How do Canucks save on your Disney Trip!

[Ted in Halifax]

Here's my Canuck saving tips.

1) Fly out of the US .... Canadian Airports are too expensive.

2) Buy an Annual Pass

3) In my Area Sobeys gives a few cents off Gas when you buy groceries. I save these to fill the car for the drive to the US.

4) Save my returnable recycling until a week before my trip .... can add up to $50 in a few months. Save them in shed. WARNING: WIFE HATES THIS

5) Use my Cash back card and allocate the 2% back to my Disney Trips

6) Fridge Swap

7) Only buy one meal in Disney per day. I use a grocery buying service to cover off the other meals (i.e Breakfast and Lunch) ... AND have them buy my BEER .... one day of buying beer in Epcot would blow my beer budget!

8) Time our trip to airfare sales I.e MHT to MCO in Nov ....

9) Also stalk Disney discounts ... like the AP discount.

10) shop for the best value in Park and Fly hotels.

11) Pay my Disney Bill when Exchange rate is at an Advantage

12) Buy $US when exchange is at an Advantage ... save in a free US Dollar account.

What do you do?

 

[snickerboo]

Those re some great tips-some I've never thought of and I'll admit to being "cheap" LOL

We stay off-site in a suite or condo and buy groceries. I just find this too much cheaper, even with the rental car cost. If you stalk the rental car deals, you can do really well.

I love your idea about the US funds bank account. That's one I never thought of and we travel a lot to the US (we're moving there, actually, as soon as we sell our house).

 

[CdnCarrie]

Airmiles!!

 

[BELLEDOZER]

You can fly out of Canada if you watch for seat sales. I saved over $300CDN by catching a seat sale to LAX. They are out there, you just have to look for them.

From a driving perspective:

If you've got BCAA or other forms of it, then get their hotel books and state maps. Stay at places that offer the AAA discount, and free continental breakfasts.

Buy snacks on the road at Costco, or other discount places to cut down the costs.
Bring brekki items such as milk, cereal, danishs to have in your hotel room and save the expense of eating out for breakfast.
Take advantage of AP discounts if visiting the mouse more than once a year. Even 1 person with AP in a family, the savings more than cover the cost of it. I figure we are saving in excess of $600CDN over my solo trip and the family trip 4 months later to the mouse because of me purchasing an AP.

 

[Susan2771]

I often save clients money going to Disney by creating a package with a tour operator. Their are some great savings this way

 

[drag n' fly]

1. Watch for seat sales and or use cc points to pay for flights.
2. Buy tickets from UT through MS link.
3. Travel off season
5. Take advantage of park promos eg: (pins, fd room, only rate etc) if a good deal.
Household related
6. Don't take summer holidays
7. Only buy what is necessary.
8. Drive used vehicles.
9. Have a budget and meal plan.

 

[Kat&Dom]

We use Airmiles to get our Disney & Universal tickets then we upgrade the tickets at Disney. Last trip, I upgraded my son's 7 day ticket to 10 day, PH, NE with WP&M - this trip, I will upgrade my 5 day ticket to 10 day, PH, NE with WP&M so we will get a few trips out of our tickets plus have 10 WP&M visits.

I look for seat sales out of Calgary or Edmonton. In May, I found a deal on American Airlines (Calgary to Orlando) for $345 CAD with all taxes! I typically won't pay over $500 for flights to Orlando and usually pay about $450 or so so the $345 was awesome!

I check for car rental deals - I won't pay more than $150 for a weeks car rental. I watch constantly and when the price is $10.95 to $12.95 per day, I book it.

I own a timeshare so I check on RCI for Extra Vacations or Last Call vacations and have been able to book a timeshare week for about $300 with all taxes. Since we have a full kitchen and laundry, we buy groceries and try to eat most of our meals at the condo - we also buy bottled water and bring it into the parks.

I have an US bank account and try to buy when our dollar is good and always have enough money in there for at least one trip to Disney so I never have to worry about it.

Most of our Disney trips cost between $1,100 to $1,600 for my son and I. I personally find Disney to be a very cheap vacation destination.

 

[squirrel]

Kat & Dom how long are your trips?

I go during Free Dining so basically everything is pre-paid. I just have to add tips, airfare and spending money. Last year I upgraded my 10 day ticket to an AP as I knew I would be back this year. I was lucky as the CM gave me the 15 month AP instead of the 12 month.

I also have a free US account and a Canadian account and I can transfer the money into the US account when our dollar is doing well. I can make one free withdrawl per month on the US account.

 

[Sue M]

I prefer to stay on site, but I
1. Fly out of the US

2. have a US acct, and buy USD when exchange is good.

