HELP! My Large Family wants to do DISNEY

[Marionnette]

I have only read the first page of responses but I would have to say that ppl suggesting you to stay on property are not paying attention to what you posted. It obviously needs to be a budget trip if your kids are having to help you pay for it.

The OP later asked for more information about Free Dining, which is why people are responding with information about staying onsite. It never hurts to explore all options. Although I do agree that if it needs to be done on a tight budget, free dining is not going to be cheaper than staying offsite and cooking most of the meals.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Another vote for staying off-site.

I think the OP will feel really, really cramped in 2 hotel rooms--especially with one parent who's not a huge Disney fanatic, they may feel tortured. There are many off-site options, from hotel suites to luxury homes, and you can save a ton of money. We like Windsor Hills--it's 2 miles from AK--and get a pool home. My kids ("only" 4 of them, ha ha) think a private pool is the absolute best thing on vacation. There are many communities with rentals, as others have said--we like vrbo as a good place to start.

In addition, the OP is concerned about food--a valid issue, as I feel her pain on grocery bills. Off-site means you can shop anywhere and get familiar foods. I tend to cook simple meals on vacation, but it's great to have options. Most rental homes have grills--our last one also had stuff like a blender and a crockpot. Breakfasts are an easy, obvious choice, but it's also very simple to prepare lunches and dinners, not to mention having snack food available. I've done the dining plan, and it's fine, but I don't know that you'll see the cost savings versus cooking many meals your self. Not to mention, if you do TS meals, you still have to pay the tip--for a party of 9, you'll be automatically billed 18% on a (typical) $300 bill. So, that's $54 on top of your "free" meal (not really free because you paid rack rate). You could probably feed the whole gang for that $54.

As to vehicles, I agree with the idea of renting a second car when you get there--maybe just a small compact, they usually go for less than $20 a day. You could maybe even just use it as a shuttle--on days when DH doesn't go into the parks, he keeps that, and if someone wants a break, he picks them up somewhere and avoids paying parking (maybe DTD?).

Off-site also allows you to check out other attractions in the area. We love Seaworld, and they frequently offer a "second day free" pass. I also find that my gang just likes hanging out at the house--some of them have game rooms in addition to the pool, free DVD rentals, videogames, etc. Since it's vacation, I'm much more lenient on screen time, which is a free treat.

 

[LovesTimone]

I'm SO OVERWHELMED by all the HELP!!! I'm not sure how you copy the quotes so I can answer specific questions raised in this thread. We definitely won't rent a 15 passenger. We may have a 12 passenger by then, or take two cars. I would LOVE the magic of staying on site, but my husband will be dragging his feet to come on this trip so I really need a place where he can NOT go to Disney every day, rest and relax. Our kids are 18, 16, 14, 10, 8, 5, and 2. My oldest is 20 and getting married in a WEEK. She and her new hubby most likely would not come, but maybe if we had a large home she could come for a shorter time. I should be planning a wedding, but this is my therapy, planning a vacation.
We actually have some flexibility in dates, if my oldest son could miss some classes at college. Our family homeschools and I was toying with the thought of going around Labor day. Is it really a big savings to go off peak times? We could also go right after Christmas or after the new year. I don't know the peak times exactly yet.
I like the idea of cooking, we have lots of chefs in the family and the family EATS like CRAZY. I can see the eating out bill KILLING our budget. BUT I also am intrigued with whoever said something about a dining plan and paying that ahead of time so dad doesn't fret about how much it's costing. How do I do that? I'm SUCH a newbie. THANKS!!!!

For packages - You choose the level of hotel, and park tickets, you can customize the tickets, how many days, w/ park hoppers, water parks and more. With Free dinning, example - if you stay in a Moderate Resort, with free dinning, you will get 1 QS - Quick service meal - 1 TS - Table service meal,and 1 snack credit per day/per person.

