Newbie needs help getting this vacation budget under control!

[jenwillis212]

Hi! Fairly new here. I've been reading up on rumors for discounts for the time we are planning on going and looking for any other ways we can save some money. I am so overwhelmed!!!! We would really like to do a 10 day trip this time. Looking at Nov. 13th thru Nov. 22nd. It will be two adults and a 7 yr old. We were planning on staying at the AoA in the mermaid room and want to add the dining plan. I have noticed that AoA is left out of most specials. We would be willing to stay at another value resort for a better deal but are really hoping for the mermaid room. Was also hoping for free dining but I'm not holding my breath!
Any tips, advice or ideas on what might be discounted at that time would be appreciated. I plugged in the current deal at some of the other resorts just to see if the deals cut any of the cost and it wasn't much. So staying at a moderate with a discount didn't save me enough to validate moving to a moderate. Hope I am making sense!! Been to Disney several time but not very Disney savvy!!

 

[Marionnette]

Hi! Fairly new here. I've been reading up on rumors for discounts for the time we are planning on going and looking for any other ways we can save some money. I am so overwhelmed!!!! We would really like to do a 10 day trip this time. Looking at Nov. 13th thru Nov. 22nd. It will be two adults and a 7 yr old. We were planning on staying at the AoA in the mermaid room and want to add the dining plan. I have noticed that AoA is left out of most specials. We would be willing to stay at another value resort for a better deal but are really hoping for the mermaid room. Was also hoping for free dining but I'm not holding my breath!
Any tips, advice or ideas on what might be discounted at that time would be appreciated. I plugged in the current deal at some of the other resorts just to see if the deals cut any of the cost and it wasn't much. So staying at a moderate with a discount didn't save me enough to validate moving to a moderate. Hope I am making sense!! Been to Disney several time but not very Disney savvy!!

Here's a link to a record of past discounts, when they were announced, when they were in effect and when the offers ended. There's no guarantee that it will predict this year's discounts, but it will give you an idea of what's been offered in the past.
http://www.mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/#codechart

Being flexible with your dates and resorts will be key in being able to get those discounts. Sometimes it means that you need to be able to arrive a day earlier than planned in order to get a package deal for your entire stay. Or choosing a participating resort over your preferred resort. Or splitting your stay between a room-only reservation and a package because a package deal doesn't begin until a day or two after you plan to arrive.

 

[MomToOne]

My daughter and I both love ASMusic, which is available on just about any special. Last time we got a preferred room, and it was great - we loved being able to run to the food court just to grab a drink, etc.

To cut costs, if free dining isn't offered, I'd also consider not getting the dining plan if I were you. I find it's not worth the money for us. We're happy to plan table service restaurants just once every few days, and stick to counter service or the food court at the hotel otherwise. You can checkout menus for all of the table and counter service places at allears.net - pick a few restaurants, choose what you'd be likely to order and add up the costs to see if the dining plan would be worth it. I bring some easy breakfast foods to eat in the room, so that saves us money (and time) too.

 

[tina.tina]

We stayed at Pop before AoA opened and we loved it. To me, if you can't get FD in a LM room, I would switch to Pop. It will be so easy to walk across the bridge to look at all of the cool decorations and have a meal at AoA. Pop is cool, too.

To save money, I took breakfast and snacks with us. The kids and I discovered Mickey waffles, though, and indulged in them for breakfast most mornings at the Pop food court. I got the kids' meals a couple of other times and it saved money. We shared a couple of meals at Sunshine seasons, too. We didn't share at Cosmic Ray's but we could have easily because portions were so big- especially with the toppings bar. We took chips and drinks and had a pizza one evening and it was less than $20.

If you don't have free dining and want to do a character meal, breakfast is cheaper.

If you don't end up getting free dining, instead of getting a package you could look into tickets through undercover tourist. They have a discounted rate through mousesavers, too.

Set a souvenir budget and stick to it.

 

[tzeitel]

They have not been releasing discounts for the LM rooms at AoA, not even FD. When we stayed there last year I booked through Travelocity using Ebates. Travelocity had a 15% off discount on AoA and Ebates had some cash back (don't remember the actual percentage).
It was a split stay and I booked POR the same way - got a better deal than the 10% off Disney was offering Then I bought the tickets through Orbitz (buy 3 days get 2 free) and Ebates (10% cash back).

We could have stayed at Pop for less (and we love Pop!) but I knew DD would love the Nemo pool and the LM rooms We might go back to Pop on our next trip - the LM rooms are pretty far.

The only way the meal plan works for us now is when we plan on going to a character or family style meal a day, and it would mean moving to a mod or upgrading the QSDP. This past trip they were not offering FD for our dates so I went to Target and bought Disney cards with the Target card at 5% off.

 

[hops&dreams]

I too would look at the different ways to price it - pkg, which would make you eligible for FD if offered, or Room only, where you would buy your tickets and meals separately. If Room only, you can get a % off your room, possibly buy tickets through the YES program, and save $ by buying food OOP, and maybe even save $ on that with the Tables In Wonderland card (are they still doing that? I haven't read about it in a while.)

Every family is different, so know what you want going in and your planning should be a breeze. Also, because you're looking and planning early, you should be able to snag some sort of deal. Any deal is better than rack rate!

Best of luck to you!

