Has anyone priced a bare bones trip?

No not for 11 people. I know that large of a group is pretty unusual. I was just curious. I know that there is a way to do cheaper, but we have stayed onsite for the last 15 years or so, and never thought much of it. Until a couple of family members thought the cost was outrageous. Just never hurts to know the options out there for the future. We could all unexpectedly be in a place where having to pinch pennies is not an option, ya know? :flower3:

Agree. I think what happens with me is I get a figure in my head and make my decisions about what we want to do within that figure. If the figure shrunk, my priorities would change. If a bare bones trip was all we could do I would still do it and I'd still be excited. My expectations change with the monetary amount I have. And going frugally is still better than not going at all.:)
 
Agree. I think what happens with me is I get a figure in my head and make my decisions about what we want to do within that figure. If the figure shrunk, my priorities would change. If a bare bones trip was all we could do I would still do it and I'd still be excited. My expectations change with the monetary amount I have. And going frugally is still better than not going at all.:)

This!! :thumbsup2
 
My daughter and I did a bare bones trip about a year and a half ago. We did a week at Pop Century, off season, with free QSDP and basic tickets. I also opened a Southwest Visa and got our flights for free. I had enough points on my Disney Visa to cover all souvenirs. Things were cheaper then. Haha! Now, it's about $1,500, but I know I paid under $1,100 at the time. I thought that was quite reasonable for a week at Disney, airfare, park tickets, and all meals. We had TONS to eat and didn't buy anything extra.
 
No Bare Bones trips for me either. For me it is not worth going someplace especially WDW if I have to "pinch pennies"
This is exactly how I feel. I would rather go less often but be able to do a vacation the way that I enjoy it, than go frequently and skip the little touches that I like. I would hate to be counting pennies the entire time.
 

We did a trip this past February to all star sports the week after vacation. My wife two kids 3 and 6 airfare from portland Maine, Monday thru Saturday , four day park hopper , free Qs dining and photo pass + . Trip insurance included with tax about $3250. We spent maybe another $250 while there on sit down meals and toys for the kids and some pins. We went last year during February vacation week, just wife and son and I for one day longer and spent about $6000 total ! Just shows it depends on when you go.
 
Honestly, it just comes down to what you consider pinching pennies.

For some that may mean staying at the Contemporary instead of the Grand Floridian! For others it may mean just staying off-site in a nice hotel.

For ME personally, if all 5 of us had to be crammed into a small hotel room, I wouldn't want to go. We need space and the ability to spread out.

I also won't eat at McDonald's several times a week.....heck if I can avoid that caliber of food EVERY day I am good! However, I don't mind fixing some easy to make meals in the condo either......I can have DH grill some steaks and throw in some potatoes and whip up a salad very easily......and we can all eat a quality meal for under $20 for 5 of us compared to $20 per person at a steakhouse.

Dawn

No Bare Bones trips for me either. For me it is not worth going someplace especially WDW if I have to "pinch pennies"
 
I don't know what to do.

DH says we can only go for a one week trip this year most likely because of his other vacation time we need to take off.

We have at least 1 to 2 days slated for Universal (we got the Costco tickets that expire in Dec. of 2015 a while ago and want to use one or two days of that.)

I don't want to buy 3 day tickets to Disney or even 2 day as the price on short visits is so much higher.


Dawn

We do WDW similar to the way you do ;)
BUT we got our tix. for YES for this June and it was almost $1300 for 6 day premium ones for 5 of us, sure do miss the huge discount we used to get :scared:
 
If it helps, I found this article very helpful. The writer prices out 3 different vacations. One very expensive, one moderate, one budget. The budget is pretty close to bare bones.

http://wdwprepschool.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-go-to-disney-world/

Pretty accurate. Some of her info is a little bit off or outdated and she didn't include tips for the moderate family but that's splitting hairs at this point because overall it gives an accurate picture. We are firmly the moderate family. We could be the "fancy" family if we only did one trip a year but it would kill me to spend in areas that I consider a total waste no matter what the budget was (limo). And I would happily be the frugal family and suspect we will be over the next few years as dd goes off to college. The college budget will dip into the trip budget and that's fine with me. Priorities change:)
 
We also fit firmly in the moderate family category. I was surprised to find how accurate it was! I had already set a budget and priced out our entire trip independently when I saw the article and the budget was pretty dead on.
 
