Help figuring out a budget for a family of 4?

[todzwife]

We have 2 kids and are expecting #3 any day, so I guess we'll be a family of 5, although the little one will sleep in a pack and play and doesn't need a bed.

Kids ages at the time of the trip will be 7 and almost 5.
We will be driving, and my brother will be bringing his truck so space isn't an issue. I plan to go grocery shopping before we leave the Phoenix area. Our daughter has celiac disease so we will be bringing most of our meals.

Trying to decide between Hojo's and Park Vue. Hojo's is about $150 cheaper right now. I can't decide if the free breakfast and the shorter walk is worth the extra expense. We did Hojo's a couple years ago and loved it.

We plan to do a 3 day park hopper. Where's the cheapest place to purchase those?

I feel like there isn't much we can do about the gas, tickets etc. but food, hotel and "other" will be where we can save the most.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[mommyof2princesses]

We just got our 3 day park hoppers at lastminutetravel.com They had a great deal. I believe is was $144 for adult 3 day nd 128 for child. Something like that. You print out a voucher and bring it to the will call at the park. It had great reviews on another thread somewhere.

We are staying at Best Western - Stovalls. i think it is a little longer of a walk, but free breakfast and only $298 for the 3 nights was are staying. To me, it is worth the little walk! They also have fridges and micros which is good because we will do lunch in the room and dinner out each night.

This is our first trip. We are WDW veterans and we are looking forward to something new. We are driving too and plan on visiting San Fransisco and the Redwood forest too!

 

[Kayla's Mom]

Trying to decide between Hojo's and Park Vue. Hojo's is about $150 cheaper right now. I can't decide if the free breakfast and the shorter walk is worth the extra expense. We did Hojo's a couple years ago and loved it.

$150 could buy a lot of breakfast items that you could keep in your Hojos room! We always bring cereal, cereal bars, etc. when we stay there. IMO saving $150 is more than worth staying at Hojos.

 

[rentayenta]

I vote for HoJo's- its consistently good.

 

[bnbheartdisney]

$150 is a lot of money that can be spent elsewhere on your trip, besides the Hojo isn't that far, it's still walkable. And if you're already taking meals for your child, why not through in some extra breakfast items for your family? I would definitely book Hojo!

 

[LuLusApple]

IMO the free brekkies are not worth it. They get boring and usually are not worth (in quality or variety) the money you think you are saving. The time it takes to get to the breakfast room scrounge thru it and eat there or take it to your room is wasted time to me. I like to get my own brekki food the first day, fruits, cereals, milk, bagels, granola bars and eat in the room or in hand walking to the park. For little$ you can get a nice variety for 3 days.
Be sure to bring your own water bottles, juice and you will save$$
With small kids you definatley want to get to the park at opening while they
(the kids lol) are still fresh, the crowds are low and you can move around. You will get more accomplished early in the morning
if you stay at Hojo take an afternoon break take the kids to the pirate water play area and relax

 

[darph nader]

I'm with everyone else here. Since you have a truck and space is no problem,I'd say bring darn near everything you can. For $150.00 I'll walk a little further also.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I agree with the others. The HoJo is a better option, and there is the water play area that your kids should really enjoy. You can take breakfast items to eat in the hotel if you want (breakfast bars, pastries, oatmeal, etc.), and it will probably still be better than you would get at the other hotel.

Have a great time.

 

[Pollito916]

We will be driving, and my brother will be bringing his truck so space isn't an issue. I plan to go grocery shopping before we leave the Phoenix area. Our daughter has celiac disease so we will be bringing most of our meals.

Trying to decide between Hojo's and Park Vue. Hojo's is about $150 cheaper right now. I can't decide if the free breakfast and the shorter walk is worth the extra expense. We did Hojo's a couple years ago and loved it.

We plan to do a 3 day park hopper. Where's the cheapest place to purchase those?

Hi from another family planning a trip from Phoenix!

Between your hotel choices, I would probably pick the Hojo's to save $150. I would like to stay at Hojo's for the cool looking pool area for DS. We are staying at Camelot b/c my mom is coming along and DH really wanted a separate bedroom from her, but she did not want to pay for her own room.

I saw 3 day PH's at Safeway the other day for $149 for anyone, but they expire 5/12/10, so depends on when your trip is. I was going to buy from ARES for $179/adult and $149/child, until I saw the post about lastminutetravel.com, so now I am going to go check that out.

 

[lilsprstr]

We're from Phx too!

We're going at the end of the month and this will be our first trip with all 3 kids. Our oldest are 7 and 5 as well.

We haven't been to HoJo's, but have heard excellent things about it from this board. Enjoy your trip!

 

[californiamomof4grls]

With your daughter having Celiac disease you may want to op for a hotel with a kitchen. I know it can be hard when you need to be careful with the food that they eat. You can also use Google maps to find restaurants with the Gluten free menus around DL. : O )

 

[heatherleigh]

I would do HoJo's. I don't think the breakfast at PV will be worth over $150.

 

[wvnative]

Of those two choices, I'd go with HOJO. I agree that the breakfast is probably not worth $150 and the walk really isn't that bad.

Checking into places with a kitchen was a really good suggestion too. I'm sure it would make things easier for you. Plus, you'd most likely have a bigger fridge that way too.

It seems to me that there's a gal on mouseplanet that requires a gluten free diet as well so she's all dialed in on where to eat at DLR.

 

[todzwife]

I plan to bring our electric griddle so I can make her gluten free pancakes for breakfast (and take a couple extras with us to the park), I can even do grilled cheese sandwiches, cheese quesedillas etc. on it as well. She's also allergic to eggs, so going "out" to breakfast is actually one of the hardest meals for her.

Thank you for the opinions on saving the $150 and sticking w/ Hojo's. We were very happy with them last time.