I know I'm missing something...

[Rajah]

There's got to be another way I can get more bang for our buck so to speak without "compromising" what we really want out of a Disney vacation.

DH and I want to stay at a nice resort (got that), eat a nice dinner every night except arrival and departure nights (DH won't budge on that -- the meals are half the reason he likes to go), be able to hop from park to park for a 5 day visit, and have a car to make transportation easier.

There has *got* to be a way I can better use our money to make this more of a possibility. I'm hoping y'all might have some suggestions. The resort is taken care of -- it's the food, transportation, and hoppers/tickets I'm trying to figure out how to best save on.

 

[emmalgin]

1. Stay offsite.... Book suite or hotel 10-15 minute drive that includes breakfast. Maybe look into a timeshare resort. I don't see mention of kids. Can book and cancel easily if needed.

2. Go off season. If you go non-peak, ie. November-December or April May, there are no lines and you can do 3 times as much in a day.

3. Eat offsite and research restaurants. Check out Zagat guide which rates restaurants on many criteria. Pay premium if eating at Disney.

4. Enjoy Orlando, there is a ton to offer that isn't only Disney....

5. If you want to eat well ignore the shows (ie Hoop De Doo).... Paying lot's of money and food only mediocre...

6. Is it the resort and pool area, grounds, restaurants that are important or the room. Ie. Most newer properties have beautiful beautiful rooms, but pool and activities lacking. Hawthorne Suites, Hampton Inns are examples where the Hotel is not a resort but the rooms, amenities, breakfast.... are very good.

Good Luck.....

 

[Gillian]

Check the transportation board for ways to get a cheaper car. Use it to go to walmart or Publix or the new winn dixie in lake buena vista (sign up for their card) and buy snacks for during the day. Can you eat breakfast in your room?

try sharing counter service lunches and filling in with your own snacks. Drink water instead of soda. Bring your own bottle & refill it from the fountains. Don't be tempted by Mickey bars

There are places that sell park hoppers at a discount. Mousesavers can help with that.

have fun trying to be cheap!

 

[raelee]

Rajah-

for park hopper I found good deals at
www.ticketmania.com
www.paramountinternationaltravel.com

for travel I use the travelocity fare watcher which notifies me by e-mail when fars between my designated cities change. Priceline is also an option. Yahoo travel is good too and has same fares as travelocity just times are sometimes better(or worse).

For meals, you might look into the connection voucher program. We are using the Quick and Casual vouchers and will probably save $125 using them. see mousesavers for info.

 

[Gillian]

Just remember that with the Q&C vouchers you get food items you may not want - drinks & desserts. We saved money over what we would have spent for the items we got, but we wouldn't have ordered desserts (ever) or drinks (most of the time) if we weren't using the vouchers. You may find it's enough food to just use 1 voucher or they may not be worth it to you at all. Just something to think about

 

[raelee]

I agree with Gillian about the vouchers-

at the parks we will share meals and save about $5 per. Our big savings will be at Beaches and Cream- PIG OUT!!! and Pepper Market.

Steph

 

[jgates]

Rajah -

You indicated 'got that' for the nice resort but I don't see mention of where or room cost. Are you sure you are getting the best price for the property you have chosen? The savings with using a code, etc could MORE than offset a meal or two or three or four.

Maybe give us an indication of where and how$$ and we might be able to see if you are where you actually should be.

For all those people using entertainment rates, nurse and teacher rates at Swan and Dolphin, you have to realize that 75% of the hotel is paying full price!

Even if you are off-site, AAA etc can save a few bucks. Might be enough over the course of a week to pay for a nice meal.

 

[Rajah]

It's the Swan/Dolphin Gov't rate. And since DH and I both LOVE the Swan/Dolphin, we're willing to pay the little bit more for that compared to the deals offsite (we're willing to pay for the convenience of walking to one of our favorite parks!) or at DD.

 

[Bob NC]

We ALWAYS have or rent a car at WDW. On our last trip, however, we paid over $200 for a rental and used it once...ONCE. Our transportation from AKL to everywhere was GREAT, never waited more than a few minutes. Having a car is no longer a MUST in our book. I would think transportation from S/D would be good enough to get by without a car.

 

[tar heel]

My dh won't budge on the nice meals part either, but I've talked him into doing some of them at lunch time. There is a significant cost difference at some of the places we like, and it also serves as a nice midday break. If you could do even a couple of your nice meals for lunch instead of dinner that would save a few dollars. Since we have three kids, two of whom eat as "adults," this really helps us. Last trip, we ate lunch at Teppanyaki, Akershus, Marrakesh and Mama Melrose.

The other big cost-saving move we make is to drive instead of fly. Obviously, this is a bigger factor for us since we have 5 people. But this also gives us access to a car without renting one and we take lots of breakfast items, drinks and snacks with us. We don't mind eating breakfast in the room b/c it saves that all important early morning touring time.

 

[jgates]

Well, dear, since you picked my resort of choice you will get no feedback from me on that! So much for the save $ on the hotel idea.

I guess I would make the following suggestions specific to that area then.....

Tubbis @ Dolphin- make sure you buy the refillable mugs. They were right next to the checkout in August so it is easy the first time thru to just grab a regular glass and pay for soda. For the $10 you get a lovely souv and soda & coffee refills during your stay. (yes- you have to run to Tubbi's but its a quick trip).

Tubbis-The pizza is really good. If you want a comparitively inexpensive meal then get a pizza. I believe $10.95 with one topping. Do that with the soda refill and you have a pretty reasonable meal once or twice.

ESPN club - Nice atmosphere - have the nachos for a meal. DS & I both did that - I always have water with lemon to drink when I can so we ate pretty reasonably there.

Next Swan trip, I will rent a car but that's because I like to do things like go to outlet mall, get film developed at WM etc. I'm just going to budget for that unnecessary expense- but that is a good idea to skip the rental. The transportation on site from Swan is A1.

Try shortly ahead of time for an upgrade (see our threads on the Resort board) to club level. If you can get a complimentary upgrade during your stay you will have breakfast each morning. Also soda and snacks from 5 to 7.