3. Get an AP if I'm going more then 10 days in a 12 mo period.

4. Watch for WDW discounts, and the AP rates

5. I pack several bags of bagels for breakfast, the resorts have toasters you can use.

6. I'm usually on the DDP, and use my snack credits for breakfast- either milk & cereal, bagels'muffins/pastry, or side of egg or sausage. So I use my bagel, and order a side of egg or sausage to go with it.

7. Use WDW DME to get from airport, and back to airport- great free service.

8. Don't rent a car, I use WDW transportation.

 

[Kat&Dom]

Kat & Dom how long are your trips?

Our trips are usually 8 nights - we tend to fly out on Saturday and return the next Sunday. Our vacation is not exclusively Disney though. For instance, in April, we spent 5 days doing Disney, 1 day at SeaWorld and 1 beach day in Clearwater with ball game in the evening. I had upgraded my son's ticket to a 10 day PH, NE with WP&M and used 5 PH days. I travelled with another single mom so we split expenses so that trip was about $1,400.

We are going to Disney again in November but only staying 6 nights on that trip. We will use 1 day PH, 1 day at SeaWorld and 1 day at Universal and use 1 day of WP&M option if the weather is good. Plus we bought tickets for MVMCP for the one day. I am expecting this trip to be around $1,600.

Our flights were $345 x 2 = $690 CAD (all taxes included)
MVMCP tickets came in at $120 CAD
2 nights at All Star Music $200 CAD
4 nights at Cypress Pointe is Free as is bonus week to get me to upgrade my membership
Car Rental (hoping to get for $120 - currently is $140 for the week)
Upgrade Airmiles ticket to 10 PH, NE with WP&M $350
Universal tickets - free from Airmiles
SeaWorld - bought 2 year annual pass last year so no cost on this trip
Disney covered by upgraded tickets from Airmiles
Food $200 (I got a couple of Restaurants.com certificates for $2 which will mean some great deals on eating out - we are doing House of Blues & Giordano's for sure)

After our November trip, my son will have 4 PH days and 9 WP&M visits. I will have 9 PH days & 9 WP&M visits. With having the NE tickets with the WP&M option, we can do 1 or 2 WP visits per trip so the tickets will last at least 4 years.

Our next visit, we won't have to pay for any upgrade costs on our Disney tickets since we did that on our trips this year. If I wasn't upgrading my Disney ticket this trip, our cost would be $1,260. Pretty cheap vacation to go somewhere warm and be entertained.

 

[LittleFlounder]

5. I pack several bags of bagels for breakfast, the resorts have toasters you can use.

I've thought about bringing bagels or bread from home, but I'm worried they'll go mouldy in the humid FL air without a fridge to put them in. Has this been a problem for you?

 

[stefanospops]

If you like to stay on site you can actually save by considering the Disney Vacation Club. This only works if you got at once every two years and when you do go you do not stay in the value rooms. Once you are a DVC member you also get discounts on annual passes and other discounts. Also, all the rooms come with a full kitchen that are not studios so it makes cooking while there a lot easier.

Another thing is to try and book your flights for mid-week instead of the weekend. MOst airfares are cheapest on Tue-Wed-Thurs, so we fly tend to fly down out of Buffalo mid-week.

 

[CanadianPaco]

I prefer to stay on site, but I
1. Fly out of the US Same here

2. have a US acct, and buy USD when exchange is good. Same here

3. Get an AP if I'm going more then 10 days in a 12 mo period. Here's to hoping!

4. Watch for WDW discounts, and the AP rates Maybe one day

5. I pack several bags of bagels for breakfast, the resorts have toasters you can use. Cereal and milk for us

6. I'm usually on the DDP, and use my snack credits for breakfast- either milk & cereal, bagels'muffins/pastry, or side of egg or sausage. So I use my bagel, and order a side of egg or sausage to go with it. will try!

7. Use WDW DME to get from airport, and back to airport- great free service.

8. Don't rent a car, I use WDW transportation.

As for 7 and 8, we save our Aeroplan Points for free car rentals! Works like a dream!

 

[lizzyb]

I can't say I really go out of my way to save but we only go if there is some sort of promotion going on and fly where the best deal is...one yr it was from Toronto.

 

[peigirl]

Since we drive, we use our airmiles for Sobeys gift certifcates to buy snacks, pop, water, deodorant, etc to take with us. We go in December so I buy Halloween treats after Halloween, when they go on sale, such as bars and chips to take with us. I also save Shoppers Drug Mart points.

