Please Help! Our totals on our WD trip for a family of 7

[MacFam4]

I agree with dropping the park hoppers. When we took our first visit in 2005 I bought all of us park hoppers. We only park hopped once, so basically it was a waste of money. I agree that since you've never been before, you'll spend lots of time at each park and not really want to hop.

I also agree with looking for a "park and ride" by the airport. When we fly out of New Orleans, we park in a lot across from the airport for half of what we would pay at the airport. We were told also to go online and get a coupon.

I also agree with dropping one of the other parks. For me personally, it would be Seaworld. But to be fair, we've been to the one in San Antonio about 5 times, so I would understand if you guys really wanted to go. US/IOA is very neat, we've been once. My boys actually liked it better than Disney. I think you really should look at dropping something though because let me tell you, exhaustion can kick in quick!!!! Then everyone is tired and grumpy and you're not going to enjoy yourself as much.

I also agree that if you don't have a "relax" day planned, you really should consider. That gives everyone a chance to sleep in, swim in the pool, rest their poor aching feet, and just chill. Plus if you want something to do, you can go to Downtown Disney for some shopping. It's free and you don't pay to park.

I would def try to do some cutting on the budget since we haven't even seen a food budget yet. That can add up to some major $$$.

 

[java]

Rental car jumps out as a bit high. Check out National. They let you stack code after code after code.
I was able to get a Minivan for under $200 for 10 days during the summer. You can google search codes for National and start trying them.

Parking at the airport also jumps out. Wouldn't it be cheaper to get a limo round trip? A town car even less.

I don't know where you are all living but is Philly an option? There are often cheaper flights. As well as Lehigh Valley.

Good luck!

 

[deniseallen411]

thx.... I have to do the food budget...Im going over to my aprents for dinner tomorrow and they want some figures...Im so glad Im on Spring Break from school i have been on this comuter since Monday back and forth w/ advice from DISers...Great advice I may say and CafeMom as well...Ok ADR"s are Garden Grove @ Swan for the evening..We arrive at about 10am so plenty of time to settle and shop for groceries etc.
Fri 8/12 50's Prime Time for my parents,
Mon. 8/15 T-rex Rest. for Jeremy our 8yr old
I want to something for my 19 yr old and niece 17 maybe Cinderella not sure yet..I know they are older but I dont want them to feel left out..

 

[deniseallen411]

I live in Jersey but I would have my parents take that 2 hr drive to Philly...Air travel has been purchased and parking lot outside the airport is what we plan to do I found prices ranging from $7.85-$20.00 w/ shuttle services too. As far as car rental I have been trying w/ National I believe Im going to register my DH for their Emerald Membership since he is the only driver. How do you stack up with codes w/ National dont they only have one option to insert the code?

 

[LIFERBABE]

If you are paying 2K for accomodations and $600 for car rental, I would seriously consider staying onsite.

With your group size and makeup, there will be alot of coming and going and not everyone will be on the same schedule. If you stay onsite, they can visit the parks at will and rely on Disney transport.

You could use ME and possibly get the DDP for ease of feeding the teenagers.

If this is your first trip, the younger set will want to be in the parks or pool and your parents will want to relax and enjoy the family time.

I agree, I would not hop and i would not visit US/IOA or SeaWorld this trip. Just too much to do and no one appreciates it when they are tired.

 

[mdrob214]

thx.... I have to do the food budget...Im going over to my aprents for dinner tomorrow and they want some figures...Im so glad Im on Spring Break from school i have been on this comuter since Monday back and forth w/ advice from DISers...Great advice I may say and CafeMom as well...Ok ADR"s are Garden Grove @ Swan for the evening..We arrive at about 10am so plenty of time to settle and shop for groceries etc.
Fri 8/12 50's Prime Time for my parents,
Mon. 8/15 T-rex Rest. for Jeremy our 8yr old
I want to something for my 19 yr old and niece 17 maybe Cinderella not sure yet..I know they are older but I dont want them to feel left out..

How about 1900 Park Fare for dinner? Cinderella & the Prince, plus the stepsisters and stepmother are a hoot! My teens loved this dinner because we had so much fun with the characters.

 

[deniseallen411]

I did check staying at Pop 10 day base ticket and Dining Plus Plan w/ airfare it was almost $5000 for 4..I assume my parents in a seperate room will be $3000+ w/ my niece as well.. I estimated $9000 staying off site and so many other theme park besides WDW rental car,etc.. But Im actually down to $7000 taking out Univ. Studios/IOA/SW/Aquatica
Car rental Im still working on that...

 

[Darcy03231]

We did a trip with 9 people a couple of years ago. We went for 16 days. Here's what we spent:

Airfare: Approx. $250/pp = $2,250

Rental home: $1,400. We stayed here: http://www.vacationrentals.com/vacation-rentals/32411.html

We loved this house and I would definitely stay there again. It was convenient to the parks, shopping & restaurants. We loved having the private pool.

