How do you guys afford it?

[tmq2766]

outstandinfarmer,

We are flying on Spirit Airlines nonstop out of Ohare on December 3rd at like 7 something in the morning and returning on December 11th at like 7 something in the evening.... I was way excited to find this fare. A friend of mine decided to go with me and he booked just recently and got airfare for him and his daughter for a total of like 320.00. So it has gone up a bit but that is still dirt cheap.
Go online directly to the Spirit website and go from there. Good luck!

 

[Disrookie0704]

Well, I called her out about the UPH tickets and now she's offering me a change in the package. I could get the 7 day PHP tickets and save almost $300.

But she is saying that with the PHP, you can only spend 4 days in the "choice parks." What is she talking about?

 

[SamanthaL]

I think the TA is cracked! A seven day PHP pass gives you 7 days at the 4 major parks and I think 3 admissions to the water parks/pleasure island ect. She needs to do some homework. A PHP pass never expires so the unused days are good forever.

 

[Disrookie0704]

I'm really starting to see what a flake this TA is. Thanks for all the help!

 

[SamanthaL]

No problem. Let me know if you need anymore help translating for the TA. You are doing better with the passes anyway. Good for you. Now earmark the $300 for great gift for yourself when you get to WDW.

 

[mrp4352]

I know for me, that I would rather stay off property (I got $23/night at a Travelodge through easyclicktravel.com for my long weekend in May) and go more often, then stay at a deluxe or home-away-from-home and only go once every couple of years. It does help that I fly standby for free (airline employee perk), but with an annual pass I can usually get in a week trip and one or two long weekends a year (almost always everything occurs during off-season).

Also, I don't spend a lot of money on movies or things like that. I prefer to save my 'fun money' for travelling.

I do get the free flight perk, but the rest is just how I choose to spend my discresionary income.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by Disrookie0704
Well, I called her out about the UPH tickets and now she's offering me a change in the package. I could get the 7 day PHP tickets and save almost $300.

But she is saying that with the PHP, you can only spend 4 days in the "choice parks." What is she talking about?

Can you ask if she could remove the tickets from your package? You could buy them on your own and probably save money through the ticket outlet or buying them prior to arrival from disneyworld.com.

 

[cruisnfamily]

But she is saying that with the PHP, you can only spend 4 days in the "choice parks." What is she talking about?

Originally posted by cruisnfamily
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.
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)

The only thing you'd need to pay for if you choose to do it would be Disney Quest with these tickets.

What about your room and rental car.....have you looked at mousesavers and told the TA about any discounts you may qualify for? It really seems you ought to be able to knock quite a bit more off of your price.

 

[Billmel]

DH & I are going 7-16 of May, we have the Silver Package, because it is our Anniversary trip, and don't want to go "cheap". The total for FW and length of stay passes minus Friday night which we have room only, is about $2,600.00. We are bringing $1000. in spending money. We could cut this in half if we wanted to but we only get to go every 5-6 years, and we are doing everything from Cirque, Golf, to the Laua (sp). We booked the trip last May and have been saving for a year. One of the pointers I got from somewhere on this board is to not spend $1.00 bills, when you break a 5 or anything else put the rest into a jar, It blew me away how much we saved in a 1 month period doing this. We are going to have a great time!!!!

 

[cathdisfan]

I'm going in July with 7 other adults and one 18 mos infant. We are looking at approx $5,000 not including our food. I don't think this is bad at all when you look at how many of us are going.

We are staying off property at a resort and we are renting two cars. Still saved money, though. Defineately check out mousesavers.com. I also have a Passporter and that had some great ideas. Bought our passes thru Ticketmania before the prices went up.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I hope you can work out something cheaper, but if not, as you said, your trip will be magical!

Let us know how it goes, and don't forget to post a trip report when you get home, I love reading about people's trips!

~Steph

 

[Disrookie0704]

I didn't realize I couldn't go to Disney Quest if I switched the passes. I should be able to get those tickets for cheap myself. I think I saw them on mousesavers for something like $20 for adults and $17 for kids.

