How do you guys afford it?

[SamanthaL]

Let us know how you make out.

 

[Disrookie0704]

I just e-mailed the TA about taking off 3 days of the UPH. She said that it's included in the "package" and is generated by the number of days you stay. She said it wouldn't take anything off the price.

She did say that if we don't use them, they are good indefinitely. Is that true?

 

[tar heel]

Unfortunately, that is not true. The UMP expires the end of the day you checkout, and it doesn't matter how many days you skipped, whether you went to waterparks or DQ, etc. If you have regular hopper passes, which I doubt since they are not usually what the packages include, they are good forever.

Is it possible to cancel your package? If so, you might want see what you would come up with. You know you don't need 10 days of Disney and you can get 5 days of Universal -- probably more than you need -- for $89 right now. Depending on when you are going, there may be a discount code. For the price you're paying with only three people, I would expect to be in a deluxe resort.

A lot of us made a few mistakes our first trip or trips -- you'll just have to come home and plan another trip using discount codes, hopper or AP passes, etc.

 

[Jamieb]

UPH do expire at midnight on the day of checkout. They are linked to your room reservation unlike a PHP which is not and never expires.

If you are not going to be at Disney for three days your wasting your money since you will not be using them and your paying for them unfortunately.

Your TA is incorrect about the expiration of UPH, something that may bother me a little. You can go look over at the ticket faq at all ears at http://allearsnet.com/pl/ticket.htm and you may want to send that to your TA so she knows.

 

[SamanthaL]

See about the cancelation policy. Be sure you can get a room and flight before you cancel though. I would check on the cancelation policy first then I would start doing it on my own. If you do well cancel the package.

 

[Disrookie0704]

Live and Learn Baby!

I thank you all once again for your help. The next trip will be much cheaper!

 

[Eyore4Ever149]

Please do look into the possibility of cancelling those ressies with the TA.

I started out 2 months ago going to my AAA office to book a ressie- when I didnt want to package- they pretty much told me to take a hike and they aren't going to help you do it for less than their package- they are incented to sell them.

you might just try looking around- check out airfare, I don't know where you live, but Song and Spirit Airlines both offer fabulous rates right now.

Book your room separately through regular CRO, not Disney Travel C # is 407-934-7639

Hertz is offering a special right now, 5 days at Universal for the price of 2 days if you rent a car from them.

www.mousesavers.com has LOTS of discount codes for rooms and rental cars, tickets, etc.

www.ticketmania.com offers discounts on all kinds of tickets

I bought an Annual Pass - only need 1 to get lots of discounts.
$392 and it got me 45% off my room- discounts vary depending on where you stay.
also gives discounts of restaurants, mini golf, tours, etc.

food is an obvious one- stop at a grocery store to cut down on amount of meals purchased in parks.

Please, dont accept paying 5K for your trip....thats why these boards are here.

Because of these boards, I bet I have saved close to $2,000 on my upcoming trip- and thats for 2 adults!

 

[captJack88]

Disrookie, have you tried calling the res center and getting a quote on your own? I see you have 72 days on your counter, most places don't have any cancellation penalty until 60 days or less. You still may be able to get everything you want, save money and cancel with th TA. Just a thought. The fact that the TA doesn't know the info on the UPH makes me think (s)he is taking you for a ride. I'd give it a try if I were you! Good luck!!!!

 

[Maleficent2]

not in one month but it did not take years either...talking about the REwards Board...there are survey companies, test drives, research studies, forums etc that all pay.

Yes those were the good old days PointClick, FreeRide, Blink, MyPoints when they paid big...but like I said befor it still can be done.



Mal

 

[drp4video]

We have just started going every year for the past 5 years, and we went twice last year. It is me, DD and her friend (friend pays own air fare and entry into parks, plus I request $200 for food). Her friends parents are more than happy to pay this. (about $650)

We fly-I spend no more than $240-and now if I fly to Tampa on 3000USA (I think that it is), air fare is $59 one way. We stay at value resorts-just stayed at Pop Century and loved it. We have had rates from $49-$68-no more. Thank god for Mousesavers! We are in the parks all day, in rooms just to sleep-or hang at pool if we take a day off. We go anywhere from 7-14 days.

I rent a car with the cheapest rate-lots of internet time-because we go to Universal and FLorida Mall, etc.

I ususally get 4 day hoppers and we do E-rides. Food is usually fast-altho we do get tired of chicken fingers and fries at the park, but I love the rides and don't care about eating, so I would rather eat quick and spend time doing Disney. Sometimes we do splurge for one expensive restaurant.


I can go to Disney three times for $5,000.00. THat is a lot to spend.

 

[DisneyJules]

I know it is very expensive. I just went with my sister and a girlfriend of mine this last February. My expenses alone for 8 nights, 9 days were around $2000 CND and we stayed at a VERY cheap hotel. The airfare was quite expensive, then tact on the park tickets and food, I could have most likely have spent a little less on food and merchandise though I wasn't that extravagant. I ate off the kids menu a few times, had enough to eat and it cost very little. We also didn't rent a car which cut down on costs but stayed at a hotel with a free shuttle instead. There certainly are ways of cutting costs, I know there's plenty of tips around here on the boards and on the net.
Goodluck and enjoy Disney World, it REALLY is worth every penny!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

I still can't believe your TA told you the leftover days on your UMH can be used on another trip. Sounds like you may need a new TA. It'll be worth the money to find someone else or do it on your own. There are tons of great money saving tips out there (and on this particular thread). It would definitely be worth your time and research!

Just think about what you could do with all of the leftover $!

GOOD LUCK!

