Have kids? Need budget help!

[rigs32]

The last time I booked a timeshare through skyauction, it was a Fri to Fri rental. I saved a ton on airfare by flying down on Saturday. I called the condo, let them know I'd be checking in a day late and it was fine. BUT they tend to be Fri, Sat, and Sun check ins. It won't work for you if you want to check in on, say, Wed, and stay for 5 nights.

 

[kvnchapman]

Call Vacation Strategy (Humaira) and Vacation Upgrades (Ken or Denise). Do NOT call Wyndham directly!!

 

[clutter]

Those SW points can also be traded in for gift cards. So if your sister decides to come, you could drive, use the SW points for $500 in Wal-Mart cards, then use those for $500 in Visa gift cards (or Disney if wal-mart sells them!) and use that for the room or tickets. That's like $400 free cash if you don't fly.

Also, if you're in an off-site condo and drive, your sister won't cost anymore than meals because you have to buy the adult YES ticket (right? I don't know that info) and you have the AP. That could also be the plan if your airfares go up before you get the points. Usually SW runs specials on fares on Tu, We and Sat. You need to check out the difference between condo plus car or on-site with no car.

You probably want to see if your sister is ok with this (but not telling the kids anything yet!!!). Also, what are her childcare arrangements? Depending on how her childcare does vacation may affect the exact week that works for her. Sometimes you have to pay if your kids don't go, but if the provider is taking a certain week off, that could save her that cost and she might pitch some of that in.

OP, been in August many a time. Usually later in the month. But it's really doable. One of our favorite things to do is to play mini-golf at winter summerland one night. I think your AP gives you half off for so many tickets, then you get half off if you play the other side. It's a fun, different night, so that would be my 'extra' to budget in.

 

[mousefan1972]

I just want to say I hope you can pull this off... I think it is really great of you to want to do this so badly for your sister's kids. Good luck!

 

[robinb]

You can also look at vrbo.com for condos. This condo is in Windsor Hills and is only $75 per night: http://www.vrbo.com/12339 (plus a $65 cleaning fee).

 

[Rosiekins]

You mentioned having to go when they are not in school and that would be a hot crowded time but I am wondering if they get other breaks? Winter, or Spring break? Some schools I think even do Fall though I don't know any and I was never that lucky lol. Spring or even better winter break will still be crowded but maybe less then summer and hopefully less hot. Just a thought!

 

[kacaju]

Buena Vista Suites has 1-br suites. Bedroom has 2 queen beds and living room has a sofa and chair. Each room has a microwave and mini-fridge. It's right offsite, very close, and offers a free full breakfast every morning. We'd stuff ourselves for breakfast, then have a late lunch/early dinner cs meal. And, share snacks before and/or after. Some snacks were Disney bought special snacks, some were snacks that we brought with us. Spent less than half of what the DDP would have cost us and that included 1 character lunch and a Rainforest Cafe lunch. They have a shuttle, but it doesn't run as often as the Disney buses so we always took our car to the parks. It was very quick and easy.

The next trip we stayed with my parents in a 3br condo at Windsor Palms. Full kitchen although we never cooked a real meal. We did buy groceries, and ate breakfast at the condo. It worked really well for that trip splitting the cost with my parents, but if it were just me and 3 kids, I'd do Buena Vista Suites again. Mousesavers usually has a discount code for them.

We stayed there this past summer. Great free breakfast!! There was a Cici's pizza right nearby also..not to far was a steak and shake great place to eat...it was not to expensive for our family of 5. Winn Dixie was there too

 

[ZehnJahren]

So many replies! I'll try to cover it all, because this is so helpful.

Call Vacation Strategy (Humaira) and Vacation Upgrades (Ken or Denise). Do NOT call Wyndham directly!!

Interesting! How do you know those names? Do you know the people, or have you used them before?

The last time I booked a timeshare through skyauction, it was a Fri to Fri rental. I saved a ton on airfare by flying down on Saturday. I called the condo, let them know I'd be checking in a day late and it was fine. BUT they tend to be Fri, Sat, and Sun check ins. It won't work for you if you want to check in on, say, Wed, and stay for 5 nights.

Interesting also - hm, I wonder if they'd let me do that too.