Rental cars: We needed 2. We ended up with a minvan and a PT Cruiser. $800

Parking: Around $300. We didn't go to a park every day and we did US/IOA/SW and BG, and their parking was less expensive as I recall.

Gas for the rental cars: Again, as I recall it was about $250-$300 for both cars for the 16 days we were there.

Park tickets: We did the flex tickets and spent about $230/pp for the adults and $200/pp for the children. (7 adults, 2 children). We had left over days on previous passes for WDW and did the Pirates and Princesses party ($350). Total $2010

Food: We ate most of our meals in the house. We had a big breakfast each day, snacked in the parks and then came back to the house for a mid-day break/swim, had something to eat and went back to the parks at night. I found on average it was around $7-8/pp for the children and $8-$10/pp for the adults for counter service meals. We did order pizza one night, subs another night and ate at Golden Corral (about $10/pp one night). I really didn't keep track here. I didn't count the food from the grocery store as I would have had to shop at home anyway. The only big meal we ate out was for DD's 16th birthday and we went to a nice off-site steak house. The meal with tip, drinks, etc. ran about $350 for the 9 of us.

Hope this helps.

 

[juliebean]

The Garden Grove has certificates on restaurant.com - but wait for 80% off, so you get $50 or $100 for a couple of dollars... There are a bunch of other restaurants on there too that might interest you.

 

[MacFam4]

I have heard that Cinderella's Royal Table is extremely difficult to book. I don't know first hand because I have boys, so that's based on what I've read on here. I agree if your girls wanted Cinderella, 1900 Park Fare would be a good option. Cheaper too.

Speaking of food, we plan on having a quick breakfast in our condo each morning. Lunch will be in the parks. The days we visit HS and AK, and our relax day, we plan on eating dinner in the condo as well. I have some fairly quick, easy meals planned so I think it will work out great for us. I didn't realize just how much money you can save by staying off site and having some meals in your room. This is a major budget trip for us...usually we stay on site and do the dining plan.

 

[deniseallen411]

We did a trip with 9 people a couple of years ago. We went for 16 days. Here's what we spent:

Airfare: Approx. $250/pp = $2,250

Rental home: $1,400. We stayed here: http://www.vacationrentals.com/vacation-rentals/32411.html

We loved this house and I would definitely stay there again. It was convenient to the parks, shopping & restaurants. We loved having the private pool.

Rental cars: We needed 2. We ended up with a minvan and a PT Cruiser. $800

Parking: Around $300. We didn't go to a park every day and we did US/IOA/SW and BG, and their parking was less expensive as I recall.

Gas for the rental cars: Again, as I recall it was about $250-$300 for both cars for the 16 days we were there.

Park tickets: We did the flex tickets and spent about $230/pp for the adults and $200/pp for the children. (7 adults, 2 children). We had left over days on previous passes for WDW and did the Pirates and Princesses party ($350). Total $2010

Food: We ate most of our meals in the house. We had a big breakfast each day, snacked in the parks and then came back to the house for a mid-day break/swim, had something to eat and went back to the parks at night. I found on average it was around $7-8/pp for the children and $8-$10/pp for the adults for counter service meals. We did order pizza one night, subs another night and ate at Golden Corral (about $10/pp one night). I really didn't keep track here. I didn't count the food from the grocery store as I would have had to shop at home anyway. The only big meal we ate out was for DD's 16th birthday and we went to a nice off-site steak house. The meal with tip, drinks, etc. ran about $350 for the 9 of us.

Hope this helps.

Im trying to cut down trust me... Where did u get your car rentals from? Did you look for discounts everyday? Im checking out the house

 

[My3kiddos]

There's a link for the Emerald Club on Mousesavers website.

 

[LisaNJ25]

Hello fellow Jersey girl

I agree with the others to drop the hoppers and go with the 7 day passes. Skip seaworld this trip.

We were the for 10 days last August and went with the 10 day base tickets.

If you want to see the undercover tourist prices with the mousesaver discount pm me your email address and I will forward you the email with the link. Once you sign up for the mousesavers newsletter it comes the 15th of each month.

Also dont forget to pre-order the photopass.

 

[My3kiddos]

FYI I just ran some numbers for national using the car and driver code and an entertainment book coupon and it was $709 after all taxes and fees. There are ALOT of codes you can try listed on Flyer Talk or mousesavers. Also try carrentalsavers.com.

 

[java]

I live in Jersey but I would have my parents take that 2 hr drive to Philly...Air travel has been purchased and parking lot outside the airport is what we plan to do I found prices ranging from $7.85-$20.00 w/ shuttle services too. As far as car rental I have been trying w/ National I believe Im going to register my DH for their Emerald Membership since he is the only driver. How do you stack up with codes w/ National dont they only have one option to insert the code?

no you just enter code after code. I needed to only use 3 to get my low quote- The extra day for a weekly rental was a freebie they threw in I think? I do know when we picked up our car the rental guy couldn't even believe how cheap I got the van. So PRINT out anything you do so you have proof. He didn't ask me to prove it since it was in the system but I felt better having it.