To upgrade, to Deluxe dinning plan, is the cost difference between, Regular dinning plan and Deluxe inning plan, I am not sure of the difference I think somewhere between 40 to 50 dollars per person/ per day which seem like a lot, but you get 3 meals a day and 2 snacks, and mugs for your resort, which are great for coffee, and drinks by the pool, or room. These, meals are of your choosing.

All packages must be paid for in advance, not sure of the time frame. So when you arrive everything, but tips, and souvenirs are paid for.

Your 2 year old is free, He or she does not need a park ticket and can eat of your plate.

Hope this helps out.

 

[hsmamato2]

as to onsite vs. off site for budgets.....it's possib;e,depending tome of year,that onsite could work out budget wise...... depends on time of year...OP would have to run numbers..... so if offsite is approx. 700 for the week, plus add 105.00 for parking in parks- plus add groceries for 3 meals a day for 10 people,and bring all meals into park with you - 500.00 for groceries(?) for the week,it always seems to cost more on vacation.... but IDK
or say in the right season, you get 2 value rooms at Music resort at 100 per night each(?) and FREE quick service dining for 10 people.....so it would be 1400.00 for room and food(except for breakfast, cold cereal and milk in room) with no extra parking costs,and the bigger kids can ride the bus wherever,whenever.(priceless)
either way, you have to purchase park tix separately and add those to the cost. All I'm saying is that onsite isn't necessarily the worst budget way to go ,with that many people to feed.
depends on season,and how Op's family tends to eat,I know mine overbuy on vacations at the grocery store,and it's cheaper for me to keep them away!

 

[smallblackstars]

We are heading to the World in November and my family are all giving my DD dollars towards her trip rather than gifts for her birthday. My parents are also paying for her park ticket as a birthday gift. Maybe you could ask family that give gifts on birthdays and christmas to give dollars instead? From family DD got sometimes up to $20 in a card at christmas time along with a small gift and I got $100 out of cards on my birthday so we already have $440 towards our trip spending money and DDs birthday is a few weeks before we leave and family are doing the same again. I did feel a bit cheeky asking family but they understood and $10 or so in a card towards Disney is far easier for them than trying to pick out gifts for us!

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

as to onsite vs. off site for budgets.....it's possib;e,depending tome of year,that onsite could work out budget wise...... depends on time of year...OP would have to run numbers..... so if offsite is approx. 700 for the week, plus add 105.00 for parking in parks- plus add groceries for 3 meals a day for 10 people,and bring all meals into park with you - 500.00 for groceries(?) for the week,it always seems to cost more on vacation.... but IDK
or say in the right season, you get 2 value rooms at Music resort at 100 per night each(?) and FREE quick service dining for 10 people.....so it would be 1400.00 for room and food(except for breakfast, cold cereal and milk in room) with no extra parking costs,and the bigger kids can ride the bus wherever,whenever.(priceless)
either way, you have to purchase park tix separately and add those to the cost. All I'm saying is that onsite isn't necessarily the worst budget way to go ,with that many people to feed.
depends on season,and how Op's family tends to eat,I know mine overbuy on vacations at the grocery store,and it's cheaper for me to keep them away!

You're not really comparing apples to apples. For that $700 offsite, you can get a house with several bedrooms and bathrooms--again, depending on the season, you can get a house rental pretty cheap, slow season at WDW is also slow season for house rentals. 2 rooms at All-Stars is a whopping 520 square feet, total, full-sized beds. You could rent a house with 2000-2500 square feet, with multiple beds, baths, and a king-sized bed in the master suite. While some people are perfectly content to squish into an All-Star room, especially if they're "rope drop to fireworks" type folks, for lots of people, this is no kind of vacation. In the OP's case, her DH isn't such a Disney fan. If he might want to skip a park day or three, a house is definitely going to be more comfortable.

