Not sure if this is thr right place...

[DisneyLandMan]

Ok i hate to be the guy who asks the same repetitive questions about pricing, but im in a bind. I am planning a trip to disney for myself(28), and 2 of my younger brothers(20 & 13.) I am trying to do this as cheap as possible, as I am going to vegas literally 3 weeks before this for my cousins bachelor party.

Anyway I am trying to make this happen between october 20, and october 27 this year. ive looked up flights individually and they seem to be in the range of 200 per person which isnt horrible from newark to mco.

But from here im in a world of cluelessness. I am just trying to do this as inexpensively as possible. im not sure what the dining plans and everyting mean so i was wondering if anyone can maybe help me here with some ideas. not sure whether to stay on or off property. rent a car or not. dining plan or not. my mind is racing and i feel like there are way too many options.

Any help out there? I'm desperate. lol. Any responses would be MUCH appreciated.


And for the low down on the story, i have been a few times the past few years. neither of my brothers has ever even flown much less been to disney. and the 13 year old is going through a lot lately and i just wanna surprise him with this. so again, ANY help at all is much appreciated.

 

[ashleyasiegel]

I would suggest a value resort onsite (All Stars or Pop Century). Then you can take Magical Express from the airport and use bus transportation which saves on rental car.

For me I think the Dining Plan is not worth the money but I rarely do a sit down meal. We don't like to be tied to reservations and just prefer to eat at counter service resturants. It takes around 1.5 hours to eat at sit down so that is time not in the parks.

 

[Tinkerbelle32]

O.K., if you are trying to do this on a budget I would skip the dining plan. For example, the quick service dining plan would give you two counter service meals/2 snacks per day. Also a refillable resort mug. It would be $30 per person per day. In my opinion, you could eat cheaper on your own. Take your breakfast and eat it in your room. Ideas-Bagels, pop-tarts, muffins, pastry, etc. Then a burger and fries, with drink would run you roughly $8-9 per meal at the parks. Take some snacks and eat them throughout the day. Trail mix, granola bars, fruit, chips, etc. You can also save money by drinking water with your meals instead of soda. Disney will always give you a free glass of ice water. If you had a car, you could leave the resort and eat at McDonalds, etc. That would also help with costs.
Now for the onsite/offsite issue. In October you will be in the "regular" season, which means a value resort will run you $105 a night. You could find an offsite hotel cheaper, but then you lose out on extra magic hours, and disney transportation to and from the parks. If you rent a car and stay offsite don't forget you will have to pay to park each day. I think it's around $12 a day at the theme parks. You could always book a room onsite and hope for some type of discount, extension of free dining dates, etc. Do you have AAA, or a member of the military? Those could also be used for room discounts. I guess what it boils down to is what is your absolute budget. If it needs to be as cheap as possible, I would plan on staying offsite and finding a hotel with provided shuttle service to the parks. This would help with not having to rent a car. Get your basic park passes, without park hoppers. Take some food with you and have a great time!! If you need more help please feel free to pm me. Good luck! jennifer

 

[mistysue]

If the three of you can handle two beds, I would stay onsite to avoid the rental car and just make your lives a bit easier for the week.

During that time, the value resorts are at $105/night rack rate. They don't currently have any promotions during that time, but if you were to book and one comes out you can get it applied. If you were to book now, just keep an eye on the site and call as soon as you see an offer.

Without a ton of planning I think most people only come out ahead with the dining plan during free dining. If the free quick service dining gets extended through October, I think the value resort rack rate with the quick service dining will be your best deal. Essentially that will mean that you are paying $105/night for a room, two meals and snacks per person per night and three refillable mugs. (value of meals and snacks would be aprox $90/night) If it isn't free or discounted, I wouldn't do the dining plans. Chances are you will save OOP unless you are big on getting the most expensive meal and dessert at every chance you get.

 

[Taja]

You are a terrific big brother for even thinking about doing this for your siblings!

Okay, you gave the dates of 10/20/10 - 10/27/10. Are you planning staying at WDW for all 7 nights or were those just dates in your time frame?

