help please

[livie1205]

ok we have a family we know that we help out every year with school supplies and clothes ect...they do not have alot of money and two kids.They told me the other day that they did the give a day thing and got tickets.They have never been to wdw so I gave them some tips about staying onsite (free parking) at a value resort and looking for free dining times...they were thrilled that they offered these things and had no idea that it could be done without spending a fortune! I wanted to put together a list of free things they could do also like the campfire at WLC and things like that...can you guys give me some ideas?they are going to save for a value resort,free ddp (be on lookout) and get fl res tickets to go with their free day.I wish I had the money to pay for there hotel but at least I can give them as many tips as I can...THANKS EVERYONE!

 

[gillenkl]

Mousesavers has a list of free/cheap things to do:

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

 

[kawing123]

Maybe if they live in Florida they just want to go for the day. If they are that finanicially strapped perhaps suggesting those luxuries was a tad selfish unless of course they expressed interest in staying for a extended period. For some who have never been, one day would be exciting and sometimes I think we all forget that going to Disney even for a day is a luxury millions cannot afford. I know you were excited to help but if they cannot afford school supplies than how can they afford a trip to Disney? A day would be exciting and maybe if you wanted to help a gift card so they could enjoy a ice cream or such would be nice.

 

[tinkabella627]

Maybe the family has been/is working hard to be able to go. The OP asked for free ideas, so instead of questioning why she mentioned it, just answer the questions. I'm not trying to start anything, but calling the OP selfish was a bit off, don't ya think?

They can take a day to go look at the different hotels.
DTD is free assuming they don't shop.
I thought at one time ASMo played movies? I think I read that somewhere but I can't remember, I have never stayed at that one.

It is too early for me to think, but if I think of some other ones I will come back and post.

 

[yeahdisney]

There was a thread the other day Comfort Inn???? $39 a night from travelzoo.

 

[crusoe2]

I know I saw the Comfort Inn deal on bookit.com. There was a deadline on booking it tho (I think by midnight tonight but I may have the date wrong) and a cancellation fee of $19.95 so they would have to make a decision on that pretty quickly.

OP, we've never been able to go for free dining so I'm not real definite on the details of that. But I've always thought you had to get tickets (at least one-day tix) with that package so I'm not sure how well that would work out for them. They would have to crunch the numbers but seems like it would only really be worth it if they were able to stay for several days so that they saved a pretty substantial amount on dining.

If you go over to the Theme Parks board, they have a board especially about GAD. From what I've read, you get the most bang for the buck if you either just do the one day at a park for free or upgrade the free one day tix to multi-day tix. If you do the upgrade, Disney will apply the cost of the one day tix to the multi day tix which, for a family of 4, knocks a little over $300 off the cost. Pretty nice savings. But if they are really strapped, the multi-day tix may still be more than they can really afford. For example, if my family does GAD and upgrades the one-day tix, it would still cost us about $600 to get 4 day base tickets. So it still isn't cheap. If they opt to just use the tickets for their one free day, they could stay a couple nights at the Comfort Inn mentioned earlier and pay for parking at one of the parks for about $100. That's not a bad deal for a day at a Disney park.

Don't forget to tell them that they can take in a small cooler of drinks and snacks. We do that using a backpack cooler and it's so nice to be able to just find a bench and have a snack without standing in line somewhere. The money we save is almost secondary to the convenience.

 

[leight]

If they are FL residents there is the 4-day dream pass for $99. I was told by disney that you can use the GAD to upgrade to this pass which would make the 4 day pass less than $40 each. But it has to be done by 5/25. This is what my family will be doing.

 

[kawing123]

No I do not think it is a bit off. Those who cannot afford clothing or school supplies nor have a small emergency fund really should just go for the day or night if that is what they have and be proud of it. Keeping up with the Joneses or living beyond ones means is nonsense. The question is without the one day ticket would they be contemplating vacationing at DW. If it is just the one day ticket that is drawing them into this vacation then they should just go for the day. The other way of thinking can be a FINANCIAL NIGHTMARE. One does not spend more just to cash in on something worth less. This again can be bring about a financial crisis and if they were my friends and I knew that they lived paycheck to paycheck or could not buy school supplies than I personally would be encouraging them wiser ways to put that money.

 

[IDoDis]

If they stay for several days then the free day isn't really worth much because as you add extra days the price goes down substantially. It might only cost $2 or $3 per person to add an extra day once you get to the 5th day. If you have a 3 day ticket and want to add a 4th day, it's only like $5 more.

