How do you guys afford it?

[jstbcuz94]

Like I was saying before............. after reading some of these posts...........I wondered if you could help me out.

I booked through a TA which I dont normally do as I usually do it all myself. However, I was so stressed wanting it to be the perfect thing and I was confused in the difference in the passes etc. To make a long story short, I did it to save stress and I could also make pmts instead of paying for it all.

We are a family of 4 (ages 34,34, 11, and 8) traveling for the 1st time to WDW. We are also going with the inlaws who will paying their own way except for we are splitting a rental van. We will be staying at PC as DH thought it would be more magical for the kids. We are arriving 8/02/04 VERY LATE. We are staying at the PC until 8/09/04. At that date, the inlaws are coming home and the rest of us will be moving to Residence Inn Seaworld.

Here is a breakdown of my costs: Any suggestions would be wonderful.

Airfare from KC 212 x 4 848
PC for 7 nights 389 x 2 778
WDW 7 day PHP 327 x 3 981
264 x 1 264
Residence Inn for 3 nights 150 x 2 300
Sea World Passes 58 x 3 174
48 x 1 48
Van Rental 254

So our total is $3647


I was wondering if I purchase one annual pass can I get discounts on hotel etc, or does everyone have to have an annual pass?

Can you think of anything I need to do?

Thanks in advance

 

[chipnwendy]

We are taking advantage of several things to make our trip to WDW more affordable. First, we are driving. It may test some patience, but it saves money for a family of four. Second, we rented DVC points, so we're spending 5 nights at the Boardwalk Villas for only $130 per night. Third, we bought our passes in advance from Disney's website, which seemed cheaper than any of the discount websites, and we are picking them up at the will call gate, which gets rid of any shipping charges. We also only opted for the park hopper passes, since we aren't the type to do a lot of other activities outside the theme parks. The biggest money saver for us, though, is taking our girls before they turn three in July. Not having to pay for two additional park passes really allows us money for other things such as character meals in the parks.

 

[cruisnfamily]

jstbcuz94, your costs actually look pretty good! The only thing I don't understand is why you're getting 2 rooms At first I thought the extra room was for the inlaws but I see you've also got an extra room at Sea World after they leave so I guess it's just for your family. Why 2 rooms?

I don't think I'd do the AP as your room rate is already $55 or so and I don't think you could get much lower than that.

Your PHP prices are really good too. I think you've done everything right! Unless I've missed something and if I have, I'm sure another poster will be able to find it.

I do wonder what you're going to do at Sea World for 3 days though. That seems like a 2 days too many for me but you know your crowd best.

 

[jstbcuz94]

Guess I lead you wrong!

We are only going to Sea World for 1 day. WE wanted a room after the inlaws left to relax a little more. DH and I dont fit well in a full bed at PC, so we will each sleep with one of the DD. We thought that after being there for 7 days, we might want to stretch out a little more..............opting for Queen Beds and a full complimentary breakfast.

We have nothing planned these three days so...........we can do whatever comes to us.

Let me know if I left some other pertinent info out.

Sorry! Thanks a bunch for the replied.

I only found this board a couple days ago and I could spend all day on it. I have found more useful info on this board than any others I have found.

 

[cruisnfamily]

So....If I've got this right the inlaws are kicking in $389 for the PC room and $127 for half the van, right? So, your costs are $3131? If so, that sounds good!

Personally, I'd probably have gone ahead and stayed at PC instead of switching to the residence inn and maybe just gotten a 2nd room at PC for those last 3 days. Then, I could drive to Sea World for the 1 day and spend the other days doing Disney non-park stuff like Ft Wilderness, DTD shopping, pool at PC, etc, etc. Of course, you can do that stuff from the Residence Inn too but you'd have to drive over to WDW. But that's just my preference. I can see where you want to upgrade and it seems like you've got a good price for it. Have you looked into upgrading to a moderate WDW hotel? I guess you couldn't do it for that price and it wouldn't include breakfast either.

I guess you're good to go! Have fun!

By the way, I understand the bed thing. DH and I do the same thing, we each sleep with a kid while on vacation as the beds are small. We're used to a queen waterbed at home.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

How do I afford it?