We are even more frugal than the frugal vacation! :lmao:

Of course, part of that is due to living closer to Florida. We can make it in 9 hours.

But the other part is the hotel stay. $80 per night is still pricey for a "cheap" hotel. We average $35/night for a 2 bedroom condo.



If it helps, I found this article very helpful. The writer prices out 3 different vacations. One very expensive, one moderate, one budget. The budget is pretty close to bare bones.

http://wdwprepschool.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-go-to-disney-world/
 
We have done some fancy trips and some budget trips. I would go on a tight budget, and have, with no problem. Currently I don't feel like we really fit any of those 3 because we live 3 hrs from WDW and have AP's. I've gone every week this year, practically all day trips (budget except for gas). This weekend we're doing SOG and the Poly. In June I'm going back to AKL Kidani for 2 nights, and we're thinking of booking either a week at Bonnet Creek or 4 nights on site for July 4.

Our family of 5 has, up until recently, stayed offsite in condos. We had a timeshare (sold) while the kids were growing up so we could go every year. We don't like to be crammed in hotel rooms, and one son is disabled, so we have to drive to take all of his stuff. My family is HIGH maintenance about having space, and going for a week without a kitchen and laundry sounds pretty inconvenient. lol! I remember one trip after doing plenty of Disney table service, I made sloppy joes at the timeshare, and everyone was so excited to have a home cooked meal instead of restaurant food. The kids thought it was one of the best meals of the trip. In that way they are easy to please.

We have done budget trips and splurge trips, and sure I'd love to be able to
afford to splurge, but I'd rather go more often. I can't imagine feeling good after
a trip if I hadn't watched what I spent. We don't need souvenirs (clutter). Pictures are the best souvies.

I like the Passholder DDP package that has been coming out in the Fall, but when I priced free dining, the room cost so much more than I would normally pay that I didn't feel like the "free" dining was a big bargain. It's not good enough for me to take a kid out of high school, much less college. Passholder or military rates are my best bet.

What condo do you get a 2 bedroom for under $50/nt? We like Westgate Lakes or Bonnet Creek, neither of which are close to that rate.
 
What condo do you get a 2 bedroom for under $50/nt? We like Westgate Lakes or Bonnet Creek, neither of which are close to that rate.
I don't know where the PP gets her deals, but I know that Skyauction.com has Wyndham BC up for bids. 7 nights in a 1-bedroom is starting at $299 and you can get 2 bedrooms by adding another $200. That's a lot more than $50/night but they have a lot of other resorts for much less.

ETA: I just saw that there is a $299/unit surcharge for Wyndham BC, on top of the price of the winning bid plus a $20 processing fee. It always pays to read the fine print. I'm glad that I read through it before bidding. You can get it cheaper by going through an owner.
 
I have never used SkyAuction for BC because it is cheaper elsewhere AND you can cancel if you need to.

However, I do use SkyAuction for our condo stays. We have been using them for years now.

If you keep checking SkyAuction.com and type "resort certificates" in the Keyword, you can buy certificates for around $249 and use them when you need them. Read the fine print as to expiration.

I will say that SkyAuction doesn't work that well during peak seasons, but we go off-season and haven't ever had a problem.

ResortCertificates.com will give you an idea of what kinds of properties are available. We have stayed in about 10 different ones now. The only one I will say to AVOID at all costs is Westgate (I think it is the Main Gate location.)

Last trip we stayed at Polynesian Isles and it was lovely. Quiet, clean, just what we love in a vacation. We did ask for the 3rd floor and got the vaulted ceilings though. But there is no elevator there so many don't like the 3rd floor. I have 3 healthy strong boys and a DH, I didn't mind at all! :rotfl2: We stayed for 2 weeks and paid $249/week including all taxes (and I think we paid a $20 fee to SkyAuction for the entire purchase), so $518 for a 14 night stay in early November.

Dawn

I don't know where the PP gets her deals, but I know that Skyauction.com has Wyndham BC up for bids. 7 nights in a 1-bedroom is starting at $299 and you can get 2 bedrooms by adding another $200. That's a lot more than $50/night but they have a lot of other resorts for much less.

