Planning a cheap trip need help

[daystar]

I need help planning a trip for my family plus my sister's family...We all want to stay on property....I have a family of six myself, husband,daughter 4 years old, son 14 years old, son 21 years old,and my daughter in law 21 years old....My sister family is my sister, niece 14 years old and nephew 18 years old...We would like to stay for six days....Were not looking into going to the water parks, just the theme parks....We did look at the dining package but not sure if it's worth it or not? We do want to do atleast one sit down meal a day...How can i make this trip cheap as possible? My husband and my self will be paying for our family so i want everyone to go but try to make it affordable for us...We have only been to disney once and we spent well over 5,000.00 plus spending money last trip only for four of us....We went to a travel agency last time and she added stuff in our package we never used but paid for...Help us plan our vacation cheap? Not sure what time of the year is good but looking to go at times that are least crowded...Last time we went at Christmas...I did hear the first week of Dec was nice and not to quiet not sure if that's true...Thanks any advice would help thanks..

 

[Macduffy]

There are so many combinations you can do at Disney you should play around on the Disney site and price different types of trips. You may want to think about renting DVC points and staying in a two bedroom villa. You can bring your own groceries and use the kitchen and do your one sit down meal when you visit the parks.

I'm pretty sure there are two value seasons at Disney, the second one ending at the end of September.

There are a lot of combinations. Embrace it and enjoy the planning

 

[Cdn Gal]

Go when there is free dining. Your food costs will add up. Or... rent from a dvc owner so you will have a kitchen to save $$$

 

[brymolmom]

If you are looking for a cheap trip - with that many people - offsite is the way to go. You could get a 3 bedroom offsite for $500 or so total. Plus save a ton eating meals offsite and groceries.

Staying onsite is doable, but you'd need 3 rooms. It would be significantly more.

If you need cheap - stay offsite, get a great code for a rental car, buy base (not hopping) tickets from undercover tourist, buy some groceries and bring a bunch of your lunches to the parks with you, eat breakfasts in room and get takeout pizza or subs a few nights. Then splurge for a couple onsite meals - character or other.

 

[daystar]

What is a dvc?

 

[Kidanifan08]

With nine people, you would need to get 3 rooms or a two BR villa which can sleep up to nine (Animal Kingdom - Kidani). You should watch the Disney website for special offer, especially the free dining. January and February are very low crowds, but it can sometimes be cold. October or November would be nice as well. You will generally spend less money paying out of pocket if you have to purchase the dining plan. You could try to skip the park hopper option on the tickets and just do one park per day. The idea of renting points from a DVC member is an interesting idea, as you could probably get into a 2BR at Animal Kingdom Lodge for around $2500-3000 for the week. That may be the only resort that can sleep 9 in a 2BR, besides the treehouse villas. Just be aware of the pitfalls of renting DVC. The cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness might be an option as well. The cabins sleep six, so you would have to get two, but there are kitchens, so you could do some meals at the room and save some $$.

Good luck with planning!

 

[Kidanifan08]

What is a dvc?

DVC is "Disney Vacation Club". DVC has condo-style rooms at several locations around WDW. Those are: Old Key West, Saratoga Springs Resort, Boardwalk Villas, Beach Club Villas, Animal Kingdom Villas, Bay Lake Tower, and the Villas at Wilderness Lodge. You can learn about DVC renting on the DISboards -- there is a section devoted to this topic on the mainpage. There are DVC members who rent their points when the can not use them. The rate is around $10 per point. The points that you need depends on which resort and what time of year, as well as the size of the party. For your party of nine, the only resort that would hold nine people in a 2BR is Animal Kingdom and the Tree House Villas. Animal Kingdom would be much easier to get.

Good luck!

 

[DisneyFansInLINY]

What is a dvc?

Disney Vacation Club. It's Disney's timeshare program. You can rent points from a member and stay in a deluxe hotel for much less than what Disney will charge you. We rented points this past January and stayed at Bay Lake Tower at the Contermporary in a studio for $9 a point or $125 a night. Disney charges $425 plus tax for the same room. If you want to stay on property for less, this is definately the way to do it. And you can add the dining plan when staying at a DVC. You can look into renting points right on here on the disboards. Check out the Disney Vacation Club section and open the Rent/trade thread.

