Help me plan a "budget" vacation this year.

[Mickey'snewestfan]

My son is a huge Harry Potter Fan, so I'm thinking that for his birthday we might have to plan a trip to UO this summer. I'd probably bring his best friend so it would be 1 mom and 2 11 year old boys.

BUT money's tight, so I can only do this if I can do it cheap. Here's what I'm thinking:

Drive down on Saturday the 28th of June, return Saturday the 3rd of July (yes, I know these aren't ideal dates, but because of my work, they're really the only options).

7 nights/6 days total in Florida:

Saturday -- drive down

Sat. night stay someplace super cheap (I'd love suggestions)

Sunday -- Sleep in, go to DTD (my son's favorite place, more than the parks)

Sun. night -- stay at the "someplace cheap" again

Monday -- Disney all day (give one get one)

Monday night -- cheap again

Tues. -- US/IOA with FOTL!

Tuesday night -- Stay onsite at UO

Wednesday -- US/IOA with FOTL!

Wednesday night -- drive to the beach, check in someplace cheap (again suggestions would be nice!)

Thursday -- beach

Thursday night -- cheap at the beach

Friday -- beach

Friday night -- I'm imagining given that this is the start of the weekend of the 4th that prices might skyrocket, so drive just far enough to get a cheap hotel somewhere enroute home.

Saturday -- drive the rest of the way home.

Does this seem doable? Anyone want to give me some idea of what this might cost, suggestions on cheap places to stay? Other ideas?

 

[torinsmom]

You could probably get a 3* hotel in the Universal area for less than $40/night through Priceline. We got Hyatt Place Universal, right across the street around the same time last year for $30/night. I can't help you with the beach stay. Bring your own drinks and snacks to save some money.

 

[macraven]

if you have AAA, most hotels give a 10-5% discount on the rooms.

that alone will save you some money.


if you plan to spend one night at the UO hotels, book now.

the closer it gets to the july 4th, the hotel might put a two night required stay for ressies.

if you reserve now, you can avoid that issue.

 

[Purseval]

First off, go to your local Kroger and buy the 1 week-2 park passes for $89, that will be cheaper than any 2-day option you will be able to buy from Universal. If you live in a state that doesn't have a Kroger call a relative or friend who does and send them the money to buy them for you. That will allow you to spend any spare time at Universal instead of just hanging around cheap hotels. For your 1 night at Universal call and ask if you can have a room with a restricted view for a discount. Ask for their worst, cheapest room. You want FOTL, not a view of the pool.

Speaking of cheap hotels, torinsmom is correct. We also stayed in a 3 star hotel 1 mile from Universal (Sheraton four Points) for $22/night last July. We had a $10/day reward from Priceline which you can get if you sign up, but even without the reward you can do it for $30/day. You may not get the Hyatt because of the expected crowds for HP but there are also 2.5 and 2 star hotels within walking distance. Walking distance would be nice because that would save you $14/day in parking charges.

Start looking at maps and learning the area. There are Walmarts, Publix and Winn Dixie within minutes drive of Universal. Even in a room with no fridge you can get small portions of food and keep them on ice. You can eat dirt cheap plus you can buy cheap snacks.

The toughest place to save money is WDW. Unless you have a Disney Rewards Visa where you can charge every penny from now until next July and pay for your tickets with reward dollars you're pretty much stuck paying full price plus parking. So, if you can, get the Disney card and charge everything to it. If you can't pay your balance in full each month ignore that advice, it's not worth it if you have interest charges.

That's good for starters. You decide how cheap you really want to be and I can probably help you.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Thanks for all the ideas -- now of course I have a million more questions.

I have never seen a Kroger -- what states are they in? I'm going to guess that I don't know anyone in any of those states, but that's just a guess. If I can't figure out the Kroger thing, what's the next cheapest way to get tickets?

For Priceline -- is there a way I can put in details like "walking distance to the resort" or "free shuttle to Disney" or "kitchen" or do I have to "get what I get and not get upset?" I have to commit before I know what hotel, right?

I think we'll just do the give one/get one deal at WDW and not go any other days. DS has been several times, and frankly he's not dying to go back. The big things he's dying to do is pin trade, which he can do at DTD without buying a ticket. I can park for free at DTD correct?

I've also heard that you can get tickets to UO that include Aquatica. I'd love to go there, but wonder if there's a cheap way to do that.

I'll try and book as soon as I hear back from my boss re: days off.

 

[torinsmom]

The only thing you can ask for on Priceline is star rating and general area. Many of the hotels will have a shuttle, but you can't guarantee it before you commit. Of course, if the cheapest rack rate you could find was $50/nt, you would still be saving money if you got a Priceline hotel for $30/nt.

If you stick to your schedule you posted, you wouldn't need to worry about parking on Saturday or Sunday(arrival and DTD), Monday $14 for Disney parking, Tuesday and Wednesday, no worries b/c you are onsite and then you are off to the beach.

If you are looking to visit Universal in the evening, parking is only $3 starting at 6pm.

THere is the Orlando Flex Ticket that includes Sea World, Universal, IOA and Aquatica and Wet and Wild, but it is $229. Tickets to Aquatica are $47.95 each for adults and kids over 9.

As far as tickets, the unlimited 7 day tickets are $99 on Universal's website.

