Help me plan a spur of the moment budget trip!

[Desnik]

Hi everyone. I need help from you budget experts! I've never done a trip on a real strict budget, but I always make sure I get the best deal I can. Our last trip to WDW was in May and I need to go back!!! I have an AP that expires 11/11 and DD and DH still have 3 days each on their hopper passes. I am 3mo pregnant now so I would like to plan a trip for the first week in Nov.(middle of 2nd trimester)and we own 2 businesses and they are both fairly new so we don't want to have them closed for to long. How should I go about saving some $$ for this, any tips? Where should we stay? We have stayed at CSR, GF, and BWI, but wouldn't mind staying at the All Stars. DH doesn't fly, so we would drive. Any ideas or tips on how to convince DH that we can pull this off? We do have a trip planned for next Oct. but we both could use a vacation, along with or DD(4yo), and I need a Disney fix now! Help!! Also for those who have driven from a long distance, what's the shortest amount of time you stayed at WDW?

 

[Karel]

I've flown down for one day to MK.

But seriously, one of our best trips was a unexpected trip Thanksgiving week. We planned it five days before we left and stayed four nights. It was short, and we didn't get to see a lot but we're weren't exhausted or rushed either. I would do it again in a minute though I'm in the mood for a longer trip right now.

First, I would call and see what kind of room you could get and then go from there. Pick one sit down place you'd like to eat and make the PS for that. Since you're driving, take food for breakfast. Start a spare change jar now and save, save, save.

 

[crusoe2]

Be sure to check mousesavers.com for discounts on the room. I believe for the time you are going they have both a Disney Club special and AP discounts available. Seems like one of them offered the All Stars for as low as $49 a nite. We also drive and take a cooler and food from home. You can take stuff over to the food court and warm it in the microwave, make sandwiches for a picnic by the pool, etc. We try to have some fun with it so that we don't feel like we're missing out by not eating many restaurant meals. The All Star foodcourts also have a great selection and very reasonable prices if you decide to go that route. We try to save money on food cause we've found that to be the one expense that seems to get away from us if we aren't careful. If we're on a really tight budget, I like to get everyone to pick one or two special places to eat, snacks they would like to try, etc and we plan those into the budget and then try to eat from what we brought from home the rest of the trip. This seems to help us avoid those spur of the moment splurges.

Since you are going right after Halloween, you might want to hint to family and friends that Disney Dollars would be good treats for your DD and maybe that would take of souvie money for her.

Good luck - I hope it works out for you. I know that our best trips have been the ones we did on short notice.

 

[Mickey Mom]

We drive down every other year to Disney. It takes us 16 hours plus stops. We do the longest part of the trip the first day (usually 12 hours plus stops). That way the second day we get to Disney around noon. We go straight to Downtown Disney and do our Disney shopping (you get a discount at the Disney store if you have the Disney Club Card and most of the items that are in the store are found someplace in the parks). That way we don't have to worry about packages while we are at the parks. Since we drive down, we take a toaster and breakfast foods, and eat breakfast in the room while everyone is getting ready for the day. We also bring snacks and drinks to the park, and to have in the room. We keep everything cold by using a cooler and filling it with ice. Drinks last most of the morning. We usually eat a big lunch at the parks, and have a smaller dinner with snacks. We do try to get to the parks as early as we can, but we do enjoy one day to sleep in. Hope this helps. Enjoy your trip.

 

[Desnik]

Thank you all for your suggestions and help! I just booked the ASMu for 5 nights Nov.3 for a total of $274 including tax!!!!!
That was all that was available during that time at any budget and moderate resort. I will take everyones advice and bring snacks and breakfast items so we can do breakfast in our room. The only real expense I'm worried about is food. A 5mo pregnant woman can eat alot!! Now to convince my DH hmm, any suggestions? Also any money saving tips? How do you save up for your trip?

 

[bobcat]

What a great rate! Have a wonderful trip.

We spend $50 a day for one adult and two kids on food and we always have plenty. Between breakfast and snacks in our room and mostly counter service we can afford to splurge on a couple of character meals. I also take lunch meat for those days when we would rather be on the go and not waste time stopping for lunch. Usually it's a quick sandwich and off to the pool in the afternoon.

Like Mickey Mom we do the majority of the drive the first day so we arrive in Orlando about noon.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

ASMu has a pretty good, reasonable food court. We usually eat our meals, well, breakfast and dinner, there, now that it's just the two of us going. The rest of our meals are at counter restaurants at the parks. You should be able to eat for less than $10 each adult, I don't know the prices of kids meals, but most of the adult portions are pretty big. If your dd isn't a big eater, she could share with one of you. The last time we all went, DH, DD, DS and myself, I packed boxes of cereal, throw away bowls and spoons. My DH would buy a pint of milk every morning (get it from the gift shop, it's cheaper than the food court...we found that out the day before we checked out!). We ate breakfast in our room every day. Saved time and money. I also packed snacks...cheese crackers, pretzels, Rice Krispie Treats, etc. Each morning we would pack our back packs, or fanny packs, with snacks for the day. Our travel money is from my job. DH's pay goes towards bills, most of mine goes into a savings account for our trips and things we buy.

 

[Disneydenise]

Since you will have your car I have found that going to Publix's and purchasing the already prepared meals is a way to save. You know those chickens they have and a tossed salad. I also got the tuna in a pouch and they now have them with the mayo and crackers in one package. I made cookies and packed them and brought fruit for the room. I got little bags of chips and brought it all from home. I hate to waste time when I am in DW so I try to get as organized as I can. When my kids were little they liked to eat PB&J so I would bring that along too. Then we would let them get ice dream etc. I also brought drink mix from home and took it to the parks in a baggy and mixed it with water and they were happier than drinking water. We don't go as often anymore but we still eat breakfast in the room because we are LAZY and it takes them forever to get going. I get the large muffins and the boys eat one and DD and I split one. They are very filling. They have toasters in the food court so you can get muffins and toast them there. I think that there is a McDonalds right outside the AS somewhere. You can do this on the cheap if you put your mind to it. I also noticed you are form NY I am ure the food at the food stores is a it cheaper in FL than at home. Have a great trip. Those AP's are dangerous aren't they?