 

[Auntie Sherry]

Disney's All Star music resort has family suites that sleep six. You can use Magical Express and will not have the cost of a rental car. Go during the Free dining plan or don't purchase it. They give you a huge amount of food that most people can not eat. It is cheeper to split meals. You can also bring breakfast food and only have to buy two meals a day. Make sure you dont buy passes that include water parks if you are not going to attend them. I would reccomend buying a guide book to help you plan. Planning ahead usually helps to save money Hope this helps. Good Luck

 

[daystar]

I was looking at just renting three rooms at the Value Resorts but if i could fine something cheaper that would be great but if you think that would be the cheapest way to go staying on property i will stick with that...

 

[HeatherC]

If you can consider not staying at a Disney property, I would highly suggest Bonnet Creek Resort. It is "onsite" for all intents and pirposes, but not owned by Disney. It is literally next door to the Caribbean Beach Resort and they have shuttle buses just like Disney.

They are beautiful villas and you can rent them very cheaply. A two bedroom can be rented for about $120 a night including all taxes. You would have a full kitchen, washer and dryer and mutiple tvs to relax. They also have three and four bedroom villas as well.

The resort has mutiple pools, free mini golf, two lazy rivers, etc..

It is an ideal way to save a ton of money and have a ton more space while still being onsite.

Hope this helps!

 

[DawnM]

Are you going off-season or during peak season? That will determine what hotels will cost. If the 3 rooms are going to be over $300/night with taxes, I would also be looking at a condo or even two condos at Bonnet Creek.

If you can stay in a condo you can also get some meals there and will save on food.

Get non-hopper tickets if you don't typically hop around. We always end up getting hoppers because they come in the packages we get (or we get APs), but honestly, we rarely park hop.

We do Disney on the cheap, but we don't stay on property or eat all our meals at Disney.

Dawn

 

[Marionnette]

I was looking at just renting three rooms at the Value Resorts but if i could fine something cheaper that would be great but if you think that would be the cheapest way to go staying on property i will stick with that...

The cheapest way to stay on property in a hotel room would be the 3 value rooms or a family suite plus one room at Allstar Music. Renting DVC points and getting a 2 bedroom at AKV would be like paying for 3 rooms at a moderate resort at rack rate.

The only thing cheaper would be to go camping at Fort Wilderness. They allow up to 10 people at a single campsite. It's not everyone's idea of a vacation but it would be the cheapest way to stay onsite. There are companies that will rent a camper to you for the vacation. They will even set it up for you on your site and take it down when you leave. Most of those RVs sleep fewer people than you have comfortably. You would probably need 2 units and two campsites. Or you can bring your own camping equipment and pitch a tent large enough for the whole crew. Not my idea of fun, but I just wanted to throw that option out there for you.

Staying offsite would give you the most room and the least expensive way for all 9 of you to vacation at Disney. Aside from not being right inside the resort 24-7, the only other disadvantage I can think of is that you cannot get the dining plan. Not everyone considers this to be a disadvantage. There are some beautiful pool homes that rent for very little. Many of them have game rooms or media rooms that are like a vacation all by themselves. Everyone would have a room to themselves. There would be multiple full bathrooms for those times when everyone is getting ready to go out at the same time. You would have a pool to yourselves, a full kitchen and common areas to relax in with each other.

Once you decide where you want to stay, decide when you want to go. The first week in December is a beautiful time at Disney but it's no longer one of the least crowded times. I don't think that there are too many uncrowded times left on the calendar. The first two weeks of January seem to have relatively light attendance (aside from Marathon weekend). But there are some periods that you want to avoid - June, July, Christmas week and Easter time.

 

[mjkacmom]

We have a big family, and although we've stayed onsite in the past, now that my older kids are in HS and JH, we will have to stay offsite, because there is NO way I'm taking them out of school, and we don't want to pay the onsite rates for peak times.

 

[dsnymomof4]

I think 3 rooms at a value is the way to go - we enjoy Pop Century for our family of 7. The first 2 weeks of December are a wonderful time to go. The resorts and parks are all decorated for Christmas, so you'll get to enjoy all of the extras that the season has to offer. If you are planning on enjoying at least one sit-down meal a day, I think the dining plan will probably be worth it - depending on where you want to go, but you can easily spend over $40 pp just for one meal. Keep an eye out for discount - another free dining promotion would probably be your biggest savings. You can usually at least get a room discount for that period. Good luck!

