Help Me Save Our Trip!!!

[DannyDisneyFreak]

Well I thought the folks on the budget board would be able t help me out. My DW and I would like to make our first trip to WDW since we've been married, we plan to go Jan. 7-14, 2006. With the Dining Plan and tix and staying at the Pop Century it would be about $1700 + airfare + extra spending $$$. Please help me figure out how to cut some costs because we've had to dip into our savings lately for some unexpected things.

 

[Diznenut]

Well I thought the folks on the budget board would be able t help me out. My DW and I would like to make our first trip to WDW since we've been married, we plan to go Jan. 7-14, 2006. With the Dining Plan and tix and staying at the Pop Century it would be about $1700 + airfare + extra spending $$$. Please help me figure out how to cut some costs because we've had to dip into our savings lately for some unexpected things.

Check the package price every few days. We purchased our package for 1700. Then I noticed a special for 1400 for the same package. I called Disney and they changed it. They also was able to get me a better deal on a car (by 150.00). Keep diligent and you'll be able to shave some money here and there.

 

[cobbler]

Do you have AAA, I hear that that you can get a discount on a package with dining.

Also check out the codes and rates board. When a new promo is announced someone usually posts it there and at mousesavers.com

Also if you are in a preferred room at POP you can save money by going the non-preferred route. The resort isn't that big and a non-preferred room can be just as close or maybe a very short treck farther.

Also if your tickets have the hopper option and/or non-expire, consider getting rid of those, that will help save money. It might mean that you stay in one park all day or take a break but have to go back to the same park you went to in the morning but that isn't so bad. We have AP's and rarely ever hop.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Usually you can do better getting the package items seperately. The dining plan can be a great deal, but only if you really think you can eat all of that food in one sitting. Instead of doing a FULL sit down meal every day, you could do more Quick service meals, or even a few offsite/in-room meals. (Say, if you had cereal in your room in the morning, then a quick service lunch and dinner.) Then you'd be able to get discount park tickets. You could shorten the trip by a few days. Seven days is a fairly long trip. Five full days is enough to do the 4 parks. Does your price include trip insurance? That costs something too.

 

[ellyn2000]

I agree that you may look into purchasing package items separately. I've booked a pkg. and later called back and saved money by booking room, passes, etc...separately. AAA has helped alot, too. Call AAA travel and see what they can get the package for. Good luck!

 

[canwegosoon]

You should join the Jan Code watch on the resorts page...they are really on the watch for the best deal...I would follow the advice of AAA you can save the cost of membership, and still save.
Being from Upstate NY..I know the airfare is always an issue...you should be on the look out for low rates etc..do you have your flights booked?
SWA is $371 RT for 2A on your dates, you could always be on the lookout for a ding too...

 

[Momof4girls]

You have a few options.

Our first trip, we stayed offsite. We learned very quickly that staying "onsite" was just as much of a hike to get to the parks (unless, you're at a monorail resort and wanting to go to the Magic Kingdom, for example). But, since WDW is a massive city, even "onsite" is really far from the parks and dealing with Disney transportation and busses would be a hassle for our family.

So, we liked staying offsite and did it again last trip.

We rented a home from VRBO that we loved - four bedrooms, three baths, our own pool and hot tub, full kitchen - and it was like $90 a night! We also liked the Ramada Inn, which was SUPER cheap - we found deals through the Disboards and mousesavers.

Secondly, we rented a car from www.mousesavers.com tips - we paid like $220 a week for a minivan. You could go cheaper than that.

If you must fly, try southwest www.southwest.com - they have great air specials right now - from our city it is $59 each way.

We bought our four day park hoppers (back then this is what they sold) on a tickets website - ticketmania, probably.

Other ways to cut back, if you want to go with a package - travel in a certain season, stay in a value resort, cut your trip down by one day, etc.

BUT - I really found booking a room only even onsite and adding tickets, etc was way cheaper - sure, you have to pay out of pocket for meals - but it works out for our family because we'll do one or two "big" meals during the trip (usually a character breakfast and a nice dinner) and then eat counter service. There is so much walking you're hardly ever hungry, and when you are you don't want to stop for two hours just to sit down and eat

And the food is SOO good - everywhere - that you don't feel deprived.

 

[eblack0409]

Join AAA if you aren't already a member, they can save you 10-20% of your room cost, depending on what type of resort you are staying at.

Depending on how far from Orlando you live, driving may be an option to cut costs.

Good luck!

 

[Jsme]

While I do not condone doing anything wrong, but we joined AAA and did our reservations with the AAA discount. We never had to show the dang card the whole trip.

