how do you do Disney on a dime?

[lmbcdb]

We are already booked and budgeted for a 5 night/6day ASMo with base tickets and DDP. I have everything paid for, and spending money/tips etc budgeted.

However, and opportunity came up! BIL lives in Tampa and will be out of town while we are there. He said we could use his house! I'm thinking:

• keep our initial reservations
• add on days to our park tickets (it's really cheap, right?)
• stay at BIL for a few days at beginning or end of stay

But how would I do that with no dining plan? I know the restaurants are expensive. Can Disney be done with things like bringing in lunch? I won't mind PBJs and chips. Is the parking expensive? We'd also be paying for gas back and forth from Tampa for a few days. How much would this REALLY cost me? Any other costs I don't know about when staying off site and driving in?

Thanks!

 

[torinsmom]

Well, you would have to budget gas and parking when you are offsite. And of course, time for the commute.

As far as meals when you aren't on the DDP, we never do the DDP and I feel like we eat pretty cheap at the parks. We order ice water and bring in flavor packets to make it taste good. We order a la carte vs. getting a combo and I sometimes even get a kids meal(they don't care what age you are). We have brought in a few snacks, but more along the lines of fruit snacks or PB crackers. And check out the menus at allears.net to plan the most affordable places to eat..

Just schedule all your TS meals for when you are onsite to use the DDP.

 

[Marionnette]

Judging by your signature you plan to be at disney for Christmas itself. Very busy time to be there. You will not want to be doing a seventy mile one way commute to disney world at that time of year. Traffic will be horrible! My aunt lives in ocala which is alot closer than tampa and I would never attempt to stay at her place and commute during Christmas. But if you insist on trying it I suggest adding the days on before your trip and not after. The week between Christmas and new years is the most crowded and if you are staying offsite you will not only sit in long lines of traffic you also take the risk of the parks being closed due to capacity limits. The only additional costs that I can think of would be: Parking for offsite guests is fourteen dollars per day. There are tolls along the main highway but I don't know what they are. Take the cost of gas into consideration. Chances are that you will not return to your brother in laws for dinner. The parks may be crowded but they are also open much later to make up for it. You can get alot of park touring done in those very late hours. Two extra days will cost you about ten dollars per person. If you add the days at your brother in laws on to the beginning of your trip then you will need to go to your resort to pick up your passes before your stay actually begins. That will eat into your vacation time even more. And you will have to get a hold of a cast member at the resort who knows how to do this. To be honest it might just be more cost effective and time efficient if you just add a couple of days onto your resort stay along with the free dining.

 

[lmbcdb]

To be honest it might just be more cost effective and time efficient if you just add a couple of days onto your resort stay along with the free dining.

I sat down and tried to figure it out - and I think you may be right. Only problem is, we upgraded our DP from QS to DDP. I guess I would need to call to figure out exactly how much more it would be.

As for tickets, I thought it was only $10 more total per day, not per person...

 

[disneyfan'ole]

I live in Tampa. There aren't any tolls from here to there. I don't think the traffic will be that bad but I must say I wouldn't want to make the hour drive back and forth every day.

I would just stay extra at the beginning or end and possibly hit the sights here in Tampa!

 

[Marionnette]

I sat down and tried to figure it out - and I think you may be right. Only problem is, we upgraded our DP from QS to DDP. I guess I would need to call to figure out exactly how much more it would be.

As for tickets, I thought it was only $10 more total per day, not per person...

Cost of an adult eight day base ticket is around two hundred sixty eight dollars. Cost of a six day adult base ticket is around two hundred fifty eight dollars. Difference is about ten dollars per ticket. The same price difference exists for child passes. Eight day base pass is around two hundred forty four dollars. Six day base pass is around two hundred thirty three dollars. The difference is close to eleven dollars per pass.

 

[ancestry]

Is the parking expensive?

I want to say that parking is about $15 per day. We have APs so I don't pay for parking but I'm pretty sure it was either $15 or close to $15 per day when we were there a couple of weeks ago.

 

[lmbcdb]

Cost of an adult eight day base ticket is around two hundred sixty eight dollars. Cost of a six day adult base ticket is around two hundred fifty eight dollars. Difference is about ten dollars per ticket. The same price difference exists for child passes. Eight day base pass is around two hundred forty four dollars. Six day base pass is around two hundred thirty three dollars. The difference is close to eleven dollars per pass.

Hmm, that's weird. When I price the package online, it only adds $10 total to the package price to add a day of tickets for 4 people.

As for adding on the extra two days with the upgraded dining, it comes out to $433. That's a lot more than I wanted to spend.

I wouldn't mind driving the first two days. Maybe just doing short days at the parks.

I guess I could do a room only reservation, as the rack rates are like $115 a day. I figured my stay at BIL days to about 60-70 dollars. I wonder if $115 a day plus PBJs would be worth the convenience.

 

[Bell30012]

Parking at any of the four parks is $14 per day for cars. Downtown Disney and the water parks have free parking but no direct transportation to the parks.

 

[robinb]

Hmm, that's weird. When I price the package online, it only adds $10 total to the package price to add a day of tickets for 4 people.

As for adding on the extra two days with the upgraded dining, it comes out to $433. That's a lot more than I wanted to spend.

I wouldn't mind driving the first two days. Maybe just doing short days at the parks.

I guess I could do a room only reservation, as the rack rates are like $115 a day. I figured my stay at BIL days to about 60-70 dollars. I wonder if $115 a day plus PBJs would be worth the convenience.

Would your first 2 days be 12/19-12/20 or 12/21-12/23? If it's the earlier two dates then you should be OK driving back and forth to Tampa (about a 60-90 minute drive). If it's the later dates I think the parks will start to get too crowded.

