I want to go to DISNEY!!! HELP...

[linnettevl]

Every year we go to Disney and always stay in property, well we had plan to go again this year but my aunt and my mother in law died within days of each other (May) My mother in law did not have life insurance and my husband(her only child) had to cover all the expenses, because of this almost all the money that I had for the trip is gone. My kids lost the only grandma that they know and a very beloved aunt I would like to take them to their favorite place in the world : Disney. I am thinking that if we try hotels outside disney we may be able to afford it, but I have no idea in where to begin, there are so many hotels in the area, all that we need is a place to stay and maybe a pool(but is not a must.....)Any ideas ?

 

[laurabelle]

I'm really sorry for your family's loss.
Try Orlando Hotels & Attractions here on the Disboards, there are lots of great deals on offsite accomodations.
Sign up for the Mousesavers newsletter too for discount tickets and lots of money savers.

 

[disneysteve]

Definitely visit the Orlando Hotel board. Lots of helpful advice there.

I would check out SkyAuction.com. I just booked a week at Orbit One Villas in a 2-bed, 2-bath condo for $261, less than $38/nite.

 

[flamom]

I am so sorry to hear of your losses. I don't know if you are a member of AAA or not. I am and I am staying at the sheraton safari at the AAA rate of 59.00 per night in July. Hope this helps.

 

[karemore]

I'm very sorry about your loss.

You didn't mention if you would be driving or renting a car.....that's a vital factor in selecting an offsite place to stay.

The less you pay for a room, the less options you are going to have for shuttle service to the parks. The Days Inn where we stayed had one pick up and one return for each park.....way after the parks opened. I didn't even consider it. We drove and were door to door in less than half an hour for EPCOT and MK.

If you have your own, or a rental car...there's no reason you can't have an affordable AND enjoyable vacation offisite.

You can save a fortune on food by staying offsite and packing at least one meal to carry into the parks.

We spent a lot of time reading the reviews on travelocity and booked our room online.

Good luck.

Karen

 

[linnettevl]

Thank you all so much...I forgot that I am a AAA member I will look into that

DisneySteve: How do Skyauction works? I looked at it and there is an auction going on for 7 nights at Vistana (?) with air fare for family of four...Now do I bid for 1 (quantity) or do I have to bid for four, I did not see any custumer service number to call, is this a reliable site?

Thanks
Linnette

 

[momxx5]

Is there anyway that you could drive down and stay at one of the value resorts for a shorter trip? Maybe during value season?

This way you would still be at WDW on Disney property and have a vacation. Then next year you could plan a bigger trip.


I am sorry for the loss your family has been through. I hope everything works out.

 

[maggiew]

Originally posted by linnettevl
Thank you all so much...I forgot that I am a AAA member I will look into that

DisneySteve: How do Skyauction works? I looked at it and there is an auction going on for 7 nights at Vistana (?) with air fare for family of four...Now do I bid for 1 (quantity) or do I have to bid for four, I did not see any custumer service number to call, is this a reliable site?

Thanks
Linnette

You just need to bid for 1. It will say towards the bottom of the description that it is your bid price + around$195 per person.

You can get some really great deals on skyauction. I plan on using them next trip. I got the Disney visa special this trip, or I would use them this time.

Maggie

 

[39CINDERELLA]

TRY THE DTD RESORTS, WE STAYED AT THE HI IN APRIL FOR 49.00 A NIGHT. VERY CLOSE TO THE PARKS AND DTD MARKET PLACE AND ON THE OTHER END CROSSROADS SHOPPING PLAZA. IF YOU DON'T HAVE A CAR THE BUSES ARE VERY NICE EVEN BETTER THAN THE ONE YOU TAKE FROM THE ONSITE RESORTS MUCH MORE COMFY. SOMETIMES YOU CAN CALL THE HOTEL DIRECT AND TALK TO MGR. THEY MAY GIVE YOU A SPECIAL RATE. WHEN WE STAY OFF SITE IT IS IN THE DTD AREA.

