I have been challenged!

[mickeysaver]

My co-worker has two teenaged sons and a daughter in college. She wants to take them and her DH to WDW for a 4 night 3 day tour. They don't have a big budget. I have promised her that I will work to find her the best deals. She has a discount postcard for $69/nite at the value resorts. The kids are not big into souveniers. So, this is what I have so far.

Gas Round Trip $300
Park Admission $164.28/person for 3 days $812
Food $200/day $1000
Hotel 2 rooms with 3 in one $688
Total is roughly $2800

She only wants to spend $2500. How do I shave off $300?

The boys are big eaters. I can't see that she is going to get much cheaper on the food budget, even using the AK Meal Deal one of the days. She wants to do something fun like the Ice Cream Social too.

There is a small chance that the college aged daughter will not want to go along. That would make this budget fit perfectly, but I just can't figure out how to shave off that extra money. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks. Maggie

 

[strasfamily]

I am not very experienced in planning a trip to Disney, but even if they are big eaters, $200/person per day seems to be on the high side. Or does it cost that much to eat there?

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

We usually only budget $100 per day for 3 people! and my dh can put away some food....we've never spent $200 for food in a day!

 

[mickeysaver]

Originally posted by strasfamily
I am not very experienced in planning a trip to Disney, but even if they are big eaters, $200/person per day seems to be on the high side. Or does it cost that much to eat there?

That was an oops. I had them budgeted for $200/day for the entire trip. But the $1000 total for the trip remains a solid number. Maggie

 

[sweet maxine]

Hello from the Magnolia State!

I have looked at your budget, and it looks like you are doing a great job! As far as cutting back, have you thought about the possibility of taking a cooler in the room with drinks and snacks and maybe eating a couple of meals off site? It appears as though your friend is driving and therefore has access to a car. Is she open to the idea of taking the boys out for some cheap pizza or burgers a couple of times? I think the Ice Cream Social is one of the cheaper things to do, so that looks like a good idea. I'm probably not a good advisor about meals on property as my family tends to just eat in our cabin, and maybe buy a few snacks in the parks.

Good luck, and keep up the good work! You're really a sweetie to help your friend plan her trip.

 

[fam4jc]

Oh I see, you are budgetting $200 per person for the four days! At first I thought you were budgetting per person per day! Where did you get your park ticket pricing? Is that dicounted? These older kids would probably want to do pleasure island, so maybe park hopper plus' would be the tix for them...
Don't know, keeping a trip for 5 at or under 2,500 would be a challenge. Can they camp? They can eat and sleep cheap at the wilderness campground. How far are traveling from? We travel just over 400 miles to WDW and I budget 4 tanks of gas (currently around $40 per).
The other thing they can do is bring coolers with lunch meat, bread, drinks, bottles water, snacks, breakfast items, etc and eat some meals and snacks in their rooms. You could probably shave off that 300 by only eating big lunches in restaurants. jmo.
Sounds like fun to plan someone else's trip.

 

[mickeysaver]

The pricing on the tickets is at the gate pricing for a 3 day pass. They do not want to park hop. They do not want to go to La Nouba, PI, DQ, or any of the waterparks. They don't even want to play mini-golf.

They don't want to buy 4 or 5 day PHP's because the biggest factor is the immediate budget. I know that eventually the PHP's make more sense, but all she can see is the bottom line right now. So, I am attempting to indulge that.

The convention passes cost more and have the hop option and DQ or PI. But, she doesn't want to spend the extra $25 per pass. So, I think the passes are the best that I can find. I would love for someone to prove me wrong.

As for food, WDW is not cheap. When I go with my honey, we usually budget $100 per day so that along the way, we have cheap days and sometimes we have an expensive treat in there too. It all evens out. Bottles of water, Mickey Bars, burgers, and character meals...they all are covered. They plan on taking some stuff in a cooler. However, they plan on commando touring the parks. The only real meal they will have in the room is breakfast on the go. $200 for 5 adult sized people is pretty conservative....or so I think.

