Help!!Please trying to find a time to make a Cheap trip to WDW but....

[tink2dw]

I want to take a cheap vacation to WDW but I have to work around my High school Senior Dd's holiday schedule. That leaves Dec 20 thru Jan 4 and spring break
Mar. 20 thru 27. The most expensive times of the year!!

How do others solve this problem??

Oh and airfare will run us $1300. unless I can some how hit a sale,lol!!

 

[kilee]

The bad news is "cheap" and the timeframes you listed don't usually go hand in hand. The best shot you have would be trying to get something for the week in March. Everyone's definition of cheap is different. So, it really depends on what type of budget you want, how many people and how many nights.

 

[tink2dw]

We are classified by Disney as 3 adults,since we are on the west coast it takes 8 hrs to fly to and from WDW,so 8 to 10 days, would like to spend $3000.00 or less for whole budget.

 

[Phrank40]

I would suggest that to help keep costs down keep checking the pricing of hotels. I know with the Disney resorts you are sort of limited as to what you can do price wise, but I have noticed in the areas outside Disnsey property it is possible to find pretty good deals on nice properties. For example, I needed just one night at a Downtown Disney hotel on 12/28. The first time I checked on Expedia the best rates were $120+. Then one day out of the blue the rate for one of the hotels was $76, two days later it was back to $130 for the same room. Another example is through Mousesavers.com was a room for $61, but I saw that same room through other sites for over $100. Finally, I needed a room during Spring Break this year just for two nights, nothing fancy. Found Hampton Inn for $50 with a coupon from roomsavers.com, if I called up their reservations number they quoted $80 a night.

It amazes me how many people I talk to tell me that they just call up a hotel, ask for the rate and book it. If I mention to them ask if there are any discounts or specials they tell me they are uncomfortable asking for discounts.

Phrank

 

[Local_Girl]

I would definitely consider staying offsite. I just checked the Skyauction website and they show availability (at the beginning of a particular auction that ends today) at Silver Lake, 2bdrm, for check in on Mar. 20. Of course, your dates have to be firm. But you can get some great deals thru Skyauction. One of the best things about going this route is if you have a villa, you can save $$ on food if you eat breakfasts in the room and some other meals there as well. We are doing this in Dec. I am carefully planning our food budget so we get the most "bang for the buck" out of our PSs (only have 5 for 2 week stay, but this includes HDDR and a CP dinner package), and everything else will be in the villa or counter service. We're trying to do the whole thing for under $3500 for 4 of us (we are driving, though).

Good luck!

 

[Uncle Buck]

We will be traveling this Thanksgiving with two adults and one kid from Seattle for 8 days total (Wyndham Palace). We're running with the same type of budget.

We are planning to do a Priceline Vacation bid in the next couple of days. A vacation bid (hotel + air) guarantees both no red-eye and sleeping arrangements for all guests (normal hotel bidding does not). It also allows you to select the actual hotel, which of course you cannot do with conventional bidding.

Checking www.biddingfortravel.com will allow you to figure out almost precisely what the costs associated with your hotel portion will be since there is extensive history there. From there, we'll be figuring a resonable fare based upon current available fares with a reasonable discount.

We'll likely purchase 7-day Park Hoppers from one of the reputable brokers listed on www.mousesavers.com.

 

[Wolfelaw]

You could use Priceline just for the hotel, and then wait for a discounted airfare. If you go for a resort in WDW area, it seems that a lot of people are getting either the Hilton or Wyndham Palace for around $60 a night. Of course, there's no guarantees, but the other resort levels in that area are nice, so it's hard to miss. Maybe you'd even luck out and get the Dolphin or Swan!

 

[crazelion]

I would check hotelkingdom.com for hotels. Then I would check tripadvsior.com to see if the hotel had any bad reviews. The I would go back to hotelkingdom.com and book the hotel room. Also I would check hotel sites and some discount hotel sites to see which is the cheapest. but be sure to read the cancellation policy.

 

[AZKathy]

What about going after your DD graduates from high school? The airfares may be a little less because of not being around holiday times. We have gone in June three years now and it has not been that bad other than heat. Crowds have been manageable.

Does SWA fly from Oregon to MCO? They have good deals and you just need to keep an eye on the deals. We get from Arizona to MCO around $200 R/T.

Buy your tickets in advance to save a little on the gate price. Check out the web sites mentioned and just find the best deal for hotels. Also, do you have an Entertainment book? We got HIFS this past summer for $87/night for a kidssuite.

Happy planning!

 

[HeatherC]

HI - Not sure what your budget is, but I would recommend subscribing to TRAVELZOO.com's newsletter. THey list the 20 best internet deals each week. I just saw that they are mentioning the Marriott Courtyard DTD for $49 a night for the time you are going. THey are also advertising another Marriott for $119 a night for the time you are there. Hope this helps. I find a lot of deals this way.

Also...hotelkingdom has pretty good rates and definitely keep your eye on SkyAuction's Ready Set Go auctions.

Happy planning!
Heather

 

[spiceycat]

I don't think you can do it

1,300 for plane tickets
1,051 for WDW tickets for 7 days
649 - for a hotel and food?

I don't think this is possible. Unless you went really cheap - motel 6 - but then you would need to rent a car. If you stay off-site to be able to get the most of your tickets you need a car. there are some hotels that have a shuttle - but they generally only go twice in the morning, and twice in the evening - they leave before the fireworks.

food is very expensive at WDW - so you would need to be able to leave property to eat.

I am sorry but $3,000 for 8 days I can't see it. If you cut back on your days at WDW - the WDW tickets would be less then you might be able too.

Does you and your child get off the entire week for Thanksgiving - lots of schools now do - that would be my choice.

I generally try to have around $40/$50 per adult per day for the meals.