ETA: I just saw that there is a $299/unit surcharge for Wyndham BC, on top of the price of the winning bid plus a $20 processing fee. It always pays to read the fine print. I'm glad that I read through it before bidding. You can get it cheaper by going through an owner.
 
I remember one trip after doing plenty of Disney table service, I made sloppy joes at the timeshare, and everyone was so excited to have a home cooked meal instead of restaurant food. The kids thought it was one of the best meals of the trip. In that way they are easy to please.

See, this would be my kids. (Ok 21 and 19, but still kids to me!) They love down home country food, and are happiest with the simplest meals. That plus the washer and dryer and space had me ready for an offsite. The rest of my bunch didn't go for it however. Next time we go with just immediate family, I am definitely pulling the mom card and staying in a condo. With extended family you can't really pull the mom card on your own mom. :rolleyes1
 
Marrionette is right, 'bare bones' is not the same as 'using dvc/freeairfare/AP discounts,etc. ALl those things do cost money somewhere,and reality is not barebones..... but I think you can 'barebones' everything except park tix, if you want to get into disney,it will cost you money.
 
To DawnM would it be cheaper to just do a universal trip this time? I know it expands the cost FAST when trying to do just a couple days at Disney+ a couple at Uni..... or maybe waterparks at Disney + Uni? We usually had to choose which one...Universal isn't disney, but it can be lots of fun too,especially with 3 boys!
 
Well, our Universal passes can be used one day per trip for 3 years. We thought we would just do 1 day at Universal and 4 at Disney.

If we do all 3 Universal days we have already purchased this trip, we will have 3-4 days with nothing to do.

To DawnM would it be cheaper to just do a universal trip this time? I know it expands the cost FAST when trying to do just a couple days at Disney+ a couple at Uni..... or maybe waterparks at Disney + Uni? We usually had to choose which one...Universal isn't disney, but it can be lots of fun too,especially with 3 boys!
 
We've gone twice for 2 weeks for under 3,000 each trip. We drive, one time stayed at a private condo with pool offiste with our dogs. One time in our RV at the Fort. Although I sometimes plan a budget trip, alot of ours naturally end up being "budget" trips. we homeschool so we don't have time restrictions, and I like the drive and stop along the way. Because we are vegetarians, I don't want to eat the same junk over and over and I don't really enjoy eating out somewhere fancy with the little kids, I tend to make food. I tend to like the more space you can get offsite, (even our rv feels like more room than some onsite places, because we have a private queen sized bedroom, and each kid has their own bunk and space for their stuff) and want a kitchen too since I'm cooking. I think if I were going with just the hubs, or when trips are shorter due to kids being back in school, I may feel different. I've have also determined that my crew does better when I take a day or two off from the parks every few days and just enjoy the pools etc. explore the hotels etc. so we get cheaper tickets... I certainly don't feel deprived by our less costly experience, we try to do one special experience each time and if there was something we wanted to do , I would make sure it was in the budget, but for me getting there or wherever we are going and having fun and making memories with the kids is the important part. We just got back from a trip to san antonio where we went to six flags, the zoo, the alamo, a wildlife ranch etc and I asked my kids what was the best part. The three year old said "the elevator" , the 8 year old said eating a picnic on the floor, and my 11 year old liked just playing in the pool (the kids swim so they aren't used to just playing in a pool) in the hotel and taking pictures of a REAL cactus. For me it was just being together without a big to do list, and my dh was just happy to have us there, if we had skipped all the other stuff we all would have still had our favorite memory from the trip.
 
Marionnette said:
This is exactly how I feel. I would rather go less often but be able to do a vacation the way that I enjoy it, than go frequently and skip the little touches that I like. I would hate to be counting pennies the entire time.

Count me in your group. Usually I'm watching Pennies to have the type of trip we enjoy so luckily by the time we go we've met our budget goal. Also some areas I'll compromise at, some I won't. I'll happily stay offsite but I'm not lugging snacks and sandwiches into the parks. Lol, a bare bones trip to me is when I have to drop to a moderate.
 












Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE













DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter DIS Bluesky

Back
Top