Saving For Disney

[ccgirl]

The Food & Wine Festival itself is included with the park ticket. The food out of the booths is extra $$. If you are on the DP, some can be snack credits. MNSSHP is a hard ticketed event. Meaning...you pay extra for that ticket but they only sell so many. We were able to walk on every single ride, no wait, the night we went. I can't remember the exact price of tix but it was well worth it. You can get into the park as early as 4pm with that ticket. What we did last year was go to Animal Kingdom during the day and ate at Flame Tree BBQ (great counter service IMO). Then, we went to MK and had a 4:30 character meal at the Crystal Palace. We could then stay in the park after it "closed" to regular guests (guest without the party tix) after 7pm. I would not suggest hoppers. You can also look into renting points from a DVC member. You can usually rent points around $11 a point. You can also get the dining plan while staying at a DVC (we are doing that in May 2010). A 2BR (sleeps 8) during October Su-Thur is 26 points. Multiple that by $11 a point and that is $1144 for the 4 nights. In addition to that, there is a full kitchen so you can get drinks/snacks at a store and can save money on that. You can also eat one of the meals at the timeshare. If you do the math there (for the Disney portion)
Timeshare on rented points $1144
Dining Plan $600
Park tickets $954.75 (you can PM me and I will let you know where this is from - reputable place but I'm not sure a sponsor here)
TOTAL $2698.75
with MNSSHP (see below) $2940.75
You still have a little over $1,000 for gas, food on road and lodging on road plus spending.
By the way, The MNSSHP price is $52A and $46C = $242
Feel free to PM me with any specific questions.

 

[dreamer03]

$4000 is very do-able for four days. Let's clarify though: Are you driving on day 1, seeing the parks for two days, then driving back on day 4 . . . or do you mean you have four whole days at Disney and you're excluding your driving days?

If you're pretty much locked into the first week of December, you need to realize that you're going at a time of year when the parks close early. You can find previous year's schedules online, but I'm thinking 6:30-7:00-ish. Also, fireworks and parades happen less often, so you want to be sure to note those times in your planning.

One way you can combat the early closing time is to plan your dinner after the park closes. You could finish up at the Magic Kingdom, watch the fireworks, then take the boat across the lake to one of the Deluxes, where you can have a character dinner. (Of course, everyone else will be doing the same thing.) Chef Mickey's is great for kids; I absolutely love the photographs I took of my girls there -- I knew at the time they were enjoying it, but the smiles in those photographs . . .

When you leave Epcot, Beaches & Cream is a great place to take kids for a casual dinner. Be sure to order the Kitchen Sink sundae, which is expensive but HUGE -- it's meant for the whole family to share. They flicker the lights and announce it to the whole restaurant as they deliver it to your table. My kids talked about that experience for more than a year.

In your situation, you should ignore all the "add ons" that people do at Disney. With limited time, you're hitting the rides and shows. Don't plan on first haircuts, fireworks cruises, etc. JUST the parks. You'll have more than you can possibly do anyway!

We've stayed in Port Orleans, and it's a good choice for a family of your size. One of the benefits of staying there is that in the evenings you can take the boat up to Pleasure Island, and that opens up lots of restaurants/shopping for you. The negative: Their food court is both awful and expensive, and with the parks closing early, you'll need hotel-based food choices.

Another good option is Wilderness Lodge. They're less expensive than the other Deluxes, and they have bunk beds. They're a boat ride away from the Magic Kingdom. If you could luck into a good deal on the concierge floor, you'd have light meals and snacks provided for you; it could happen the first week of December.

At your time of year, I wouldn't rule out staying off-site. With the parks closing early (you can tell this is a major thing for me), you're not going to be able to come back mid-day for a rest. Do they offer the early entry in December? Really, though I love the onsite hotels, I think they're not quite the same great value year-round.

Once you settle on which tickets you want, order them ahead of time from Ticketmania (or a similar online dealer with a good reputation). You won't save much, but it'll be a few dollars. Given your situation, I wouldn't bother with the hopper option.

Okay, finally, the question of how to save. Decrease your monthly expenses in some way (skip meals out, skimp on grocery bills, buy fewer kids' clothes, etc.). Increase income (sell old kids' clothes on ebay, babysit, or similar). Put the savings away in an account where you can't reach it easily.

we are planning 4 days of disney and 2 days driving to and 2 days from florida.

