Major distress/ not sure what to do??

[Bee]

Ok, so this is the story... apologize if it is long. I started planning a 5 day WDW trip and a 3 day cruise on the Wonder, back in Febuary. I was going to make it a surprise but, we were going to travel with another family and they told their kids who in turn told our kids. We own a bar in a small town in Nebraska, and in March DH fell off a ladder, surgery and was off work for a month. Well, now the dilema.. We have plane tickets already paid for for 10-22 to 10-30. We were originally going to stay at CBR 10-22 to 10-27 then cruise from 10-27 to 10-30.

Well now everything is due.. I already am about 99.9% sure the cruise is out!
We have downgraded to a Value resort.. Giving up rental car. Want to stay on property for entire time now and forgo cruise to save money.

If we stay at Allstarmovies do we really need private transportation?
If I just pay for the rooms now, I can still add 8 day tickets, Magic my way, park hopper plus food later cant I?

I feel the most important thing now is that we get there.. and at least salvage part of our 1st family vacation. DD10 and DD9.

They wont care where we stayed.. as long as we get them there.. at least that is what I believe.

Anyone have any ideas on how I can save more money? I already checked off site and it really doesnt save much money, and we would be giving up a lot of benefits of on property.

The killer is I have done all the work for this vacation for both families. Read boards.. all kind of things .. and biggest thing I accomplished is I got a table at Cinderella's Royal Table... Dont want to give that up.

Any ideas.??

Thanks, sorry so long..A VERY SAD BEE

 

[trayletha]

You can pay for the room and add extra's and tickets right up to check in, so don't worry about that. I am sorry things haven't worked out the way you originally planned. But you are right - the kids won't care where they stayed when they "Went to WDW" .

 

[sbelyo]

Don't fret too much....

You don't need any form of transportation once on disney property.

I would remove the following from the Magic your way tickets:

No expiration
Pluses
Food

You can eat fairly cheap at the non table service places in all the parks. (My kids actually like that better)

I don't know how you planned but if you buy one annual pass you can book up to three rooms at severe discounts using the passholders room only discount code. In my case spending $150.00 extra on one ticket saved me $375.00 on a room and $100.00 or so on food.

And when buying seperate tickets and lodging compared to a package with no food it saves even more

 

[HappyMommy2]

Sorry you have gone through so much!
You will still have a great time though!
Just to comment on the transportation--we have generally stayed at the All Stars and you really, truly do not need to have a rental car, if you are just doing resort/parks/Downtown Disney. Magical Express may be a bit of a hassle but it saves lots of money in transportation! So don't sweat the transportation thing; that is a great place for you to save money!

 

[ColoradoBelle1]

You might want to check into renting a DVC studio unit instead of all 4 of you staying in a value. Depending on season, a studio is deluxe with a mini-kitchen and bigger than a value. CHeck the rental board on the DVC forums...a studio can often be had for $80-90 a night including tax. The extra savings comes from making breakfast in room and having a fridge for snacks and drinks. It's great for storing doggie bags too. You might be able to get a 2 bedroom with a full kitchen for about the same as several All STars.

If the kids haven't saved their own money for 'stuff' at the Parks, we limited our to one smaller stuffed character per trip, and of course a balloon a day when she was little!!!!

I believe there are lots of ways to save and not 'cheapen' the experience.
Good luck!

 

[Bee]

Thank you all for being so helpful.. My AAA rep said that the plus food will actually save us money due to fact that we had already booked hoop de doo revue and cinderella's royal table character breakfast. I will let you know what happens. We have til Wednesday 8-10 at the latest to still pay for the cruise.. can still hope for a miracle. And, I have to pay for all the rest by the 1st of September at the lastest.

I pray and I really mean pray somehow this trip will come together. I havent been to WDW since Christmas of 89 and since we have had children every vacation has been to relatives or with relatives..

I try not to cry anymore about it.. if it happens great if not...well, let's not go there yet...

Again, Thank you all for your hints.. if anyone else also has ideas that would be awesome!

BEE

 

[lovesdumbo]

Well I would try to do some numbers on your own before believing the TA about the meal plan. Won't the dining plan cost you $115 per day? I think you can eat cheaper than that. Sure you get a lot of food for that $115 but you really don't need all that. My kids prefer counter service as well. But mine are younger than yours. You could always cancel Hoop De Doo-you can eat the same food at Trails End for less but no show and its even cheaper at lunch($40 vs $150 for Hoop De Doo). We went for lunch last year and it was a great escape from the park for a few hours. Nice boat ride from MK and we took the kids on a pony ride ($3 each). Lunch doesn't have ribs so we're trying dinner this year (16.99 adult/7.99 child vs $50 adult/$25 kid for Hoop De Doo but Hoop $ include tax & tip) Then we are taking a carraige ride which leaves from right there for $30 for 1/2 hour.

Can you switch to a room only reservation? Then you only have to pay a 1 nights deposit and can cancel up to 5 days in advance and pay the balance at check in. Can you get a AAA discount on the room?

I'm staying at ASMo for the first time in 3 weeks and using ME for the first time also. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Bee]

Thank you.. We are still trying to decide about the meals plan. I dont want to give up Cinderella's royal table for sure. May just pay for that and then eat lightly. We have decided to go ahead with the cruise at least that is what I think we have decided . We have downgraded from a stateroom with a veranda to an inside small stateroom. We had already paid the deposit so, We found downgrading we will save 640.00. So, now we only have to come up with about 900 and some change to get to go on the cruise.. Much better then the 1610 I was going to have to pay by Wednesday. Then I have to come up with another 1k by the end of the month. I figure we wont be in the room much on a 3day cruise anyway.

