How Cheap Could/Would You Go?

[hildasmuriel]

My daughter and I were discussing this the other day - how cheap could you holiday at DLRP if you REALLY needed to cut costs?

I worked out that we could have a 4 night holiday - food included - for under 300!

Here's how: -

Food shopping at home* - £30
Eurotunnel crossing - free with Tesco Clubcard Vouchers
Petrol and Toll Booths - £110
Park Entrance costs - already have Annual Passes
Parking costs at Park - shareholder so won't pay
Hotel costs* - £105.80
food while there* - £50



* Now before you went you would have to buy lots of stuff from Tesco which you could take and eat without cooking. Fruit, hi-energy bars, chocolate bars, sweet and savoury biscuits, breakfast bars and cheap bottled water (large bottles to top up your small bottles which you take with you). Buy cheeeeeeap stuff.

While there you would NOT eat in the Park but only eat things from the cheapest place possible (McDonalds if you want hot food, or sandwiches from Auchan etc) and only 1 meal to be bought. For breakfast and lunch you snack on the food you brought from home.

The hotel would be the Premiere Classe MLV at Saint Thibault des Vignes, which is 5 miles from Disneyland and would cost £105.80 on Expedia.



Next question........ would you want to go if you were that hard up? Would the fact that you wouldn't eat properly for 5 days, couldn't afford even one souvenir and had no spending money put you off going at all?

Yes? So how cheap would you go? What is important to you? Is it not a proper holiday if you don't have a table service meal? Character meal? Bulging bag from the Disney Store? On-site hotel?

Come on, fellow Dis-ers, tell me, 'cos I'm nosey and interested in what others' views are.

 

[tetley02]

That is very interesting.

As I would only probably do it once a year, I would have to have the bulging disney bags and the character meals etc.

 

[jillrobinson]

Just to add you could stay at the Adaggio hotel in Val d'europe with your Tesco deals too and save another £105.80 and save some of the petrol costs by using their free shuttle to and from the parks.

 

[jillrobinson]

Good thread BTW, having had my last 2 holidays paid for by Tesco, it's a bit of a shock to the system working out the cost of my next trip.


To answer your question though, I'd sleep in a shed if it meant a couple of days in the park.

 

[A Small World]

I definitely would do it on the cheap if needed. Who needs souvenirs? There are plenty of free souvenirs you can collect anyhow- park maps, serviettes etc.

If you have a camper van you can do it even cheaper by parking on the main car park for a few euros a night or you could do as mentioned in another thread recently and camp near by. In both these cases you will have facilities to cook as well.

The thing Id find most difficult would be not having at least one table service meal as to us the restaurants are part of the experience.

We usually do Disney as part of a longer holiday in France so dont tend to count the travel costs as part of it as we'd be travelling to France anyhow so this part is already paid

 

[kevankiki]

Just to add you could stay at the Adaggio hotel in Val d'europe with your Tesco deals too and save another £105.80 and save some of the petrol costs by using their free shuttle to and from the parks.

Guess who just converted all her Tesco Clubcard points to Air Miles to cover flights (I really wouldn't want to drive!).

I'm wondering if this hotel is a lot cheaper anyway? How long does it take to get to the parks on the free shuttle provided? And how does it compare with that nightmare of a pink shuttle?

 

[meeko cat]

Just to add you could stay at the Adaggio hotel in Val d'europe with your Tesco deals too and save another £105.80 and save some of the petrol costs by using their free shuttle to and from the parks.

fairly new to converting club card vouchers.....just booked eurotunnel courtesy of Mr T but didnt know there was a hotel local we could book.


just booked DCR with pass discounts so got good deal but VERY interested to learn where you can book hotel through

 

[dlpSteve]

I wouldn't go unless I could do what I wanted when I wanted. It's not just about being in the parks for us, it's the eating in places like Blue Lagoon, staying in a resort hotel, having a few drinks in the bar of an evening time and buying lots of stuff - mainly clothes as it's the only place we can get decent adult sized Disney clothing! I'd hate to go on an extreme budget and get there and wish I could do more.

 

[disneyangel]

I like to do a bit of both.

We have stayed in the Marriot and ate Character lunch/dinner most days and have just returned from a trip staying at the Etap (Val D'europe 55 € per night for a room that sleeps up to 3) and mainly eating at Salon Mickey and the Auchan at night. I have to admit we still had lunch out at Rendez Vous de stars one day and ADC on the other.

Will need to investigate what Mr T can do for me in future - I like the sound of free accomodation

 

[Happy Tappy]

In November 06 I went and managed to do a 3 night trip for £220 a person. That included literally everything (although we already had AP's).