 

[dreamer03]

I don't think the kids would be that into the Food & Wine festival. The Halloween thing, though, would be very good for you! It would give you some evening hours at the Magic Kingdom, evening hours with limited numbers of other guests. It's a separate ticket event

How far are you driving? I was assuming that you could drive in one day, but if you're going to need a hotel on the way, you should compare the cost of driving vs. flying. Orlando flights are often very cheap.

If you do fly, you won't need to check luggage -- not for a four-day trip -- that's a money-saver. If you fly, definitely stay on-property; that'll mean you don't need a rental car. IF you could get airline tickets for a decent price, you could stay under $4000.

We will be driving from central Michigan. my hubby drives truck for a living and would have no problem with one day driving but I dont think the kids or I could handle that long of a road trip in a day.

 

[dreamer03]

OP- You mentioned that your husband travels frequently for work. Does he belong to the hotel loyalty programs (ie. Marriott Rewards, Hilton Hhonors, etc.)? If so he can probably accumulate enough points for some free nights.

He drives truck for a living. With him having a CDL Class A license he can get a discount at any hotel with a number in the name. How silly huh?

 

[ccgirl]

I did respond to your PM. In an effort to save money, I am going to go with another poster and suggest staying off site in a condo for all the room. I loved being able to put my kids to bed and still stay up with my husband and enjoy our vacation. In addition, you can get snacks and eat some meals there to save money (as previously suggested). You can pay out of pocket for a few of the meals and also enjoy the F&W Festival and all the other great things. Now that I own timeshare, (Non-DVC) we really feel cramped in a hotel room. If you don't have your heart set on staying on property, check out off property. You can save so much $$$$. You can also pack sandwiches/drinks to bring to the park and save more money. We only did this a couple of days since I wanted to enjoy my vacation. It is amazing how much $$ you can save doing this. A bottle of water is $2.50 in the parks and you can get a case for $4. Good luck. You will have such a great time!!!

 

[Booknut]

I think i'd look into airfare and book a 2 bed condo for under $400 with skyauction.com, lots of people on here have used them. Silver Lake Resort seems to come up almost monthly and its a stones throw from the parks and has good reviews on Trip Advisor.

That way you may get one or two more days in Florida and less days on the road. Beginning of December isn't peak time so maybe you'll be able to grab a good deal on flights.

If you can get the condo for $400 and the tickets for under $1100 (undercovertourist has 5 day base tickets plus 2 extra days free for $1039 if all your kid are btw 3 and 9, might be a bit more if one of your kids is over 9).

I priced out airfare on expedia for the first week of december this year from Detroit and for all of you it came to $799 with airtran, so that would leave you $1700. Throw in car rental for the week (you could look out for deals etc) and I think you'd be left with enough for lots of souvenirs and a few character meals too!

Another option is go this year - seeing as $799 is very reasonable for flights!) and book the free dining option in december for the Port Orleans Riverside - I think the promotion runs into December.

I would definitely pick one or two more days in Florida over driving for 4 days if you could help it.

 

[PaulDavid's mom]

Our family would like to go to Disney sometime in 2010. Due to our ever changing budget, I am having a hard time saving money for out family of five to go. I have planned and cancelled at least 5 times this year already and I don't wnat to do that again. We are a family of five and our children are all under 7 years of age. I am loaded with questions so I will take any info I can get. I am thinking Nov. or Dec for vacation for four days of Disney. Is a hopper worth it with this age range? Which dining plan is best? I am thinking deluxe but I tend to be a super overacheiver when it comes to Disney. I havent been there in 15 years so it is apparent that my children have never been but neither has my anti-disney husband. How do I get him motivated to go? The kids are already geeked. We do have AAA so I plan on using that discount. I will take any advice given. He is the money maker in this family. His jobs takes him out of state often so we feel it is best that I am home with the children. Is there any hope for my dreams?

Another way I thought to save money was to start shopping at Aldis or Save-A-Lot. I am just not a creative can cook. I guess I need help all the way around. We spend $150.00 a week and grocery, gas, papergoods, and such. Can I cut back there and start stashing? Help me please!

I completely understand! We've planned and cancelled so many times before. I'm determaned to go in 2010! It doesn't help that my husband could care less if we go there or not. He just said if I could save the money, we can go. But I have to have it all before hand so nothing goes on the credit card.
I have found that selling some stuff (that we don't use anymore ex: scrapbook stuff) on ebay has helped a little. Also saving change!