I'm just filthy rich.

(Just kidding )

 

[jstbcuz94]

MY total cost is 3647. That is with them paying for part of the van and we are both paying a total of 778 to stay at the PC for 7 nights.

I just thought this sounded high after reading some of the other posts on this thread. Thats why I wondered about the AP.

Sorry if I am totally confusing you.

 

[crazelion]

How I afford go to WDW I don't go every year. It mybe anywhere from 1 to 5 years for my next trip.

My go is to finainal stable in 2005 and WDW with the boys of America for a week.

If not I have one word for you WEEKEND Trip. I usually go for a long weekend. I love those kinds of trips. I stay onsite and offsite depends on price if under 110.00 a night. I drive down elimate flying all together. Food I eat breakfeast and dinner anc carry snacks for lunch.

I like to travel and it always be a long weekend that perfect in between for us. We is a family of 2.

We have start travel with other family members and it's getting expensive. They like to stay in expensive hotels and eat food places.

We go as cheap as possible.

 

[Tulip]

Our last trip in 2000 cost us approx. $7K (Canadian). The next time we've learnt our lesson and won't go with a package. I wish we could afford to go more often but from Canada it's just not feasible.

 

[gjerseygirl]

justbcuz94:

I would look into the AP rates for PC. On mousesavers.com they have a way you can figure out if you're saving more money by buying one than the extra cost of one. By buying an AP I'll be paying $179 (approx.) per night instead of $299 a night at the poly. X 9 = a savings of $1,180. I'm only paying about an extra $200 for the AP instead of the 4 Day Hopper and only One Adult has to have it. You can also book a discounted room for your in-laws with your AP. I believe AP holders can book up to six rooms as long as they're present at check-in. Of course for PC the savings might not be that dramatic but its worth it to look into it. Especially that your getting two rooms. Hey, $100 here, $100 there, it all adds up. I also found a good trick on mousesavers for the rental cars. I kept putting in the dates I needed the car on National's web site and kept coming up with about $200 to $300 for the week. On mousesavers.com they give you a company code for National which can be used in conjunction with coupons. AP holders also get a 10% discount at National. With the company code and 10% discount its going to cost me about $100 - $125 for the week. Also, another trick for anyone out there who will be going starting high season, ending value season. When I made my ressey they charged me for high season for the whole week. I had to split my ressey. Which is, check in October 30th, check out October 31st and check back in October 31st. That's the ONLY way you can get them to adjust the price down. So everyone go and check what season you're going in. We're taking Amtrack down (I'm not a flyer) and AAA has an excellent discount on Amtrack. For 5 of us we're paying under $600. It's a stress-free way to get down there if you don't fly. I'd much rather do that then drive. But check out mousesavers.com. They practically planned my whole trip. It's a great site, as is this.

 

[pacercolt]

We are from Indiana and go 4 times a year. This is how:

Annual Pass
DVC membership
We take bumps on Southwest and have flown free 2 years
Only have to have about $1400 in spending money each trip

 

[TINK61]

Originally posted by pacercolt
We are from Indiana and go 4 times a year. This is how:

Annual Pass
DVC membership
We take bumps on Southwest and have flown free 2 years
Only have to have about $1400 in spending money each trip

Wow! You've got it together Pacercolt! But my, $1,400 in spending money! How generous you are with your dollars.

 

[gjerseygirl]

Originally posted by jstbcuz94

PC for 7 nights 389 x 2 77

I'm wondering how you got the PC for this price. According to mousesavers the price for the time you're going is $99 a night. With an AP you would be paying approx. $59 a night. According to your prices, you're paying less than that. How did you do it?

 

[jstbcuz94]

I went through my TA (who isnt worth crap). It was originally more than that. However, if I remember correctly.........I found $99 a night on Disneys website and I brought it to his attention and he called and they gave me that rate.

It is $389 for each adult which makes a total of $778 for 7 nights. They said kids were free. So if you divide it out it still comes out close to $110 with tax.