I went with my brother and sister. Hotel Santa Fe was £40 a night (room only 3 nights = £120, £40 each). Flights from Liverpool were £45 each. We spent £20 on transfers. This left us with £115 spending money over 3 nights / 4 days. Because of the tight budget we made sure we ate a very big breakfast. We had a croissant challenge, whoever could eat the most would get a free lunch! We would also take extra ones to enjoy in the parks (cheeky but everyone does it).

For lunch we'd normally share 2 pizzas and a couple of portions of chips, you save alot of money by not having drinks! There's lots of fountains around the park and anyway.

In the evening we had enough money to eat at Cafe Mickey on the first night and Annettes on the last. We ate McDonald's on the second night and enjoyed it at the lake.

All-in-all it was a great trip, I personally would have liked to spend more money but my siblings didn't have much so we all agreed to the budget.

 

[Rachie B]

meeko,I am booking the apartments Jill mentions ,using deals with frenchlife
http://www.frenchlife.co.uk/uce/fl?...tartdate=&duration=&sleeps=4&propertyTypeId=3

the booking must be £500 + though,so we are booking an apartment that sleeps 7, and some friends are coming with us.the cost for 3 nights in early Aug is £512 ( not inc insurance,you cannot use deals to pay for insurance)

Mr Tesco is also paying for Eurotunnel,although you could use deals for ferry travel if you wanted

we have been to DLRP twice,as part of a 3 day cheapy SUN holiday ! staying here : http://www.eurocamp.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=campsites.resorttravel&mastercode=124&ver=1

only ever done daytrips ( the site is an hour from DLRP ) buying tickets from www.365tickets.com and cheap ferry crossing around £50 with www.speedferries.com

we dont scrimp once we are there though ! have nice meals and souveniers for the kids etc

In a way im glad we have done it this way,started cheap ,as now if we ever stay onsite it will just get better and better ?

rather than start high then one yr not be able to afford to stay onsite, and be disappointed at staying offsite IYSWIM ?

Staying onsite isn't all that important to us,so we dont mind having to travel .I would love to stay in the Disneyland hotel sometime though !

 

[DLPdaft]

I'm kind of in the middle too - I don't spend loads getting to DLRP, now we have annual passes its no more than about £120 each, including onsite hotel, flights from our (very) local airport and transfers (either VEA or TGV).

We don't go daft on table service meals, but do have one per day, usually in the evening. I'm not bothered at all about bringing souvenirs home, but DD usually gets a new pair of character ears and a cuddly to bring home with her.

I do like a character meal though, and we have done one each time we've been to DLRP. It'll probably be the character tea party again next time, as DD really doesn't eat much, and its a bit of a waste otherwise.

I wouldn't drive (only me and DD, and as she's only 6 she wouldn't be much good at navigating around the outskirts of Paris). Driving would also increase the costs for me, as we don't live near enough the Eurotunnel to make the whole journey without an overnight stop (so another hotel to pay for).

And I couldn't bear the thought of hour upon hour on a coach - I'm full of admiration for people that can do that, but I'm not one of them.

I go for the characters, the rides, and the shows. A short trip there and the smile is on my face for months afterwards !

Elaine

 

[wideeyes]

I would not go if I had to budget, I like to stay at a nice hotel, eat at nice resturants, shopping etc, it is all part of the holiday to me.

 

[Beck the Fairy]

Depends really

Our next trip will be the kids 1st, and its youngests birthday, and its christmas treat AND it will prop be only vacation that year

Sooo I want it to be able to enjoy some of the luxuries and take lots of momentos

However if we wanted to go when the kids are teens or by ourselves it would be a different kind of holiday, characters and souveniers wouldnt be such a big deal etc so would happily stay in an off site hotel

So depends on the circumstances really

 

[jillrobinson]

Annette
I've looked at booking flights with Airmiles but every date I try comes up with a "cash price" only "full airmiles price" not available, that's with AirFrance from Bristol or Flybe from Cardiff.
I'm thinking about ringing them to find out how much a package would be with Airmiles and then arrange my own cheap flight with Easyjet.
I would love to think that I could drive to Paris (DH doesn't drive) but I don't think it's an option really.


I think everyone knows my views on the Disney shuttle buses so if
I was planning a budget trip I'd be looking at Cheyenne (lovely hotel within walking distance) at a push SF, taking our own snacks and soft drinks, having one counter service meal a day or possibly Annettes and buying filled rolls from the train station, we did it this way in October 2004 and had a fantastic holiday, it was just as enjoyable as our 2006 trip, where we had VIP or character breakfasts every morning and a posh meal every evening.


