How do you Save Money at WDW? Here are my tips!

[pygmymom]

Trust me, Disney loves us all whether they get our money all at once in a Deluxe on site trip or maybe over the course of 3 or 4 off site trips in a year. So many previous posters in this thread have eloquently expressed the reasons why I prefer on site, needing to be totally enveloped in the experience. However, if a couple of my teen DD's saw some of the off site accomodations that are spoken of here with all the room and private pool, I think they'd be persuading me to change my mind. So, thank you for the heads up on some great deals!

We just returned last month from a "budget" on site trip. Some tips to save: Brita bottles and Brita pitcher, shop all year long for snacks to bring at the best prices, like variety paks of cereals, water, crackers, etc., Animal Kingdom meal vouchers, the "extra bun trick", and the big one for us: driving instead of flying. Airfare for 5 from Minnesota would have been at least $1000, more like $1500. We spent $210 in gas and $100 for hotel on the way and back.

Thanks for all the great ideas and feedback.

 

[Amy&Dan]

When I first began planning our WDW trip I was determined to stay offsite. We have been to Disneyland several times and started out staying onsite. Now it just doesn't seem the same when we don't. Anyway, the villa thing with our own pool, the kids having their own room seemed great. Then the planning DVD arrived. The kids watched and guess where they want to stay? All Star Movies. You got it, smallest rooms, no full service restaurant and double beds. It's $99 a night for what looks like a very small room. I resisted but then DH got in on the act (my biggest kid lol). So we booked a package with the travel agent that Mousesavers recommended. Now I am into it too because I know the kids are going to love all that over the top Disney magic and after all this trip is really for them. So we will be squeezed in for 10 nights and probably sick to death of that food court but we will be at Disneyworld and all will be right in our world! It is so much about the place you are at in your life. To each their own. Now that we are staying onsite we'll probably never get to try one of those villas! We are hoping to return in April of 05 and guess where the troops want to stay? Pop Century!

 

[crisi]

We are in Minnesota, too. How brave of you to drive!

For us, driving isn't a value. Its cheaper in actual dollars - but not a "value." Limited vacation time makes adding days of travel difficult. The difficulty in stringing together more than a single week for either of us makes it additionally challenging. And my time and my husband's is worth quite a bit.

DVC has been a great "value" to us - although it hasn't saved us any money.

Towncars have saved us some. I'm not the type to shop for the best rental car deal, enough of a snob where I'm not renting a little economy car. A nice towncar can get us onsite and back to the airport for less than a midsized rental and we are happier with the arrangment. Plus the added grocery stop allows us to save money on snacks and bottled water.

Using discounts I'm entitled to - DVC restauarnt discounts for instance.

Not purchasing a lot of junk food - popcorn, Mickey bars, etc. Skip fries with the meal. I'm not doing this to save money - more saving my figure, but it helps the wallet as well.

Avoiding the stores - particularly the "I just have to have it and this is the only place I'll ever see it" stores. The Mickey Mouse bomber jacket is still cute years later, but I'm still managing to live without it, having passed up buying it now three times.

I perfer to save money pre-trip than on the trip. Stocking up on good deals. Limiting the expensive haircuts and switching to box color rather than the expensive salon version. Cutting much of the expensive red meat from our diet - as well as the munchies and pop.

 

[dbal]

o.k.- maybe this should be another thread, but could somebody explain meal vouchers please. Is it basically prepaying for food so you don't overspend when you're there? Also are they specific to the park or the restaraunt?

Thanks

 

[Amirah95]

Everything you want to know about the meal vouchers can be found on this thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=435889

 

[sconnell]

dbal - read the thread that is stuck at the top of the board. It should tell you everything you want to know

 

[pygmymom]

I guess the other big decision besides on site or off site is to drive or fly. I've done both and like both for different reasons. The decider for me is the number of people going, not only for money reasons, but keeping track of bodies and luggage and time. But, I work flexible PT and my DH has a lot of PTO, so days to drive don't weigh as heavily with us. I totally understand where Crisi (and many others) are coming from, because I've been in that situation.

