super duper excited!

[DramaQueen]

hey guys!

so remember all that money i had saved up and had nothing to do with it?!
well...not i have something to do with it! i'm going on a vacation with my bf to....(i'll give you one guess...)
DISNEY WORLD!!

We're going in the end of april/beginning of may-ish once we're done school.


So, now I need your guys' help!!! I need your budgeting/money saving/trip planning tips, your disney secrets, anything you have! lemme know!!
any tips, tricks etc that can help us plan and save money.

Here's the situation:
We'll be going for either 6 or 7 days, I've got 4 days on old tickets (pre expiry dates) and 2 waterpark days. So we're gonna split those up, and that give us 3 free days! We'll have to either buy a 3 or 4 day pass, and get our hotel accommodations set up. We're either staying @ Pop Century or AS:sports. I think we're gonna not get park hopper on the tickets that we're buying cuz the ones that we have now have park hopper, so I say 2 days park hopping is good enough.
We're not gonna make any ADRs, we're just gonna counter service all our meals.

So can you guys help me plan?? I'm SOOOO excited, Derek (my BF) has never been before and he's excited too!! It'll be our first trip together and my first trip without my family. So any tips/help is appreciated!

 

[laurenluvsdisney]

aww that is so exciting!! i am sure you two will have a great time! i am leaving in 2 months and i cannot wait! i know i have a whole bunch of tips and stuff that i wrote down and when i find it i will post it for you

 

[EyoreFANS12]

That is awesome, I would look around for promotions and special deal. I recomend the dining plan though. I hope you guys have fun!

 

[Sparx]

hey guys!

so remember all that money i had saved up and had nothing to do with it?!
well...not i have something to do with it! i'm going on a vacation with my bf to....(i'll give you one guess...)
DISNEY WORLD!!

We're going in the end of april/beginning of may-ish once we're done school.


So, now I need your guys' help!!! I need your budgeting/money saving/trip planning tips, your disney secrets, anything you have! lemme know!!
any tips, tricks etc that can help us plan and save money.

Here's the situation:
We'll be going for either 6 or 7 days, I've got 4 days on old tickets (pre expiry dates) and 2 waterpark days. So we're gonna split those up, and that give us 3 free days! We'll have to either buy a 3 or 4 day pass, and get our hotel accommodations set up. We're either staying @ Pop Century or AS:sports. I think we're gonna not get park hopper on the tickets that we're buying cuz the ones that we have now have park hopper, so I say 2 days park hopping is good enough.
We're not gonna make any ADRs, we're just gonna counter service all our meals.

So can you guys help me plan?? I'm SOOOO excited, Derek (my BF) has never been before and he's excited too!! It'll be our first trip together and my first trip without my family. So any tips/help is appreciated!

if you really really wanna save money, is there anyway you could postpone the trip till the fall of that year and get free dining? (its completely awesome)

 

[DramaQueen]

if you really really wanna save money, is there anyway you could postpone the trip till the fall of that year and get free dining? (its completely awesome)

i wish! i had free dining on a trip before and it was amazing!!
that would really help us out a lot too, but unfortunately with school/work/dereks lacrosse that's the only time we can go.
i've never been in the spring before, anyone know what the crowds are like?

 

[Babyjustrun]

We ONLY ever go that time of year. It's just nicer because it's not always warm at home by this time, and Florida is usually pretty hot by then but not absolutely horrible (like in the summer months). The crowds are usually pretty good because Easter is long over with, and same goes for American spring breaks.

I might be going at the same time, around the 2nd or 3rd week of May, but that's depending on whether my brother is doing summer classes (he needs to in order to graduate in 2011. My parents don't want him to, because it's the same year I graduate high school).

 

[minniesBFF]

Aww that's so awesome! You guys will have a great time!

We've gone in the third week in May the last few times we went to WDW, and I think it's a great time to go. It's hot but not completely horrid, and the crowds are manageable. Plus Epcot has the Flower and Garden festival then, which is really nice to see if you've never seen it. And if you go in the last week of May you guys might get to catch Star Wars weekends, if you're into that. I'm not really into it, but my dad loved it, and it was cool to see the characters dressed up like Star Wars characters.

good luck with the planning!