Disney will not count the free one day ticket as "day 1." Your friends would still have to purchase the 1 day ticket at the regular price if they stay longer than one day.

I hope what I'm saying makes sense. In other words, if they are going to stay for several days, their free one day ticket would only be worth a couple of bucks if you look at how the ticket prices work.

 

[dfchelbay]

ok we have a family we know that we help out every year with school supplies and clothes ect...they do not have alot of money and two kids.They told me the other day that they did the give a day thing and got tickets.They have never been to wdw so I gave them some tips about staying onsite (free parking) at a value resort and looking for free dining times...they were thrilled that they offered these things and had no idea that it could be done without spending a fortune! I wanted to put together a list of free things they could do also like the campfire at WLC and things like that...can you guys give me some ideas?they are going to save for a value resort,free ddp (be on lookout) and get fl res tickets to go with their free day.I wish I had the money to pay for there hotel but at least I can give them as many tips as I can...THANKS EVERYONE!

Don't know if they are in to camping, but maybe staying at the Disney's campground would be inexpensive. They would get all the extra magic hours stuff, free movie every night, campfire sing along, free parking, etc. I highly recommend Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground. We stay there a lot and just love it. Plus, they could save on food too, if they make some of their own meals there.

 

[crusoe2]

If they stay for several days then the free day isn't really worth much because as you add extra days the price goes down substantially. It might only cost $2 or $3 per person to add an extra day once you get to the 5th day. If you have a 3 day ticket and want to add a 4th day, it's only like $5 more.

Disney will not count the free one day ticket as "day 1." Your friends would still have to purchase the 1 day ticket at the regular price if they stay longer than one day.

I hope what I'm saying makes sense. In other words, if they are going to stay for several days, their free one day ticket would only be worth a couple of bucks if you look at how the ticket prices work.

This was not my understanding. From what I've been reading on the GAD board, Disney does count the free tickets for their full value of $79 for adults and $68 for kids, plus the tax on this amount. That is the amount deducted if you upgrade the free tickets to any type of multi-day ticket. Granted, I haven't done it myself and I've been a little loopy from cold meds as I've been reading up on this. Hopefully someone who's done the upgrade with the free GAD tickets can clarify for us.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

There is a whole "HUGE" thread on free things to do at WDW, I would recommend searching for it as the free things to do are already indexed on the thread.

 

[amamax2]

This was not my understanding. From what I've been reading on the GAD board, Disney does count the free tickets for their full value of $79 for adults and $68 for kids, plus the tax on this amount. That is the amount deducted if you upgrade the free tickets to any type of multi-day ticket. Granted, I haven't done it myself and I've been a little loopy from cold meds as I've been reading up on this. Hopefully someone who's done the upgrade with the free GAD tickets can clarify for us.

OP, you are correct that Disney will apply the full one-day value of the GAD ticket towards any multi-day ticket. Where the problem will come in for your friends is that in order to get a hotel package with free dining, they need to purchase a one-day ticket with the package. They cannot use the GAD to pay for that one-day ticket, nor use both the GAD AND the one-day ticket from the package to upgrade to a mutil-day ticket. So in essence, they would have a full-price one-day ticket from the package, plus another single day ticket from the GAD. Thus, staying on-site might not be the most economical way for them to go.

It is very nice of you to help this family out and for them to volunteer in service to others when they have such need themselves.

 

[eeyoresmom]

If they stay for several days then the free day isn't really worth much because as you add extra days the price goes down substantially. It might only cost $2 or $3 per person to add an extra day once you get to the 5th day. If you have a 3 day ticket and want to add a 4th day, it's only like $5 more.

Disney will not count the free one day ticket as "day 1." Your friends would still have to purchase the 1 day ticket at the regular price if they stay longer than one day.

I hope what I'm saying makes sense. In other words, if they are going to stay for several days, their free one day ticket would only be worth a couple of bucks if you look at how the ticket prices work.

Not true. If they stay offsite or book a room only reservation onsite, they will get about $85 credited toward a multi day ticket. (slightly less if the kids are under 9 to)

 

[livie1205]

Maybe if they live in Florida they just want to go for the day. If they are that finanicially strapped perhaps suggesting those luxuries was a tad selfish unless of course they expressed interest in staying for a extended period. For some who have never been, one day would be exciting and sometimes I think we all forget that going to Disney even for a day is a luxury millions cannot afford. I know you were excited to help but if they cannot afford school supplies than how can they afford a trip to Disney? A day would be exciting and maybe if you wanted to help a gift card so they could enjoy a ice cream or such would be nice.

