New and soooo confused

[NicInNC]

Hello everyone! I've been scanning the boards and I'm so confused that I'm dizzy.


I'll be doing a LOT of reading on here.

I have two daughters ages 8 and almost 10. They have never been to Disney World and I decided this week that we WILL be taking them in 2008. Hubby isn't all gung-ho over it because he's had people tell him that Disney is a waste of money, but I went to Disney many times as a child (the last time I was there was in 1989) and I remember it as nothing but magical. I LOVED Disney. I want to take my kids while they are still young and have an imagination.

So here are my plans so far:

I really want to stay at one of the Disney Value resorts.

We want to stay for 6 or 7 days.

We'll be driving from North Carolina. (probably drive during the night)

I was originally planning on going the week BEFORE Thanksgiving or the first week of December of 2008. I'd like to go when it isn't very crowded. Taking the kids out of school isn't an issue for me as I believe that a Disney vacation is worth them missing some days as long as their grades are up! I would like temps to be between 70 and 80. As much as I'd love to go when the Christmas decorations are up, I'm so afraid that it will be crowded. Then again, I have a feeling that it won't be that crowded the weeks that I'm planning on going.

What are your thoughts?

Also, is there a place here that gives me an idea of the cost? I looked at another site and I'm planning on it costing close to $2,000. Does that sound too low or too high?

 

[tiggerfan1]

First of all, welcome to the DIS boards! The DIS boards were very helpful for me, but, like you, I was a bit overwhelmed with all the information. You've got a lot of time to plan, so just take the trip planning step by step. Here are some suggestions that may be helpful:
- I think that the week before Thanksgiving or the first week in December are both good times to go to WDW. I've read that the crowd levels are pretty low during both of these times (at least on the weekdays). Many of the Christmas decorations were up when I went to WDW two weeks before Thanksgiving this year. If you want to enjoy WDW in warmer weather, you'd be better off going in November.
-I've never stayed in any of the value resorts, but a lot of the other DISers say that they love the Pop Century resort. I stayed at an off-site hotel. (cheaper!)
-Unfortunately, I think that $2,000 may be a bit low (especially for 4 people staying for 6-7 days), but with some research you can find ways to save money. I recommend eating at the counter service places (instead of the table service restaurants) inside the parks, bringing your own snacks/water and (if possible) eating breakfast and/or dinner outside of the parks. Staying at an off-site hotel will also help to keep the cost down. In fact, some hotels (like the one I stayed at) even offer a FREE deluxe continental breakfast (eggs, waffles, cereal, etc.). That's one less meal to pay for!

I hope this helps. Take care and happy trip planning!

 

[kaylajr]

HI and welcome to the DIS

This is a GREAT place to learn and plan.

check out the family board and the buget board on ways to save money on your trip.

Check out the theme park attractions and strategies board
for things to do and how to do them.

Check out the resorts board and the Orlando area hotels board
on where to stay.

Your right you have lots and lots of reading to do
but research here on the Dis is FUN

I have learned that planning the trip is almost as much fun as going on the trip

Have a great time getting to know the Dis

 

[scraplady]

you will find everyone here is so nice and very helpfull. I check out the Disney Resort website http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/index you can key all your information in and it will give you a price. You don't have to book it than you can shop around. I always book and pay right thourgh the web site and have never had a problem.

 

[reelmom]

I agree with tiggerfan1. If you plan ahead, you can really save money. I would love to stay on Disney property but it is a lot of money. So we stay off-site. We eat breakfast in the room and take snacks and water to the parks. We even buy souvenirs at home and take them to the parks with us. I usually get them at the Disney store when they are on sale. Our kids are younger so we can get away with this. They have no clue. Good luck and have fun planning.

 

[Rylee]

Hi, this is long but I tried to cover the basics for you -

*Prices are to the best of my mathematical ability* hehe

I highly recommend staying on property at a Disney resort. Since your husband isn't keen on the idea of a Disney vacation, this will make it as stress free as possible... no driving in traffic, worrying about directions, etc. It also allows you the extra perks, such as entry to the Extra Magic Hours in the parks. So...

Accommodations -
The room rates at the values will be about $99/night during the month of Nov., and will drop to $82/night on Nov. 30 - Dec. 18. That's a difference of $17 per night.

Also, the difference between a standard room or preferred room (refers to location only) will be about $81 for a 6 night stay.

Watch for special discount codes to be released or make a room only reservation with a AAA discount (15 to 20% off rack rates), or book through AAA for a package.

Tickets -
Magic Your Way Base tickets for 7 days, for your family will be $839. (832 for 6 days) You can save money by NOT buying hopper passes or adding the water park option. (For a family of 4, park hoppers adds $180, water park option adds $200 and a combination of both adds $380 to the cost of Magic Your Way base tickets.) Stick with the MYW base ticket. There is enough to see and do in one park per day, especially since your family members have never visited before.