 

[linnettevl]

I am sorry if I sound a little ignorant but...

How will I know which hotels are in the DTD( is this for downtown Disney area?)...I just spoke to my husband and he refuses to drive during "vacations" that is one point that I did not count on, this will make things more complicated for me : looking for a hotel not too expensive, pool, transportation....I am begining to wonder if i should just forget about this trip and maybe plan for next year, still ,it is breaking my heart the idea of not going, my older boy (Joseph) he is 7yrs took very hard the passing of his grandma, and I know a little of that "pixie dust" is what my family needs right now...
This will be the first trip that I will not have book as a package, usually I just call Disney and not worry about tickets, hotel, airfare
I am a little lost right now,How can I organize myself? what should I book first : the airfare or the Hotel? I am sorry to be such a pain but this boards are full of so much information that sometimes it's a little scarry for me....

 

[disneysteve]

First of all, you aren't being a pain at all. We're all here to help each other and there are loads of people here ready and willing to lend a hand.

Regarding what to book first, I would do hotel first. Hotel reservations can be changed or cancelled without penalty. Airfare can't. If you buy plane tickets and end up not finding a hotel that fits your needs and budget, you're stuck.

Does the fact that your husband doesn't want to drive mean that you can't drive either? In my opinion, staying offsite and depending solely on shuttle buses to get around is no vacation at all. You waste a tremendous amount of time and lose a great deal of scheduling flexibility because you have to be at a certain place at a certain time or you're out of luck. It is so much better and easier to have you own car. Would your husband be willing to go if you do all the driving?

The Downtown Disney resorts are probably your best bet if driving is definitely out. You can learn all about the hotels at http://www.downtowndisneyhotels.com/.

Don't hesitate to keep the questions coming.

 

[crazelion]

Here's a couple tips:

You are a AAA member call Dinsey and ask for a AAA rate for 1 Value Resorts hotels. You will get a small discount which is better then nothing. Also being a AAA member you get all kinds discounts for hotels at the following hotel chains:

Best Western

Days Inn

Hyatt

La Quinta

Mariott

Choice hotels

Hilton Family

Starwood.

Check going places AAA magazine for hotels

2. Drink water on vacation most food places give water for free. Belive I know because I work in food service.

3. Check hotelkingdom.com for hotel deals. Once done check tripadvsior.com for hotel reviews.

4. Pack at least snack for each person.

5. Visit US or IOA take your AAA card discounts food places and retail shops.

6. Eat offsite Examples: Ci Ci Pizza 3.99 buffet, Golden Corral, Shoney's, Western Sizzler, and Sizzler.

 

[Helene]

I'm very sorry to hear about your loss and I agree that a little pixie dust can go a long way in mending broken hearts.

Just wanted to pass along some info for you. I will be staying at the All Star Movies in August and used my AAA to book. The total cost including tax came to 94.25/night. I booked this hoping some room-only discounts may become available prior to the trip. If they do, I can get the rate adjusted. If they don't, paying less than a $100/night still seems reasonable.

One more suggestion that many posters may not agree with, but I'll offer it up and give my rational for it:

Based on the information you posted that historically you have always booked packages, I'll assume you have the means to save $$ at a reasonable pace for your trips. That being said, do you have access to any CC offers giving a 0% into rate for 6 months?? If you booked an All Star resort for @ $100/night for 6 nights, you could pay off the balance within 6 months by putting away $25/week when you return. I know the Disney Visa has this offer when booking packages through them, but I'm not sure if applies to room only reservations.

I'm generally not a person who relies on Credit Cards as I prefer to pay as I go. But I have purchased things using 0% and will discipline myself to pay it off in time.

I have learned first hand as well that life can change in a moment and I would say that a Disney trip is just what the Doctor ordered!!

Good Luck with any decision you make.

Helene

 

[kfeuer]

Originally posted by disneysteve
Definitely visit the Orlando Hotel board. Lots of helpful advice there.