 

[Pearls]

yay thats so exciting!! I've never been to WDW at that time of year, but I'm sure its gorgeous!!
Between AS: Sports and Pop Century, I would pick Pop Century. I stayed at both, and I thought Pop was a lot funner. Plus the maid at AS: Sports lost my stuffed monkey >:0
also, take advantage of the buses instead of renting a car.

another tip would be to bring me. not sure how that would save you money, though, so to make up for it here is a website: http://www.mousesavers.com/wdw.html

 

[Sparx]

yay thats so exciting!! I've never been to WDW at that time of year, but I'm sure its gorgeous!!
Between AS: Sports and Pop Century, I would pick Pop Century. I stayed at both, and I thought Pop was a lot funner. Plus the maid at AS: Sports lost my stuffed monkey >:0
also, take advantage of the buses instead of renting a car.

another tip would be to bring me. not sure how that would save you money, though, so to make up for it here is a website: http://www.mousesavers.com/wdw.html

also
pop century has a dedicated bus line. asm/m/s doesn't. that means you wait longer at the all stars than at pop.

 

[MickeyisBeast]

Awesome! You're gonna have an AMAZING time!

 

[pigletgirl]

Oh, how fun!! Let me tell you I LOVED going with my bf! We just had a grand time.

And we didn't rent a car. It is expensive, we arent old enough to (you must be 25 in the states...funky huh?!!), and we were just going to stay on WDW property.

Wellll.....bf was disappointed because he wanted to go to that alligator park, but I said no. It is $$$ in the cab and we weren't willing to pay that.

Next time, we may pay the extra $$$ and have a car. I have never explored Orlando before!

 

[I Am What I Am]

Have fun!!

One way to save money at CS places is to order the kids meals. They are cheaper and they are quite a bit of food. (Plus...COOKIES!)

 

[andy.b]

I don't really remember much of All star sports because the last time I was there was 11 years ago. I stayed at Pop Century 3 years ago and I really liked it. The food court was great.
And...you should totally come visit me when you're there!!

 

[SKJA124]

that sounds awesome!! I can't wait for my trip either
I hope you have an amazing time!!!

 

[pigletgirl]

Have fun!!

One way to save money at CS places is to order the kids meals. They are cheaper and they are quite a bit of food. (Plus...COOKIES!)

Ditto!!! It'll save at least $3/meal

 

[xCourxCorex]

I agree w/ Shelby on the busses. Pop is a really great hotel you'll love it!
Some places it is best to share CS meals .. like at Cosmic Ray's in MK, my mom and I shared a meal that was 1/2 Rotisserie chicken, 1/2 rack of ribs, green beans and mashed potatoes. Kids meals are also an option. Sunshine Seasons in Epcot (by Soarin') has really awesome kids meals. The Flametree grill in AK has a HUGE fruit plate you could probably split as well.

Also at any CS location or snack place, you can ask for a cup of ice water for free. Definitely do this, and bring your own drinks if possible. No sense in paying $3 for a bottle of water when you can get it much cheaper/free!

Another thing my family does is pack small snacks .. trail mix, granola bars, 100 cal packs etc. My mom puts them in a hard plastic container so they don't get squished on the plane, and we bring a few to the parks so we eat those instead of paying for popcorn, ice cream or cotton candy. Not that you can't splurge on Disney snacks once in a while, but it really adds up if you eat 2 snacks a day.

Also if you are concerned about rain, buy ponchos ahead of time. The Disney ones are pretty good quality, but if you can get some at home, you don't HAVE to buy the expensive park ones.

If you really want a fridge, check out the Budget board .. sometimes they do fridge swaps for Pop and such. See if you can get in on one. That way you can keep snacks and waters in your room nice and cold!

The mugs are a pretty good value if you think you'll use them a lot. One mug is like $13.. you can share for each meal you eat at the hotel .. might be cheaper than getting a cup if you use it enough times.

Finally, I second Pearls' recommended website .. it's great. It even has menus on it for every CS and sit-down place in the parks and hotels.

Good luck with your planning & have so much fun! I'm jealous

 

[cannp123165]

That's so exciting!