Package for room and tickets -
For your family, booking between 11/30 - 12/18, 6 nights at a value resort in a standard room, with 7 day MYW base tickets, the cost is about $1,450.

Food -
Beyond the room and ticket expense, you have to eat! The DDP (Disney dining plan) would cost your family $124 X the number of nights you stay. (3 adults @ $37.99, since one of your daughters is 10 or over, and 1 child @ $9.99) The DDP changed for 2008, it no longer includes an appetizer or tip at the table service restaurants. It includes 1 counter service meal, 1 table service meal and 1 snack per day, for each of you. You can only add the DDP when purchasing a package. If you don't choose the DDP, I would budget, at least, $100 a day for meals.

Package for room, tickets and dining -
Dining for your family of 4, for the length of your stay is $744, added to the $1,450, totally approximately $2194 for room, tickets and food.

We like the DDP, we like having our meals paid for in advance and my husband still thinks its a good deal for us. (I would be miserable eating fast food for an entire week. I also like knowing my family eats at least one good meal a day and it is a nice and much needed break from touring the parks all day. We do 1 table service meal a day, whether we have the DDP or not.) You know your own family and their eating habits and will need to decide what's the best value for your family.

Go to the allears site and view the menus. Guesstimate what your family would typically order and figure the cost of a couple of meals. If you can eat as you like, for under $124 per day, consider paying out of pocket. Since you are driving, you also have the option of going off Disney property for your meals, although this will cost time and be less convenient.

Some cost saving tips... since you are driving, bring some items from home... breakfast foods are a good idea and can be eaten while taking turns getting ready... pop-tart, cereal or granola bars, fruit snacks, mini cereal boxes (buy milk at the resort as needed), etc. Also bring juice boxes and water. You can rent a frig at the value resorts, but if you are only trying to keep drinks cold, a cooler works well. At counter service meals, consider ordering, for example... 2 sandwiches and 2 combo meals, or 4 sandwiches and only 2 or 3 orders of fries, etc. When we do this, believe me, no one goes hungry. In fact, I find I am still throwing away fries, salad, etc.

I can't comment about Nov. and Dec. weather, as I haven't visited at that time. We are planning our first Dec. trip for 2008.

Have a great time.

 

[NicInNC]

Thank you so much everyone!

Rylee,
Our family does a bit of camping (we own a pop up), so we're pros at packing food. I had already planned on packing all our breakfasts, snack foods and plenty of other food. We own a 4.6 cubic foot fridge with small freezer area in it that we can bring. I never thought of bringing that until you mentioned renting one!

I also didn't realize that the Magic Your Way allows you to visit any park. We really don't have to go to various parks each day. I figured two days at Magic Kingdom and one at each of the others.

I'm so excited and next November seems sooooo far away! But it's giving me plenty of time to finish saving (I've already got $900 saved!).

I don't plan on buying souveniers there. I've already been looking on ebay for autograph books, mouse ears, etc.

I'm still not sure about the meal plan. When I was younger, we never ever ate inside Disney. We always left to eat at the hotel (many times, we had a cooler in the car and ate in the parking lot!) and then we'd go back to the parks. I'm thinking that if we stayed on a Disney property, it might not be that inconvenient. It's something I need to research more. Do the rooms at Pop Century have microwaves in them? Can we bring our own if they don't?

Phew. I have a lot to think about.....

 

[Rylee]

Hi NicInNC,

We're campers, too, although I've never camped at Disney.

Yes, next Nov/Dec seems really far away. We usually go to Disney in February or April but we want to see the Xmas decorations so we are looking at the same 2 weeks your are. Have you decided which week you are going? I like the idea of going in November, so it doesn't interfere with all the holiday preparations at home, but the first 2 weeks of December is cheaper. I'll make our decision and book it in January. (Pop Warner, football and cheerleaders are there in the beginning of December and stay in some of the value resorts.)

When you stay at Disney, your MYW tickets will be on your room key (Key to the World, kttw). For your family, 3 adults and 1 child (mine too, as I think only my 2 youngest children will be going on our next trip) 5 day base tickets (entry to one park per day) will cost $824, 6 is $832, and 7 is $839. Since the longer you stay, the less it cost per day, I recommend buying the maximum amount of days you think you can use. Since you don't plan on buying hopper tickets, as your trip gets closer, check the park calendars for which park has the extra magic hours... attractions are only open for guest staying at Disney hotels, and plan on visiting the park with the extra hours, on that day. (If you go to Epcot and MK has the EMH, you won't be able to enter MK to take advantage of the EMH.)