We also dropped from cbr to a value resort still trying to decide what resort to go to.. hubby is now considered permantly disabled due to his fall of the ladder. Not sure how his foot will do walking so much so will depend on transportation a lot to and from the parks.

If any body has any suggestions on which value resort to choose.. We are still open to options.

Thanks, a hopeful, BEE

 

[lovesdumbo]

Well I will let you know what I think of ASMo. I've read great things about Pop but I think my DS(4) will enjoy (understand) the icons at Movies more. I asked the CM when I called CRO what he thought of ASMo vs Pop and he said he like ASMo better because of the pool. I really believe you can have a great trip with a value vs mod. All you're giving up is table service dining (which you can do at the parks) and a slide in the pool. I'm sure your girls will still have a great trip without the slide.

Sounds like you guys really need this trip.

 

[DawnaJean]

We've stayed at ASMo and my DDs loved it. The pool was great and the food court pretty good too! Keep Cindy's as a special treat....I think the girls will love eating in the castle. Here's hoping some unexpected cash comes your way....

Dawna

 

[Bee]

*****update as of 8-11-05******
We have now paid for cruise portion. Downgraded to an inside cabin and the smallest available.. saving about $650.00. So now I have to come up with the other part by the end of the month. Hoping it will all work out. I will let you know.

B

 

[CinderellaIam]

I just founf this thread...glad things seem to be working out for you. Yes, it's more important to get there, the deluxe rooms, big meals, lots of souveniers are not necessary. After 10 trips, our most treasured souveniers are our pictures of us all getting along and having a great time.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you!!

 

[tn_disney_addict]

The value resorts are a wonderful place to stay! We "splurged" one year and stayed at WL and DD said "couldn't we afford to stay at a Disney hotel this time?"

!?!?!?!?!!? If it doesn't have big icons and bright colors, it isn't Disney to her! I will be doing the values from now on!

 

[disneymom727]

We stayed at the AsMo and it was wonderful. The room was kind of small but you will already be used to that from a cruise room Everything is so bright and colorful, the food court was nice with a lot of choices. I definitely recommend it. Hope things work out for you and your family. It sounds like a vacation is really what you need. Keep praying that works best of all

 

[Bee]

I am so addicted to these boards... everyone is so nice.... I wish I could say I have been there many times but.... not since 1988.. for 2 days.,. Cant wait!!

I have heard many bad things about the value resorts so thanks for the input.. maybe I wont be sad about the accomodations(spelling).

Thanks all, B

 

[disneyjunkie]

*****update as of 8-11-05******
We have now paid for cruise portion. Downgraded to an inside cabin and the smallest available.. saving about $650.00. So now I have to come up with the other part by the end of the month. Hoping it will all work out. I will let you know.

B

I had a few unexpected things pop up last spring when I was planning our trip. I just couldn't take care of those things and pay off the disney package at the same time. (We were on the dining plan)

I just booked room only and paid the deposit. Once I had the rest of the money;dining plan, tickets and room balance; I called and changed from room only to the MYW dining package. I did this about a week before the trip.

I called CRO several times to make sure this could be done. I was told that it would be fine as long as everything was done at least 7 days before checkin.

 

[J and R's mom]

How about applying for a Disney Visa card? They give you 6 months of no interest on Disney packages that you put on the card. That would give you some extra time to pay it off. Visit their site if you're interested: www.chase.com/disney. There's a link to apply three rows down after all of the sign-on sections on the left.

Your kids will LOVE the trip and truely enjoy the value resorts and the cruise. Hang in there and here's wishing you lots of luck and pixie dust.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Bee-I just bought a new digital camera (a nice small pocket size one) and have just figured out how to post pictures here. I hope to be able to take lots of photos of ASMo since I'll have 1 kid with me. Maybe that you can get excited about it if you decide to stay there.

Do you have any particular "section" (toy story, 101 Dalmations, Fantasia, ....) you want photos of? I hope to take some of the pool as I haven't seen too many photos of that on the boards.

I'm really getting excited about staying there and I know DS will LOVE it!

 

[lovesdumbo]

How about applying for a Disney Visa card? They give you 6 months of no interest on Disney packages that you put on the card. That would give you some extra time to pay it off. Visit their site if you're interested: www.chase.com/disney. There's a link to apply three rows down after all of the sign-on sections on the left.

Your kids will LOVE the trip and truely enjoy the value resorts and the cruise. Hang in there and here's wishing you lots of luck and pixie dust.

That's a great idea. I found this over on the budget board for you. Maybe they are still offering the $50 deal:

This offer was in my latest Disney Visa statement.

$50 Disney Visa Reward offer or call 877-206-9833. Key code is 6F2G11. I do not benefit from this in any way. Just wanted to pass on the savings like someone on this Board did for me! BTW,DH and I both applied for a $50 reward in June. That gives us $100 in Disney Reward dollars already!

 

[luvmy2sams]

You won't be disappointed with ASMovies. As you can tell from my signature, we've stayed there several times, and I think it will always be our sentimental favorite. To me, because of the large Disney movie icons, it is the most Disney of all the resorts. Transportation has never been a problem for us. In fact, we've had longer waits, etc. during our stays at the Wilderness Lodge.

We've booked our upcoming trip as a room only but will probably change it to a non-dining MYW package in the near future. We're planning on doing 3 character meals (Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, and CRT breakfast) and having counter service for the balance. We can do this for around $700 for a family of 4 (DS2 doesn't pay), which is much cheaper than adding the dining option. Run the numbers for yourself before taking your travel agent's word for it. You might be surprised.

Congratulations on being able to hold onto the cruise. Sounds like your family really could use some time away from the real world. Here's hoping that it all falls into place for you....Have a fabulous trip!