Needing some guidance

[Mickeys_Helper]

Hi all! This is my first post here so if my question appears redundant, just bare with me!

I recently have become a DIS nut. I owe it all to my wife and I suppose this is a really good thing. Honestly, I used to think I wanted to spend time in islands sipping on frozen cocktails and basically spending money and renting things.

Now I can think of no where else I would rather go on vacation. The thought of taking my family somewhere else doesnt even hit the radar screen. So, now Im burdened with the task of getting the biggest bang for our buck. Thats where you come in.

I want to take my family to WDW twice a year for a week at a time. The goal, obviously, is to stay on property. The problem is I can only justify spending $5K a year for both trips.

Can anyone offer any suggestions of where to stay (on property)? Is there a 'good' time to purchase? Do discounts ever come out? Is there an advantage to purchasing way in advance? Should I consider the Time Share program?

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer!

Bob

 

[Selket]

Welcome to the DISboards! How many folks are in your family? I think getting an annual pass to the parks could be your best bet (other than time share - that I don't know - you have the up front cost and the yearly maintenance cost plus park tickets). An annual pass (AP) gets you into the park for a year and often there are discounts offered to AP holders for the onsite hotels. The AP price for an adult is $403 and for children 3-9 it is $347 or thereabouts. That doesn't get you into the water parks - that AP is more.

But how many are there in your family?

 

[Maddle]

Check out Mousesavers for fabulous money-saving news and tips. Sign up for the newsletter for select deals. (whoo-hoo)

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We do need to know the size of your family, and if you will drive or fly; and if flying, will you rent a car.

Best wishes for meeting your goal.

Maddle

 

[Grendel]

The annual passholder recomendation is a good one as youll get several dicounts on rooms and other items. 5k will probably be a bit tight...but if your one of those people that can micro manager everything I'm sure you might be able to do it. Most people might tell you that you'll be limited to All-Start resorts there will be Deluxe Resorts that will fit into your budget during certain times of the year( AKL and WL for sure ). But like everyone says it depends on how many, wethere your driving or flying etc.

Good Luck.

 

[Mickeys_Helper]

Thanks for the welcome!

Our immediate family consists of my Wife, two boys (ages 3 & 5) and myself. However, at least for one of the trips, I can expect to bring my 3 daughters who are currently living 'elsewhere'

So, for one trip, its just the 4 of us. (by the way, we leave tomorrow for WDW!!!!!!! I cant seem to get the count down clock to work!)

For the other trip, it would be a total of 8 (did i mention my oldest daughter gave me a grand daughter for Xmas last year?)

We will be driving as the flight expense would be just too much.

I hope this gives you enough information now. Can anyone tell me why my count down clock doesnt wanna work?

Thanks again,

 

[all4fun]

Have you considered the Disney Vacation Club? If you truly are planning two weeks per year at WDW then this might be a very good way for you to save money on accomodations. Also, it offers flexibility because if some day you decided you wanted to take a Disney Cruise or just go someplace else, you can trade your points and do something different (although I understand that isn't what you want right now, but who knows what the future holds, right?). Also, since you would be staying in a home-away-from-home resort (on property, no less), you can cook all or some of your meals in your villa which is another money-saver. You should check out the DVC board for more info and you can also check out their site . My DH and I bought points at the Boardwalk Villas in 1999 and loved it so much that we also bought a contract in 2002 at Old Key West. We took a Disney cruise with our points in 2000 and plan on taking another soon (haven't nailed down dates yet but we really want to go). Anyway, I just thought I would mention that since it sounds like something you could really benefit from.

Oh, and Disney offers very reasonable financing if you go through them, however you can find some really good deals on DVC contracts through resalers as well. Check out the DVC board here - you can get a lot more information about that there.

HTH!

 

[fam4jc]

Hi, and welcome! I am so glad to hear you love WDW and share that with your children! You can definately do two trips a year at 5 thousand but it wil be tough. The DVC is a great way to go IF you can afford to purchase enough points for one of your weeks to be in a larger Home Away from Home. Check out the points calculator on the dis site. I think there is a link from the main page.

The other options could be for the week when all 8 of you are going is to camp. Do you like to camp? Disney's campground is just great. During value season a partial hook-up site is about $40/night. That way you can all be together (camping makes GREAT memories) on site and save some money by cooking some of your own meals. The second trip can be at any of the hotels if you watch for the big discounts.

Have a wonderful trip. We leave next week for the Poly!
fam4jc

 

[Jacksmom99]

I also think DVC is something you should look into. The points system will allow you flexibility for each of your trips from a studio with a small kitchenette to a 2 or 3 bedroom with a full kitchen, living room and washer/dryer (a big help with kids!!) By all means, check out the DVC boards or take the tour on your next trip.