Looking for some help planning a CHEAP vacay to Disney from ONT

[nannye]

Just wondering if there are any ontario or really anywhere that could help provide tips on planning a cheap vacation to disney, it is 2 adults, thinking of staying off site etc... whatever just to make it as cheap as possible.
Any hotel recommendations (Must have shuttle to parks and airport-as we don't want to rent a car)
would appreciate any advice/guidance.

 

[Camilo]

We've done Disney pretty cheap in 2006.

We found a package (through selloffvacation.com) that costed us a bit over 1000 dolares for the 3 of us (my wife and I. Our one year old son went for free then), including direct flight YYZ - MCO, 7 nights at Best Western LakeSide (very cheap motel, but very recommended by me for a budget trip) and car rentalm all taxes in.

Extra costs then:

- We used our credit card free insurance for the car.
- We used AirMiles for the Disney tickets
- We went to a timeshare presentation and got SeaWorld tickets
- We ate breakfast offsite (Ponderosa was 3.99 per adult then) and tried to have only one sit down meal or counter service.

For offsite hotels, I also recommend Clarion Inn Lake Buena Vista. Last year and this year, we got a dela via travelzoo.com for 50.00 including free breakfast and shuttles to all parks (which we never used, we always had a car).

For Disney tickets this year, we are using "Undercover Tourist". Last year, we also got the Disney and Universal tickets via airmiles.

Last year and this year, we are flying from Buffalo, totally recommended by me even with the cost of the overnight hotel we always get there.

I hope this helps.

Camilo

 

[Glennie5]

We are from Ont and we always save money on flights by flying out of Syracuse (or you could go out of Buffalo if that is closer). There is a free dinning plan on right now for Canadians that covers more dates then the one for the general public - I would look at staying at a value to save money with the FD. I would also check out the Buena Vista Suites. We have stayed there before and got a great rate - it is quite close to Disney and has shuttles.
Have fun planning!

 

[sean-1966]

If they don't have free dining you can rent some DVC points from a DVC member. They rent for around $10 a point. That way you can stay on property at a higher end resort for a lot less money.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

My advice:

Fly from the US ... target price of $200 to $250 per person. ($500) Park and fly plus gas add $200. (or fly from Canada if $350 fare is available)

Rent DVC points for Animal Kingdom studio (Value would be 80 points for a week in March). You could buy these for $11 a point quite easily. (So $880 for your room)

Use Magic express ... its free

Buy passes from Undercover tourist. No hopper buy 6 day, with extra day free ($530)

Food .... use garden grocer for food ($200) plus $200 for a few meals ...

So the mid $2000 range should cover things ....

 

[torontodisneyfan]

My daughter and I go every year and manage not to over spend.

We stay at the value resorts during "regular" or "value" season. We spend all day at the park and basically only sleep and shower in the room, so there is no point at staying at a more expensive resort. (In my opinion to get the full Disney "experience" you must stay at a Disney resort!)

Then we buy the Disney Dining Plan. This will save you significant money if you use it correctly. Make sure you use your "table service credit" for a dinner as they are the most expensive. Your "quick service credit" can get you a lot of food at lunch if you go to the right places and never waste a "snack credit" on something insignificant. Remember the daily credits don't have a dollar value so the value for credit varies greatly.

This year, because our Spring trip was 15 days, we bought Annual Passes and saved a fortune on the additional days past the maximum of 10-day ticket Disney offers. It is also allowing us to go again in December because of the AP room discount and not having to buy park tickets.

If you're going for a shorter period of time, no matter where you buy your tickets, I have always opted for the Park Hopper ticket. It gives you the most freedom for a relatively small additional cost.

Finally, we have never rented a car when we have gone to WDW. We use Disney's Magical Express from the airport to the resort and back. During our stay we use nothing but Disney transportation. All of the transportation is free and pretty convenient.

I hope this helps! Have a blast planning your trip!

As for airfare, we have always flown Sunwing out of Toronto for about $600 return for us both (total). For our December trip we are flying Southwest out of Buffalo for $99 plus tax each way per person (totaling about $450) and they are direct flights as well.

 

[My 2 princesses]

If you collect Air Miles or Aeroplan Miles then you can redeem them for park tickets. I find that a huge savings.

We too fly out of the US.

Good luck.

 

[nannye]

We are from Ont and we always save money on flights by flying out of Syracuse (or you could go out of Buffalo if that is closer). There is a free dinning plan on right now for Canadians that covers more dates then the one for the general public - I would look at staying at a value to save money with the FD. I would also check out the Buena Vista Suites. We have stayed there before and got a great rate - it is quite close to Disney and has shuttles.
Have fun planning!

I saw that free dining, but the dates added up exactly to the public offer lol I was like, well that's dumb if I would get it either way lol.

 

[nannye]

Thanks everyone, I will go through the advice you've given and keep it coming!

 

[proud_canadian]

We just had a pretty cheap trip:

We flew from Niagara to Lakeland on Direct air for under $700 for 4 of us, including checking 2 bags each way.

We rented a 3 bed, 3 bath HOUSE with private pool for 550 for the week. Last year we rented a condo for 450. This is at windsor hills.

We rented a car full size for around 140 for the week.

Then we ate breakfasts and most dinners at our house, and ate smartly at counter service. We shared, and I often ordered a kid's meal as the adult ones are way too large for me. We ate lunch for 4 of us for around $20-25 each day. We brought our own bottled water though.

