Opinions for first timers?

[hmeadq]

For a first time vistor who needs to go on a budget, when is the best time of year?

On-property or off?

If the hotel has shuttles do you need a car?

Oh, and if I cannot figure it out cheap enough I don't get to go, so a little inconvience is probably better then a LOT of money...

 

[themudd4]

Can you first tell us a lil about your travel party? How many ppl? ages of children? Dates your able to travel? How many days you will be staying at WDW...that will help with the info you are given.

Personally I prefer staying onsite...the Value resorts are great and you can select between All Star Sports, All Star Music, All Star Movies, and Pop Century. My pick would be for Pop. If you have more than 4 in your party POR is a Mod resort that sleeps 5, and the price is not unheard of by any means...

The rumor mill is turning and according to what I have heard the free Dining may be offered to the public as early as tomorrow. If you can go during the travel dates the free dining is offered then that will be a huge savings for you. If you can not travel during those times it still may be a good idea to take the DDP on your plans...(only offered when getting a package).

If staying on site you will not need a car at all. All of transportation can be done on Disney transportation. Staying off site, I would think you would need a car even if the hotel offers a suttle.

Hope that helps!!!

 

[hmeadq]

Can you first tell us a lil about your travel party? How many ppl? ages of children? Dates your able to travel? How many days you will be staying at WDW...that will help with the info you are given.

Hope that helps!!!

It is just me and my husband, we are both in our 30s and are about to start our family and thought it would be nice to go before we have kids. Since we figure the exprience will be so diffrent.

We can travel in November or later, we farm so we are home until growing season is over.

We were thinking 7 or 6 days, as we have to fly in from Cleveland.

Ideally I'd like the non-air, non-food, non-souvneer part of the trip to be under $1000... I know that's low...

 

[chalee94]

It is just me and my husband, we are both in our 30s and are about to start our family and thought it would be nice to go before we have kids. Since we figure the exprience will be so diffrent.

We can travel in November or later, we farm so we are home until growing season is over.

We were thinking 7 or 6 days, as we have to fly in from Cleveland.

Ideally I'd like the non-air, non-food, non-souvneer part of the trip to be under $1000... I know that's low...

4/5 day tickets run about $210 apiece. so that's $400ish already.

you'll probably save money by staying off-site, but you'll probably need to rent a car. if disney is running a special, you might break even by staying at POP and using the "magical express" from the airport but i'm not sure about the buses from POP...

 

[chalee94]

november is a good time to go, though...while kids are in school. stay away from thanksgiving week.

i'd recommend getting dessert at narcoossee's (around sunset or an hour or so before the MK fireworks) while you are there...even if dinner is just too steep.

it might be possible to rent a DVC reservation at a studio at OKW fairly cheaply if you were staying only 5 nights from sun-thurs (possibly around $400 incl tax for 5 nights.) weekend rates more than double, though and there are other complications - like you'd be very limited if you needed to cancel, you'd need to book well in advance and it can be a bit riskier than renting from disney directly, since you can't confirm your reservation directly...but i thought i'd mention it...

 

[ANTSS2001]

For a first time vistor who needs to go on a budget, when is the best time of year?

On-property or off?

If the hotel has shuttles do you need a car?

Oh, and if I cannot figure it out cheap enough I don't get to go, so a little inconvience is probably better then a LOT of money...

starting tomorrow... free dining is offered for for a period of time in aug/sept.... thats a big chunk off !!

 

[hmeadq]

Yeah, free dining would be cool, but not an option for now, as we cannot go until at least Novemeber, any possibility they will offer it again?

 

[ANTSS2001]

Yeah, free dining would be cool, but not an option for now, as we cannot go until at least Novemeber, any possibility they will offer it again?

hmmm if you choose value dates and stay at value ( Loves PoP ) it can be doable... and maybe get the 4 day pass with the $50 add one for fun under the sun which lets you in 3x times in any waterpark plus disneyquest .. last year even PI was included I am not sure now...

 

[sdenis]

So basically, you're talking about tickets, lodging and transportation at DW, right?

The big advantage to staying on Disney Property is the free transportation on Disney Property. Also you have extra magic hours and just an overall good feel of being in the magic.

I don't think it's unreasonable at all to do it under $1000. You can prob'ly even find a package deal at a Value Resort for that or the DVC option as someone else mentioned. Maybe rent at the Beach Club Villas (BBC) right next to Epcot as a good option.

The next question is what kind of vacationers are you? Will you want to ride all day at the parks from dusk till dark or are you content to hang out by the pool and read all day? Are you looking for romantic atmosphere or do enjoy family fare?

 

[ctpooh]

We are staying at the FW campsites for 21 nights for $765.00.. If your looking for cheap and you want to camp that is the way to go. You don't need a car either being onsite becuase of the busses, boats, and monorails. It is an expierence within itself. My DBF and I are in are later 20's and we had a great time.

 

[hmeadq]

The next question is what kind of vacationers are you? Will you want to ride all day at the parks from dusk till dark or are you content to hang out by the pool and read all day? Are you looking for romantic atmosphere or do enjoy family fare?

It seems that we can do a value resort for about 1167 (with park hopper which is probably worth the $80 diffrence!).

