Need help planning a spring trip for college students!

[enchantedrosex]

OK, so I have 2, possibly 3, 20-somethings including myself looking to go to Disney this Spring for a cheaply as possible.

I really don't mind spending the money on Disney because I'm basically obsessed and what better thing to spend money on than Disney...but my friends on the other hand have "responsibilities" like car payments and school and what not. HAHAH poor souls!

But really. I'm a broke college kid as well and would love to do this as affordably as possible.



When would be the best time to go?
Which month/which part of the month?
When would room rates for value resorts be the cheapest?
Would going 5 days be typically the same cost as 4 days if we were to use standard park tickets?

Any help/tips would be appreciated!!
We're looking to go in possibly May! But if anyone wants to suggest a better month to go (rate wise, not crowd wise), I'm open to anything! Thanks!!

 

[kathyinfl]

Sorry did not mean to hijack your post.
I was looking at different circumstances.


I think money and value wise a trip to WDW is just as costly as a trip to almost anywhere at that time of year. SO why not spend it at the most Magical place on Earth.

I think if you narrow down the dates, plan the room carefully, it can be a great trip. Remember the view will not nearly be as important as the park hours. Sit down meals, while nice, are overrated for the group who would rather spend 2 hours on the rides that sitting down to be waited on.
Check out the Boardwalk/Key West rental points or studio rentals, as well as Fort Wilderness. Sometimes there are some good deals. Put the word out and you may be pleasantly surprised by the friend of a friend who know a deal.

Good Luck

 

[Marionnette]

OK, so I have 2, possibly 3, 20-somethings including myself looking to go to Disney this Spring for a cheaply as possible.

I really don't mind spending the money on Disney because I'm basically obsessed and what better thing to spend money on than Disney...but my friends on the other hand have "responsibilities" like car payments and school and what not. HAHAH poor souls!

But really. I'm a broke college kid as well and would love to do this as affordably as possible.



When would be the best time to go?
Which month/which part of the month?
When would room rates for value resorts be the cheapest?
Would going 5 days be typically the same cost as 4 days if we were to use standard park tickets?

Any help/tips would be appreciated!!
We're looking to go in possibly May! But if anyone wants to suggest a better month to go (rate wise, not crowd wise), I'm open to anything! Thanks!!

How much money does a "broke college student" have to spend on a Disney trip? That will go a long way in determining whether you can even afford to go.

The best time to go is whenever you have a break in classes. It makes no sense to skip classes that you're paying big money for in order to go play in Florida. So I guess that if classes end in early May, mid-to-late May would be the best time to go.

The cheapest time to go would be during Value 1 season, which ends on Thurs. of this week. The next cheapest time to go would be Value 2, which is around the beginning of August and runs through mid-September.

5 days will not typically cost the same as 4 days because you have to pay for a place to sleep and food for your stomach for that extra day. So even if you can add one more day to your ticket for a paltry amount, the cost of everything else significantly increases the cost of that extra day.

I don't think that you want to hear any of my other suggestions. I have 3 kids in college. Disney trips (or any other expensive vacations) aren't even on the radar for them while tuition and books need to be paid for.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

OK, so I have 2, possibly 3, 20-somethings including myself looking to go to Disney this Spring for a cheaply as possible.

I really don't mind spending the money on Disney because I'm basically obsessed and what better thing to spend money on than Disney...but my friends on the other hand have "responsibilities" like car payments and school and what not. HAHAH poor souls!

But really. I'm a broke college kid as well and would love to do this as affordably as possible.



When would be the best time to go?
Which month/which part of the month?
When would room rates for value resorts be the cheapest?
Would going 5 days be typically the same cost as 4 days if we were to use standard park tickets?

Any help/tips would be appreciated!!
We're looking to go in possibly May! But if anyone wants to suggest a better month to go (rate wise, not crowd wise), I'm open to anything! Thanks!!

First off, from your tag, I'm guessing you just want to do something besides go to Gravity Falls.

With that said, I have nothing against broke college students scrumming up the money to go to Disney (this is the one time in your life when you can forgo real food, real clothes and real housing to do fun stuff without repercussions other than a lifelong profound dislike of ramen and mac 'n cheese, after all!), but your signature says you're still paying off last year's trip, and we're not exactly the most conducive crowd to ask for advice on going on one Disney trip while still paying for another Disney trip.

With that in mind, end of May is a good time to go, and if you stay in the economy rooms it isn't as expensive as a lot of Spring Break type destinations. Go to Mousesavers.com and see what discounts are available and then go to the Disney website - you can price out your various options quite easily and see what the room and tickets will cost. Food will depend on you and your fellow travelers, but if you go on the sponsors of this forum (wdwinfo.com) and the allears.net site you can get a good idea of how much food will cost in the park. You will also want to budget in a little money for fun stuff. From your trip last year, you know what t-shirts and such cost.

Also, what will be your transportation costs? Is someone with a car willing to put that car on the altar of going to Disney? In that case, how much will gas cost and what will you spend going to Disney in food? Or will you have to buy airfare? If you have to buy airfare, go on Kayak and play around with the dates and airports - you mau be able to save a bit of money that way.

If you ARE driving, going and staying just off property may also save you money - you can carb load on free breakfast at most of these places, which will save you a bit of money, and the rooms are going to be bigger, in many cases, than what you'd get in the value rooms. You'd have to figure in parking each day, but you'll more than save that in the costs of breakfasts and possibly eating supper off property a couple of nights.

