how cheap can we do 2 weeks in orlando?

[rvchat]

I don't mean Bonnet Creek (a CROWN JEWEL) I MEAN the other wyndham.

where they name the buidlings, starfish, dolphin, etc etc

We stayed here. It's nice, i like it, but is it really the crown jewel? are you sure? don't think so. maybe the LBV wyndham

 

[*disgal*]

We stayed here. It's nice, i like it, but is it really the crown jewel? are you sure? don't think so. maybe the LBV wyndham

http://www.wyndhamworldwide.com/media_center/pr/show_release.cfm?id=786

"This property has been an unprecedented success by every measure," said Jeff Myers, executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer. "Our owners and guests absolutely love the resort, the location and the service they receive while they're vacationing. Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort isn't just a crown jewel of our company – we believe it's a crown jewel for our entire industry."
With an average annual occupancy rate of over 87 percent, the property also boasts RCI Gold Crown status and has consistently ranked among the top ten most highly sought after Wyndham Vacation Resorts properties since 2005.


I keep reading things like the above, especially on the Orlando hotels board. Me?? I know nothing since I haven't stayed there. lol

 

[*disgal*]

I don't mean Bonnet Creek (a CROWN JEWEL) I MEAN the other wyndham.

where they name the buidlings, starfish, dolphin, etc etc

Oh, wait, you've stayed at the Wyndham hotel? not Bonnet creek. Is that right? sorry, I'm easily confused.

 

[rvchat]

Oh, wait, you've stayed at the Wyndham hotel? not Bonnet creek. Is that right? sorry, I'm easily confused.

I have not been to bonnet creek? you wer ereferring to that one?
I have been to theoother wyndham near disney with the starfish buildings.

nice, but not outstanding.... kind of older units.

 

[rvchat]

I have not been to bonnet creek you wer ereferring to that one?
I have been to theoother wyndham near disney with the starfish buildings.

nice, but not outstanding.... kind of older units.

Fwiw, Bonnit creek looks amazing and I have to get there soon!

 

[DawnM]

I don't know when you plan to travel, but I have NEVER had any issues booking during off season. I did have to book a 1 bedroom once and was worried about space but once we got there we were pleasantly surprised to get a 2 bedroom anyway!

http://www.resortcerts.com/

This is the site you book through once you have a certificate numbers. It will or should let you look without one so you can get an idea of what you are looking for.

Prime weeks and busy season (from what I have read) will probably not work.

Dawn

PS: BTW we almost always take a seat out of our Sequoia and put a huge cooler in there filled with most food for the week. We find that we can get better deals if we plan ahead. We have done it where we get there and shop after we arrive but I find it harder to get deals and plan as I am not familiar with those stores and the deals they offer.

For dinners we typically have things like tacos, spaghetti, chicken and baked potatoes, salads, etc....
For the parks we carry a backpack cooler (igloo sold only at Target) and carry in sandwiches, drinks, chips, cookies, trail mix, cheese sticks, and granola bars.
B-fast is the easiest to plan for! Typically cereal or something fast so we can get to the parks!

Tell me more. Is it possible that I buy something now and find out later that it's not available for the days I want/need?

OP our cheapest trip to date was saying at a condo. We drove in a pickup so we brought 2 ice chests. One had drinks and water. The other had food that we cooked at home and froze. We had 5 or 6 days where all we had to do was heat up the food and maybe cook rice. In addition we brought a med. size stroller. We put drinks, & snacks in a small cooler in the bottom of the stroller, that way we didn't have to pay for a locker. We cooked breakfast each morning, so we only had one counter service meal in the park each day.

 

[collegejunkie]

i will check out some of those auction/rental sites, thanks!

it's just dbf and i, we'll be driving from school in central NY to orlando. the hotel is continental plaza (or something like that?), 2 miles from WDW. i completely forgot about parking, so thank you for reminding me, as that's another $140+. we were planning on skipping this year and waiting for the renovations to end, but he really wants to go back and of course, i don't mind (just wish we had gotten APs last time!).

we were thinking of going when we usually go, which is the the week before and of christmas, which makes it difficult to find good deals on better places.

i just checked reviewed and some make it seem fine, others are saying there are bugs and the rooms smell bad.. hm. money is tight because he pays for everything on his own and if my family is going away in january, i don't know that i'd get help from my mom for a second trip. i will take a look at some condos for sure!

 

[DawnM]

Well, if you are going at Christmas, the busiest time at Disney and Orlando, you will not get a SkyAuction deal, or at least I have never seen one.

As far as bugs....we have NOT had a problem with bugs at any of the places we have stayed. They are older units. Most are upgraded, although not the fancier types with the elevators and granite countertops.

Now, there are some that I wouldn't choose to return to if I don't have to. Westgate staff is horrible and their units are LOUD if you are on the bottom. I will never go there again. Celebrity wasn't all that nice so I won't go back there. But we do like Orbit One and Florida Vacation Villas.

Dawn

 

[rvchat]

I have to sadly say had the same bad experience at westgate last year.

I felt really, bad but it 's not nice and they're obviously hurting.

Well, if you are going at Christmas, the busiest time at Disney and Orlando, you will not get a SkyAuction deal, or at least I have never seen one.