 

[swilshire]

Cheap with nine people isn't gonna happen. I'd give that up right away.

The suggestions above to stay off-site are good ones. You'll have much more room to spread out and the kitchen will save you a mint in food costs. I don't see how you could get out of any restaurant for under $100 with that group no matter how frugal you were. A minimal breakfast maybe $50. So that's a fortune for cheap food. The prices would go up for table service.

The only way I'd consider on-site is with Free Dining. The ages of your kids, it might be worth it.

Sheila

 

[Disneylush]

we did 6 people, 10 days, onsite, dining plan, flight 1800!!! You can do it!!

flight: 69.00 each way from MN to FL (I also had the Sunshine rewards coupon for 25.00 off a ticket so it brought it down to 59.00 each way)
dining plan: free
2 rooms at pop: 1,200
magical express: free

 

[Purseval]

I need help planning a trip for my family plus my sister's family...We all want to stay on property.

The words "cheap trip" and "on property" are not compatible.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

check out the parent site of the DIS and mousesavers.com That way you can look at Disney's pricing seasons, and various other discounts.

There are always trade-offs when looking at a trip to Orlando between what you pay, and what amenities you desire.

Like you could savea ton by eating pbj sandwiches in the room all week - but likely that's not a choice you want to make. Going back to the room to eat a meal can be a significant inconvenience. Eating a few breakfasts in the room, MAYBE worth doing.

Sometimes free dining is not the best deal out there - or is comperable to other discounts. Often paired withhe value resorts it's one of the better discounts. However, there's a trade off. Disney offers free dining during one of the less desirable times of year. Free dining means paying full price forthe room portion, and full price for your park tickets. Christmas is the worst time of year to go price wise - so any other time is going to be better and likely crowd wise.

SO part of what I'm saying is that price is not the only consideration. When my family stays onsite, everyone can come and go as the y please via WDW's free internal transportation. If we stay offsite, then everyone has to go at teh same time - via rental car. When you stay offsite, you have to pay for acar, and parking - so that offsets some of the savings. OFten you gain a bigger room.

I've alos felt that groceries can be a bit of a toss up. It takes time to drive to a grocery store shop and get back to your hotel - that's time you could be ina park enjoying your vacation. It may not sound like a big deal, but it comes out to about three hours. When you are paying $20per waking hour or more to be at WDW - there's a tradeoff there. It may be one you consider worthy, or maybe not so much.

Another area of trip related expenses is the price of good footwear! A bad pair of shoes will ruin a vacation! Good shoes are VERY worth the money. We are veteran WDWer's - and DH made that mistake just two years ago. He insisted on wearing old shoes with worn treads to save the money. Our very first night, it was raining. He slipped, fell, hurt his ankle and got a large gash. It nearly ruined our whole week!

Another way to save money that many folks overlook is the length of your trip. You have to balance the cost of getting to WDW with the per day cost - but sometimes shortening your trip by a day makes sense. I've often shortened my trip by a day to stay at a better resort. I have also stayed at the value resorts, and sometimes offsite. I kind of like to mix it up!

So the answer to your query - I think - is going to be highly personal based on your preferences. You have the advantage of having been to WDW before.

 

[bmartin1206]

Most everybody else has hit it. We'll stick with the fact that you want to stay on property. We are a family of 4 and manage to go on between $2800 - $3400 for 5 nights/ 6 days and with airfare around $200. Of course rising airfare will change that now. We usually stay at one of the value resorts. Pop Century is fun for all and the tax on the room is actually a little cheaper then the other 2 value resorts. If other family members or friends are joining us we request connecting rooms.
Do your homework online and select dates that fall on the value season. If you choose a day that falls on peak and the next day begins the value season you will be charged for the peak rate...at least it used to be that way.
Pack breakfast stuff to eat in the room or stop at the store if you're driving as well as snacks and drinks. Carry snacks and drinks into the park. Refill water at fountains and add flavor packets if you need to. If you see free dining, take it. We did it a couple of years ago and it saved us $800. Otherwise it's slightly more than just paying for each meal depending on your eating habits.
Rethink what you really need to pack and keep it to a minimum if you're flying to avoid additional fees for bags.
There are a lot of options out there. I'd say you should probably be able to get it done for around $3500 or less...depending on airfare.