OMG! All my kids qualify as adults!

[zdesiree]

I am planning our next Disney trip, since the last one was in 2009. We are a big family, is me, DH, DS14, DS13 and DD12. In addition we take my husband's daughter which is 16 years old. I am just doing the budget and OMG! everybody qualifies as an adult, in addition of how the ticket prices have increased over the years, therefore the costs went over the roof in comparison with 2009.

I am just trying to vent, but if anybody has a suggestion is more than welcomed.

 

[pookadoo77]

I feel you! Me my hubby all our kids and my mom to help wrangle them and we have too many ppl for 1 room! Guess we will be going to take our popup camper after all to ft wilderness..... 2 rooms is way too pricey, or a suite is outrageous too

 

[Lucijoy]

We're a family of 6. Our kids are all adults now (2 married) but the times we've gone over the years we've gotten 2 connecting rooms at one of the All Star resorts (did Pop Century once as well). It worked great putting the 2 girls in a room with their own bathroom; the 2 boys were in a room with DH and me. Worked great. We were always able to time it with a room only discount or package deal, and the two rooms ended up same or less than one moderate--definitely less than deluxe, cabins, or villas! Always had a great time, but yes, the older they get, the more everything costs!

 

[mitchwebb]

Yea our first two trips we did Character meals and buffets sure glad we did because we can not justify the cost anymore. It would be different if they ate more, no idea were they got their bird appetites

 

[wallawallakids]

I feel for you and I am scared of the day when all 4 of my kids qualify for adults. Our oldest two are considered "adults" now at Disney and it is a HUGE price difference. It makes it rough! I miss the days of kids meals and kid priced tickets but I guess it is only going to get worse. 3 more years until the twins hit 10 and I will have 6 adults traveling to Disney.

 

[scard192]

next time my sister and I go with our 4 kids (total) 3 will be Disney adults, last fall only 1 was. We had the free DDP last year and did almost all character meals. When we go again in 2016 will be hoping for Free QS DDP as it will cost less and the kids will be at an age where they are likely to want to spend more time on rides, than dining,

 

[Marionnette]

I am planning our next Disney trip, since the last one was in 2009. We are a big family, is me, DH, DS14, DS13 and DD12. In addition we take my husband's daughter which is 16 years old. I am just doing the budget and OMG! everybody qualifies as an adult, in addition of how the ticket prices have increased over the years, therefore the costs went over the roof in comparison with 2009.

I am just trying to vent, but if anybody has a suggestion is more than welcomed.

We're a family of 5 and my kids are real adults now (all of them over the age of 17)! It was the reason that we finally bit the bullet and bought re-sale DVC contracts. Not only do we no longer fit into any of the rooms that will accommodate 5, we would also be subject to the "additional adult" fees. Having a 2-bedroom villa also means that we can make real breakfasts in the room and even make a quick lunch or dinner if we feel like it. That makes it so much more convenient than waiting for a table for 7 at a TS restaurant!

You really can't do much about the cost of the tickets for all of those kids. It's going to be expensive no matter how you dice it. It's just the price that you pay for all of the joy a larger family brings you!

 

[HeatherC]

My suggestion would be to consider staying "offsite". If you stayed at Bonnet Creek Resort, you could rent a two bedroom villa that sleeps 8 people for about $130 a night...including the taxes. Check out the Bonnet Creek threads on the Orlando Hotels board.

This resort is not Disney owned, but is pretty much onsite....next door to the Caribbean Beach Resort.

We are a family of five and prefer a villa to hotel rooms since you get multiple bathrooms, washer and dryer and multiple tv and extra roomsto spread out in.

It doesn't take any longer to get to the parks, and can be quicker than Disney buses.

We rent a car. Even paying for parking and the car rental fee,we come out way ahead and have more money to spend on other fun things instead of small, overpriced hotel roooms.

Hope this helps!

 

[Mama Steph]

I feel your pain. We have 5 kids and all are "adults" now. I would suggest going during free dining if possible. We stayed in a cabin at FW in Feb and got lucky with a FD pin code. The FD for 6 adults came out to a wash with the cost of the room. I would NEVER pay full price for the meals we had. We did a lot of character and buffet meals. Without FD we eat breakfast in the room, take a ton of snacks with us and limit the amount of TS meals. Since we can't really save much on tickets, we found other ways to cut costs, food seemed to be the best for us. We also found that renting a 2br villa at OKW worked great for our family. We all like a bit of space and loved having the kitchen.

 

[HM]

Well, they are all juniors right now, not really adults. You won't be charged the extra adult room charge for any of them yet. When they get there (18 and over), then you'll feel the pinch for sure. Good luck deciding on what to do. FW Cabins sounds like a good choice if you want onsite.

