Is $2500 do-able for a 5 day 4 ngt trip to Disney?

[Vivilove]

We are a family of 3. My daughter is 5 years old. We would like to go to the Magic Kingdom and possibly Hollywood Studios. Or MK and Animal Kingdom. So, we plan on being there 2 days. The rest of our 5 day/4 night trip will be spent at the beach or pool and dining out about 3 nights. We will do mostly fast food during the day or make something in the hotel. While in the Disney parks, we will bring our own drinks (Water and juice boxes in a soft cooler pack) and sandwiches or lunchables for my daughter. So, myself and hubby will probably buy something at a quick serv. counter. We will not do the sit-down dinners in Disney.

Money has to be enough for AirFare, Hotel, Park tickets, and a car rental. Is it possible, OR am I dreaming. I know $2500 isn't much, but I was hoping to make it work. We would like to go the 3rd week in MAY, before the Memorial day weekend.

Any tips? Advice? Thanks

 

[mickeyplanner08]

OK, need to know a few more details. Where are you flying from?

I priced May 23-May 27 with base tickets and quick service dining. Only came to $1396-that leaves $1100 for plane tickets and other goodies. Seems like you should be able to do it, no problem!:

Oh yeah, and to the Dis!

 

[VanessainWonderland]

We went for 6 days, 5 nights for Spring break and it was about 2000 including the regular dining plan, 4 day tickets with no expiration, and staying at the POP. This was for 2 adults and one child.

However, we drove there.

I think you can definintely make it work...

 

[Vivilove]

We are in NJ, so already on the East coast. Can you give me a break-down of the $1396, how did you get that #? Thanks Oh, and thanks for the warm Welcome

OK, need to know a few more details. Where are you flying from?

I priced May 23-May 27 with base tickets and quick service dining. Only came to $1396-that leaves $1100 for plane tickets and other goodies. Seems like you should be able to do it, no problem!:

Oh yeah, and to the Dis!

 

[MistressMerryweather]

Yes, definitely! We have a 6 nights/7 day, moderate resort...2 base park tickets per person, free dining which we upgrade to plus dining. 1960.38 Our airline tickets are $644(fr/pit) for 2 adults, 2 kids(4 and 6), and lap child(15 mos). Total was $2604.38 and we have 1 more person(not counting 1yo), 2 more nights than you and are in a moderate resort. If you can get a dining pin or use the discount code, that will make it work.

Also, we are not doing the rental car. We are doing free magical express from the airport and then disney transportation in the resort/park.

 

[Vivilove]

How much were the tickets? Did you get them in the park or online? The POP is in Disney??
Thanks for your reply.

We went for 6 days, 5 nights for Spring break and it was about 2000 including the regular dining plan, 4 day tickets with no expiration, and staying at the POP. This was for 2 adults and one child.

However, we drove there.

I think you can definintely make it work...

 

[Vivilove]

Oh wow! Where did you book through. I have been researching and haven't found a good enough deal. I think I found a $1600 deal for air and hotel, but then tickets seem to be about $640.00 for all of us. That brings us to $2240 with no car rental and No Food! I doubt $260.00 is enough to eat for 5 days/4 nights. So even if we omit the car rental, the food is still going to put us over.
Thanks for your reply and ENJOY your TRIP, Wow! Just a few more days for you, HOW EXCITING!!!

Yes, definitely! We have a 6 nights/7 day, moderate resort...2 base park tickets per person, free dining which we upgrade to plus dining. 1960.38 Our airline tickets are $644(fr/pit) for 2 adults, 2 kids(4 and 6), and lap child(15 mos). Total was $2604.38 and we have 2 more nights than you and are in a moderate resort. If you can get a dining pin or use the discount code, that will make it work.

Also, we are not doing the rental car. We are doing free magical express from the airport and then disney transportation in the resort/park.

 

[MistressMerryweather]

OK, need to know a few more details. Where are you flying from?

I priced May 23-May 27 with base tickets and quick service dining. Only came to $1396-that leaves $1100 for plane tickets and other goodies. Seems like you should be able to do it, no problem!:

Oh yeah, and to the Dis!

You can upgrade to Plus dining(which includes 1 table service/character dining, ect. for $10/day adult and $2 kids.