 

[Marionnette]

I live in Jersey but I would have my parents take that 2 hr drive to Philly...Air travel has been purchased and parking lot outside the airport is what we plan to do I found prices ranging from $7.85-$20.00 w/ shuttle services too. As far as car rental I have been trying w/ National I believe Im going to register my DH for their Emerald Membership since he is the only driver. How do you stack up with codes w/ National dont they only have one option to insert the code?

Car rentals are crazy high right now! National's Emerald Club has some nice perks, like being able to choose anything on the Emerald Aisle even though you're only paying for an intermediate size car, and no extra charge for a second driver. But don't get stuck on renting just from National or Alamo. Hertz, Budget and Avis are all good companies and you might find a better deal with one of them.

National doesn't allow more than one coupon but you can use a coupon and a Contract ID. Mousesavers lists both coupon codes and contract IDs. Play around with them and see what works out the best for you. You might also want to get an Entertainment Book just for their car rental coupons. You can get anything from a free day, $ off of a weekly rental or a 1 or 2 car level upgrade with the coupons there.

Even with contract IDs and coupons, you may not be able to bring that price down too much. I'm assuming that you will need a 9-passenger van, which doesn't come cheap.

 

[Suz D]

Denise,

Would your niece stay with your parents in a room if you stayed onsite? If so, here's the breakdown I got (keeping in mind that this total INCLUDES your meals which for a party of 7 and table service meals will add up very, very quickly. For example, Chef Mickey's is $35.00 for adults and $17 for children for dinner. That would be $227 for your meal and that does not include tax or tip-you would still have the tip portion of your meal even with the dining plan).

Pop Century Sept 9-19
$3714.65-party of 4 with 10 day no hopper and dining (you, dh & your kids)
3225.92-party of 3 with 10 day no hopper and dining (your parents & niece)
1934.00-airfare
333.00-airport parking
---------
$9207.57 and again, this includes your meals.

If your parents would share a room with your niece I really think this would be a great way to go. You'd have more flexiblity (anyone who's tired can just hop on the bus and go back to the room). You can take advantage of extra magic hours (we don't do this, but with teens you might). Plus, you'll be right in the center of the magic for 10 whole days.

With the dining plan you get 1 CS (counter service) per day, 1 TS (table service) per day, and 1 snack per day. We always bring bagels and stuff for breakfast in the room and then have CS/TS lunch/dinner. You can eat at more expensive places when you are on the dining plan. Keep us posted!

 

[gillenkl]

Personally if it was me and I was looking at my first family vacation this is the way I'd go:

Saratoga Springs Treehouse villa (full kitchen)
9 day base tickets

This allows everyone to do their own thing - certainly the teens will want to go off on their own sometimes. Use Magical Express. Elimate rental cars, gas and parking fees. You can still make your own meals and you can take a disney bus back to villa - you won't be wasting time driving all over Orlando. Keep in mind the heat and the grandparents would be able to also go back at their leisure - you will need breaks and not just from the heat but from each other. I would forget about the non-disney parks as you will have plenty to do in Disney. Since you're a first timer, I'd keep it simple and stay onsite.

 

[LIFERBABE]

I did check staying at Pop 10 day base ticket and Dining Plus Plan w/ airfare it was almost $5000 for 4..I assume my parents in a seperate room will be $3000+ w/ my niece as well.. I estimated $9000 staying off site and so many other theme park besides WDW rental car,etc.. But Im actually down to $7000 taking out Univ. Studios/IOA/SW/Aquatica
Car rental Im still working on that...

If you rented points, you could come in somewhere around $7-8K total. Which includes Dining Plan, and park tix air, parking. You could rent a 2 bedroom Villa with full kitchen and washer dryer.

 

[ccgirl]

If you rented points, you could come in somewhere around $7-8K total. Which includes Dining Plan, and park tix air, parking. You could rent a 2 bedroom Villa with full kitchen and washer dryer.

This is what I would suggest if you wanted to stay on site. Honestly, to cut costs though don't do the dining plan. You can pack lunches sandwiches/chips and eat in your room before you leave and save a boatload of money. A nice TS meal or QS meal here and there is great. But, if you want to save even more....stay off site. Some people gave you great examples of what they paid for a house rental. Off site places are much cheaper to dine at as well. If you want the Garden Grove they have $25 gift certificates you can purchase at Restaurant.com. I waited for the 80% off sale.

I have stayed both on site and off site. I have enjoyed both. As far as car rentals, check out carrentalsavers.com. We had great luck with them.

Have fun!