 

[punkin]

How much money does a "broke college student" have to spend on a Disney trip? That will go a long way in determining whether you can even afford to go.

The best time to go is whenever you have a break in classes. It makes no sense to skip classes that you're paying big money for in order to go play in Florida. So I guess that if classes end in early May, mid-to-late May would be the best time to go.

The cheapest time to go would be during Value 1 season, which ends on Thurs. of this week. The next cheapest time to go would be Value 2, which is around the beginning of August and runs through mid-September.

5 days will not typically cost the same as 4 days because you have to pay for a place to sleep and food for your stomach for that extra day. So even if you can add one more day to your ticket for a paltry amount, the cost of everything else significantly increases the cost of that extra day.

I don't think that you want to hear any of my other suggestions. I have 3 kids in college. Disney trips (or any other expensive vacations) aren't even on the radar for them while tuition and books need to be paid for.

He he. The only way my DD20 who is in college will get to go to Disney is if she comes on a family trip. Of course, I can barely afford anything resembling a family trip right now since college tuition is a killer!

 

[msmama]

I did 2 trips during college.

For the second (my senior year) I decided to forgo all the end of college "extras." I mad the choice to spend my money on a disney trip instead of the senior events.

So...look at what's coming up school wise and decide if you'd rather use that money for Disney.

 

[enchantedrosex]

How much money does a "broke college student" have to spend on a Disney trip? That will go a long way in determining whether you can even afford to go.

The best time to go is whenever you have a break in classes. It makes no sense to skip classes that you're paying big money for in order to go play in Florida. So I guess that if classes end in early May, mid-to-late May would be the best time to go.

The cheapest time to go would be during Value 1 season, which ends on Thurs. of this week. The next cheapest time to go would be Value 2, which is around the beginning of August and runs through mid-September.

5 days will not typically cost the same as 4 days because you have to pay for a place to sleep and food for your stomach for that extra day. So even if you can add one more day to your ticket for a paltry amount, the cost of everything else significantly increases the cost of that extra day.

I don't think that you want to hear any of my other suggestions. I have 3 kids in college. Disney trips (or any other expensive vacations) aren't even on the radar for them while tuition and books need to be paid for.

We're thinking around $500-$600 a person if possible. We've been throwing around this trip for a couple of years now, but it never ends up working out because it's just hard to get a group of people to all be available at the same time. A few of us have set aside some money though. Thanks for the tips!

 

[enchantedrosex]

First off, from your tag, I'm guessing you just want to do something besides go to Gravity Falls.

With that said, I have nothing against broke college students scrumming up the money to go to Disney (this is the one time in your life when you can forgo real food, real clothes and real housing to do fun stuff without repercussions other than a lifelong profound dislike of ramen and mac 'n cheese, after all!), but your signature says you're still paying off last year's trip, and we're not exactly the most conducive crowd to ask for advice on going on one Disney trip while still paying for another Disney trip.

With that in mind, end of May is a good time to go, and if you stay in the economy rooms it isn't as expensive as a lot of Spring Break type destinations. Go to Mousesavers.com and see what discounts are available and then go to the Disney website - you can price out your various options quite easily and see what the room and tickets will cost. Food will depend on you and your fellow travelers, but if you go on the sponsors of this forum (wdwinfo.com) and the allears.net site you can get a good idea of how much food will cost in the park. You will also want to budget in a little money for fun stuff. From your trip last year, you know what t-shirts and such cost.

Also, what will be your transportation costs? Is someone with a car willing to put that car on the altar of going to Disney? In that case, how much will gas cost and what will you spend going to Disney in food? Or will you have to buy airfare? If you have to buy airfare, go on Kayak and play around with the dates and airports - you mau be able to save a bit of money that way.

If you ARE driving, going and staying just off property may also save you money - you can carb load on free breakfast at most of these places, which will save you a bit of money, and the rooms are going to be bigger, in many cases, than what you'd get in the value rooms. You'd have to figure in parking each day, but you'll more than save that in the costs of breakfasts and possibly eating supper off property a couple of nights.

That trip has indeed been pay off by now
And I've been putting away a little money each week since specifically for Disney. We did work out that flying (on Southwest) would be more worth it over driving because we live 24 hours away. Between gas and the fact that we would have to miss more school/work just to travel, we decided that flying would be all around better.

Thanks for your info!

 

[Marionnette]

We're thinking around $500-$600 a person if possible. We've been throwing around this trip for a couple of years now, but it never ends up working out because it's just hard to get a group of people to all be available at the same time. A few of us have set aside some money though. Thanks for the tips!

Check the current special offer which runs through mid-June. There's a discount on packages (room + ticket) that might make it affordable

• IF you get 4-day MYW base tickets (no hopping or waterparks) and
• IF you avoid staying on a Fri. or Sat. night and
• IF you choose a standard view room at a Value resort and
• IF your transportation costs are minimal (forget flying, you're not doing it on this budget) and
• IF you bring your own food and plan on packing lunches to eat in the parks because even with the discounted room and tickets, you might have $15/person per day to spend on food after you pay for transportation costs.

And all of that assumes that you have $600 pp to spend.

I would definitely focus on staying offsite, perhaps crashing at a friend's place if you know anyone in Orlando. 4-day MYW base tickets are going to eat up half of your budget and that doesn't leave much room for much else.

ETA: I just saw your follow-up post that you want to fly on SWA. That's not going to happen on your budget.