Now, you're right on the parking--the food could also be debated. You're going to eat much better and healthier if you cook it yourself, but for some people, that's no kind of vacation, either. I think the important thing is, the OP needs to really think about what kind of vacation is going to work best for the group she has. Some families don't mind close quarters, others value some space. Still others would be at each other's throats by Day 3 (my gang falls in this category).

I agree with the PP who suggested gift money for souvenirs. Also, since the OP's family is mostly older kids, make saving for the trip a family project--everyone chips in what they can, any found money, maybe some earnings from jobs, that kind of thing. I wouldn't expect my teens to contribute huge amounts, but they've always saved gift money for their spending money. Maybe have the family agree to do homemade pizza on Fridays instead of take-out, and put the savings in the "vacation jar".

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

Free dining does Not save a bundle. Go for a room discount instead.

I think she needs to stay off site to truly save money but if she stayed on site in a mod and got DDP free for 10 ppl that would save about $500 a day in what the dining plan would have cost her. Have you ever gotten a room only discount that saved you $500 a day?

I don't think so.

Some ppl just hate the dining plan no matter how much it saves you but if you plan on spending the extra money to stay on site I would definitely make sure you got free dining before booking. (Example...say you are staying in 2 rooms at POR with 5 ppl in each room. Each room costs almost $200 a night, so $400 a night total. You get a 25% off room discount, that saves you $100 total for both rooms versus saving $500 a day by getting free dining) Don't ever let someone tell you a room discount is better than free dining if you have more than 2 ppl in your family. Even getting a 30% off room discount at a deluxe won't save you as much as the free DDp for 3 or more ppl. So do the math and see for yourself free dining works out better every time.

None of the on site rooms are going to be comfortable with 5 ppl to a room. And you can only put 5 ppl in a room if you are staying at a resort where the room will legally hold 5 ppl or if the 5th person is under 3.

And for the person that said the free dining does not apply to the family suites...they do at All Star Music. I don't know about AoA but we have stayed in a family suite 2 different times and had free dining both times.

I agree that having 2 rooms that total less than 600 sq ft is going to be torture compared to a big 5 bedroom house off site that is 2500 sq ft with a kitchen and laundry facilities.

 

[quikah]

Some ppl just hate the dining plan no matter how much it saves you

You also have to consider the amount of food with the dining plan. It is simply more than many people would normally eat. When I go without I NEVER get desert and rarely buy any snacks. I am not going without to save money, I just don't eat that much. So how much are you really saving if you are getting food you wouldn't normally buy in the first place?

 

[Marionnette]

None of the on site rooms are going to be comfortable with 5 ppl to a room. And you can only put 5 ppl in a room if you are staying at a resort where the room will legally hold 5 ppl or if the 5th person is under 3.

It would only 9 people, one of whom is under the age of 3.

Our kids are 18, 16, 14, 10, 8, 5, and 2. My oldest is 20 and getting married in a WEEK. She and her new hubby most likely would not come, but maybe if we had a large home she could come for a shorter time

The OP's family would "legally" fit into 2 Value Resort rooms with no problems.

 

[lovewdwdvc]

Two values would be tight but I would do it to stay on property. How much time do you spend in the room for a once in a lifetime trip anyway. I would especially do it for free dining. I know that it is the simpler dining plan but once again why worry too much about food on this wonderful trip. Regardless, have lots of fun.

Remember that you can but tickets early too.

 

[maxiesmom]

OP, I was all set to tell you to stay off site, but seeing as you want to go over Christmas, I really advise you to stay on site, if there is any way you can afford it.

Christmas is THE busiest time at the parks. Being able to use Extra Magic Hours if you choose is worth staying on site. Most likely the Magic Kingdom with have EMH mornings that whole week. If you stay off site you will never be able to tour MK without being behind a whole crowd of people.

Also, if you stay off site and the parks start to close for capacity reasons, off site guests are the first shut out of the parks.

I've stayed off site many times, but there is no way I would do it over Christmas. No way. The perks you get staying on property are worth their weight in gold when the parks are crazy busy.