Just realised something if I was doing a trip on a budget how would I justify my cocktails

 

[Ware Bears]

I'm a bit of both, I like to save where I can but some things I wouldn't want to give up. We stay at the Explorers when I would rather be at the Disneyland (who wouldn't ) but I like to have a nice table service meal every day if I choose to (I don't think I could ever give up my character meals ) and to be able to spend freely in the shops without watching every euro.

I know someone who stayed at DCR, took all her food from the UK, ate baked beans every night in her cabin and had a wonderful time ~ she thinks I waste my money staying in a hotel ~ but I think I would rather miss going one year in order to save up for the next year.

 

[kevankiki]

Annette
I've looked at booking flights with Airmiles but every date I try comes up with a "cash price" only "full airmiles price" not available, that's with AirFrance from Bristol or Flybe from Cardiff.
I'm thinking about ringing them to find out how much a package would be with Airmiles and then arrange my own cheap flight with Easyjet.
I would love to think that I could drive to Paris (DH doesn't drive) but I don't think it's an option really.

Ah, I was opting to fly from any London airport, and the price in Air Miles comes up at 375 each way, that's with BA from Heathrow, and includes all taxes and additional charges! Since we are in the South I have found that the cheapest flights I could find worked out at something like £160 (compare this to £72.50 converted to Air Miles, and not even needing them all ), which is why we've always ended up on the Eurostar. The price is about the same, and it's generally more convenient.

I just looked at both Cardiff and Bristol, and Air Mile options came up for both on the dates I had been looking at, considerably more though (1250 compared to 750), would getting to Heathrow be very difficult?

I did phone Air Miles, but they don't offer Disney Hotels on a room only basis, the best they could offer me (this was when I was looking at June) was to use all my Air Miles, and pay £575 on top for My Travel Explorers. We'd still have needed transport on top, so the way to go is to book flights with Air Miles and pay less than that for the hotel.

 

[tfortracey]

wow, its quite scary how little you save doing it that way tho...
i used tescos vouchers to pay for chunnel, we use biodeisel ( cooking oil for half of every tank - perfectly legal as long as you have your milage checked by DOT and pay tax on the oil you are buying instead of deisel) so spent about £35 on fuel, then 5nts 6 days park passes included at the 3*sequoia inside disney cost me £566. so for less than £600 we did it in relative luxury. brekkie included and a few ££s saved up for souvenirs etc ( my cheeky top tip tho is get the kids a huge stuffed DLP toy each from ebay before you go, that way they can cuddle it all the way there and you dont feel bad saying "no" to the £35 version they want in the shop you can get trading pins and trinkets that way too.

in fact in 61 days we are going back again, davy crockett ranch, two bedroom chalet brekkie and park passes for 5nts 6 days £560. chunnel was £78 cos we booked well in advance and as self catering we can shop at home ( like you) and cook our meals in our chalet or even on our barbie ( if it is warm enough) again got the kids stuffed tiggers ( last time it was mickeys) to give them just before we set off, got the dvd player in the car ( off ebay again 2 screen version £80) to play movies all the way there and really looking forward to it

the trick is the 2nd week of march is really quiet there, you can get kids go free and extra night offers to combine for that one week only. if you call DLP they can tell you when the cheapest time to go is.so they will have to miss 4 days of school but my son is gifted and talented anyway and my dd is in year r when they mainly do painting and plasticine, teachers are happy that the kids will not miss out by going as they will get the "learning" of language, foreign currency, maths ( whats that in £s son? ) engineering ( the chunnel and some of the rides at DLP are fantastic teaching aids) and they also get some fun

and yes id take my caravan and park outside on the motorway if i had to to get a few days of magic

 

[hildasmuriel]

Wow - you people are good! You have come up with some good ideas - I will definitely look into that apartment that you can book with Tesco vouchers.

I am a bit in the middle - I have always stayed on-site but only ever at Santa Fe or (more recently) Sequoia Lodge. The first time we were on a budget and our most expensive meal was at Annette's. Since then we have spent more and more on each visit - at Christmas we had 3 character meals in 4 days! I have spent quite a bit on souvenirs as well. BUT I would still want to go if I had to economise again.

they will have to miss 4 days of school .......teachers are happy that the kids will not miss out by going

I don't doubt I could get 4 days off school for my (G&T) daughter, but the problem is that I am the Headteacher's PA, so I wouldn't be able to get time off school for me. I'm afraid it's the school holidays or nothing for us.