All that was left was park tickets. If you have airmiles, you can get some on there for free. We used undercover tourist as well.

Good luck and PM me if you want more details!

 

[ccudmore]

Check before you leap with Free Dining. With free dining you have to pay full price for the hotel rooms. Often you can get room discounts that, even after you pay out of pocket for your food, make the total trip cost cheaper.

 

[webworm]

Just wondering if there are any ontario or really anywhere that could help provide tips on planning a cheap vacation to disney, it is 2 adults, thinking of staying off site etc... whatever just to make it as cheap as possible.
Any hotel recommendations (Must have shuttle to parks and airport-as we don't want to rent a car)
would appreciate any advice/guidance.

Fly out of the US and keep your options open. We have flown out of Detroit, Rochester, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Youngstown, OH. You can also fly into Tampa. St.Petersburgh/Clearwater or Lakeland airports which are all just over 1hr drive to Orlando.

You don't indicate your planned dates of travel but Allegiantair has one way flights for $48 in January to St. Petersburgh/Clearwater airport or $133 rt inc taxes. Just take a carry on bag and get your seats at the airport to avoid extra fees. We flew with them last March break and found them great and price was right. Total $496 for 4 tickets.

 

[katt789]

My biggest tips:

-Book early (with the Disney stuff, as they raise prices all the time, generally at the end of the year)

-Monitor the dollar as much as you can to book when it's low (and exchange money)

-Book through an american airline company, or drive down to the states & fly from there (check out American Airlines, Delta, Continental, United, US Airways)

-For the flight, go to expedia.ca and search for your flights, see what's cheapest, and then mix & match those flights into yours

-Honestly, I think it's a better idea/deal to stay onsite, the value hotels are great for the money you pay for them. With staying onsite, you don't have to worry about transportation to and from the parks, from the airport, you get the EMH, and extra benefits!! It's worth it

-Check dates for free dining & there is a room only Canadian discount on right now (I'm pretty sure) check the special offers on disneyworld.com and stuff like mousesavers for deals

 

[Sprockie]

We just had a pretty cheap trip:

We flew from Niagara to Lakeland on Direct air for under $700 for 4 of us, including checking 2 bags each way.

We rented a 3 bed, 3 bath HOUSE with private pool for 550 for the week. Last year we rented a condo for 450. This is at windsor hills.

We rented a car full size for around 140 for the week.

Then we ate breakfasts and most dinners at our house, and ate smartly at counter service. We shared, and I often ordered a kid's meal as the adult ones are way too large for me. We ate lunch for 4 of us for around $20-25 each day. We brought our own bottled water though.



All that was left was park tickets. If you have airmiles, you can get some on there for free. We used undercover tourist as well.

Good luck and PM me if you want more details!

Can you share with us how your experience was flying into Lakeland? I am booked to fly from Plattsburg to Lakeland in January and booked a car from Hertz.

 

[dancin Disney style]

All the tips so far are good and I have probably used them all.

Personally, I find the free dining deal a good one but it only works in your favour if you have more than 2 people and you go in value season. We are a family of 4 and take advantage of FD at the end of August which is value season and we stay at a value level resort. So we end up paying approx. $100/day for our room and meals.

We have also stayed many times without the dining plan and we found an enormous savings by having groceries in our room. We have breakfast in the room every morning....bonus:saves a lot of time, as you can eat while you get ready to go out. We also would have lunch in the room on pool days or dinner in the room after a full day in the parks. Using this plan we only bought 1 meal per day and usually it would be CS. It ends up being sandwiches and fruit/veggie but that works well for us. We also have a supply of snacks and drinks. The first time we did this I kept track of the costs and it averaged to $60/day for a family of 4. The other bonus to this plan is that it is forced relaxation time.

 

[Sue M]

I fly out of the US for cheap fares. Seattle - MCO for our Jan trip is $279 RT incl tax. Even with staying overnight it is cheaper then flying out of Canada.

I would look at one of the WDW value resorts, staying in value season. If there's free dining that's huge.

WDW provides free pick up and drop off service (DME) from MCO airport, another big savings.

WDW transportation is much better then the off site hotel shuttles. We stayed off site our first visit at the Marriott Courtyard across from DTD area. Hotel was great, rate was very good, shuttle leaving the parks was awful. Many of the Palm Pkwy hotels share the shuttle service, and leaving time is not always very convienent. Either you have to leave early, before the fireworks, or you have to wait a long time. I'd stick to the WDW resorts.

Pack a bag(s) of bagels for breakfast, you can use the resort food court toaster to toast them and buy some creamcheese, or pack a small jar of peanut butter too.

 

[minnie56]

Keep an eye out for promos too..I used the AC 20%off promo today for a couple of flights to Orlando ($308 rtn) for Nov and Dec flights. I booked a NYC one that cost me more! One resort or another has a deal.. I booked the Swan for $139 a night for the Nov trip. If you look around there's always something out there!

 

[Glennie5]

I saw that free dining, but the dates added up exactly to the public offer lol I was like, well that's dumb if I would get it either way lol.

Originally there were extra dates for Canadian's but it looks like they have added those dates for everyone.

 

[thehowells]

to the op, you didn't list where you live, i will assume ontario, for sure fly from the states, it's cheaper and customs is easier. we live in london and fly from detroit
you can get a hotel room for like $60.00 but that includes your parking for the week, parking at pearson can be almost $200.00