While we enjoy experiencing the different resorts, I would say it is not high on the list of contributing factors to our overall vacation. We have done 8 days trips as well as 3 day trips. Both were fun but I will say that 3 days is a day too short.

Have you already rented points? Have you thought about renting at OKW that is less points a night vs. VWL? Not much of a savings but every little bit can help! If you really need to cut back on this trip, I would suggest renting somewhere cheaper like OKW and not extending to the 2 days at a value. You can have breakfast in your room and cheaper dinners like CS meals or pizza. I was also going to suggest leaving later or Sunday (after mass) to avoid the car rental fee (or you could leave on Sunday morning and just go to Saturday evening mass the night before you leave.) I'm sure there are other ways you could think of to reduce costs but still have a great trip!

We staying onsite but next year we are looking to stay off-site for one week. That is because we want to have the two-week vacation. We really couldn't afford to do two weeks onsite (well we could but certainly wouldn't want to spend that much on accomodations.) Staying offsite for a week will allow us to save enough to do other things such as US/IOA and SW!

 

[kfeuer]

Sorry if my previous response felt like I was putting words in your mouth, it was really directed towards your DH who won't consider staying offsite. At any rate, to answer your question:

*Staying off-site --I actually prefer it. It's wonderful to have separate bedrooms and bathrooms, and having a kitchen is a huge money-saver even if you don't cook (which I don't). It's very easy to eat cereal or toast in the morning, and there's lots of cheap dinner ideas (sandwiches, takeout pizza, rotisserie chicken, etc.)

*Staying in a Value --I'm pretty sure I would hate it simply because of the lack of space, although to be fair I've never done it

*Staying less days in the parks, more days at the resort--This is our preference! We don't spend more then 2 consecutive days in the parks. Spending a day truly relaxing keeps everybody from getting overly tired. If I don't take time off from the parks, I come back feeling like I need a vacation from my vacation!

*Having a shorter trip--Would only do as a last resort

*Driving vs. flying--Hard for me to comment, because we only have a 7-hour drive. If we had a longer drive, it would be a tough call.

*Not renting a car--Haven't done it

*CS meals only, no TS meals at all--This would really diminish the trip for me. Part of the fun of vacation is eating out (because we don't get to do it much at home). I'm happy to scrimp on most meals to afford a few really nice ones. With that said, we don't do any of the buffets these days. They're just way overpriced in my book, especially considering how little my kids eat. We've been to one buffet since my oldest turned 3, and spending $12 for him to eat one Krispy Kreme donut just about killed me

 

[mom2alix]

Have you considered not doing WDW, but instead looking at Disney's Vero Beach or Hilton Head? You could still try to rent points which would make it more affordable, have a Disney experience, but save the cost of park passes, etc. I haven't been to Vero yet, but we have vacationed at Disney's Hilton Head and it was an incredibly relaxing place. They have a great Beach House, fun activities, and a lot of what you say you like about WL (we own VWL and love it too!)

If WDW is what you really want, then you might look at renting the DVC points for OKW, the points cost are less than for VWL, so you could save there. For a vacation in May, 7 nights in an OKW studio would run 98 points (that's $140/night at $10 per point) and you wouldn't have to change rooms. For your normal 5 weeknight stay, OKW is only 50 points in May ($100 per night).

If you're going to stretch your DVC stay by using Values for the weekend nights, another way to do it is to fly in on Sat, check into the Value for that night. Switch to DVC first thing Sun morning (on your way to Mass), stay until Friday, check out of DVC Friday morning, stay at a Value that night before getting ready to leave for the airport the next morning. By breaking up your 2 value nights, it won't seem like you're there thta much. It seems more like when you drive down and stay in a hotel on the way ther and on the way back.

If you stay with the DVC room, use the kitchenette to make breakfast in the room, maybe have dinner a couple of nights too. There are some great threads on the DVC boards with ideas people have for making meals using the microwave, especially since you'll have a car and could make a trip to the grocery store. I know I've seen some folks recommend picking up a rotisserie chicken and those mashed potatoes you can reheat for a quick meal in the room. The DVC resorts also have charcoal grills near the pools if you wanted to cook something there.

 

[gillenkl]

We also homeschool our DS he is autism spectrum and ADHD so it's very challenging. When we first decided we wanted to start making disney our yearly vacation I knew we'd have to scale down. We bought a popup trailer - not only can we go to disney for 2 weeks and stay at Ft Wilderness but we also can go on other vacations as well. Yes, I had to give up luxury, but my kids love camping. Everytime we ride the monorail and visit the deluxes I feel a little pang of jealousy. But I still get to go to disney just in a different way and it's all about attitude and being positive. This year we're giving up the meal plan which was the one luxury I still had left - and I will be cooking 2 meals a day and eating out-of-pocket one. But I can still enjoy disney and that's what it's all about!