I would check out SkyAuction.com. I just booked a week at Orbit One Villas in a 2-bed, 2-bath condo for $261, less than $38/nite.

I just pulled up their website and was looking around--have you stayed there before? If so, is it nice?

We've always preferred staying onsite, but frankly our budget is tight and it will take forever to save enough to stay onsite. Plus, we have a 3.5 and 14 month old, and the idea of being able to put them to bed in a separate bedroom is very appealing. We could also save a ton of money by having a kitchen and eating some meals in our room. I'm just not sure if I could talk DH into it (he prefers to go to Disney less often on a deluxe basis, while I would be happier to go more often on the less deluxe route). We took our most deluxe trip ever last fall and while I completely enjoyed staying at WL, the prices we paid for meals absolutely killed me. I'm just too cheap to enjoy spending a week's grocery budget on ONE meal! I'd be happier eating basic meals in the room with a few character and nicer meals throughout the week.

One more question, Disneysteve--what's the nicest condo type place you've stayed in offsite? How much did it cost? TIA for your help!

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by kfeuer
I just pulled up their website and was looking around--have you stayed there before? If so, is it nice?

One more question, Disneysteve--what's the nicest condo type place you've stayed in offsite? How much did it cost? TIA for your help!

I have not yet stayed at Orbit One. I booked it after reading some recommendations from fellow DIS members. I can't wait to see the place. The pictures look very nice, though I know that can be deceiving. But we're only paying $37.29/nite! How bad can it be?

We have only stayed in one offsite condo. Last November, we rented a 3-bed, 2-bath condo at Windsor Palms. It was very, very nice. We paid $90/nite but I know similar units are available for less. http://www.closesttodisney.com/index.html has 3-bed condos starting at $63/nite and Windsor Palms is one of their resorts. We didn't mind the $90 because we split it with my MIL, so our share was only $45/nite.

We have rented several pool homes in the past, all in the Lindfields development. Each of those times we were also splitting the cost. Our next trip will be just the 3 of us and renting a house on our own was more space than we needed and more money than we wanted to spend.

 

[yecats]

I am sorry to hear about your loss and how hard it is for your son. He does need a vacation. I wanted to say try Skyauction as well but as your hubby doesn't want to drive then I suggest a stay at DTD hotel. First look at Mousesavers to see what type of discounts she has for the hotels there. Most of them are just a brief walk from use of Disney buses and all DTD buses share one bus to Disney (so transportation is covered). I would tell you to study up on two sites, biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com. These are sister sites for beginning bidding on priceline and hotwire. I have won bids on priceline for the DTD Hilton and Wyndham (which are both directly across the street from DTD and bus stops) for $60 to $70 per night. My last stays via priceline were in Nov. 2003. Both hotels were very nice and very convenient to get to parks.

There are several issues with bidding on these sites with the major one being that once purchased, its purchased, no refunds, no exchanges. So pick a date and one month to two weeks before you can bid on a hotel quality and go on vacation. Hotwire purchases rooms at a slightly higher rate ($70 to $85 per night for those hotels) but you can sometimes figure out what hotel your getting before you go (unlike priceline). I bid on priceline as I am fine with all the hotels that come up under the WDW resort area. However, on priceline, any one of those 7 hotels can purchase your bid and even though they are all within 3 miles of Disney property, you will be forced to use their transportation. It takes a bit of reading, but once you have the knowledge, use it. It has worked for me many times and I haven't had a bad stay yet. I know that a lot of people don't like to bid and I was one of them, but a few years ago I tried it and truly refuse to pay rack rate for a hotel room now. The Wyndham has rates sometimes in the $170 and above rate, why pay that for the exact same room (they got $70 from me last year, but they will never get $170 from me). If you have any other questions, you can PM me or start a thread on the Orlando hotels board regarding priceline (I see occasional threads there with people who have questions). It is something else to consider.