 

[tndisney5]

I am planning our next Disney trip, since the last one was in 2009. We are a big family, is me, DH, DS14, DS13 and DD12. In addition we take my husband's daughter which is 16 years old. I am just doing the budget and OMG! everybody qualifies as an adult, in addition of how the ticket prices have increased over the years, therefore the costs went over the roof in comparison with 2009.

I am just trying to vent, but if anybody has a suggestion is more than welcomed.

I have no suggestions...I just want to say I dread this day LOL. My kids are close in age and we are a family of 5. We are trying to go a lot while they are still "kids" ha.

 

[Happyjen27]

Yikes!!

This is an awesome reminder to take my kids a couple of more times before they turn 10!!

The only tip I have is to not buy the DDP for them unless it's free dining. They can split 1 adult meal, or they can still order kids meals if their appetites are small.

And to enjoy, because while I dread the time when I have to pay for my "adults", I dread even more when they will be too busy with their own lives to come along at all.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

My kids are both Disney adults now too - DD11 was 9 when we went last. We did far fewer character meals and buffets this time because she doesn't eat very much and it is hard to pay $40+ for a meal for her. We kept dinner at Boma and breakfast at Crystal Palace, but otherwise we made ADRs at places with menus or ate CS. She occasionally ordered from the kids' menu, but mainly ordered from the adult menu.

 

[Lynne G]

Yep, the day they turn 10 makes your kid an adult price in Disney and in other places. It's why we too don't do many buffets. My younger 12 year old does not eat like an adult and is picky. It's just one more cost in the cost of having a growing up family.

 

[mistysue]

If it helps you feel any better, the actual ticket cost difference isn't much. Your big budget killer is your number of people.

I think the best you can do is if any of them are light eaters, talk to them about doing occasional kids meals. If those girls are at all the "diet to be skinny" type, this might be the only time I might use that to my advantage with offering them the smaller meal every so often, or asking if they would rather split that dessert or whatever.
My DD11 is not a dieter but a light eater, we can still get her to go with kids meals because if she gets the kid's meal we throw in dessert. Then we praise her later for saving us so much money on a simple thing- and she often doesn't even finish the kid's meal. She is just happy she got ice cream and soda instead of water.

If you want some TS meals I would plan for the places where it's easy to be cheap or roughly on cost with the CS meals. We do LTT lunch, (the app. soup is like $7 and is a meal) Rose and Crown, The Plaza, or DD and I can split a flatbread at places like Tony's or Mama Melrose. Basically search for threads on how to make out the best on the dining plan and reverse that advice. Although if you like American middle eastern food, We've split a platter at Tangerine cafe between all 5 of us and had 1/3 of it left. It should feed at least 2 teen boys.

 

[blessedby3]

We are a family of 6 (now 7 with addition of DSIL)
The resorts are what kills us price wise. We have stayed the past two trips off property at Bonnet Creek. We get a 2BR condo for a fraction of the cost of hotel rooms on property.
In 2012 we paid $837 a week for the 2BR…and this year in the prime summer season we paid $1100 for the same unit.
We get more space, a full kitchen, a washer and dryer and room to spread out.
My daughters and I stayed 2 nights during our 2 week trip at AOA in a LM room. When we walked in we were all like "wow, this is so small!"
Im not sure how we did 2 rooms at a value in the past.
We love the WDW resorts, but are very happy to have more room at Bonnet Creek (and its right beside the Caribbean Beach Resort).
As for meals, we just book one or two buffets for our trip and I try not to think about the cost. My DH, DS and SIL can make up for the food that my DD24, DD15, and DD6 don't eat

 

[RumpleMom]

I just noticed a deal on Disney's ticket site.

If you are buying 6 or more tickets, you get a free day.

HTH someone.

 

[PoohBearnTigger2]

We were last there in 2009 too. We are also a family of 5 me, DH, DD(18), DS(12), DS (3). The cost is so much more than when we were there last. We are taking our camper and staying at Ft Wilderness. You can have 10 on a campsite there lol We love to camp anyway so going to Ft Wilderness is perfect for us

 

[zdesiree]

WOW! After reading all you guys suggestions, this is definitely a work in progress. I am looking forward to go December 2015 and thank God I decided to start planning right away. Right now I was thinking of eliminating the car rental completely.

You guys are so great! Thank you all for your suggestions and believe me that I am going to check each one of them.

 

[HopperFan]

When all 5 of us adults go it's a different ball game. Last year we stayed at Embassy Suites LBV South: fairly new, 10 minutes to parks, reasonable and included great cooked to order breakfast. This coming December we have a Bonnet Creek 2 Bedroom/2 Bath booked for a week at $88 a night with taxes. Stayed before and it's a great alternative to onsite. Seriously look at that. Kitchen helps with meal costs.

Tickets: yes Disney has groups of six or more deal, check undercover tourist and see if your jobs have access to Tickets At Work as they have had some great deals.