 

[dalayney]

Personally, we (as a family of 4) figured and refigured and the dining plan never saved us money. We stayed in the value resorts, 10 days, got the room discount/had base tickets, and it was very affordable. Since we stayed for 10 whole days we didn't really need to park hop. For 3 people, I think the value resort rooms have plenty of space. Here are some things we did that really saved a lot of $$.

For 10 days, we had 6 reservations. (Ohana, LeCellier, Tusker House character, T-rex at DTD, 50's and Sci Fi) The rest was counter service at the parks, breakfast in our room, or in the dining hall at the resort.


We got 2 cases of bottled water, blueberry muffins, fruit, yogurt, those individual cereals, milk, o.j., granola bars, pudding, rice krispie treats, and fruit snacks. (make sure you pack plastic utencils and napkins.) We ate breakfast in our rooms 4 or 5 times for that 10 day stay. Do note that most of the time when we ate in our room, we were hungry for lunch usually earlier and ate at around 11am. But this was a very affordable option and we adored garden grocer. They have the best service!

When it came to birthday and Christmas wish lists, we started asking our family a year before the trip for Disney gift cards. We would pick one up at target every now and then too. We had over $800 by the time we took our trip.

Start looking for some little Disney gifts for your kid at the target dollar spot and other stores. They have sweet items that you can take with you and then whip them out for gifts during the trip. Walmart and other places also have cheap tshirts, etc.

Make sure to go to the dollar store and get a couple packages of the glow in the dark glow sticks, make necklaces out of them. So fun for kids while they're waiting for the firework shows! Also, pick up the plastic door shoe holder to hold all of your toiletries in your room. I also liked the pop up laundry basket to put all the laundry in , which is also just a $1

Decide now on how you want to do souvineers. And stick with it. Do you want them to have their own gift card with a set amount, and once it's used up, no more wants. At all. Or wait till the last couple days and have them pick out their prize but have a set spending limit.

The reason I'm not fond of the Disney dining plan, is you tend to plan your whole day around where you're going to eat, and if you don't use every single table service and counter service meal, ... your wasting it. There were quite a few days we didn't eat 3 big meals a day. Even my hubby. Or we split a counter service meal w/the kids as it was so big. And we had our fair share of Disney snacks at the park, oh yes!

But start doing all the other tricks for saving $$. All change goes into a change jar, every receipt where you use coupons, put that amount in your vacation fund.... etc. Those little bits add up fast and they don't "hurt", you don't really miss it.

You still have quite a bit of time to save and plan! Have a blast!

 

[DCbride]

We have a 6 yo and she loves LM rooms. So I get it. If FD is offered, you should take advantage of that for part of your trip then switch over to LM at the end. Pop and AoA are within walking distance and Disney will move your luggage. Use the FD part of the trip to plan character meals and eat quick service the rest of the time. Don't add park hopping or water parks to save. And we always bring breakfast, eat a big lunch and dinner depends on your eating style.

 

[jenwillis212]

This is all great advise! But now I have a couple more questions. I have used a travel agent in the past and was planning on going with her again. Is it better to get tickets through Undercover Tourist or can she get them for me to go with my package? Can I get everything but the tickets through her and then buy tickets from UT?
We were really spoiled on the FD last time and want to do it again mainly because it is hassle free. Even if we have to pay. We did a lot of character meals. I will be trying to figure out our meals and see if it is worth it. We were going to do more breakfasts this time to free up our evenings. Spent so much time in restaurants last time we missed a lot of the fireworks and stuff. Was thinking we could do a QS in the evening.
Last question, are the LM rooms a far walk from the bus stop and food courts? Someone mentioned it and I think I have heard that somewhere else. (I haven't learned how to do the quotes yet!!)
Thanks everyone for the tips!!!!

 

[tlh0726]

This is all great advise! But now I have a couple more questions. I have used a travel agent in the past and was planning on going with her again. Is it better to get tickets through Undercover Tourist or can she get them for me to go with my package? Can I get everything but the tickets through her and then buy tickets from UT?
We were really spoiled on the FD last time and want to do it again mainly because it is hassle free. Even if we have to pay. We did a lot of character meals. I will be trying to figure out our meals and see if it is worth it. We were going to do more breakfasts this time to free up our evenings. Spent so much time in restaurants last time we missed a lot of the fireworks and stuff. Was thinking we could do a QS in the evening.
Last question, are the LM rooms a far walk from the bus stop and food courts? Someone mentioned it and I think I have heard that somewhere else. (I haven't learned how to do the quotes yet!!)
Thanks everyone for the tips!!!!

for free dining you have to purchase at least 2 day tickets as part of the package.

You need to work all the numbers to see which option is the best for your family to go with.

As for using a travel agent, I always book myself so I can have total control over changes, reservations, etc. I do not want to rely on someone else doing things and being dissapointed.

 

[mum of two pirates]

Sent you a p.m. to much info to post here. Have a great time.

 

[disneynewbee]

We always go in November and for our family the free dining offer is always the best discount. We stay at a value with a standard room and never get park hopper or water park options. It's just not worth it for us. AoA is great but if you can't get free dining I would go with another value. We personally love ASMovies and POP. I refuse to fix my own meals on vacation no matter how simple. I'm a SAHM so I get enough of that at home. Our last trip was the first time we did just the quick service plan and we loved it. Don't think we'll ever go back to the table service again. We don't eat 3 meals a day at Disney, it's just too much food and too much time. We usually do a brunch, and then eat dinner around 5 or 6pm and snack in between. Last trip the only thing we spent money on food wise was a few extra drinks here and there.