 

[DonnaL]

Where in NJ? Closer to PHL or NY? I believe both Southwest and Airtran have airfare on sale for May now from PHL. Another option is if you're mid Jersey....Lehigh Vallley International in Allentown, PA......both Airtran and Allegiant Air fly from there to Orlando......usually good prices also. And, if you fly into Orlando International you don't need a car to get to WDW if you're staying onsite.......just use Magical Express. However, if you're looking for late May.....you need get moving with your planning. You can easily do five days.....even with more park days than two......for two adults and one child on $2500.......especially if you get a good price on airfare and don't rent a car.

 

[Vivilove]

Where can I get a dining pin or discount code?

Yes, definitely! We have a 6 nights/7 day, moderate resort...2 base park tickets per person, free dining which we upgrade to plus dining. 1960.38 Our airline tickets are $644(fr/pit) for 2 adults, 2 kids(4 and 6), and lap child(15 mos). Total was $2604.38 and we have 1 more person(not counting 1yo), 2 more nights than you and are in a moderate resort. If you can get a dining pin or use the discount code, that will make it work.

Also, we are not doing the rental car. We are doing free magical express from the airport and then disney transportation in the resort/park.

 

[Vivilove]

Where do I do that? I would like to upgrade for that price. WOW, you can get a character dining too for just $10 each adult and $2 for a child?

You can upgrade to Plus dining(which includes 1 table service/character dining, ect. for $10/day adult and $2 kids.

 

[mickeyplanner08]

How far is it to Allentown, PA from where you are? You can fly Allegiant Air for the 3 of you for under $400 if you go May 22-27...you should probably figure another $150 or so for seat selection and a checked bag or 2.

OK, so then we still have $1950 to work with.

For those dates it would be $1475 for the three of you with the kids play and stay free promo with the quick service dining plan-2 counter service meals and 2 snacks per day. It would be $1585 for the regular dining plan which includes one counter service and one sit down meal per day. You should probably figure an additional $100 for tips with this plan.

So there...you can totally do it. You don't need to rent a car unless you need or want to go off-site. Disney will do all the driving for you if you want to let them

 

[Vivilove]

We're flying out of PHL. I think DH want the car to do other things besides Disney on our other days there. Do the Magical Express buses take you anywhere else besides the parks? Like other dining areas outside of the park, a boardwalk or town? I just think that 2 days at Disney will be enough for my hubby. The other days I'm sure he'll want to go to the beach and go out to eat somewhere, not Disney.

Where in NJ? Closer to PHL or NY? I believe both Southwest and Airtran have airfare on sale for May now from PHL. Another option is if you're mid Jersey....Lehigh Vallley International in Allentown, PA......both Airtran and Allegiant Air fly from there to Orlando......usually good prices also. And, if you fly into Orlando International you don't need a car to get to WDW if you're staying onsite.......just use Magical Express. However, if you're looking for late May.....you need get moving with your planning. You can easily do five days.....even with more park days than two......for two adults and one child on $2500.......especially if you get a good price on airfare and don't rent a car.

 

[DonnaL]

You mentioned something about the beach, also.....the nearest beach to WDW is over an hour away.....however, some of the hotel pools are awesome. With a five year old toward the end of May you might be pushing it a little to try and do two parks in two days......don't forget if you buy a package.....as someone above said......there is a promo for Kids Stay and Play Free.....your park tickets are included for the length of your stay.....so you could do parks in the morning, hotel pool in the afternoon and then back to a park in the early evening......when it's cooler. If your hubby wants a beach experience you could always head to Disney's Typhoon Lagoon for a day.....on the bus.......cheaper than renting a car and driving over an hour. And eating at Disney can be an experience all by itself.......some extremely good restaurants. Check out www.allearsnet.com and click on dining.....you'll be able to pull up all the restaurants onsite and their menus. If you're seriously thinking about spending a few days elsewhere your $2500 probably won't go as far as staying onsite.

 

[beautifultomorrow]

If you stay at a Disney resort (value resorts are Pop Century and the All-Stars) and use Magical Express and purchase a dining plan you wouldn't need to rent a car because you could just use Disney's free Magical Express and resort transportation (buses, monorail, etc.).

When you go that route, disney will give a package price that includes the room, dining, and park tickets. All you'd have to add is airfare, tips (if you use the disney dining plan that includes table service restaurants,) and souveniers. Play around on the disney world website with package prices and see if they fit your range. Be sure to click on specials and see if they help you out any. While you're there register with the site and save some itinereraries under "My Disney Vacation" and who knows, Disney might email you a special discount pin code that could save you even more money!!

