Help with a possible budget trip, please!

[savannahcat]

Don't buy food on the road- if you have room - pack it before you leave home - that way you can snack to avoid buying big costly meals. Sandwiches are a great solution. If you are from WV or select few other areas you know about the wonders of the Pepperoni Roll! Great trip food!

Love Pepperoni Rolls!!! Can't believe the rest of the country hasn't discovered them! We live in the Northern Panhandle now, but I grew up in North Central WV, near Elkins.

 

[jerseygirl81]

Free dining is'nt available the week of the NJ teachers convention. It is a busier week due to the convention so I guess they did'nt need to fill rooms that week. Linda

 

[torinsmom]

If you don't mind being onsite, it probably is worth looking into the free dining deal. Personally, we much prefer the space, privacy and amenities offsite so it was never a consideration for us.

I second that! There would have to be a deal much better than free dining to get me back onsite now. We spent our week in a condo bigger than our real house and it can't be beat. Loved being close enough to the parks to take a break mid-day, quicker than the bus back to Pop Century when we stayed there.

We didn't bring water bottles, because I HATE carrying them around. We just asked for free cups of ice water and threw them out when we were done. When we wanted another one, we got another one. I added the flavor packs and it didn't feel like we were drinking water.

OP--I can't imagine you needing 2 nights on the way down. If you leave on the 29th morning, maybe you could spend one night on the road and get there the 30th afternoon. You may be able to get tickets for the MHSSHP for that afternoon/evening and that would be much better than Halloween at home.

Marsha

 

[csharpwv]

Love Pepperoni Rolls!!! Can't believe the rest of the country hasn't discovered them! We live in the Northern Panhandle now, but I grew up in North Central WV, near Elkins.

HAHA Aren't they GREAT? We ordered a couple dozen before out last trip and packed two (one each) in our park bag every day for lunch or a snack.

It's so great to see other folks from WV on here - there aren't many of us!

We didn't do the dining plan on our last trip since we used rewards points to stay off site - we will never do that again! We missed being "IN" Disney - even though we were right across the street from Downtown Disney. HAHA
But we LOVED having pepperoni rolls to snack on - they are GREAT!

But we love budget planning and watching what we spend. The more we save on this trip - means we will be able to come back sooner - is our philosophy! HAHA

So savannahcat, when is your family's next trip???

 

[disneysteve]

I can't imagine you needing 2 nights on the way down.

I agree. As I said, we drive every year and have done so for about 15 years now. It is a very easy drive. We've even driven straight through a couple of times but prefer to stop overnight.

 

[pennymom]

OP here...Note to self: find pepperoni rolls! They sound good!

I do wish we could go during FD, but our dates aren't flexible at all. I love being "in" Disney also, and haven't yet stayed off property. I LOVE not having to drive from park to park on vacation!

I got some prices on beautiful rental properties, and am also pricing out the cost of driving down. It looks as if it will save a few hundred over flying, although I received an email today with rates of $79 each way, which isn't bad.

Thank you ALL for your help...I have a lot to think about and look into!