I should clarify what I meant about the AK meal vouchers. I should have said "AK meal deal" that is available in that park. You buy an adult "ticket" for 11.99 or child for 5.99 and you get to choose an entree and drink from any of the counter services and you get another drink and ice cream from the cart vendors later on. If you want pizza, you should get the child version. The difference is the size of pop and maybe chips instead of fries. I think the size of the pizzas are the same. Deb talks about this on her all ears site.

 

[disneymom3]

Pygmymom--we live in MN and drive too. We like the drive and our kids--2, 4, and 8 are great little travelers and actually would rather drive than fly. And the cost savings is unbelieveable! Especially because there is no way I want to do a layover anywhere and flights are darn pricey from here. I envy those eastern folks and their $100 airfares!

Then we also have our own car which we like.

 

[crisi]

Originally posted by disneymom3
I envy those eastern folks and their $100 airfares!

And anyone with a drive that is the "reasonable" timeframe. Sixteen hours starts to look reasonable.

How long does it take you guys to drive? (Assumed starting place, Twin Cities?) Just in case circumstances were to change, where do you stop for the night? I think I figured it out once and it was two 12 hour days, but I can't remember where the reasonable stop for the night point was.

For those of you not it the know - $200 from MSP to MCO round trip is quite the bargain. $230 is more likely. If you watch the sites and can fly when the bargains are available - it might be possible to fly for $160. And if you are picky about your dates, your carrier, being on a non-stop and your flight times, $400 isn't out of line.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Originally posted by crisi
For those of you not it the know - $200 from MSP to MCO round trip is quite the bargain. $230 is more likely. If you watch the sites and can fly when the bargains are available - it might be possible to fly for $160. And if you are picky about your dates, your carrier, being on a non-stop and your flight times, $400 isn't out of line.

These prices sound like the same price I'll have to pay our next two trips. There are some great $39 and $49 dollar rates right now,but none of them work for our dates. Since I don't take my son out of school for vacations, I'm stuck paying the higher prices.

 

[ceecee]

Originally posted by Amy&Dan
Then the planning DVD arrived. The kids watched and guess where they want to stay? All Star Movies. You got it, smallest rooms, no full service restaurant and double beds. for what looks like a very small room.

We loved the ASMo!!! We went originally for DD was was 4 at the time and have stayed there 3 times since! She is now 8 and we are trying PC this year. The rooms aren't that small in my opinion (we don't spend much time in them). You didn't say how old your kids are, I'm assuming they are younger since that liked the AS. The food court has a lot of different food choices as well as ala cart items.

 

[brunette8706]

Have you checked out POP Century? It's a budget hotel at WDW. In my opinion rooms look much nicer than All Star Sports and it's the same price. We saw pictures of the rooms at the "All Ears . com web site....Check it out!

Brunette

 

[brunette8706]

You might want to check out the airline "Air Tran". We got our round trip tickets for $116. R/T and that included tax. They have a website or you can go to expedia.com.

brunette

 

[pygmymom]

Oh, the joys of being a NWA hub I've paid anywhere from $200 to $300 per person RT, flown on NWA, Delta, US Air and most recently, ATA. I've booked well ahead of time and looked for deals, but nothing has worked out cheaper than that.

As far as driving, our starting point is the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities. It works out to 2 13-14 hour days. We do a few quick stops and then about a half hour lunch each day. On the way there we combined it with a trip to visit family so it wasn't an equal split. On the way back, we stopped overnight in Paducah, KY on the northern KY/IL border and stayed at a Baymont Inn.

If you think I'm brave to drive, my friend and her family plan to join us next year for our Disney trip. They live in northern Idaho and want to drive.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thanks ceecee, it is always good to hear good reviews about ASMO. My kids will have just turned 8 and 10. We toyed with a moderate but my travel agent said she thought for our needs movies would work fine. Incidentally, tourguidemike.com highly recommends ASMO. This guy used to work for Disney and knows his stuff. So I am actually feeling pretty good about the whole thing! With the money we are saving we are doing MNSSHP two times and some fun character dining!

