Maybe a little overwhelmed...

[la79al]

Okay, or a lot overwhelmed. But I have time to be. We are looking at doing Disney next June (2007). There will be 4 of us, me, DH, DS10 and DD6. We are flying down and not planning on renting a car. Right now I am looking at the All Star Movies Resort to stay at. A 7 or 8 day park hopper with water parks ticket and probably the dining plan. The part that overwhelmes me is how to get all of this for the cheapest possible price. I am reading all this stuff about codes and AAA and travel agents and specials, etc... Since I have some time, I want to be able to make this trip happen for as little as possible but still make it great. Can anyone help with this?

 

[hopesmommy]

I use www.themouseforless.com travel company. I don't like to try and find the most absolute cheapest way to get to WDW on my own. I would rather spend time on planning what we will be doing at WDW. I like this travel company because they are cheaper than WDW site and if any new deals come out after you book but before you leave, they apply it to your vacation even after you have started paying. I got the free dining last September even though my quote had me paying for it.

As for the dining plan, it is alot of food, but is well worth it. You won't have to worry with money for food at the parks. You can share the food and save the credits for later. I would have saved over $100 with the plan, but we would have been at one table service restaurant a day anyway. I enjoyed trying new items that I would not have.

Have a great trip and enjoy planning!

 

[LiteBrite]

I agree that the Dining Plan is a good deal, but only on three conditions:
1) You'd already be spending at least $38.50/adult/day (plus whatever the child's meal plan costs, can't remember right now)
OR
2) It's worth it to you to spend a little more money to get a lot more food
AND
3) Whatever you save on the dining plan won't cancel out a greater savings you might be able to get on a room discount

If you'd be paying rack rate for your resort anyway, then that last one's not a consideration. However, since you say you're looking for a way to spend as little as possible, I can tell you that it's definitely possible to eat at WDW for less than what the dining plan will cost you. You won't eat anywhere near as well or as much, but for lots of people, the dining plan gives you way too much food anyway.

My family did the dining plan last fall when it was free (which will probably never happen again), and while we enjoyed it very much, we didn't use it on our January trip because it would have cancelled out our AP room discount savings, and we knew we could get by just fine on about $30/person/day on food. We did this by eating most breakfasts in our room and having one counter service and one sit down meal per day, but not with a drink, appetizer, entree, and dessert for each person. Mostly we drink water at meals, and if we get appetizers or desserts we share them. We've found it easy to average $30 a day that way - some days may be a little more, but some days are less, so it all evens out.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

Try looking over the information on mousesaver.com.
There are ways to save money if you do your research.

 

[airtime]

Tickets are tough to save money on. Disney does not give away the gate at WDW. If you can get a price that's 5% below the direct price, you're doing well.

As for accommodations, I usually stay off-site in a timeshare, so I don't do a lot of research on that. If you're planning at staying at a Value level resort, you're probably at the mercy of whatever rack rate happens to be in force when you go. The rack rate will probably be around $105 by then, which will be about $120 after tax. You can get 10% or 15% off that with AAA, but it may be hard to do any better than that. AP discounts are good at Moderate and Deluxe resorts, but usually aren't enough to justify the AP cost at a Value resort.

Airfare? I usually drive, but I understand Southwest's DING can give some pretty good airfares. However, I'm no expert.

Tim, who admits he's a cheapskate when it comes to vacations.

 

[aviva5675]

I think part of what you have to decide for sure is about the dining plan. If you want it you have to book a package, and that leaves you a little less wiggle room on discounts. You can still get a discount for the room and book it as a package through AAA. If you dont want dining then booking separately is probably the way to go = whether thru a travel agent or on your own. Then you can get discounted tickets, and watch for rates for a room---book whenever, but keep watching for a room code, then call and ask for it, lowering the price of our room. We did this when we went 3 years ago. This time, Ive done a package with dining thru AAA.

As someone has said already reference the Dining-- if you will be eating at TS restaurants at least once a day its probably worth it...but keep in mind you will pay adult prices for your DS10.

Any good TA will get you quotes etc without obligation. And a good Disney specialist will watch for codes and discounts for you- so it depends how much you want to do on your own. Flight I'd recommend on your own.