Personally, I would not drive back and forth to Tampa that many days. You can book a cheap hotel room for less than you would pay in gas, time and aggravation.

 

[torinsmom]

Are you paying for the DDP or getting free dining? If you're paying for it, you might do two reservations, one with dining and another without. Then you will save the DDP money and you can eat cheaper for those days(bring breakfast foods to eat in the room, share meals, eat kids meals, or bring PBJ for lunch, get free ice water and bring in snacks, then share meals, eat kids meals at dinner) If you will have a car, you could also do dinner offsite. There are pizza buffets for $5 person, lots of fast food, etc. in the area.

I don't think I would be driving from Tampa , especially with a 2 year old. Between the gas, the parking and the time spent commuting, you won't really save much IMHO.

If you really want to save money, do what I do and rent a condo(3 bedroom). $500 for a week and we were within 5-10 minutes of all the parks(no I-4). We were able to take a break every day and have dinner at the condo or offsite. Between that and the YES tickets, we did Disney and Universal for around $1500

 

[PrincessBelle09]

Since it looks like you're going to be there at Christmas time, keep in mind that the week or leading up to Christmas is absolute peak season at the parks. If you are staying offsite, unless you get there 60-90 minutes before the parks open, there is a fair chance that you will be turned away. When the parks are reaching capacity, they only allow resort guests in.

Parking is $14 per day when you're not a resort guest.. And, as others have said, traffic to and from Orlando will be a nightmare.

 

[dd50]

Would your first 2 days be 12/19-12/20 or 12/21-12/23? If it's the earlier two dates then you should be OK driving back and forth to Tampa (about a 60-90 minute drive). If it's the later dates I think the parks will start to get too crowded.

Personally, I would not drive back and forth to Tampa that many days. You can book a cheap hotel room for less than you would pay in gas, time and aggravation.

I agree. I would look for something close to the parks that is cheaper than staying at Disney if money is the issue. If not, go to Tampa and go to Busch Gardens. Tampa also has a zoo and a museum or two.

 

[lmbcdb]

Would your first 2 days be 12/19-12/20 or 12/21-12/23?

You can book a cheap hotel room for less than you would pay in gas, time and aggravation.

My first two days would be 12/19-12/20.

I had the thought about a cheap hotel room. I checked out La Quinta online, as we use them all the time here in Texas and they are always consistently good. However, when I saw it was $35 near DW, I read a few reviews on TripAdvisor and got a little (um, LOT) nervous.

 

[lmbcdb]

Are you paying for the DDP or getting free dining?

um, both!

We got free dining - the QS plan with our value package, then upgraded/paid for the DDP.

After looking at hotels around the park, I'm tempted just to pay the room only at ASMo for two days. Can I do that, and still add on the extra days of tickets to my original reservation?

 

[lmbcdb]

I agree. I would look for something close to the parks that is cheaper than staying at Disney if money is the issue. If not, go to Tampa and go to Busch Gardens. Tampa also has a zoo and a museum or two.

Thanks for the idea - but I was just looking to extend my days at DW. I think you're right - I don't think it will be worth the hassle to stay in Tampa, even for just two days.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

As for budgeting for food. I would take my own snacks and drinks into the park. And by all means if you like PB&J sandwiches pack them for lunch. This will save you a lot! Just keep in mind no coolers are allowed into the park. You can get away with taking a lunch box size soft sided cooler into the park.

I tip I will share. There is a Hess gas station just outside of the magic kingdom that is a great place to have lunch. It is not like your typical gas station. They have a cafe area inside that has about 15 tables. They sell hot dogs 2/$1, grilled chicken sandwiches, subs, pizza by the slice or a whole one which cost $8.00 for a whole one, some mexican items, all sorts of drinks and chips.
Last time we were there which was Feb 2010 we stopped for lunch and got 4 hotdogs, two drinks and a bag of combos total cost for lunch $7.35 for two people.

 

[quentina]

We are already booked and budgeted for a 5 night/6day ASMo with base tickets and DDP. I have everything paid for, and spending money/tips etc budgeted.

However, and opportunity came up! BIL lives in Tampa and will be out of town while we are there. He said we could use his house! I'm thinking:

• keep our initial reservations
• add on days to our park tickets (it's really cheap, right?)
• stay at BIL for a few days at beginning or end of stay

But how would I do that with no dining plan? I know the restaurants are expensive. Can Disney be done with things like bringing in lunch? I won't mind PBJs and chips. Is the parking expensive? We'd also be paying for gas back and forth from Tampa for a few days. How much would this REALLY cost me? Any other costs I don't know about when staying off site and driving in?

Thanks!

If he is anywhere near the airport, forget it. It once took me 4 hours to get to WDW...this was the longest of my 4 flights into TPA. I do it for price and too be honest, it is not worth the hassle.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Don't forget about parks closing during this time. If you are not staying on WDW property, you might not get into the parks. Or at least the park of your choice.

 

[robinb]

After looking at hotels around the park, I'm tempted just to pay the room only at ASMo for two days. Can I do that, and still add on the extra days of tickets to my original reservation?

Yes, you can add tickets to your package and pick them up early (up to 3 days, I think). Look at the bottom of the 1st page of this thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1452684

Don't forget about parks closing during this time. If you are not staying on WDW property, you might not get into the parks. Or at least the park of your choice.

We go that time of year every year and I don't think the parks will close on the 19th and 20th. This don't get REALLY busy until a couple days later.

OP, I know that you can find a cheap hotel offsite if you're interested. There is a thread about Priceline hotels over on the Orlando boards .