For Kroger tickets, where do they sell them? We have Kroger here in NC.

Marsha

 

[Purseval]

Thanks for all the ideas -- now of course I have a million more questions.

I have never seen a Kroger -- what states are they in? I'm going to guess that I don't know anyone in any of those states, but that's just a guess. If I can't figure out the Kroger thing, what's the next cheapest way to get tickets?

Kroger is the country's largest grocery store chain, its second-largest grocery retailer by volume and second-place general retailer in the country behind Wal-Mart.

http://www.kroger.com/Pages/default.aspx

For Priceline -- is there a way I can put in details like "walking distance to the resort" or "free shuttle to Disney" or "kitchen" or do I have to "get what I get and not get upset?" I have to commit before I know what hotel, right?

You can't get that specific (actually you can but you won't save nearly as much money) but you can narrow it down by looking at sites like betterbidding.com and biddingfortravel.com to see the hotels that people are winning on. You also have to learn how to bid and when so you can get the most chances for a deal. I would sign up for an account now if you don't already have one then keep going in to check your rewards and see if they toss you a $10/day discount. You can even start bidding now and see if you get lucky. You are allowed to make the same type of bid every 24 hours so be patient. It took me 4 days of bidding before I got the price I was looking for the last time I bid, a room in Atlanta 12/26.

I think we'll just do the give one/get one deal at WDW and not go any other days. DS has been several times, and frankly he's not dying to go back. The big things he's dying to do is pin trade, which he can do at DTD without buying a ticket. I can park for free at DTD correct?

Yes, DTD parking is no charge.

I've also heard that you can get tickets to UO that include Aquatica. I'd love to go there, but wonder if there's a cheap way to do that.

You can go to a timeshare presentation and get free tickets but that will eat up about 4 hours of your time. It will save you money and get you a free meal, you can gorge yourselves and save on buying food for that day. You have to decide if it's worth it, we do it all the time but we also go there 3-4 times a year and are never in a hurry. I've posted reviews along with actual time spent here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2312540

For Kroger tickets, where do they sell them? We have Kroger here in NC.

Marsha

Look in the gift card section for something like this:

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Yep, definitely no Kroger's here. I never would have thought they were bigger than Target! That's very interesting.

Having said that, I think I might have seen that card at Safeway -- is it possible? If so, I can easily pick up 3.

How does the timeshare thing work? Specifically, what are the kids doing while I do the presentation. If they are somewhere where they can play, it might be worth it. If I have to make them sit through a 4 hour presentation, I might kill them, which, if I do it before I buy them tickets would save some money, but probably not a good idea.

So, let's review the budget:

Gas/Tolls there and back: Don't know, figure that out later.
Hotel: $40/night for 6 nights ($240 total) plus $200 for the Royal Pacific (can I find it for that?)
Tickets: $89 x 3.
Parking: $14 for one day at WDW
Food: ???
Other: Probably buy kid a new set of pins to trade. Otherwise they're on their own and can save their own money.

So far that sounds good to me.

 

[Jillisa]

Are those Kroger tickets for 7 days? If so, we have lots of Kroger's here, so I will go get them at Kroger and save $20! Thanks for posting that.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

It looks like it says 7 days right above the card on the right.

 

[torinsmom]

I don't know if you'll find a hotel at the beach for $40/nt. Could you come back to Orlando for that night?

I did a timeshare presentation last trip for Blue Man tickets. It did take me about 3 hours, although they will tell you 90 minutes. I declined the free breakfast to save time. They are usually hard sell, and you just tell them no ten million times. Drive to the presentation or you are at their mercy for getting back to your hotel. Just tell the salesman from the beginning that you can't buy at any price and maybe it will go faster. I don't know what they do with kids while they pitch the sale to you, but I am sure there is a place for them. DS was 14 and stayed in our hotel room to sleep in/watch tv.

If you get a hotel with continental breakfast, that would cut that expense out. If not, you can do poptarts, donuts, etc. Food at Universal is about Disney price, so probably $10/person per meal for counter service. You can get free water to save some money. Lots of places to eat offsite since you will have a car.

I'll have to look for those tickets at Kroger. It's not where I usually shop, but it would be worth it to save the money. Anyone know if there will be Superbowl contest like last year? I won a ticket through that and then one through the NBC contest last year. Can't beat that!

 

[Purseval]

How does the timeshare thing work? Specifically, what are the kids doing while I do the presentation. If they are somewhere where they can play, it might be worth it. If I have to make them sit through a 4 hour presentation, I might kill them, which, if I do it before I buy them tickets would save some money, but probably not a good idea.

They have play areas for the kids, usually with the latest video games so they won't get bored. You could also leave them at the hotel but technically an 11 year old isn't supposed to go to the pool by himself so they could be stuck in the room.

Timeshare presentations themselves are easy to find. Usually there is a desk at the hotel where they try to steer you to one. There are also kiosks inside the Universal parks that offer either Universal dollars, express passes, Blue man Group tickets or cash. If you get those 7-day passes you can run into the park, go to each kiosk to see what has the best deal for you then go the next morning nice and early. The kids could always nap in the play area if they are tired. They also have DVC kiosks at DTD but that is a waste of time, don't even stop to look. Read my reviews in the link I posted, they will give you an idea of what to expect.