 

[tar heel]

Since they only have three park days, they could drop one of the nights at All Stars and do priceline.com instead. They should be ble to get two two-star rooms for half the price of the two value resort rooms. Our trips are longer, but we always stay off-site our last night and sometimes our first night if we are arriving late. So, they could stay off-site the first night, then get up really early, drive to the world and hit the parks at opening. In the afternoon, they could take a break by going to check in at the hotel or they could just wait and check in later that evening. Alternatively, they could check out on the last morning, spend the day at the park, then leave wdw and stay off-site in Orlando that evening.

I actually think the food budget may be a little high. We have five people including two teenage boys who eat a lot. We do breakfast in the room, one counter service meal and one sit-down meal. Many of our sit-down meals are at lunch b/c of the price difference. For them, I'm thinking breakfast in room, counter service meal for $50 and sit-down meal for $125 (this will be high for some of them). Throw in $50 for snacks and you're well below $1,000 for the trip.

 

[tar heel]

I also think your hotel figure is a tiny bit high -- about $25. One room will be $69 and the other $79 with the $10 extra adult fee. Add 12% tax and I get $663.

 

[Doesney]

They could buy the 2 day park hopper + 1 DQ visit = $510.00 so theres $300.00 savings right there.

Also could purchase some food vouchers and plan accordingly. They could give each of the kids a voucher for lunch and that would run approx $50.00 per day for lunch. And they could use the Q&C at Pepper Market for dinner for another $50.00

 

[RobinMarie]

What are their dates? I checked Tropical Palms 2 bedroom rates for summer and they are running 99/night - I think thats the savings you are looking for. They can save a tad on meals too.

http://www.tropicalpalms.com/lodging_profile.asp

 

[CarolynNC]

How old are the teenage boys? If one is 17 & under I thought you didn't have to pay an extra adult fee. Just trying to calculate back to your hotel $.

Carolyn

 

[AMaloy314]

What about staying offsite? They have access to a car, so transportation shouldn't be a problem. This could also help if they ate at least one meal outside the parks. Maybe breakfast before they head out?

There was a special rate through mousesavers.com for DoubleTree Guest Suites for not much more than they would pay for 1 room at the Value resorts. I'm sure that with priceline they could get a great rate off site also.

 

[bartleby1]

The gas budget seems a bit high to me. Where is she driving from? We are driving from NJ which is roughly 1000 miles. I figured on $2 per gallon and getting 20 miles per gallon with a fully loaded minivan. I figured a rough estimate of $100 each way. Even if gas prices are a bit higher, I can't see us hitting $300. Of course, it depends on where she is driving from and the kind of vehicle she is taking. I see you are from Georgia. Is that where she is coming from too? If so, I don't think she will use $300 in gas.

Also, if they have a car, staying offsite is a good way to save some money. We have used priceline for our last two trips and were very pleased. I personally wouldn't bid on less than 3 stars currently, although a few years back we did bid on 2 1/2 stars and got the amersuites over by universal which was brand new at the time and included a continental breakfast for $28 per night. Last year we bid 3 star and got the hyatt orlando right outside disney for $38 per night (this hotel is now closed though) and we got the Rosen Centre which is out on International Drive for around the same price. No problems with either hotel. I know that some people really don't want to stay offsite, but the prices are hard to pass up. Something to consider at least.

Also, when I budget, I subtract off in my head the amount of money I would have spent on food and gas even if I were home. I know I that I'm still spending the grand total, however, it helps me rationalize the amount. Everyone has to eat whether they are at home or at disney, so a certain amount of the food budget would have been spent anyway. That way for the trip, I really only have to save the extra amount spent at disney because I'd be spending the initial amount anyway. Same goes for gasoline in our cars. I guess if you really want to stretch it, some of the normal household utility bills should be lower during a vacation also. Probably not a significant savings on a 5 day trip, but we go for 2 weeks so it does make a difference (no air conditioners running, no water being used, only a few lights left on timers, etc).

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Doesney
They could buy the 2 day park hopper + 1 DQ visit = $510.00 so theres $300.00 savings right there.

Also could purchase some food vouchers and plan accordingly. They could give each of the kids a voucher for lunch and that would run approx $50.00 per day for lunch. And they could use the Q&C at Pepper Market for dinner for another $50.00

they don't have 2 day park hoppers.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by bartleby1
The gas budget seems a bit high to me. Where is she driving from? We are driving from NJ which is roughly 1000 miles. I figured on $2 per gallon and getting 20 miles per gallon with a fully loaded minivan. I figured a rough estimate of $100 each way. Even if gas prices are a bit higher, I can't see us hitting $300. Of course, it depends on where she is driving from and the kind of vehicle she is taking. I see you are from Georgia. Is that where she is coming from too? If so, I don't think she will use $300 in gas.