Here are some random thoughts to get you planning:

1. WDW value resorts (All Star Resorts & Pop Century Resort) will be your least expensive on-site option. I would recommend booking at rack rate (or AAA rate if you happen to be a member) as soon as your flights are booked. Then you can watch for a general public discount code--usually between 30% and 40% and apply it at that time. In recent years, it seems the value resorts tend to have the lower discount rate--but everything helps!

2. All three of you are considered "adults" for ticketing and dining purposes at WDW. So you would need to determine how many "days" you would be at WDW for ticket purposes. Once you reach 5 days, the cost difference per day is pretty minimal. And I would use base tickets (1 park per day), rather than hoppers. That would allow you to return to the same park the same day, if you left for some reason.

3. Dining Plan. Unless your goal is to prepay--or if they happen to extend free dining--you may or may not save money using the dining plan. If you do elect to purchase it, you have to purchase a "package" including room, tickets and the dining plan of choice. And I'm thinking you might have to pay rack rate for the room to book the package--I'm sure someone will be along with better information on this. If you elect a dining plan, for three young men, I would suggest the QSDP (Quick Service--aka Counter Service--Dining Plan), which includes two QS meals, two snacks and one refillable mug per person. TS (table service) dining can be a bit pricey, but if the budget allow, you might want to book one or two meals. As a rule, breakfast and lunch tend to be less expensive then dinner. I tend to think the three of you would prefer to spend more time with the attractions--or even at your resort pool--than sitting down to a lot of meals!

4. While staying on site might be more expensive than staying off site, you would have the advantage of DME (Disney Magical Express) transportation to/from MCO (Orlando International Airport), as well as WDW transportation on property. That would eliminate the need to rent a vehicle and the restrictions of using hotel shuttles (usually for a fee) that frequently shorten your park hours so you can't see the evening finales--and rarely make rope drop (if you choose!).

Visiting WDW isn't cheap--even though it is possible to minimize the costs to a certain extent. Breakfast in your room (pack or ship some non-perishables and/or use grocery service), take some snacks into the parks and be sure to pack or ship everything you might need (sunscreen, sunglasses, etc.) so you don't have to pay exhorbitant resort prices.

You can go to disney.com and play around with the options--booking individual components vs. package--and see how things come out. If you register, you can save your options for comparison.

I'm sure some others will have some ideas for you.

Have fun planning! Hope it works out for you and your brothers!

 

[amberjack]

Have you signed up for the mousesavers newsletter yet? Use their Undercover Tourist link to buy your tickets in advance. They have lots of other money saving tips and discounts available. Have fun!

 

[robinb]

I will buck the trend and suggest against staying at a WDW Value resort. AT $105 it's simply too pricey for a tiny room and 2 male adults and a teen. You would be stepping all over each other. According to the main DIS page (http://www.wdwinfo.com/) the Buena Vista Suites are available for $88 per night for a Queen Suite. You'll each get a bed (2 queens and a fold out couch) and you will get free breakfast every morning. They also off a shuttle, although I don't know how good it is. You will probably still need a car but you may not have to drive into the parks. Even if you do (and pay parking) a 2-room suite with breakfast is still cheaper than a tiny hotel room.

You can also look at vrbo.com to find a cheap condo that will include a kitchen which will make meals easier and cheaper.

 

[mrsklamc]

Can't believe so many mentions of onsite when he said he's looking for the CHEAPEST option. You can even do way better than $88 for an offsite hotel or condo.

Yes, staying on site 'saves' on a rental car and parking but you can MORE than make up for that with the far less expensive food and lodging off site- and having your own car burns less of your valuable park time than waiting on buses, if you stay somewhere close like Windsor Hills.

I do suggest that you go request the planning DVD though- I did that about two weeks ago and got a PIN for 40% off for that time frame in my email this week- that's the ONLY way onsite MIGHT be cheaper.

 

[sarah4770]

Are your dates flexible?
Discounts usually come out for the week after thanksgiving or from aug til october 1st.

 

[Evi]

hrm here is my opinion and I'm a die hard stay on site person but here goes.

here are two scenarios you can go with.