 

[cruisnfamily]

mousesavers has this to say about UPHs:
Ultimate Park Hopper Passes
Ultimate Park Hopper (UPH) passes provide unlimited admission to the four major parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios, and Animal Kingdom), the water parks, Pleasure Island and DisneyQuest for the length of your stay. These passes become active when you check in (and you can check in early if you wish, though your room may not be ready yet) and expire at midnight on the day you check out of the hotel.

Ultimate Park Hopper passes are available exclusively to resort guests staying on-site at the official Disney resorts. The advance purchase price applies when you add the UPH passes to your hotel room reservation prior to arrival. You can also purchase these passes at check-in, at a higher price. Prices for Ultimate Park Hopper tickets last went up on 1/31/04.

But check out what you're paying(per person) for these things for a 9 night/10 day stay:9 nights/10 days (price at resort) - $474.99 Adults (10 and older); $380.21 Children (3-9)
9 nights/10 days (advance purchase price) - $436.65 Adults (10 and older); $349.32 Children (3-9)

Now look what they say about PHP passes(the only thing these wouldn't be good for would be Disney Quest:Park Hopper PLUS Passes
Park Hopper PLUS passes provide admission to the four major parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios, and Animal Kingdom). You can visit multiple major parks on the same day. In addition, these passes give you "plus features," each good for an admission to one of the water parks or to Pleasure Island. You can use the plus features many different ways -- if you have three plus features, you can go to three different water parks, or visit Pleasure Island three times, or any other combination. You can use the plus features on the same day as a major park, or on a completely separate day, in any order. Unused days at the major parks and plus features never expire. Prices for Park Hopper PLUS tickets last went up on 3/28/04.

The price for the PHP tickets is:7-Day Park Hopper PLUS includes 4 plus features
gate price - $364.23 Adults (10 and older); $291.81 Children (3-9)
advance purchase price - $336.56 Adults (10 and older); $269.46 Children (3-9)

This would save you a couple of hundred dollars AND you'd probably have plusses or days left for another trip.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

We have been going every year since 1999. We sometimes go more than once a year because we always have annual passes. We went last year for 10 days in sept. and 10 days in Dec. and only spent around $2000 on each trip. We had our annual passes from the year before and great AP rates for our hotel.

 

[my3princes]

It sounds like your being taken for a ride. You should be able to change parts of your vacation even if you can't cancel the whole thing. Airfare has probably already been paid for so you can't do much about that, but unless you have some kind of uph voucher in hand you should be able to downgrade it to PHPs which would be much more economical especially if you're not going to use them everyday. You should also be able to modify your resort reservation either with codes or by changing to a lower category resort. I've never heard of being locked into a rental car this far out so you should be able to find less expensive rental cars. Take the tips on this thread very seriously because you could be talking about more than $1000 savings. That is a huge chunk towards your next vacation.

 

[wwithers]

I don't know about the airfare (which I would assume you would want to keep anyway) but the Disney part of you package (room and UPH tickets) is cancellable up until 45 day prior to arrival with no penalty. After 45 days, you forfeit I night's lodging. If your travel agent doesn't know this and/or won't fix it, you should get your confirmation numbers from her and call Disney directly.

With you UPHs alone, you are wasting approximately $120-$130 per ticket for the 3 days you won't be using them. (it's almost always cheaper to book stuff separately than as a package, unless you are going for a pretty long time, intend to only visit WDW and use the extras almost every day).

I am not trying to make you feel badly about how much you are spending (we go on a trip almost every year costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $6000-$7000 dollars-- although not always to Disney and then go to SoCal for a week to visit my MIL and DL-- so who am I to talk about cost). But I do hate to see anyone get ripped off-- even if they are spending a lot of money and even if they can afford the price.

I hope you are able to work things out so that you can get a better deal.

 

[outstandinfarmer]

tmk2766
Where did you get your airfare from??? I'm trying to find some cheap airfare from O'hare in December too but I haven't found it yet. Where can I find real cheap airfare? We usually drive so this is a first time flying so I'm not sure where's the best place to get it from.

 

[sandieb]

Hi, I spent $4000 for 3 adults and 1 child a couple years ago...and that was staying in the Fort Wilderness Cabins and eating some of our meals in...we go tired of rich, restrauant food.

That led us to investigate and buy DVC points. This way we can go every year for long trips or a couple longer ones. We buy Annual Passes and schedule one trip when we first use them and another just before they expire (actually had a third adult trip this year).

While we do eat out, we also eat most breakfasts and lunches in...for convienence as much as cost. We eat some dinners out.

For us, this has enabled yearly vacations at an affordable price. Sandie

 

[Disrookie0704]

I really can't fire the TA because she's a customer of my DH. I know what you're going to say...we're the customer of the TA.

At the same time, I don't think we could do that at this point. As I'm sure some of you are aware, customers are an important asset to a business and when they have something bad to say, they'll tell a million people.

So, I'll just have to cut our losses here and try to plan something much more economical for next time. I do appreciate all your concern and help. You guys are great!

My airfare was through the TA but I also saw the same rate on Expedia. However, it's gone up quite a bit since I booked in February. Have you tried cheaptickets.com?

Thanks again! I know it's going to be fun, even if I am paying a fortune!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[keriannhoward]

Originally posted by Disrookie0704
I really can't fire the TA because she's a customer of my DH. I know what you're going to say...we're the customer of the TA.

At the same time, I don't think we could do that at this point. As I'm sure some of you are aware, customers are an important asset to a business and when they have something bad to say, they'll tell a million people.

So, I'll just have to cut our losses here and try to plan something much more economical for next time. I do appreciate all your concern and help. You guys are great!

You're right, you're going to have a fabulous time! If you keep checking out the boards here you'll find out all sorts of cool things like Hidden Mickeys and touring plans to make your visit even better.

We'll all be here to help you plan your next trip. After all, for most of us, the planning is just as much, if not more, fun for us!!