Also, if they have a car, staying offsite is a good way to save some money. We have used priceline for our last two trips and were very pleased. I personally wouldn't bid on less than 3 stars currently, although a few years back we did bid on 2 1/2 stars and got the amersuites over by universal which was brand new at the time and included a continental breakfast for $28 per night. Last year we bid 3 star and got the hyatt orlando right outside disney for $38 per night (this hotel is now closed though) and we got the Rosen Centre which is out on International Drive for around the same price. No problems with either hotel. I know that some people really don't want to stay offsite, but the prices are hard to pass up. Something to consider at least.

Also, when I budget, I subtract off in my head the amount of money I would have spent on food and gas even if I were home. I know I that I'm still spending the grand total, however, it helps me rationalize the amount. Everyone has to eat whether they are at home or at disney, so a certain amount of the food budget would have been spent anyway. That way for the trip, I really only have to save the extra amount spent at disney because I'd be spending the initial amount anyway. Same goes for gasoline in our cars. I guess if you really want to stretch it, some of the normal household utility bills should be lower during a vacation also. Probably not a significant savings on a 5 day trip, but we go for 2 weeks so it does make a difference (no air conditioners running, no water being used, only a few lights left on timers, etc).

I think the gas is also way high. From reading the posters location, she is coming from GA. I would be surprised if the gas even hit 200.00.

 

[mad4themouse]

Your friend could probably stay offsite at a suites-type hotel for less than she would pay for 2 AllStar rooms. Perhaps she could consider doing that.

The ticket prices are pretty much the lowest you'll be able to do unless she can find a convention or meeting to attend while in Orlando. Disney sells a 3-day convention ticket that runs about $155/pass and includes one visit to PI or DQ. If she qualifies for those passes, it would save her about $45.

For meals, she should consider doing breakfast at her resort. If there's a free breakfast buffet, that's great. Otherwise, she could have juice, milk, cereal and coffee on hand in the room for everyone.

For meals at WDW, give everyone 2 Q&C vouchers each day. Total cost per person = $23.00/day X 5 people = $115/day. For 5 days that would be a total of $575 for food. That alone would knock another $425 off the grand total.

I'm not sure about the cost of driving from where you are but here's a nifty online calculator that can give you an idea of what the RT would cost. Trip Gas Price Calculator . Don't forget to factor in tolls and parking ($8/day) into the total cost for the car.

Knowing what their dates are for their trip would help. Could you post them and maybe someone could help find a good offsite hotel at an acceptable rate.

 

[sweet maxine]

Good morning!

Well, I've slept on it, as they say, and I also think the gas estimate is a liitle high. My reason for that is because we were routed through Atlanta by AAA last summer by triptik (didn't really drive this way), and that looked to be about the half way mark. When I punched my locations into the AAA gas estimate calculator, it came up with $135 round trip for us. ( I drive a Suburban, so that is a bit of a gas guzzler, too.) I also agree about the teenagers in the room not being charged as adults. I think 17 is the cut off point, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I've been reading in my Unofficial Guide, but I can't find the info.

Gosh, I hope something works out for them. I've got to get some more coffee down so I can think clearly. I may be wrong, but also does she have some kind of emergency fund in case of car trouble or such as that? You never know what will happen on a road trip sometimes.

Oh, I see you've given them the gas link, mad4themouse. I'm not very computer literate, so I can't do that yet.

 

[pjlla]

Note to OP.... I have seen several posts about three day park hoppers being available through a few different places. THat would probably be cheaper than three single days admission tickets, even with that "bounce back" thing that they do. Check into that. YOu could probably do a "search" here on the budget board, assuming that the search function is working today!....P

 

[alliecats]

We just drove from Alabama and gas was $75 TOTAL, for the whole trip. And we paid around $2.00 a gallon once we got out of Alabama. It was a 10-hour driv each way. I drive a Honda, but I'd say there is some serious leeway in that gas budget.