talk me through this.....I think I'm planning myself in circles

[Shanna-like-Banana]

OK, Girl Scout Leader here. I have 5 girls, all 6th graders, we are Cadettes. We will have to take 2 adults, so a total of 7 ppl.

Our council has given us a preliminary green light to start the planning process. Our council is pretty strict on giving permission for trips. They must have an education aspect and they would also like to see which requirements for X badges will it be working toward. We are leaning toward the Y.E.S.

Our girls have started planning their long term goal, which will commence during the summer of 2014. They have 3 years to plan for it and we need to have firm and final plans about 9 months before the trip.

I am trying to come up with difference princing stratagies to present to the parents when we have our parent meeting.

We are obvioulsy trying to keep the cost low with a few contengcies, we want to stay on site and would prefer to have a dining plan.

Help me out. I need it to be as simple as possible to explain to the parents. 2 of them are Disney nuts and have done YES classes, 2 of them don't really know much about Disney, but their families have been once or twice. Since we only have 7 ppl, we don't qualify for the group registration.


OK, so here is what I need help with :

In order to keep costs low, we would consider going during a value season at the end of the summer.

We would consider staying at a value with 2 rooms. Or we would bump it up to a Mod if there is free dining.

I have been looking at the YES tickets but have a zillion questions about it.

We do not need park hoppers. We only need 4 days worth of tickets, but would bump it up to 5 if there is free dining.

OK so for the questions :

If we purchase the YES tickets, we can not purhcase a dining plan right ?

If we purchase the YES tickets, it includes admission to 1 YES and we would have to purchase 3 additions @ 26 each ?

Do the leaders/adults have to purchase the add ons, since we have to remain with the girls at all times.

Another scenerio :

If we go during a free dining time. They usually require a non-discounted 4 night/5 days package, right. If we do go during a free dining time, we could move up to a Mod resort

If we do go during a free dining time, can we just pay the $26 per YES class, or do you have to purchase a YES ticket package to participate in YES ?

HELP

 

[HM]

I can't really help, but one thing sticks out for me. Since the trip isn't until 2014, there are several things that could happen in the interim: YES could be discontinued, Dining Plans could change dramatically, prices could rise for hotels more than anticipated. None of these things might happen, but it's good to go in thinking that it's a possibility.

I would think about the most expensive inexpensive way to do it. Two rooms at a Value with no discount, no dining plan (something like $45 a day or such for three counter service meals), and four day base tickets (at today's regular prices). Use that as the base and then work out the other variables when it gets closer.

Also, our girl scout troop went into middle school all gung-ho about earning money toward a trip to NYC or WDW. Within two years, the troop was disbanded. We even added in a couple girls right before the end to bring our numbers up. They all had other things going on that meant more to them than continuing as a troop (sports mostly). So, be prepared in case your little troop gets even smaller....

 

[pantherlj]

I can't really help, but one thing sticks out for me. Since the trip isn't until 2014, there are several things that could happen in the interim: YES could be discontinued, Dining Plans could change dramatically, prices could rise for hotels more than anticipated. None of these things might happen, but it's good to go in thinking that it's a possibility.

I would think about the most expensive inexpensive way to do it. Two rooms at a Value with no discount, no dining plan (something like $45 a day or such for three counter service meals), and four day base tickets (at today's regular prices). Use that as the base and then work out the other variables when it gets closer.

Also, our girl scout troop went into middle school all gung-ho about earning money toward a trip to NYC or WDW. Within two years, the troop was disbanded. We even added in a couple girls right before the end to bring our numbers up. They all had other things going on that meant more to them than continuing as a troop (sports mostly). So, be prepared in case your little troop gets even smaller....

Yes, around here, once they hit middle school, the troops start getting smaller and smaller so that is a good thing to keep in mind.

Good luck.

 

[stacieps]

I agree with PP - I'd set my budget based on 2 value rooms, full price tickets, and set an amount for meals. Then, if you get better prices, or free dining, you may be able to relax the money-earning or add extras.

