Help me save $$$$

[goofy4prez]

I have learned a lot on the DIS over the last 4 years and have become pretty proficient in planning my week. However, I must admit I am not very good when it comes to saving money. In the past I have always used the free dining when booking my trip along with the resort, and the park hopper, as a result I didn't have to get very creative.

I will not be able to use the free dining this year because with my daughter now entering her freshman year of high school I am not willing to take her out of class. The only option we will have is to book the hotel for our trip the last week of May or the beginning of June in 2013. This is going to be costly, but we really want to get back to WDW; after a near death accident last year, I'm healthy, doing well, and really miss WDW.

We have always been a deluxe resort family with CL but this upcoming year we are going to go moderate and stay either at POR or CSR and make it 10 days instead of seven. But right now the price we will have to pay is rack rate.

In the past has WDW offered room discounts during this time? And if so, how easy (or difficult) is it to take advantage of those discounts once you book. I should say that I will not be using the DDP (IMHO, unless free just not worth it) Instead I will buy Disney gift cards at Giant Eagle, get fuel perks for it, and also use my Disney Visa for it's benefits and pay out of pocket with them when dining out. Also, would it be less expensive to buy an annual pass so that I could also purchase a TIW and save 20% on dining out??

Sorry for the long post, but I am open to saving some money this trip out and am sure we can still have a great time but spend just a little less $$$

 

[Tigger's ally]

good site for the moneysavers..

http://www.mousesavers.com/index.html

 

[chefmb]

Definitely check out the mousesavers site. It's mentioned there but remember that even if Disney does not have a room discount available, you can usually get a discount if you have AAA.

 

[Phatoomch]

I always take the easy route and book a package - numbers aren't my thing

However, today I have saved money I tweaked our schedule so that we do one park a day, no hopping - if anything, it will be less stressful. There are 5 of us (my DD11 is considered an adult for tix) and thats a saving of $292

 

[ohiotodds12]

We did the exact same thing last year, we went the last day the kids got out of school here in OHio. The high school was awesome and allowed the kids to do their finals they had scheduled for that day during their free periods the days before. We flew out on the last day of May which also was the last day of free dining. We stayed at Coronado, got free dining for our whole 12 day trip and had a great time. You will need the extra days since it tends to be a bit busier but to me, the heat as the same as September. We had a great time just had to plan our day a little better. I will keep my fingers crossed that something good comes out for your days. We have stayed at all the moderates and really like CSR the best. I think I like it because it is a little more mature, so did my HS kids. The privacy with the doors that close off the bathroom is really nice too.

 

[minnie mum]

For sure look at mousesavers- especially the Historical Information on WDW Resort Discounts. This will give you an idea if you can expect a room discount for your next trip. And AAA discounts of around 10% are better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick if nothing better comes along.

I agree with you about the DDP. We're back to paying OOP for all of our meals and are happy with that.

As far as the AP/TIW card, I think it comes down to crunching the numbers. If you are only doing the one trip in the next year, then it might not be worth it. Figure out the cost of 10 day tickets vs the cost of APs. OTOH, if the numbers are close, the ability to get AP discounts at the resort may be a tipping point. I'd also check out the cost of getting your tickets through UT- lots of people report getting them for a good discount. TIW gives you a discount on your food, but really, as far as I've been able to see, you're only saving the amount of money you'd be giving your server for a tip.

Looks like you'll be spending some serious time in front of a spread sheet for a while. Good luck.

 

[jmasgat]

Also recommend Mousesavers. Here is a more direct link to the page that shows historical room rate discounts.

http://www.mousesavers.com/historicalwdwdiscounts.html#2012

There were discounts offered this year for the time period you are interested in. Of course, who knows about next year yet!

Another thing to consider--to keep the deluxe feel--is to look at renting DVC points and staying in a DVC location. OKW is great, and a 1BR will sleep 5, or else any of the resorts studio if you have fewer than 5. The upside is you get the amenities of a deluxe resort, a microwave, and depending on when you go it can save a lot of money. Check out the dvc rent trade board.

Depending on how much you eat out, the AP/TIW option might work. The AP may get you a better hotel discount.

Good luck with your planning.

Maura

 

[Maggie'sMom]

We stayed at CSR the last week of May this year and I was able to get it using a 30% general public discount. I originally booked last September using just the AAA room only discount. But when the spring general public discounts became available (sorry, I can't remember when but you can probably find it on Mousesavers), I called and was able to switch my reservation to the larger discount.

I purchased my tickets through Undercover Tourist using the link in the mousesavers newsletter and saved $24/ticket. We decided to forgo the park hopper option this time to save money and really found that we didn't miss it.

I also did what you are planning and bought Disney gift cards at Giant Eagle. In fact, I just used up the last of my fuelperks from those gift card purchases when I filled up last night. I purchased the gift cards with my Chase Freedom card which was offering 5% cash back on up to $1500 in purchases at grocery stores during the months of April through June.

I paid out of pocket for dining. I came out about $30 ahead than if I'd purchased the meal plan. We were there for 10 nights and we only ate 6 TS meals, but I was buying adult CS meals for my DD because she really dislikes most of the food offered on the kids' menus. I really enjoyed having that flexibility rather than forcing her to order off the kids' menu because we needed to use her CS credits. And we purchased a lot more snacks than I would have had credits for on the DDP. You'd have to sit down and run the numbers, but I'd guess that the TIW card would work out well for you.

 

[shannonstar]

If you want to save on tickets, consider signing up your daughter for YES class also. You can get up to 8 day Park Hoppers and she will get to go to an awesome class. It can't be done as part of a package, but then you could stay at a Value and choose to DP or OOP.

http://www.disneyyouth.com/register/?location=WDW&program=individual-enrollment

Here is a sample list of classes from this year. They do run in the summer as well. Click through as if you are registering to see the price difference. Sadly we are not visiting at a time where we can do a class. My son is desperate to do the Physics in Motion class at MK.