Is the only way I can make my trip cheaper, by cutting the days there?

[minnieandmickeymouse]

I am a mom to 4 kids, and to make it so all my kids are able to go, I take one a year at a time. Right now only 2 of my kids are old enough to take.

Even though it's just me and my one other child age 9, it's still going to cost 2,000! To me that is just too much.

We would be staying at a value resort in Sept. for 7 nights, I'm still not sure how much that total will be b/c I haven't made a resurvation. And I am not sure they will have a general code room only discount. I'm guessing it will cost about 600-700 for the 7 nights?

Then 2 plane tickets, flying out of Burlington vt with jet blue $500.

Then tickets, also about 400-500 for 2. Then food and suviniers about 500 for the week.

Even in I cut the days down for 2 nights that will only save, about 200.

Can someone help me find a way to cut the cost of a disney trip. I have been going the last 2 years in a row, and would like to keep going, but the cost just doean't seem to be very good. I hate living so far away that I have to fly down!

Any tips and advice would be great!

 

[GoN2WDW]

We have always stayed on site, but I've heard a lot of people say they saved money by staying at off site properties. The only thing is, if you do and the hotel doesn't have transportation to the parks, then you have to rent a car which would probably add the savings right back on. Hopefully some of the DISers who have more experience than I can be of assistance!

Good Luck!

 

[Bob P]

Don't know if you're familiar with mousesavers.com, but try looking around there for lots of money-saving tips!

Good luck,

Bob

 

[fam4jc]

I would suggest a good college of disney knowledge travel agent. She could help you find the best ways to save money. you can get a small room discount using AAA (are you already a member?) you can get your park tickets cheaper from a ticket wholesaler and you can have a shopping service deliver some groceries to your resort to save some money on food. It's tough but you can do well if you are careful. I would stay on site and seek out other ways to save money.

you can post your questions on the budget board or pm me for more help.

 

[jjohnson]

I just went to WDW site & put in 9/20-9/27. 7 nights at POP with base tickets (no hopping) & it came to $992.14. If you add the dining plan, its only an additional $315.00 for the week.

That week with jet blue is $89.00 each way.

 

[married@wdw]

I just ran a package for the following on disney.com:

Sept. 3-10 for one adult and one child, age 9, in a standard room at the All-Stars, including 7-day MYW park passes $992.14. Adding the MYW dining to that package raises the price to $1306.99.

If you're willing to drive a little way to the airport you can fly from Boston or Hartford (about 3-4 hours from Burlington, VT) for about $300-$350 total for the two of you on Southwest or Song. Not sure if the savings is worth the time though and since I don't know where you live, I don't know if the drive would be shorter or longer.

Since there's Magical Express, you don't need transportation to/from MCO, so all told I'd say you could do about $1800 with fancy eating on the package or get away with $1600 if you skipped the food package and ate really cheap.

Also, pricewise, you'd probably be better off to take two of your kids every other year, than take one per year. You get less trips for yourself, but you maximize the price of room -- that extra expense every year could easily cover the cost of an extra plan ticket, park ticket and food for the extra child, with a chunk leftover for extra souveniers, a special meal,an upgraded room or just to pocket to help for the next trip.

Though I must admit, I don't think $2000 for two people for a full week at Disney is alot. I understand it's a lot of money in general terms, but by Disney standards, it's a fairly reasonable price.

 

[rt2dz]

There are a lot of ways to save money/reduce costs at Disney. I would go to mousesavers.com to start and then disneydollarless.com and the mouse for less. Mousesavers is really the best of these websites. We took our family of four last September and only paid a total of $3000 (including AP purchases for all).

 

[shirleyb]

I was going to post the same suggestion that married did. Why not take 2 kids every other year, instead of one each year. That way, it might cost you $2500 - $3000 for one trip, instead of 2 x $2000= $4000 for two trips. I just came back from a week with a family of 5 (4 adults and 1 child) for probably $3500 to $4000. (I haven't figured the total cost yet.) We drove, so that helped, and ate breakfast in the room.

 

[minnieandmickeymouse]

I was going to post the same suggestion that married did. Why not take 2 kids every other year, instead of one each year.

This is not just for the kids, it's for me too. I need a break from being home 24/7. This is my vacation, and I take one kid with me to spend one on one time with them. When they get older I may take 2, but for now, I can see it would be more stress on me with 2 fighting young kids, and it's not worth the headache.

I cut it down to 5 days, and get an AAA card to help with the hotel cost.

I love going to Disney every year, and wish I could go twice a year. But when I really think about how much it costs for one week......