They came and told ME they are going...they wanted some ideas because they know we go every year...I told them their best bet is the value resort and they are working hard at saving to go...they have not ever been because they have not been able to afford it so I am guessing they have been saving to go...wdw is not only for the rich and debt free.I would not tell them to do something they can not afford! Thats why I told them about free dining.

 

[livie1205]

Don't know if they are in to camping, but maybe staying at the Disney's campground would be inexpensive. They would get all the extra magic hours stuff, free movie every night, campfire sing along, free parking, etc. I highly recommend Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground. We stay there a lot and just love it. Plus, they could save on food too, if they make some of their own meals there.

That is a good idea! They love camping...its cheap for them and they do it alot.I DO buy them school supplies but NOT because they have none at all...I do it to help out so they can have extra and we always buy extra.They are not so dirt poor that a wdw trip will make them homeless...they just thought it was way more pricey ...and did not know about all the ways they can save money.I am not going to judge this family for being not rich and wanting to take their kids on some kind of vacation...its not my place to tell them not to go.They work and are not on welfare so if they ask for ideas I will help.Its funny..there are threads on here about people taking extra buns to save money and ask about free stuff to do all the time...shoot WE do the free campfire and stuff when we go.

 

[crusoe2]

Have they checked into the current discount code? I think it was just extended thru August 14 and could get them 30% off a room at a value resort. Not sure if it applies to the campsites but it might be worth checking in to that.

Oh, and another free thing that is fun is to watch the MK fireworks and EWP from the beach at the Polynesian. Be sure to tell them about that. It's fun to check out the resort, get a snack, and find a nice spot on the beach for the show.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

If they really like the camping idea then check out the camping DIS thread. This would save them a lot of money and the camp ground shows free movie at night. You can walk around and see the animals. There is a boat that goes to MK. The buffet at the campground use to be the cheapest on property not sure if that is still true.

Other free things to do while at Disney is to ride over to another resort such as AKL and see the animals. Go to DTD and look at lego sculptures. Ride over to the Poly and watch the fireworks from the beach.

Oh and just last month when we stopped at the Hess station by the Car Care center right outside of the MK and I noticed they sell a whole pizza for $6.99 and on Saturday you get a free liter of soda when you buy a pizza. I have their pizza and it is good. They have a nice little area for you to sit and eat. We actually had lunch there. We spent $7.35 for lunch which was 4 hotdogs, two bottle of soda, bag of combo's.

Hope they have a good time. They deserve it since they themselves are just getting by, but decided to volunteer to help someone else less fortunate.

That is a good idea! They love camping...its cheap for them and they do it alot.I DO buy them school supplies but NOT because they have none at all...I do it to help out so they can have extra and we always buy extra.They are not so dirt poor that a wdw trip will make them homeless...they just thought it was way more pricey ...and did not know about all the ways they can save money.I am not going to judge this family for being not rich and wanting to take their kids on some kind of vacation...its not my place to tell them not to go.They work and are not on welfare so if they ask for ideas I will help.Its funny..there are threads on here about people taking extra buns to save money and ask about free stuff to do all the time...shoot WE do the free campfire and stuff when we go.

 

[livie1205]

If they really like the camping idea then check out the camping DIS thread. This would save them a lot of money and the camp ground shows free movie at night. You can walk around and see the animals. There is a boat that goes to MK. The buffet at the campground use to be the cheapest on property not sure if that is still true.

Other free things to do while at Disney is to ride over to another resort such as AKL and see the animals. Go to DTD and look at lego sculptures. Ride over to the Poly and watch the fireworks from the beach.

Oh and just last month when we stopped at the Hess station by the Car Care center right outside of the MK and I noticed they sell a whole pizza for $6.99 and on Saturday you get a free liter of soda when you buy a pizza. I have their pizza and it is good. They have a nice little area for you to sit and eat. We actually had lunch there. We spent $7.35 for lunch which was 4 hotdogs, two bottle of soda, bag of combo's.

Hope they have a good time. They deserve it since they themselves are just getting by, but decided to volunteer to help someone else less fortunate.

yeh they all went and spend a whole day at the homeless shelter doing whatever they could.

 

[3boymthr]

Another fun thing to do that is fun is the movies on the beach at the BC. If they are in that area for dinner or at HS on a day that is not a fantasmic night this is a fun thing to do at night. The movies run every night a different one every day starting at around sunset. There is a campfire with smores beforehand which is free to attend but the smores cost money for the supplies.