Stay off site. You can get a very nice hotel room for 80$ at like a Raddison and I'm sure people on here can even suggest better off site deals but still stay somewhere decent you don't want your vacation to be miserable. You can get a rental car for the week and then you can buy breakfast supplies at the market and eat breakfast in your hotel room. You'd also be able to eat dinner and stuff outside of the parks. Having the car means you can also do things offsite if you so inclined. Though your looking at expense of car rental, parking at the parks and gas fees.

Or

Stay onsite. Consider camping I know sounds quirky but your a group of young guys and camping only costs $44 a night to stay in disney wilderness campground a very fun place. Consider you can buy a decent tent pack it well and as long as its under 50 lbs it will be your carry on luggage for one of you (emphasis on packing it well) or maybe you could rent one not sure about that you'd need to check the camping board. You can rent a cart from one off disney site for a fraction of what disney charges (I think a week rental is like 240$) or use that towards renting a car but I hear the walks can get long without a cart and then take advantage of disney transportation to go back and forth through the parks. Since your camping you'll be able to cook whatever you want at your campsite. I do think this could really be a fun option for three brothers. I'd read up on the camping boards and see what your brothers think. I think you could put together a package if your tenting with park tickets or maybe look into triple A. You could plan it well and buy or borrow a few air-mattresses. Maybe consider driving down instead of flying you could take turns driving and instead of paying 600$ plus on airfare budget a couple of hundred on gas. You could pack all your supplies, be able to camp in style and then your not paying for a rental car. If you had your own car you could also pick up grocery supplies offsite saving you money on food and if your staying onsite you don't have to pay to park at the parks if you choose to drive instead of taking transportation. If you are going to try camping bring extra tarps you can never have enough tarps.

I didn't really read what everyone else posted so If any of this was repetitive sorry.

I'm sure you'll work this out and have a fabulous time.

 

[DisneyLandMan]

wow i love this board. thank all of you who have responde dthus far. i shoudl clarify a few things. ideally i wanna stay 6 nights and 7 days. last year when i went with my gf, i booked a red roof inn off property cuz it was 29 a night which i thought was amazing. but when we got there, the room was hideous. it smelled horrible and it was literally a bed and a night stand, not even a dresser. So we drove around searching for something cheap but at least semi decent. and we landed on the orlando vista hotel. which was pretty nice. wasnt 5 star, but it was clean, room was pretty big and it was 50 a night.

im thinking having a rental car would be an extra cost, but then we wouldnt need the meal plan, and therefore we could eat off property and save money. a place with free breakfast would also be a huge help too. i think parking was 13 a day last year, so that will immediately be an added 91 bucks for parking. so i am in such a tossup position. i hate this dilemma.

i wanna do this as cheap as possible, but i dont wanna stay in a gross hotel.

ive thought about driving down as well, but i would not drive my car that far as that trip is not something i wanna put on my baby. but maybe an unlimited mileage rental, but then gas and its still up there. god i hate this. lol

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

Since I own a timeshare (not DVC), I have a lot of off-site experince. The deal breaker between on-site and off-site could be the rental car. You need to look at rates first, they have been through the roof lately. Here is what I do...

Go to Orbitz and put in the dates, just to get an overview of who is the cheapest
Go to mousesavers.com and they have a page for each rental company and codes/coupons
Go to the rental companie's website and start trying all the codes.
Repeat after a few days, I have saved a lot by just checking back at a later time.

For an offsite hotel- sign up for travelzoo.com and look back there daily. I needed a hotel for 2 nights back in Feb and got the Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista for $29 a night. Hotel was just refurbished and was great for the money!

 

[mrsklamc]

If putting the miles on your car is your concern about driving, you might think about renting a car from your home location and then driving it down.

I am a HUGE fan of priceline for rental cars. Our last trip (Jan 2010) we rented a minivan for $200 for a week, including tax.

Send an inquiry to Windsorhillsrent.com about a condo- this place is VERY close and you will be sending your request to all the owners who participate on this site. Make it clear you are looking for a deal, and I bet someone will be willing to work with you.

Another option I heard about once (and will try to find for you again) was something to the effect of being able to go to a visitor information place (maybe the convention and visitor's bureau? and they had a book with same-day specials for local hotels. I read this quite awhile ago and I have no idea if it's a valid option.

I am typically a huge fan of priceline for hotel rooms too but my concern in the orlando area is getting hit with a 'resort fee' of up to $25 a day that you have no knowledge of until you show up.