This TA just tells me nothing. She knew I was planning on going to DQ and here she didn't even tell me that changing the tix would affect that. She so would be fired if there weren't "other" issues.

Great price you got for a large family $5,000.

I looked at the discounts on mousesavers for the resorts and it looks like everything expired on 4/17. I'm a bit too late for those discounts, so I guess I'm stuck with that.

I love you guys!

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by Disrookie0704
I looked at the discounts on mousesavers for the resorts and it looks like everything expired on 4/17. I'm a bit too late for those discounts, so I guess I'm stuck with that.

The only other thing I can think of is if one of your party buys an annual passAnnual Pass
Provides one year of unlimited admission to the four major parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios, and Animal Kingdom), plus free parking. There is no advance purchase discount for Annual Passes. $403.64 Adults (10 and older); $342.93 Children (3-9) you might get enough in room discounts to make it worthwhile....of course, that person wouldn't have the "plusses" that your PHP tickets would have....you'd have to do the math and see if it's worthwhile. What about a AAA discount? That's the only other one that might apply.

 

[sm4987]

We plan for our trip and put a it away little by little. We buy Ap's so we can go 2 years in a row. We wait for discounts at the Disney resorts. This summer we are staying at the Dolphin with a great rate. It is doable, just keep looking for ways to save money any way you can.

 

[SamanthaL]

Originally posted by mrp4352
I know for me, that I would rather stay off property (I got $23/night at a Travelodge through easyclicktravel.com for my long weekend in May) and go more often, then stay at a deluxe or home-away-from-home and only go once every couple of years. It does help that I fly standby for free (airline employee perk), but with an annual pass I can usually get in a week trip and one or two long weekends a year (almost always everything occurs during off-season).

Also, I don't spend a lot of money on movies or things like that. I prefer to save my 'fun money' for travelling.

I do get the free flight perk, but the rest is just how I choose to spend my discresionary income.

Have you looked into renting points from a DVC member? That way you get the Deluxe Home Away From Home property for the moderate resort price. Thenof course you could afford more trips.

 

[Disrookie0704]

I am a member of AAA and I started by getting a Price from them for a package, but I never went back and asked about individual pricing. Hmmmm... That may help. Of course my TA said my AAA membership wouldn't help me. But she apparently knows nothing!

 

[SamanthaL]

Originally posted by Disrookie0704
I am a member of AAA and I started by getting a Price from them for a package, but I never went back and asked about individual pricing. Hmmmm... That may help. Of course my TA said my AAA membership wouldn't help me. But she apparently knows nothing!

She should be able to book any discount you find. You really don't need her at all except to keep the peace with DHs job, so investigate deals then point her in the right direction. She keeps the ressie and you keep some cash!

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by Disrookie0704
I am a member of AAA and I started by getting a Price from them for a package, but I never went back and asked about individual pricing. Hmmmm... That may help. Of course my TA said my AAA membership wouldn't help me. But she apparently knows nothing!

You don't need to do it with AAA, just have your TA ask for a AAA discount. I personally wouldn't book it with AAA. Normally you get 10%-15% off with AAA but it may not apply to your "package". I wonder if you truly have a package or if your TA just booked everything and is calling it a package. If that's the case, you should get a AAA discount, if it's a pkg, maybe not.

 

[Disrookie0704]

Maybe she is just calling it a package because how else would she be able to pull off the UPH's and replace them with PHP's.

I went to ticketmania to see about pricing tickets myself and with what I'm getting, I could pay about $500 per adult for PHP's and US, IOA, Disney Quest, Sea World.

If I could get 20% off the resort rate, I might be able to take another family member for $2,000 without food. That would be in a separate room though.

If my trip is already booked (according to the TA), should I be able to call Disney direct and check the confirmation?

 

[mad4themouse]

Originally posted by Disrookie0704
I looked at the discounts on mousesavers for the resorts and it looks like everything expired on 4/17. I'm a bit too late for those discounts, so I guess I'm stuck with that.

Not necessarily. According to your countdown, you're leaving around 7/2 or 7/3 for your trip. If you're willing to split your reservation into 2, you may be able to apply the next round of room codes to the latter half of your trip.