 

[CheapMom]

I love the Disney resorts also. As long as I can afford to stay onsite I will. If my budget was ultra tight I would (and have) stayed offsite. Thanks for the tip about the villas- I will look into that place if I do need to stay offsite- it really sounds nice. But being onsite is tops in my budget. Staying offsite sounds like gambling with my hard earned vacation dollars. I know the service and accomodations will be top notch at Disney- even at a value resort. Also the transportation is much better and that is crucial for us.

I found it cheaper to eat out than to stay in and cook the last time we went to Florida.

This is the case for us also- we always have a quick breakfast in the room (cereal or bagel...) and then a snack at the parks and counter service dinner. Usually we will have 1 PS for a character meal. Excluding the character meal- it comes out very close to our normal weekly grocery bill. It may be a tad more but the extra cost is worth the convenience.
If you have water bottles to drink at the parks with your meal and refillable mugs at the resort that is a big $$ saver. Also I love the double cheeseburger + extra bun trick to feed 2 people. (Especially at Pecos Bills- their fixins bar is awesome!)
You can eat very cheaply.

We toyed with a moderate but my travel agent said she thought for our needs movies would work fine. Incidentally, tourguidemike.com highly recommends ASMO.

Amy&Dan- add me to the list of those that recommend ASMO. Stayed there in 2000- for our upcoming trip we were thinking about a moderate or deluxe but the kids begged- please- please ASMO- so we are saving a bunch and giving them their way. The reason they want to stay there is because we will have a our 2 year old DS with us (he didn't exist the last time we stayed there) and they want him to have the ASMO experience!

 

[Talargain]

Hello there Brunnete,

I read your post about buying food to cook and saving money. Pizza and hamburgers I don't consider food. I'm used to fried chicken, rice, salad, pasta....that to me is food. Cheeseburger and Pizza is either a quick supplement or a treat.

You said you stayed with couples? No kids huh? Kids eat a lot, and constantly.

So you see how we would spend a lot of money buying everything needed to make a meal. Anybody with children will attest to the cost per week to feed a family.

We did this our first time at WDW. But next time, what I will do is buy lunchables for the kids, and eat out because as AMIRAH95 said it is cheaper.

 

[scrappnmom]

Hello everyone!
We are planning our first trip to WDW and TOTALLY on a BUDGET. I'm enjoying reading all the ideas. We're looking at staying in DTD, but i'm intersted in the houses/villas....are those time shares or what? If not timeshares how do I check into prices and that. If we could cook breakfast & lunch that would really free up $$ for more fun & shopping. Thank you so much for your advice! I look forward to any replies.
Have a great day!

 

[brunette8706]

Go to the link that I posted regarding the villas. Once on the link there will be a list of rental homes. They are listed by area. We stayed in the "Hampton Lakes" area. THEY ARE NOT TIME SHARES. Most of these home have private pools and they also have the pictures also. The one we stayed in was beautifully furnished. We paid $475 for a week and that included tax....If you want feel free to email at brunette8706@aol.com. I will get back to you sometime today.

thanks!

brunette

 

[brunette8706]

Well we had burgers and yes pizza. We also had rotisserie chicken $3.99, plus salad, baked potatoes, and breakfast foods (eggs, bagels, cream cheese, orange juice , cereal, milk etc.) We also bought soda, and snacks and fruit, bottled water, ice cream. We spent I think $75.00. Walmart has cheap snack items for kids too! If we ate at the parks for lunch and dinner we would probably be spending $35.00 per person plus tax and tip! way too much money too spend on food...but that's just my opinion....It's whatever works for you....and what you find to be the cheapest route...going to walmart worked for us.

thanks for your comments!
brunette