We have an electric cooler to use on the way down and in the room. We hit the Super Walmart in Orlando and stock up on food that can be eaten in the room

We buy calling cards from the Superstore instead of using our cell phones to call my parents, inlaws and stepson back home. I also put a special texting package on my 2 teenage daughters cell phones so that we are not hit with a big bill when we get home.

We save all US change to use for toll roads and laundry.

For hotels on the way down and back, we look for free internet and breakfast.

Paula

 

[braddillman]

1) Take advantage of any reservation policies which allow cancellation without penalty, e.g. rental cars. Book the cheapest one now, and check back occasionally. If you find a better deal, grab it and cancel the other.

2) I think for larger families, eating in restaurants will be expensive enough to make staying offsite with a kitchen (timeshare, house) the better deal. We're a family of 5 and it feels that way to us. But we don't despair, we let the oven do the cooking (defrosting). We still eat out a little, and we only go to the restaurants we like best. Our routine is: when we arrive for lunch or supper, one parent takes the kids to the pool, the other turns on the oven, opens the freezer, and flops onto the couch for 20 minutes. Presto! Pizza, chicken fingers, fish & chips, and everything else our kids would order anyway. Pasta isn't much harder. Dishwasher does the dishes.

3) I just got back yesterday, and I'd done some reconnaissance for our Feb 2011 trip. Canadian Costco memberships do work no problem, I bought something to make certain. They have whole, cooked rotisserie chickens for $4.99, and the usual selection of not-much-cooking meal stuff. Oh, and beer and wine as well. Just remember, they sell in bulk so don't buy more than you'll use!

4) My kids really don't mind brining a few snacks in the backpack to the park. They understand they have a choice between waiting in line to ride something, or waiting in line to eat something. If they eat while waiting in a ride line, they're getting to ride more. This time around, we'll get the snacks at Costco.

5) For larger parties, consider getting 2 smaller cars instead of a minivan. We're considering it depending on the cost/day to have a 2nd driver - but I haven't done the math. I need to find the cost for adding a 2nd driver.

6) I don't know about Disney, but Universal charges $15/day for parking at their parks. An annual pass gives you free parking and discounts on food and merchandise. You have to do your own calculations but for us it pays for itself.

7) Renting a timeshare rather than buying your own isn't much more than a hotel, but you get a lot more space, kitchen and laundry. For mid-size families like ours it's the better deal, but I think larger families or 2-3 families travelling together would prefer a vacation house.

8) Compare air fare when travelling through the week, rather than the weekend. For example, take a Wednesday-Wednesday week. Our timeshare is points-based, so we can arrange our week when we like. Should be similar for a hotel. But it depends, some charters only fly on the weekend and give a competitive price anyway. YMMV.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

We dont save so much on the trip. We plan ahead so we can go wild for the most part.
1.save all loonies and toonies in a jar for the trip (fuel money)(last 3 trips down fuel was paid this way.)
2.we drive (suburban last trip as its more comfortable than my wifes car and on a trip this long comfort is key)
3.we only stop for one night. No we dont cheap out on a hotel. Holiday inn express only.
4.free disney dining if we can time it right and book ressies well ahead.(also upgrade meal package as we stay value)
5.Less trips to Tim Hortons and put that money in the trip fund instead.
6.all O.T. goes into the trip fund as well as $120 per week off my pay cheque.
7.we stay values as its only a place to sleep.

We figure if we plan ahead enough we dont have to cheap out on the trips we take. On the other hand we only do Disney every 3 years instead of months like some on here. I wish we could go more. Next trip window just after fantasy land reopening.

We also stop in daytona or Clear water for a few days so we can get beach weather and enjoy some of the rest of what Florida has to offer.

 

[grantclaire]

Great thread! Here are some of our tips!
1. Book flights early! As soon as the airline releases the flights.
2. We stay offsite at timeshares. Cook meals there.

3. Use a travel reward credit card. We use a TD card that gives us medical and trip cancellation insurance plus the pts.

4. Try to buy CDN when the rates rise.

5. Try to shop around for car rentals. It can be time consuming as I find the rates for car rentals to be widely varied.

 

[coastgirl]

Since we drive, we use our airmiles for Sobeys gift certifcates to buy snacks, pop, water, deodorant, etc to take with us. We go in December
Paula

Paula, you drive in Dec? How long does it take you? We have driven from Halifax to NH a number of times for cheap airfare, but we had one trip through Maine in Feb that was hair-raising. (Three other winter trips were fine, but that one definitely stands out!|)

 

[Ted in Halifax]

coastgirl:

just hit the nail on the head .... I can hand a drive to NH in Nov .... but Feb makes me nervous ....nevertheless .... still wondering about Feb 2011 and driving ... new car next week (means new tires!)