Since you are able to bring food from home, or go to the grocery store (We fly in from NY) the DDP might not be right for you. Perhaps you could do a combination of preparing your own, eating some counter service, and going off property for a couple of meals. Maybe you could splurge on a nice table service meal and/or a character meal for the girls. If you choose eat at one of the popular restaurants or a character meal, make sure you make advance dining reservations (ADR).

The value resorts don't have microwaves in the rooms, but I ?believe? there is one in the food court area. I could be wrong, but somewhere in my memory, I seem to remember someone popping pop corn. I don't know if you are allowed to have one in the room.

I helped 4 different friends plan their first Disney vacations for their families this past year... All flew in, used Magical Express to/from the airport, Disney transportation around the World, the DDP with ADR, fast passes, etc. and although it all came off without any problems, all said the first day was very confusing, but by the second day they felt like pros! Once you decide when you are going and book your hotel room, relax and enjoy the planning, study maps of the parks and read about the attractions and shows to decide which are not to be missed for your family. Two very helpful sites are "mousesavers" - clear explanations and many tips and "allears" - view menus and resort maps with pictures, etc.

 

[RussellDisney]

If you are not going to do the dining plan, I would recommend booking your room separate from your park tickets. That way, you can still book discounted rooms (AAA, etc.) and use a discount ticket broker. I would highly recomend signing up for the mousesavers newsletter. It comes by email on the 15th of every month and has TONS of savings and special offers. It usually contains a special, super-secret link to undercover tourist, which has special savings for mousavers newsletter readers on park tickets. It really is a wonderful savings. Once you check-in at Disney, you can have the separate tickets put onto your room key and avoid having to keep up with tickets and room keys.

Since you camp, have you considered Fort Wilderness?

 

[lovetoscrap]

It sounds like you and I have the same budget minded style. I have been several times as a family of 4 and I think your budget sounds reasonable. Here is what I do.

First of all if you haven't done it as recommended above: sign up for the Mousesavers newsletter. It is a great newsletter.

We stay in the Value resorts. My favorite is All Star Movies. Just a personal choice. As someone pointed out it will be cheaper to go the first week of December so make that your choice. I always choose the cheaper "season" to visit. Your crowds will be fine then.

You may be able to get a discount off of the "rack rate" for that time period. Watch the Mousesavers website and the Codes and Rates board here.

Since you are driving you can bring things that will help your budget. Bring water bottles and sodas and juice boxes and snacks and breakfast foods.

Room and ticket prices are "known" expenses. You can figure those out pretty quick. Ticket prices are likely to increase between now and then so as soon as you can afford it you might want to go ahead and buy your tickets when you can get them. Mousesavers has several deals you can get through their newsletter that are better than buying through Disney. I recommend that route.

Your "unknowns" are food and souviniers. Here is how we cut food costs. We eat breakfast from the food we bring. I bring dry cereal in baggies, granola bars, and other grab and go things my kids and I like. We drink juice or soda. It is vacation. I don't worry about getting them a hot breakfast with milk. One week of not healthy meals won't kill anyone.

We get going EARLY! The best way to beat the crowds, any time of year is to be up and at the park BEFORE it opens. You can get more rides done with less crowds in the first 3 hours of park opening than any other time. With young children they are usually up early anyway to just take advantage of it.

So we get up and get ready and eat our breakfast in the room or on the way to the bus. We have driven to WDW, but just find it easier to let Disney do the driving. We parked the van and didn't start it again until we left. Again, personal decision. Parking at the Theme parks is free if you are a resort guest so if you prefer to drive yourselves you save that expense. We ride rides for 3 or 4 hours until the crowds start to grow and we get hungry. Then we get a big lunch. Usually that is around 11:00-12:00. We usually go to a counter service (fast food) place. That is really enough to fill us up for quite a while and the average price is a bit less than $10 per person. Less for kids meals and also if you share drinks or bring your own water bottles and just drink those.

Then we are good for the day. We do bring snacks. Trail Mix, crackers, peanuts, etc.. and water bottles and juice boxes. Despite anything you may read or hear Disney DOES allow food in the parks. You are welcome to bring in snacks and juice. Security does a bag check before you enter the parks, but they are looking for weapons and alcohol, NOT for goldfish crackers!

We eat our snacks when someone gets hungry. Sometimes we sit and take a break, sometimes we just eat them in line. Usually that holds us until dinner--around 6 or 7 in the evening. Again, we do a quick service meal.

Realize that Disney has a lot of quick service choices. You will not be limited to burgers, pizza, and chicken tenders all week unless that is what you choose. In fact our last trip I think we only had those things once the entire time. You can look at the menus on this site and at Allearsnet.com to see the menus and the prices. That will also help you to get an idea of your budget.

I usually plan one or 2 sit down meals, usually a character meal and another fun meal (50's Prime Time or Whispering Canyon are Favorites). That is one of our "splurges". We also plan to have a few fun snacks. You have to have a Mickey Bar! And some Popcorn. So just know going in that you will be buying snacks maybe 3 days. And remember you can share them.