 

[speedyf]

Here's a breakdown on what it would cost to book each part individually...

Room

Pop Century - 7 Nights @ Rack Rate = $79 per night

AAA Rate (20% off) = $63.20 per night

7 Nights @ AAA Rate = $442
Cost to join AAA (approx) = $50
Tax on Room (approx) = $58

Total for room = $550


Tickets

Ticketmania

7 Day Expiring Base Ticket (No Hopping) = $400 for 2 Tickets
7 Day Expiring Hopper Ticket = $468 for 2 Tickets
7 Day Expiring Plus Ticket (No Hopping) = $476 for 2 Tickets
7 Day Expiring Hopper / Plus = $558
All prices include tax and shipping

Total of Room and Tickets is anywhere from $950 to $1118 without any meals...

Tips...

#1 - You can call Disney and ask about booking a room at AAA discount...even if you are not a AAA member at this time. If they do have the AAA rate available....you can book it....then, join AAA before you go on your trip. That way....if you can't get the AAA rate....you didn't just spend $50 joining AAA for nothing.

#2 - If you do get the AAA rate at Disney and you then become a AAA member....call you local AAA agent to inquire about a package through them. You should be able to get the same room discount (20% off)...the tickets will be a little more than ticketmania....but, then you can get the dining plan at $35 per adult per night.

#3 - You can actually get a little better discount on the tickets from Ticketmania by joining the Mousavers.com newsletter. She sends out the newsletter on the 15th of every month with a link to an ever better discount on the already low prices at Ticketmania.com. Ticketmania is a reputable ticket broker that many people on this board have used (including myself) without any problems.

The price of your total vacation will depend on what type of tickets you want to purchase and what type of "Disney Park Traveler" you are. I can tell you from my last 2 visits that we did not park hop at all and basically wasted money on the hopper option. We'd go to a park in the morning, back to the room in the afternoon for a rest, then back to the same park that night.

If you "do Disney" this way...you save on not having to purchase the hopper option (savings of about $70 total).

Next....are you going to see just the 4 main parks...or are you going to waterparks, etc.? You would have to do at least 2 "plus" options to get your money's worth. Basically...it costs $38 per ticket to upgrade from a base ticket to a "plus" ticket that gives you access to the water parks, Disney Quest, etc. If you are not planning on going to the water parks....and only plan on maybe doing Disney Quest on 1 day....you are better off just purchasing Disney Quest tickets from Ticketmania at $24 per person instead of having the plus option. Same thing with Pleasure Island....$16 per individual ticket. Of course, if you want to go to Pleasure Island 3 nights during your stay, then the plus option is better than the individual tickets.

You are looking at about $1000 for room and tickets. So...you basically have $700 left for food....or about $100 per day. You can then decide how much you want to spend and where you want to eat.

Hope this helps....
Speed

 

[crisi]

In addition to cutting costs on your trip, cut your day to day living costs as much as possible. Also increase your income if possible.

Cut costs:
Coupon
Cut your grocery bill (less meat, less packaged food)
Less dining out
Carpool, combine trips
Budget your Christmas spending
Get rid of some of the extras (cell phones, cable, extra phone services like call waiting)
etc.

Income:
Yard sale or e-bay
Seasonal work
Overtime where available
etc.

(Some of these things combine nicely - a seasonal retail job with a discount might be just what you need to keep your Christmas spending under control).

 

[minnie1928]

You are looking at about $1000 for room and tickets. So...you basically have $700 left for food....or about $100 per day. You can then decide how much you want to spend and where you want to eat.

Hope this helps....
Speed

Speedyf did some nice ground work for you, if you want to go the seperate pieces route. If you decide to do that, $100/day for 2 people to eat should be NO PROBLEM! We eat in the room for breakfast, not only does this save you money...it saves you a TON of time! Think about it, you eat while you wife showers/dresses, etc. and vice versa.

Personally, I think it's more common to get a better deal by doing it in pieces than by doing a package. I'm sure that there are exceptions to this, but based on my experience I've always made out better.

Follow the other advice posted (watch for codes on the resort board), mousesavers, etc. and you'll do just fine!

Have fun!

 

[Colinsmom]

For starters, drop the dining plan. It can be nice, but IMO was more complicated than it was worth (not every place accepted it, many had different rules about what you could get, too much planning around using dining credits - which isn't how we usually travel, etc.). You can still plan, say, one or two nice meals out, but then economize on the rest of your meals and end up waaaay ahead.