 

[mymickeyfans]

We are going with extended family this year. There are 15 of us (8 kids under 9)! We rented a house at Paradise palms resort ( 6 bedroom, 5 bath with it's own splash pool). We got a good rate and the resort itself is fairly new and has great ammenities. If you want to check it out we rented through www.globalresorthomes.com

Good luck in whatever you decide!

 

[lucigo]

It is my opinion that they key to enjoying Disney is going during the off peak season. There is only the one college kid who has a conflict, so work on that. Either have him take online classes that semester, work out a way to get a week off, or maybe just have him stay home. I would go either the first week of December, or to get free dining in September.

Honestly, if money is an issue, a cruise out of Galveston would be a reasonable alternative also, all they can eat, dad can relax, and lots of quality time together.

We have taken our family of 8 and stayed at an off site condo, and at 2 Pop Century rooms with free dining. There is no comparison, free dining means mom gets a vacation too! No driving, no cooking.

 

[My3Princez]

Depending on how much flexibility you have as far as dates go, you may want to look into Going for Disney's Homeschool Days. You don't have to actually be doing homeschooling to attend, and the discounted tickets are AMAZING. There is one scheduled in October and typically one scheduled in January (although that date hasn't been released yet). You can stay on or off property and still get the discounted tickets. With that many in your family, it may well be worth adjusting your schedule. The savings are usually 40-50% off the gate pricing for admission. I THINK (although I'm not 100% sure) the January class is usually the 4th week in January. The date is typically released about 3 months ahead. If you want to see what your savings could potentially be, just pretend to book for the October class. That would give you a rough idea. http://www.disneyyouth.com/our-programs/education/sp/homeschool-days/#categories-homeschool-days

 

[Vacation Lover]

It looks like you've gotten a lot of good responses. Now it's time to do the math! Looks like you have a couple of choices:

1. Stay offsite (I recommend a house at Windsor Hills.)
Costs to factor in:
Lodging
Food
Rental car for kids
Parking fees

2. Stay onsite during free dining (With your party you could stay in 2 rooms--4 in one room, 4 + the 2-year-old in the other. If you need more space, could you get a connecting room for the younger kids and let the older kids stay in a third room next door? Another option, a cabin at Ft. Wilderness--can someone confirm that free dining is included with the cabins?)
Things to consider:
No need to rent a car since everyone can use Disney transportation
No parking fees
Food is included but you still need to tip at table service restaurants

Good luck and enjoy! Don't forget to look into the YES program for tickets. There's a huge thread on it here on the budget board.

 

[SandrA9810]

Even the cabins at Ft wilderness only hold 6+infant. The campsites however hold 10.

 

[Carrie Ellis]

We don't have as big of a family but I have always had to plan plan plan!

We started off with an RV in Fort Wilderness. Our very first trip we had a military discount of 40% on a campsite and it was $27/night!!! 10 night for $270! ha

As a mom with 3 big boys, I really don't want to cook and shop if I don't have to. So, I would rather cut in some areas and get the dining plan. I would choose tent camping at Fort Wilderness and the dining plan!!!

We do the counter service plan now. We eat at the best counters and it is very nice! We don't have to worry about a huge $ for tips either! Love Wolfgang puck.

With a large family it really does pay off for free dining. When you get 5-6 people in a room it really does become a good deal. We have done the cabins before.

I just think onsite is so nice. Even though other places and homes are close they are not super close. We always drive to the parks so we can get back quicker but of course on site it does not cost to park.

I would recommend Fort Wilderness. You get the open area and you are not cramped in a hotel room. Kids can ride bikes, watch movies, play grounds and I think for the non disney parent they are going to love it too. Bring chalk, bubbles, jump ropes, glow in the dark necklaces, etc....


Plus, just a boat ride to MK. Oh.....and at Christmas time the loops are all decorated!!!