As far as bugs....we have NOT had a problem with bugs at any of the places we have stayed. They are older units. Most are upgraded, although not the fancier types with the elevators and granite countertops.

Now, there are some that I wouldn't choose to return to if I don't have to. Westgate staff is horrible and their units are LOUD if you are on the bottom. I will never go there again. Celebrity wasn't all that nice so I won't go back there. But we do like Orbit One and Florida Vacation Villas.

Dawn

 

[DawnM]

The people above us moved in at 4am! Apparently they had driven all night or something. Then they rang our doorbell at 5am! I wanted the throttle them. They didn't get any better.

We complained to the front desk who said we should have called the front desk, but we had already reported that our phone wasn't working and noone had fixed it!

That night we DID call security at close to midnight. Even he reported back to the powers that be that it was VERY noisy upstairs!

So, the next day they upgraded us to to an upstairs unit (3 bedroom, well 2 bedroom and a loft room) and not above anyone! The rest of the trip was ok.

It doesn't matter, there were more issues than that, and we won't go back!

Dawn

I have to sadly say had the same bad experience at westgate last year.

I felt really, bad but it 's not nice and they're obviously hurting.

 

[disneysmiles]

we got gift cards for resturants from MyPoints. Be pateint but it can be free. Awesome. Our servers were cool and gave us refills on soups to go.

We have some other money saving things we did in our trip report blog. We outlined all our spending. You can do quite a bit of fun in 10 days. Jealous!

 

[collegejunkie]

we got gift cards for resturants from MyPoints. Be pateint but it can be free. Awesome. Our servers were cool and gave us refills on soups to go.

We have some other money saving things we did in our trip report blog. We outlined all our spending.

i took a quick look at your site and it looks great! i'm going to explore it more soon, thanks!

does anyone know where i can find cheapish lodging? we wouldn't mind going when it's not the holidays, but finals end around the 18th so that means we can't be as flexible as we'd like, unfortunately.

 

[torinsmom]

You could try Priceline. Choose 3* or better and usually it is a pretty decent place. You can choose different areas around Disney, and what price you are willing to pay. You can probably win a 3 or 3.5* for $35-$40/night.

 

[beansmom]

coming from NY wouldn't it be just as cheap or cheaper to fly with the price of gas? We purchased our flights for October yesterday (with the assurance that Jetblue will credit us if prices drop). It costs me $40 to fill my tank and I'd have to fill it at LEAST five times to drive to Orlando from here not to mention time and at least one night in a motel on the way.

I have stayed in everything from onsite deluxe to offsite dumps....we stayed at the Baymont on Black Lake Road last year when it was $29 a nite. It looked awful outside but inside it was a dream. We have no qualms about staying there again next week.

If I was you, I'd fly down, stay at a value with a discount if i could get one, and order from gardengrocer.com for my water, soda, breakfast stuff, etc. Use Disney ME to get to your hotel and then Disney transportation. I'd ask all my friends and family to give me disney cards for gift occasions.

 

[elainesj]

A friend of mine has stayed at one of those $25 a night hotels and he said it was just fine. One trip I was going down and actually had a free hotel through points but because I flew, the cost of car rental and parking made it so that it was cheaper for me to stay at a value and use ME.

One way to save is to plan your day so you spend the morning in the parks, eat a packed lunch, then go back to your hotel in the late afternoon for a break and eat dinner in your hotel/condo/cheap offsite place and then head back to the parks. CS in the parks isn't too bad - abt $5 pp if you split a meal/eat a kid's meal but you should be able to cook a big meal for both of you for under $5 if you had a kitchen.

I would also hunt down avg costs of eating out offsite as well.

It might work to your advantage to spend a bit more to get a place with a kitchen. The cheap place might cost you about $300 or so less - but will eating out more offset this savings? alternatively, if you will be eating out anyway, you might be worth it. I always end up putting together a spreadsheet. List all the costs of staying in a cheap hotel vs a more expensive condo

Cheap hotel:
$25 a night x 14 nights: $350
Food: estimate all your food costs keeping in mind you can't cook in your hotel room so you're more limited and will likely have to eat out more
Parking:
Gas:

Then do the same for a condo with a kitchen (incl. grocery costs for cooking in)

e.g.
Condo: $700 for 2 weeks (Pulling the number off the top of my head)
Food: $156 for 2 weeks. Breakdown: $10 for cereal and milk for all 2 weeks for both of you. $3 per day for a packed lunch for both of you (e.g. a bowl of cup noodles, sandwiches, hot dogs, etc), $5 per day for both of you for dinner (e.g. spaghetti, frozen dinner, etc), $20 for 2 weeks of snacks/drinks (pop, fruits, crackers, chips, etc).
Tickets: $310 x 2 = $620
Parking: $14 x 10 (for 10 park days) = $140
Gas: $400 or so?

TOTAL TRIP: $2016 for 14 days.
Then add a little more for misc. expenses.

For tix, unless you really want to do MVMCP, might it not be better to do the waterparks and more add-on? That way you can go to the waterparks and Disney Quest on your days off from the parks - that will take care of the 4 days you don't have park tickets for.

Good luck!! It's quite possible to manage a cheap Disney vacation.