If we get dining it brings it to 1635? I'm not sure if that is worth it...

We probably won't hang out the pool all day, and a romantic atmosphere is out of our budget . Family is OK, and I'm sure a value resort is fine, as we usally stay at Motel 6 or Super 8 type places.

So next 2 questions... Is the dining worth it? Can you bring food into the park and/or your room in the resort?

Or is staying on International Drive OK? How many xtra magic hours do you get and are they worth it?

 

[Jill in Chicago]

I would look into off site hotels. Try allears.net. They have many fantastic deals with local hotels. At one point I saw a one bedroom with a kitchen for about $89.00 a night. That means not only can you do breakfast in your room, but you could run back to your room for a nice inexpensive dinner in your room too. Yes you need a car, but you can get a car rental for very cheap.

Check out mousesavers.com. I know many folks love the Disney transportation so they do not have to deal with a car, but we have always had a car and my DH prefers having a car to Disney transportation. We have stayed both on and off site. Disney is fantastic no matter where you are staying!

Also try VRBO.com (Vacation rental by owner.) You will not believe the townhouse deals you will find. Windsor Hills looks absolutely fantastic and it is very close, and again you get the full kitchen. For me it is the meals that cost so much money as we like a bottle of wine with dinner. When you eat at home that is doable, but when you eat out at a restaurant that wine costs a fortune.

I think you are going to have so much fun going together as a couple!

 

[sdenis]

Unless, of course, you want to check out more of Florida when you're down there.

EMH (extra magic hours) vary by season and day. You can probably find it on allearsnet or mousesavers.

The ddp is great if you really want to eat well and make that a part of the experience.

We've done it both ways. Bringing food in the parks is generally a no, no. However they don't seem to object to small snack type items.

 

[themudd4]

It seems that we can do a value resort for about 1167 (with park hopper which is probably worth the $80 diffrence!).

If we get dining it brings it to 1635? I'm not sure if that is worth it...

We probably won't hang out the pool all day, and a romantic atmosphere is out of our budget . Family is OK, and I'm sure a value resort is fine, as we usally stay at Motel 6 or Super 8 type places.

So next 2 questions... Is the dining worth it? Can you bring food into the park and/or your room in the resort?

Or is staying on International Drive OK? How many xtra magic hours do you get and are they worth it?

I say if you can afford it...go for it. Stay onsite!
For us the dining is totally worth it because we would have ate at these places anyway and it comes out a better deal for us. For example, we just ate a Coral Reef a lil over a week ago. The steak itself was $31.99 that does not include drinks, apps, dessert, tip, tax, anything just the steak and cheese potatoes. The plan only cost what $37 per adult per day and we were able to add all those extra's in our dinner including tax and tip and it was paid for, plus we had a CS meal and a snack paid for already too...

AM EMH are GREAT...PM EMH I am not totally crazy for but if you are looking at November traveling dates you may enjoy them more.

 

[mmurdoch]

If you can get onsite for a fair price you definitely don't need a car. I've rented from DVC owners once before and did not have a problem. That would definitely save you some dough.

 

[disneycake]

My DBF and I don't do the DDP when we go because for us it doesn't pay. We'll have cereal in the hotel room and then a light lunch which we sometimes share and then a dinner. For us it doesn't pay but for you it may so I would suggest checking out allears.net and looking at the menus to see what would work for you.

I've also heard going the first week in December is gorgeous because the Christmas lights are up (one of these years I'll get there). Staying onsite is great especially with all of the transportation, no worries about a car rental. Also, if you have AAA you get a discount on the room only or you can book with AAA directly for a package that will get you a $15 gift certificate to Planet Hollywood, free mini golf, and a few other things (including a room discount).

If you are looking to save money you may not want to get the hoppers when you book since you are staying quite a few days. You can always add it on when you are down there as it is one set feed if you decide you'll want to hop.

 

[Kymie]

They reckon the cheapest time to go is first two weeks of Nov, or January. The cheapest way around we found was to stay on international drive, and get the lynx bus to Disney. You only pay your dollar each there and back, no paying to park or to hire a car, and of course food is cheaper off site. There is a Golden Corral along there so thats where we ate most of our main meals. As you have no kids yet the buses shouldn't be a problem. Its not too easy when you have 5 kids and a double buggy but we managed. Our budget was very tight but we were there so we didnt care!! Themouseforless site has ideas for saving money. Good luck, hope you get to go!

 

[Dragonfly0521]

We did the whole on-site with no car vs. off site w/car and have never been able to get it to pay to stay off site.. We were there in January and the Disney transportation was great! Go value, don't do dining plan ( we loved the ddp... but it's not for the budget consious), and don't do park hoppers. You can still have a magical vacation without those little perks. Check out the menues on allears.net and you can figure out your meal budget. Then take a look at where you're at to figure out how long you can afford to stay.

A word of advise though, we originally thought we'd try to do Disney on a budget... and then said... "Oh heck... it's a once in a lifetime trip for my family of 5!"

Well, we are going back again 1 year later and we are now totally spoiled!!! We want it all! Nice Resort, DDP, Spending Money... so our budget and priorities back home have shifted to make this happen for our family. My hubby rolls his eyes at me, but I know he's Crazy for Disney too!