I really don't recommend the Dining Plan unless you want to spend a lot time eating on your trip. There is a lot of food and if you are on a budget and don't really feel the need to eat at a sit down restaurant every day then it just isn't necessary. With young kids and for a first trip with them I suspect you will be like us and will be focusing on the fun of the rides and shows and not on eating. We went for free Dining last year and probably rode half the rides we usually do because of the need to be at different places at certain times to eat. And we didn't use all the credits that we got. I really didn't think it would be a good value for my park touring style. Another personal choice.

So, on to souviniers. Never say never. Instead just plan a budget, just in case. It helps avoid tears, tantrums or overload. I give my girls $25 each in CASH. Very tangible for them to see what they have to spend and when it is all gone. They know they can spend it on whatever they want, but when it is gone that is it. And this includes extra Mickey Bars. Decide what might be reasonable for your family and allow yourself a little to spend. It is part of the fun and magic to bring back some fun.

Finally, visit the Tips and Budget boards here to get all sorts of ideas on things to help you save money and have a great trip. Oh, and you might also visit http://www.themouseforless.com/ .

Feel free to let me know if you would like any other tips or ideas on how I tour on a budget.

 

[NicInNC]

OMG, I am even MORE overwhelmed now! I do appreciate all the tips and advice. WOW! I am having trouble figuring out how to sign up for the mousesavers newsletter.

 

[lovetoscrap]

OMG, I am even MORE overwhelmed now! I do appreciate all the tips and advice. WOW! I am having trouble figuring out how to sign up for the mousesavers newsletter.

Try this link for the newsletter:
http://www.mousesavers.com/newsletter.html

The link to click is at the top of their home page in the yellow box on the right.

Sorry you are so overwhelemed. It certainly can seem overwhelming at first. Take a deep breath and relax! This is FUN! You will get tons of varying opinions here on how to do things. You have to just read and think about what you think will work best for your family and your travel/life style.

Ask specific questions. Here and on the other boards. Go to the library and get some books on WDW. And remember that no matter what you will have a great time.

 

[Kim in SPR]

Hi Nic,

Since you are driving, I might recommend visiting one of the Wal-mart stores or one of the Disney stores in the outlets - I know the Premium outlet has one and I think (and someone here will know, I'm sure) that Lake Buena Vista outlet has another. These are GREAT places to get t-shirts, pins, etc. before you visit the parks. This will lessen the temptation to splurge while you're there. The first year we went, my DD, then 8, loved collecting pressed pennies from the parks. Nice and cheap - 51 cents a piece plus a few bucks for the book to keep them in! This year (now 11) she went a little more expensive with pins but we bought her 6, three from the outlet stores at about $5 each and three from the parks at about $7 each. She had SOO much fun trading and having a new pin every time that she didn't bother me for much more. I think we may have picked the lanyard up at the flea market we visited the first day for about $3. The flea market also had pens, autograph books, and tons of t-shirts but I like the T's at Walmart or the outlets a little better.

As for the meals... we ate a lot of counter service. The kids meals are a very healthy serving. I found that one each was more than enough for me and DD11. They also come with cute little Mickey plates that we kept for souveniers the first year. We would eat them for a late lunch then have some popcorn later (also comes in a cute souvenier bucket) and eat a late supper outside the park - all except MK when we ate just before the fireworks because they were later.

There are LOTS of ways to cut costs and still have an awesome time. I love just being in the atmosphere which you can do for free at downtown Disney or at the resorts. We stayed at POP one year and spent lots of time just walking around and admiring the HUGE toys! One of my kid's and my favorite memories was when we left MK after Wishes and it was a chilly (like 55). When we got back to POP, we saw steam rising from the heated pool and people swimming. Even though it was like 11pm, I said "LETS GO!". It was awesome! These are the things that make great memories. You'll have fun no matter what!

 

[pepperw23]

he's had people tell him that Disney is a waste of money

Welcome to the Dis.

Two words for ya with regard to those "people"----Duct Tape. I believe that is legal.

 

[NicInNC]

Well, I'm back and my crazy self has decided that I want to go in just a few weeks. January 20-27. Have I lost my mind?

We want to save as much money as possible, so I've been searching since yesterday for an off-site hotel that offers free breakfast buffet. That way we can fill up at breakfast, pack a lunch in a cooler in the car, eat a picnic lunch in the parking lot (that's what we always did when I was a kid and we went to Disney) and then go out to eat offsite for supper. We will pack all our snacks.

Any more help will be appreciated!

 

[chappellfamily]

Hi NicInNC!
We are from NC as well, we are going 5 times this coming year. Just wait... you will be hooked!! We joined the DVC last year and with year round schools in Raleigh, we take advantage of track out breaks.
Hope you have a magical time!