 

[jll45]

First off, I just want to say Hi! I grew up in Red Bank! Right off Prospect Ave. in Tower Hill!!!!! I think it's great that you want to take your brothers to Disney and will give you the best advice that I have for Disney on a budget (the only way I go).

Airfare: Have you thought about flying Spirit out of Atlantic City? I recently found airfare for super cheap for my trip in August. $92 each roundtrip. I know that people are cautious about them because of the recent strike but it's the only airline that I fly and I've never had any problems with them.

Use Magical Express. It's free. You can't get any cheaper than that.

Hotel: Because your younger DB is 13, I would suggest All Star Sports. He will love it. It is one of the value resorts.

Dining Plan: If you want to prepay most of your meals go with the Quick Service Dining Plan. You can pay OOP for one or two TS meals if you choose but I think the 3 of you will be more interested in the rides than sitting down for 1 1/2 hours eating a meal. It is a great plan for people on the go. It may not be a great value but it limits the amount of money spent while you are down there.

Let me know if you have any questions. I'm always willing to help someone from my hometown!

 

[clutter]

I'm with jll45, if you're on-site. All-stars sports, you can get a rollaway for $10 or $15 more/night. Here's what I'd do. Book it now, but room only. See if a good discount comes up. If not, you can add the tickets/meal plan before you leave. That will pretty much mean that everything is paid for up front except souvies.

You could go ahead and book something off-site as well. With room only, you aren't usually hit with cancel/change fees until closer to your trip. Keep an eye on the Orlando board here. They will give you decent reviews. As for rental cars, yes, you will probably find a decent rate. But maybe not until closer to your trip.

The good thing is that if you can plan with some flexibility, you can probably get better deals.

(But i would recommend investing in an evening for the halloween party!

 

[kaytieeldr]

What's your closest airport? ACY is $208 round trip on Spirit; PHL is $189 round trip on US Airways/United; EWR is $205 round trip on Continental, JetBlue , United. So if purchased right now, your air alone would be about $600. Advantage: JetBlue, with its first checked bag free.
Value resort would be $709 for six nights. Camping would be $297, and KMart has all their tents and equipment on sale this week.

Yes, staying onsite would be really convenient - but not cheap .
Hotwire has compact rentals for about $260; you wouldn't want to commit to Hotwire, but that price is comparable to the lesser-known agencies right now. The national companies are running closer to the $400 range!!!
Also using Hotwire, a vacation package including United one way, Continental the other, a rental car, and staying at the Holiday Inn on Hotel Plaza Boulevard, not including luggage or park tickets, would cost $1,461 for the three of you. The HPB properties share a bus system, so you wouldn't have to rent a car or pay for parking; you would need to get from and to the airport - $38 each r/t on the Mears shuttle, or about $100 r/t using a car service (neither includes tip). If you do rent a car, you could stay somewhere less expensive but then you'd have to pay to park.

So, $1,300 to stay onsite in a resort with transportation, vs. $1,359 or $1,461 offsite. Again, no park tickets or food were calculated into these costs. Odds are, the OP isn't going to be nearly as cheap as the OP hopes. Will the other brother be willing to contribute?

 

[DisneyLandMan]

i am totally understanding that it wont be a thousand dollars for the whole trip for the 3 of us. lol. I have a pretty good paying career and am an avid vacationer. I go away about 3 times a year. But this one is just a stretch that I am trying dearly to squeeze in. I understand that park tix alone are gonna be about 700. So that is the biggest cost right off the bat. i have estimated flights to be roughly 200 a person. thats 600 total for airfare and with park tix and flight, im already at 1300. I know the costs. But this is where i would like to start cutting costs. so a cheap hotel and a cheap rental car would be ideal.

After reading all of these posts and looking around i feel like off property is going to be hands down the cheapest. but now its just a matter of finding a good hotel for as cheap as possible and a car in any class for cheap as well. And then any other ideas for saving money that anyone can recommend, please let me know.

 

[DisneyLandMan]

First off, I just want to say Hi! I grew up in Red Bank! Right off Prospect Ave. in Tower Hill!!!!! I think it's great that you want to take your brothers to Disney and will give you the best advice that I have for Disney on a budget (the only way I go).

