Help us trim our costs!

[theworldneedscolor]

I originally thought our trip would be around 5k. Now one family member isn't going, and we changed the dates to March 22-29 to avoid missing school. The cost jumped to nearly 7k! I'd like some Budget Board folks to take a look at it and see if there is anywhere to trim costs.

There are three of us (two teens, one adult).

Flights: 600 each = 1800 total (from Portal d, leaving either Friday night or Saturday morning)

Disney Hotel: Port Orleans (sat-wed) 240 a night x 4 nights = 960

Disney Tickets: 350 each for 4 day park hoppers = 1150

Universal Hotel: Hard Rock (wed-sat), 310 (I think) x 3 nights = 930

Universal Tickets: 150 each for two day park hoppers = 450

Food: 1200

Transportation: Taxi to and from Hard Rock= 100

Total= 6490 (I think, I totalled it in my head!)

 

[Robbi]

There may be discounts offered later on for your Disney dates. The other ways to save would be to book a value resort or stay offsite.
For Universal, I would recommend getting 1 Preffered Annual pass. This will give you disounts on your other tickets, theme park merchandise, food, etc. It also gives really nice savings on your room. I would also book the Royal Pacific instead of the Hard Rock because it's less expensive but still very nice. Right now, without the AP discount, the RP is $45 cheaper/night than the HR for your dates. Call Universal reservations and ask what the AP discount is if it's been announced to them. It's not available for online booking yet. AAA also gets you a nice discount on the room seomtimes too. I'd book and call back when the APH discount is released. The Universal Board here on the DIS has a lot of great information.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

I saw two places where you could save money and that is staying at a value resort such as Pop and giving up the park hopper passes. If you are only going for 4 days that would be one park per day and stick to that.

I'm giving up our park hopper for our next trip for the first time ever and I think it's going to be fine. You can always add it later if you feel the need to, but just adding one more day to the park tickets would be cheaper than adding the hopper.

 

[Marionnette]

I originally thought our trip would be around 5k. Now one family member isn't going, and we changed the dates to March 22-29 to avoid missing school. The cost jumped to nearly 7k! I'd like some Budget Board folks to take a look at it and see if there is anywhere to trim costs.

There are three of us (two teens, one adult).

Flights: 600 each = 1800 total (from Portal d, leaving either Friday night or Saturday morning)

Disney Hotel: Port Orleans (sat-wed) 240 a night x 4 nights = 960

Disney Tickets: 350 each for 4 day park hoppers = 1150

Universal Hotel: Hard Rock (wed-sat), 310 (I think) x 3 nights = 930

Universal Tickets: 150 each for two day park hoppers = 450

Food: 1200

Transportation: Taxi to and from Hard Rock= 100

Total= 6490 (I think, I totalled it in my head!)

Flights: Do you have any access to FF miles so that you can get one or more free flights? How about a rewards credit card that had points that can be used to pay for your airfare?

Disney Hotel; Switch to a Value Resort and watch for any discounts.

Disney Tickets: Drop the hopping. Buy them from a discounter like UndercoverTourist.

Universal Hotel: Change your stay to 2 nights. Check in early the first day. You will have FOTL access for both your check in and check out days. Stay at a less- expensive offsite hotel for your last night.

Universal Tickets: Drop the Patk-to-Patk feature. Buy from a discounter.

Food: Bring your own snacks in your luggage. Use filtered refillable water bottles instead of buying water. Skip desserts at meals. Have 2 meals (late breakfast and early dinner) instead of the usual 3.

Transportation to/from Universal: A taxi is going to cost you about $100. A town car will be at least that much. You might be able to do 1-day car rentals for less but I'm thinking that $100 is possibly the cheapest you're going to be able to do this without relying on public transportation.

 

[McKelly]

I also think there will be discounts for your week. It is about a week off of Easter, so chances are good. In fact, there is already a PIN Code(s) out that would cover your dates, those usually go public.

Also, I agree with not ruling out the values. Bring an airbed if the teens can't sleep in a double together.

One thing I have noticed about your budget though, is you did not add anything for souvenirs...just something to consider. Those T-shirts are not cheap!

 

[badiggio]

Stay at WBC and shuttle from there to Universal and Disney.Drop the hoppers.Buy a 1 day/2 parks for universal.It may not be enough for some,but it was plenty for me.

 

[JessM]

600 for flights seems really expensive, even from Portland Oregon I'm assuming? I would think if you watched you could get those down to 400 a piece. That would save you 600.

 

[monorailsilver]

Minus chef mickeys and the WCC, we spent about $40/lunch and $40/dinner every day. Once it was $50 and 2-3 times it was $42-$45.

We are a family of 5 and my oldest is 12 so she went back and forth between kids meals and adult meals.

What saved us the most besides not doing the dining plan was that we had water to drink with meals. We shipped down a few cases and the kids used the thermos containers they had and dh and I used our insulated bike containers. I want to say that saved us at least $10/meal.

We also had breakfast in our room since I shipped that down.

Can you take out a park day? That would save some money and honestly you can use that day or two to recoup.

 

[amie416]

Stay at WBC and shuttle from there to Universal and Disney.Drop the hoppers.Buy a 1 day/2 parks for universal.It may not be enough for some,but it was plenty for me.

WBC was my first thought too. Even with a rental car for a week, gas & parking... looks like you could cut a grand off your budget by getting a 1-bedroom condo and eating breakfast before you head out. Of course, if FOL passes at universal are vitally important to you, you wouldn't save as much to stay off-property at Universal.