Use the SW points for $500 in Wal-Mart cards, then use those for $500 in Visa gift cards (or Disney if wal-mart sells them!) and use that for the room or tickets. That's like $400 free cash if you don't fly.

You probably want to see if your sister is ok with this (but not telling the kids anything yet!!!). Also, what are her childcare arrangements? Depending on how her childcare does vacation may affect the exact week that works for her.

OP, been in August many a time. Usually later in the month. But it's really doable. One of our favorite things to do is to play mini-golf at winter summerland one night. I think your AP gives you half off for so many tickets, then you get half off if you play the other side. It's a fun, different night, so that would be my 'extra' to budget in.

Wow, VERY smart about getting Wal-Mart cards and then purchasing Visa gift cards. I never would think of that!

Childcare is through friends and intermittent in the summer. The only problem might be if I didn't find out early enough if they could go with me, and other plans are made with other parts of the family.

You can also look at vrbo.com for condos. This condo is in Windsor Hills and is only $75 per night: http://www.vrbo.com/12339 (plus a $65 cleaning fee).

How far is Windsor Hills? Relatively nearby?

 

[ZehnJahren]

You mentioned having to go when they are not in school and that would be a hot crowded time but I am wondering if they get other breaks? Winter, or Spring break? Some schools I think even do Fall though I don't know any and I was never that lucky lol. Spring or even better winter break will still be crowded but maybe less then summer and hopefully less hot. Just a thought!

They do have a winter break, but next year we have a major vacation planned in July, so my budget as well as my vacation time would be focused towards that once January 1st came around. That vacation is with my other side of the family, and these kids aren't related to them at all (the kids are my step-sister's, but she's been in the family for 20 years at this point so they're "real" family to me), so it's not like they'd be looking forward to that big trip (it's to Disneyland, our first time for my mom's 60th birthday).

I had thought about taking them each individually over the course of a couple of years on their birthdays (that way, I could stretch out the budget too!), but they're all getting older. It would be hard to choose who went first, second, or third. Or what if I something happened and I was only allowed to take one, or only didn't take one? So this is probably the only way.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Those SW points can also be traded in for gift cards. So if your sister decides to come, you could drive, use the SW points for $500 in Wal-Mart cards, then use those for $500 in Visa gift cards (or Disney if wal-mart sells them!) and use that for the room or tickets. That's like $400 free cash if you don't fly.

 

[disneylover1988]

really good advices

 

[Suellen]

We've been told you can't use GC's to buy GC's at Walmart. So I would recommend asking before you try this!

 

[robinb]

How far is Windsor Hills? Relatively nearby?

Yes very close. It's just a couple miles away from Animal Kingdom. Since you are going to have a car and an AP for free parking you won't be incurring any additional costs by staying off site.

If you want to compare that to a DVC studio, one at OKW can be had for your dates for 72 points (81 for SSR). Points rent from $10-13 per point. Studios don't have a laundry or full kitchen. They have a kitchenette with a microwave and toaster.

 

[TrueLove's1stKiss]

These are some fantastic ideas that are helping me think about how we could budget in a trip in the future!!!

 

[clutter]

We've been told you can't use GC's to buy GC's at Walmart. So I would recommend asking before you try this!

Oh, good to know! I had no idea. That might be bad advice, but if it worked it would be cool!!!

 

[HayGan]

In the OP's case, the SW points have far more value as airline points for flights as opposed to trade value for gift cards.

 

[Marionnette]

We've been told you can't use GC's to buy GC's at Walmart. So I would recommend asking before you try this!

The Walmarts around here won't permit you to buy a GC with a Walmart GC. But Walgreen's is a different story. Some do. Some don't. But that's not even a consideration since the Rapid Rewards points cannot be exchanged for Walgreen's GCs. I think that the PP who suggested doing this was confusing the two stores.

 

[ZehnJahren]

We've been told you can't use GC's to buy GC's at Walmart. So I would recommend asking before you try this!

Good to know, also. I'd definitely ask before trying this, but I also agree that the best use of these points are for airfare, hands down.

Yes very close. It's just a couple miles away from Animal Kingdom. Since you are going to have a car and an AP for free parking you won't be incurring any additional costs by staying off site.

If you want to compare that to a DVC studio, one at OKW can be had for your dates for 72 points (81 for SSR). Points rent from $10-13 per point. Studios don't have a laundry or full kitchen. They have a kitchenette with a microwave and toaster.