Airfare: Have you thought about flying Spirit out of Atlantic City? I recently found airfare for super cheap for my trip in August. $92 each roundtrip. I know that people are cautious about them because of the recent strike but it's the only airline that I fly and I've never had any problems with them.

Use Magical Express. It's free. You can't get any cheaper than that.

Hotel: Because your younger DB is 13, I would suggest All Star Sports. He will love it. It is one of the value resorts.

Dining Plan: If you want to prepay most of your meals go with the Quick Service Dining Plan. You can pay OOP for one or two TS meals if you choose but I think the 3 of you will be more interested in the rides than sitting down for 1 1/2 hours eating a meal. It is a great plan for people on the go. It may not be a great value but it limits the amount of money spent while you are down there.

Let me know if you have any questions. I'm always willing to help someone from my hometown!

That is crazy. I live right at the bottom of Tower hill on Prospect. On Worthley place. Thats so crazy.

 

[mom2alix]

Take a look at the Code and Rates section over on the Resorts board. They have some tips on how to get a Pin code e-mail that might help you. I know there's one going out right now that's good for 40% off any level resort during your dates in October.

 

[Vacation Lover]

wow i love this board. thank all of you who have responde dthus far. i shoudl clarify a few things. ideally i wanna stay 6 nights and 7 days. last year when i went with my gf, i booked a red roof inn off property cuz it was 29 a night which i thought was amazing. but when we got there, the room was hideous. it smelled horrible and it was literally a bed and a night stand, not even a dresser. So we drove around searching for something cheap but at least semi decent. and we landed on the orlando vista hotel. which was pretty nice. wasnt 5 star, but it was clean, room was pretty big and it was 50 a night.

im thinking having a rental car would be an extra cost, but then we wouldnt need the meal plan, and therefore we could eat off property and save money. a place with free breakfast would also be a huge help too. i think parking was 13 a day last year, so that will immediately be an added 91 bucks for parking. so i am in such a tossup position. i hate this dilemma.

i wanna do this as cheap as possible, but i dont wanna stay in a gross hotel.

ive thought about driving down as well, but i would not drive my car that far as that trip is not something i wanna put on my baby. but maybe an unlimited mileage rental, but then gas and its still up there. god i hate this. lol

I think it's wonderful that you're doing this for your brothers!

You have 3 main things to consider: Lodging, Dining and Transportation.

First, Lodging: Here are 3 options, assuming 6 nights at the end of October:
1. All Star Resorts: $950 (This is rack rate; you might be able to get a code and take 25% off)
2. Windsor Hills 2 BR Condo: $650 (I looked at vacationcentralflorida.com--it's been recommended here, but I've never used them. One week--Saturday-Saturday is $525 + tax & cleaning fee)
3. Cheap hotel offsite: Using the discount noted in THIS THREAD, you can get a room at the Holiday Inn Maingate for about $50/night (+ tax), so $350

You need to decide what's important to you--being onsite (and easy access to the parks), having room to relax and spread out, or the cheapest possible option.

Second, Dining
1. I think if you choose to stay onsite the dining plan is a good option for 2 men and a growing boy. Adding the Dining Plan (1 sit-down meal, 1 counter service meal and 1 snack per person per day) will run around $750.
2. If you don't stay onsite, are you willing to heat up spaghetti, make sandwiches, etc. to save on a few meals? In this case, Windsor Hills condo might be a good choice.
3. If you're looking for the bare minimum spending, you can always order pizza and drive thru on the way back to the hotel if you have a car.

Third, Transportation
1. If you fly, are you willing to rent a car? If not, staying onsite may be your best option.
2. If you drive down it will give you more options for dining--it's much cheaper to eat offsite.

The last cost to consider is park tickets. 7 day Park Hoppers will run approximately $915 for all 3 of you. You might be able to get a better deal through undercovertourist.com, but if you decide to stay onsite and do the dining plan, you'll need to purchase your tickets through Disney.

One last suggestion: can you move your dates to check in by October 2? If so, you can do the free dining package, and lodging at All Star + tickets + dining would run around $1,850.

Good luck and let us know what you decide!