 

[natfrac]

We fly from Portland (assuming the OP is flying from there) and we spend about 300-350 per person on airfare. Plus, $240 seems high for POR. As others have mentioned, I'd look for room discounts. Another option would be to rent point for a DVC. OKW would have two queen beds and be a lot cheaper than $240 with points.

 

[HoosierDaddy71]

To get FOTL at Universal, you can cut the nights at Hard Rock down to 1 and still get FOTL for both days because you get the Express Pass for check in and check out days.

If you switch to value at WDW and extend the stay a day, that would reduce hotel costs a lot. You could then decide if you wanted to stay at Hard Rock the last night or go to a cheaper option. If you have an early flight home, might be worth while to stay by the airport the last night.

 

[EagleScout]

Maybe skip universal and just expand your disney trip= the daily cost for por is less than hard rock, u will save the taxis, and the park tix will be even bigger savings - the incremental cost between a 4 day and a 6 day ph ticket is much less than what u are spending on 2 day universal tix. Or even cheaper, extend your disney stay, but rather than expanding the days of the ph, just add "waterpark and more" option, which I think is less than 50 per ticket. You may know this, but if not, the way those tix work is that a 4 day ph with waterpark option gives u four days of park tix, and 4 admissions to waterparks "and more", and u get 14 days to use everything, so you can intersperse park days with a day of blizzard beach, a day of typhoon lagoon, a day of disney quest, etc. (And because u get 4 admissions and would only be trying to replace 2 days of universal, u could do half days at 4 of the "more" options -ie, a half day blizzard beach, then back to hotel, then half day disney quest- if some seem like u would not spend a whole day.)

 

[ssawka]

I'm giving up our park hopper for our next trip for the first time ever and I think it's going to be fine. You can always add it later if you feel the need to, but just adding one more day to the park tickets would be cheaper than adding the hopper.

I am assuming you mean going another day to a park, because you cannot use multiple "one day one park" tickets on the same day.

 

[luvmy3]

I also think there will be discounts for your week. It is about a week off of Easter, so chances are good. In fact, there is already a PIN Code(s) out that would cover your dates, those usually go public.

Also, I agree with not ruling out the values. Bring an airbed if the teens can't sleep in a double together.

One thing I have noticed about your budget though, is you did not add anything for souvenirs...just something to consider. Those T-shirts are not cheap!

Just letting you know Easter is April 20 next year.

 

[DisneyEater]

Flights: 600 each = 1800 total (from Portal d, leaving either Friday night or Saturday morning)

FF miles are one way, although I don't like to use them for domestic flights. There are a ton of options, but for example, if two of you can get a Chase Saphirre Preferred each, you can transfer the bonus miles to United and get 3 RT flights.

Disney Hotel: Port Orleans (sat-wed) 240 a night x 4 nights = 960

Downgrade to a value resort or rent a OKW studio for $854.

Disney Tickets: 350 each for 4 day park hoppers = 1150

If this is not the Undercover Tourist price from the link in the mousesavers newsletter, that should save you some cash.

Universal Hotel: Hard Rock (wed-sat), 310 (I think) x 3 nights = 930

Universal Tickets: 150 each for two day park hoppers = 450

Food: 1200

Eat breakfast in your room.

Transportation: Taxi to and from Hard Rock= 100

 

[ldo]

if you can rent a care, easiest solution is to stay off-site for the week renting a villa or timeshare. You should be able to get a week for under $1000. Other options are a hotel where breakfast is included, so you only need a smaller lunch/snack and only have to buy dinner. I recommend the Seaworld area--it is very easy access to WDW via Palm Parkway (backroad) and also a quick trip to Universal. Marriotts have several places there---Residence Inn is my favorite--hot breakfast and full kitchens. You will not get FOTL access at Univ. To compensate, if you go early and then leave around 3 pm, and return around 6pm, it's an easy day--plus you can eat dinner in your room, use the grills, or get fast food for a lot less than at Univ. Also, after 6pm, the crowds really drop at Univ. I would also consider staying in the SW area for your Disney part, and then stay only for 2 days at Univ. I would drop the PH and add an extra day at WDW.

 

[ssawka]

Keep an eye on the airfare. You are still 7 months out. The discount airlines (SW, JB, etc.) have not even released their schedules for those dates. Subscribe to the airlines on FaceBook so you will be notified when the schedules will be released and check the prices on the first day.

 

[Paigesmom2013]

I agree that $600 seems too high for flights. I like to check flights on Tuesdays because that's when I find the best fares. I also would check Southwests website in another week or two because they should have your dates listed by then.

Also check travelocity or another site for your hotel rates. No need to book directly with Disney unless they offer free dining.

Undercover tourist has the park hoppers for $1050. Regular tix they have for $872.

 

[ssawka]

I agree that $600 seems too high for flights. I like to check flights on Tuesdays because that's when I find the best fares. I also would check Southwests website in another week or two because they should have your dates listed by then.

Also check travelocity or another site for your hotel rates. No need to book directly with Disney unless they offer free dining.

Undercover tourist has the park hoppers for $1050. Regular tix they have for $872.

I prefer to check kayak.com because it is not operated by a TA.

 

[rsschneck]

You are wanting to fly from PDX to MCO during spring break. I think the flight prices seem about right. I would look at base tickets and a less expensive resort.