Also a good point; we'd get a studio if I rented points, so no full kitchen. Laundry might be nice too.

Funny thing is, this thread is ALSO helping me if my sister says no - DBF and I will go in late Sept for the ToT race, I think, if I don't go with the kids in August. Lots of ideas for big accommodations! (DBF and I disagree on getting up at the crack of dawn on vacation, so if we had two rooms so he could sleep and I could head to the park, that would be great)

This being said, here is my evolving budget (I'm mainly budgeting high so that I have some wiggle room):

Hotel: $500-ish
Tickets: $600-ish -- either $500 or $700 (YES), or if I don't get into a program in time, $900. If need be, we'd just get less days.
Airfare: $350-ish for 4 (SW Points - should be more like $250 but I'm budgeting high)
Gas for car while at disney: $200 (again, should be more like $125/$150)
Food: $600 (I'm thinking $100 in groceries for breakfast, snacks, and some dinners, and then at least one CS a day)

Total: $2350.

Any additional insights for me? I am super-nervous about asking my sis to take the kids; I'm scared she'll say no after I did all this planning! hahaha! No seriously, I guess I'm nervous because I don't know WHAT she'll say - she really could say anything. I can see a few reasons why she'd say no and a few why she'd say yes, and they're all equally convincing. I'm hoping to talk to her this Sunday if I can figure this out and feel comfortable with it, and then give her a week to think it over.

After THAT hurdle, I have to call two additional people - dads. My sis is divorced, and all three of her kids have different dads but only two of the dads have any parental rights. My niece's dad will be fine with it - he knows that I'll take care of his daughter and we always got along well. But my nephew's dad may be an issue, so I have to pass the first "test" and then approach the second. I'm nervous!!

 

[winnapooh]

Just a thought, but I think your gas estimate for when you are in Florida is high. I know prices usually go up in the summer; however, we were at Disney for a week in January and only used half a tank of gas. That included driving to all parks (multiple times a day, with park hopping and going back to the hotel during the day), going to Downtown Disney twice, going several stores off property, and driving back and forth from the airport. And that was a midsize car (we got a free upgrade). If you had an economy class you could do even better with gas mileage.

We took my nephew to Disney a few years ago. It did take some convincing to get his mother to agree (his father said yes right away), and surprisingly, we also had to convince his grandparents. Long story... But we had a great time, and no issues whatsoever (no problems flying with him not being our child or anything like that). He is also in the situation where if we didn't take him, he would never get to go. He had a blast, and was almost more responsible on the trip than he is at home (he was 9 at the time). The only thing his family paid for were his souvenirs. The disney kids meals are pretty reasonably priced, in my opinion.

 

[ZehnJahren]

Just a thought, but I think your gas estimate for when you are in Florida is high. I know prices usually go up in the summer; however, we were at Disney for a week in January and only used half a tank of gas. That included driving to all parks (multiple times a day, with park hopping and going back to the hotel during the day), going to Downtown Disney twice, going several stores off property, and driving back and forth from the airport. And that was a midsize car (we got a free upgrade). If you had an economy class you could do even better with gas mileage.

We took my nephew to Disney a few years ago. It did take some convincing to get his mother to agree (his father said yes right away), and surprisingly, we also had to convince his grandparents. Long story... But we had a great time, and no issues whatsoever (no problems flying with him not being our child or anything like that). He is also in the situation where if we didn't take him, he would never get to go. He had a blast, and was almost more responsible on the trip than he is at home (he was 9 at the time). The only thing his family paid for were his souvenirs. The disney kids meals are pretty reasonably priced, in my opinion.

Yes, you've got a point about the gas - I used about a half tank when I went in January, and I think it cost me around $40-ish to fill up at the end before heading back to the airport - and I was driving EVERYWHERE. It would probably be less than $100 altogether.

That's awesome you got to take your nephew! I think about the other niece and nephews I have (8 altogether) and these three are the only ones who really need someone to help them out. My brother's two kids have been to DL several times (they live in CA), my other sister's two kids have been to WDW OFTEN, and my other brother has a 3 year old and they aren't exactly a "disney" kind of family. These three that I want to take ARE DEFINITELY WDW material.

How did you convince your nephew's mother? And how did you ask them to take him in the first place?