Is this good or not? IF the rates stay the same when the codes come out I can save almost $230 even after I spend and extra $75 to upgrade to an AP.

 

[Turner5]

This is our first year to go, too. We've never gone because we didn't feel we could afford it. Of course, I am trying really hard to prove that to myself !!!

Cabin in Fort Wilderness for 6 nights $1131 (a good deal). Tickets approx $1400. Hoop-De-Du-Review, Wishes Cruise, Character Dinner at Epcot, Fantasmic Dinner Package. It all adds up. Of course, I am trying to do alot in case we don't make it back to Disney. If we do, I'm sure I will cut more corners.

We are very excited, but I can see where this family of 5 will spend close to $5,000 including gas to drive from Indiana and a hotel overnight before we arrive.

Good luck to you!!!

 

[TINK61]

Originally posted by Turner5
We've never gone because we didn't feel we could afford it.

For years I let my "other half" make me feel that we could not afford it. Yes - it is easy to spend $5,000, but by cutting corners we did it - a family of 4 - for about $1,200, including tickets, hotel, and food. We drove from New Orleans (about 11 hr. drive); stayed on property at the Grosvenor at an extremely low rate
(about $39.00/night for 5 nights, their rooms aren't usually this cheap, I just hit it at the right time.). We ate breakfast in our room, packed snacks and sandwiches in our back pack. Bought drinks and ice cream while at the parks. We ate at the Rain Forest Cafe one night at AK; ordered Pizza one night; went off-property to Western Sizzlin (or somthing like it) one night. We didn't splurge on food (which can be very costly in WDW). My parents gave the kids their own money to spend on souveniers, etc.

I guess my point is - it can be done, if you are willing to cut corners, for a resonable cost. I would love to stay at a luxury resort, but the cost would be too high. We stay at value resorts instead. My main objective is to do the parks, not hang out at the resort, so value resorts don't bother me.

 

[oogieboogie]

I was the same way before our first trip. I kept thinking there's no way we could afford to go. Looking at the price quoted on the Disney website, I thought, OMG how do people afford $300 a night for a room?

The first time we went, my MIL was paying for everything and like a lot of people she paid rack rate for a package and we stayed at POR. Back then I thought, this is it... this is our one and only time I'll get to Disney. We didn't know that Disney gave out discount codes, didn't know a lot of things.

Well, after that trip, we wanted to go back for more and the turning point was finding the DIS boards. We learned so much from these boards. We did our number crunching and found out we could spend the same amount of money at Disney that we would have spent going to Wisconsin Dells. We found out that we could get APs and lessen the cost significantly. We were able to have a longer vacation for less money than what my MIL paid back then, at a deluxe resort no less.

Research is always key IMO, but doing a Disney vacation can be done, and that includes staying on-site. The nice thing Disney gives is choice. You can choose to stay off-site, but if you choose on-site, you also have a great selection of prices, from value to deluxe. They know that it's a big expense to go to Disney, but you are staying a lot longer than other vacation destinations.

 

[Turner5]

I was just wondering........is it impossible to book a room at the value resorts when you have a family of five? I was wondering if it is just a ploy to make more money or if fire codes keep a family of five from being able to book a room. Opinions? Thanks!!!

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by jstbcuz94

It is $389 for each adult which makes a total of $778 for 7 nights. They said kids were free. So if you divide it out it still comes out close to $110 with tax.

OK, here's where I misunderstood....I thought it was $389 per room X 2 rooms = $778. That's why I thought you were only paying $55 a night.

So, that's just 1 room for $778 for 7 nights? That's not a deal at all....you should be able to do better if you watch for codes or get an AP.

 

[DisKim]

I was just wondering........is it impossible to book a room at the value resorts when you have a family of five? I was wondering if it is just a ploy to make more money or if fire codes keep a family of five from being able to book a room. Opinions? Thanks!!!

They won't let you book a room with 5 people. They will only give you up to four resort id cards. If you were to try to go to an EMH, the 5th person could not get in. I would also think that a room at a value resort would be very uncomfortable with 5 people. POR allows five per room. That would probably be a better alternative. Plus, it's gorgeous. I loved it there.