Wow a First trip to Disney?? My first piece of advice is to not underestimate the size and scope of Disney World. It is the size of Manhattan almost. :
I think this is the most important piece of advice to remember. A trip to Disney isn't like going to Six Flags or Busch Gardens. People that have a terrible time at Disney are most often the ones that didn't plan ahead and have no idea what they are getting into. You obviously are planning since you are here!
There are 4 Theme Parks, 2 that you can be enjoyed in one day and 2 that probably should be enjoyed over 2 days (or more). The parks are BIG! Many people say that they will just pack lunch in the car or go somewhere else to eat but you actually LOSE money that way--in my opinion. Tickets to get into the parks are expensive. I want to get the most value for my ticket by doing as much as I can while I am in the park--we are there from open to close Leaving the park to eat can take easily take you 3 hours or longer. And will be more tiring as you will have to walk back to the entrance of the park, walk back to your car, and then do it again on the return trip. That is a lot for kids to do.
While you can bring some snacks and drinks into the parks, you can't bring in a cooler that will be large enough to hold a meal or two for your entire family. And do you really want to carry that much food around all day? Parking at most of the parks requires a tram ride from your car to the entrance, and at Magic Kingdom you have to get the boat or monorail back to the parking area and then the tram. All that is waiting time that you could be using in the parks to actually wait for a cool ride!
I am extremely budget minded also, but I temper that with getting the most value for the money I am spending. I bring breakfast stuff with us to the resort-- granola bars, donuts, bagels, juice boxes etc. and some snack stuff like crackers and peanuts. We eat that for breakfast. Then we try to eat lunch a bit early or a late big breakfast if we are doing a sit down meal. We have a snack or two in the afternoon, and then Dinner. This way we only buy 2 meals. And as someone said the Counter Service (fast food) meals are really large and you can often share them. With 4 people in our family we usually only buy 3 because we end up throwing food away otherwise. Get one adult meal instead of 2 kids meals and let your kids share. We also don't buy many sodas and just drink plain water (make sure you specifiy that you don't want bottled). With all the heat and walking water is better anyway to prevent dehydration. I have insulated water bottles that we bring so we can just have cold water all day.
I haven't done a comparison of the Quick Service Meal plan to what we usually spend. Take a look at our WDWINFO planning site here:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/disneydining.cfm and look through the menus and prices. Figure out what you think that your family will order and add up the cost. Then compare that to the cost per day of the Quick Service plan and see what makes sense.
One more thing:
We are planning a trip in the beginning of May (thought it would be less busy). We can only go for a long weekend (so, Thursday or maybe Wednesday nite to Sunday afternoon).
This is not the best time to go for lowest prices. Take a look at this chart of the Disney "seasons"-- for the best prices you want to do when during "Value" times.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/disney-rates-2010.htm This is when you will find the lowest room rates and the lowest crowds. As someone said, with 5 people you will be limited on where you can stay on property. Your options are 2 rooms at a Value, 1 room at the Mod that has the trundle, or the family suite at All Star Music. I know you said that you don't think any of your kids would sleep on that trundle, but what do they want more-- a trip to Disney with the trundle or NO trip to Disney because it is too expensive to get 2 rooms? That is going to be your most budget option. Do you really want to pay double because someone will whine about having to sleep on it? Have the kids rotate and tell them that is the only choice. They are going to be so tired after a day in the park they would probably sleep in the bathtub! Worst case you could bring an air mattress for them instead of the trundle (you still have to be in a room that sleeps 5) but that adds weight and space to your luggage and then you incur extra baggage fees on the airline.
It is not difficult to stay on a budget at Disney-- but your budget has to be reasonable, and your family has to be willing to make some compromises. Otherwise it is best to just continue to build your Disney fund and wait until you have enough to keep everyone happy.
Good luck and happy planning!
) and making any dining reservations you might want. They also can make park recommendations, touring plans, etc... all at no extra cost to you! Disney pays for the commissions, and you trip cost is the same as if you had booked directly via Disney.