Regarding park tickets, disney's structure is set up to encourage you to buy more park days. Take a look at the prices, it might be only a litle bit more to add a third or 4th day at the park. Also if you don't plan on visiting more than one park per day, you don't need park hoppers and you probably won't need "water park and more" on such a short trip either. (Disney usually automatically selects these when you are pricing trips so be careful!!)

Regarding dining, I highly recommend the Disney Dining plan. You get 1 quick service meal, 1 table service meal and one snack per day per person. Everything (except tip at table service meals) is paid for in advance, which usually saves you a fair bit of money and it is so convenient! If there are any reservations still available you coule take your daughter to a character meal or two. (One word of warning, if you do want to dine at table service restaurants, make reservations ASAP. People often make them 6 months in advance and its VERY hard to walk up to restaurants at Disney World with no reservation. You can make reservations by calling or online.)

 

[MistressMerryweather]

Here are the current discounts:
http://bookwdw.reservations.disney....Code=fy10q3summerroom&market=fy10q3summerroom

They are sending out better ones 20/30/40's but it's hard to get one sent to you randomly.

We started out with a coupon for 30% on value resorts. So, I booked just the hotel and figured we we do everything else a la carte. I called reservations for one reason or another and they just said, "hey, would you like to bump up to a moderate resort with free dining and that would include the 2 tickets per person, as well?" So, I grabbed it. Then they ask if I wanted to upgrade to the plus dining for just $10/day(adult) and $2/day(kids). So, I grabbed that, too. LOL We were planning on driving(pure craziness) but airline tickets suddenly popped up at $59/each way everywhere...so we grabbed those, too. Since then, we have added a day to the end of our trip and 2 days to the beginning, so we bypassed our $2500 mark now.

Good luck! It's totally doable. I do say, ax car and do all disney transportation. You don't even have to pick up your checked luggage, they do it all!

 

[rhpools]

If you stay on site the car rental is really optional. The Disney bus will take you everywhere you need to go.

 

[beautifultomorrow]

We're flying out of PHL. I think DH want the car to do other things besides Disney on our other days there. Do the Magical Express buses take you anywhere else besides the parks? Like other dining areas outside of the park, a boardwalk or town? I just think that 2 days at Disney will be enough for my hubby. The other days I'm sure he'll want to go to the beach and go out to eat somewhere, not Disney.

If you want to go this route you should probably look for a hotel nearby to Disney instead of a Disney owned one. There are TONS of options, including condos and townhouses where you could make some of your own meals. Try mousesavers . com to see some deals on preferred hotels near disney.

P.S. I really do not think 2 days is enough time to even scratch the surface of what all there is to do at Disney, but then again some people just don't like it like most of on here do

 

[Vivilove]

I just think my hubby will be bored with it after 2 days. Myself and daughter would love to be there the whole time, I'm sure. I think I will have to talk him into it and scratch the car rental out. I'm just a little scared if we miss the bus at a scheduled time, that's all!

If you want to go this route you should probably look for a hotel nearby to Disney instead of a Disney owned one. There are TONS of options, including condos and townhouses where you could make some of your own meals. Try mousesavers . com to see some deals on preferred hotels near disney.

P.S. I really do not think 2 days is enough time to even scratch the surface of what all there is to do at Disney, but then again some people just don't like it like most of on here do

 

[Vivilove]

Thanks for all your input, so maybe I should call and I can get better offers. However, I don't know if we will be able to book reservations so close to our dates. Hmmm, I did see an opening at the Epcot Storybook restaurant, where we can meet the princesses.
Thanks again

Here are the current discounts:


They are sending out better ones 20/30/40's but it's hard to get one sent to you randomly.

We started out with a coupon for 30% on value resorts. So, I booked just the hotel and figured we we do everything else a la carte. I called reservations for one reason or another and they just said, "hey, would you like to bump up to a moderate resort with free dining and that would include the 2 tickets per person, as well?" So, I grabbed it. Then they ask if I wanted to upgrade to the plus dining for just $10/day(adult) and $2/day(kids). So, I grabbed that, too. LOL We were planning on driving(pure craziness) but airline tickets suddenly popped up at $59/each way everywhere...so we grabbed those, too. Since then, we have added a day to the end of our trip and 2 days to the beginning, so we bypassed our $2500 mark now.

Good luck! It's totally doable. I do say, ax car and do all disney transportation. You don't even have to pick up your checked luggage, they do it all!