I took my Girl Scouts to Disney twice (we also had 5 girls and 2 adults, both trips)- in 6th grade and in 8th grade (2011).

The first trip we did not have the dining plan - we ordered food/drinks from Garden Grocer, had breakfast in the room. Each girl was given $10 for lunch and $10 for dinner (usually had to have water with meal due to cost). We did 2 character buffets during that trip.

2nd trip - this trip was VERY inexpensive for us, everything came together in our favor (wouldn't ever be able to do it again!). We decided in November 2010 to go in August 2011. Disney offered free dinng (WDW announced early that year, so we were booked by Dec 2010), we stayed at a value, so had the counter service plan. We jumped on airfare that was around $175pp r/t. I was able to buy 5 military salute tickets (DH is retired military), so we only had to pay full price for 2 tickets. We ended up with some extra $$ so girls were given that as spending money.

I'm not sure about your council, but ours did let us "meet" the education component without the YES programs. With our trip application, we included an explanation that the girls were being eductated thru the whole process -- budgeting (learning to find the prices, etc), figuring out how to raise that money, planning the money-earners (ours were mostly events for other Firl Scouts), running the money-earners. As for during the trip, I explained the many education things they'd experience (safari at AK, world showcase at Epcot, etc), so we didn't participate in any specific programs.

Good luck!

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

OK, Girl Scout Leader here. I have 5 girls, all 6th graders, we are Cadettes. We will have to take 2 adults, so a total of 7 ppl.

Our council has given us a preliminary green light to start the planning process. Our council is pretty strict on giving permission for trips. They must have an education aspect and they would also like to see which requirements for X badges will it be working toward. We are leaning toward the Y.E.S.

Our girls have started planning their long term goal, which will commence during the summer of 2014. They have 3 years to plan for it and we need to have firm and final plans about 9 months before the trip.

I am trying to come up with difference princing stratagies to present to the parents when we have our parent meeting.

We are obvioulsy trying to keep the cost low with a few contengcies, we want to stay on site and would prefer to have a dining plan.

Help me out. I need it to be as simple as possible to explain to the parents. 2 of them are Disney nuts and have done YES classes, 2 of them don't really know much about Disney, but their families have been once or twice. Since we only have 7 ppl, we don't qualify for the group registration.


OK, so here is what I need help with :

In order to keep costs low, we would consider going during a value season at the end of the summer.

We would consider staying at a value with 2 rooms. Or we would bump it up to a Mod if there is free dining.

I have been looking at the YES tickets but have a zillion questions about it.

We do not need park hoppers. We only need 4 days worth of tickets, but would bump it up to 5 if there is free dining.

OK so for the questions :

If we purchase the YES tickets, we can not purhcase a dining plan right ?

If we purchase the YES tickets, it includes admission to 1 YES and we would have to purchase 3 additions @ 26 each ?

Do the leaders/adults have to purchase the add ons, since we have to remain with the girls at all times.

Another scenerio :

If we go during a free dining time. They usually require a non-discounted 4 night/5 days package, right. If we do go during a free dining time, we could move up to a Mod resort

If we do go during a free dining time, can we just pay the $26 per YES class, or do you have to purchase a YES ticket package to participate in YES ?

HELP

Your last few questions kind of confused me. To be CLEAR, if you want FREE DINING none of you can do the YES program because there is a 2 day minimum ticket purchase per person required for EVERY person in the room.

If you want free dining then that will be your only discount. And even to BUY the dining plan you have to have a MYW package which means you would still have to buy at least a one day ticket per person for everyone in the rooms.

I don't think there is any way you can give the parents an idea of what a trip in 2014 will cost. Everything will be more expensive. You can only price it all out at full price now, divide it by the number of travelers and let the parents know that your estimate is on the very low side and that it will probably cost a lot more than that.

You definitely can't predict or hope for any type of discount that may come out for 2014. I think I would wait until mid 2013 before I even bothered pricing it out.