Tell me HOW to make Disney affordable

[moxiecola]

We are a family of 7. According to Disney's logic, 4 adults and 3 children. Tix to the park would cost over $2000. The cheapest hotel I can find (we would travel in July/Aug timeframe) which would uncomfortably fit 7 would be in the $1000 range (this is taking nothing into consideration, maybe proximity to the parks, just trying to fit 7 in 1 room). We would drive down from Boston as the airfare would be in the $2000 range as well. We haven't had a Disney vacation in over 10 years (when there were less mouths to feed). The kids ask DAILY when we are going and the last 2 kids have never been. My oldest will be heading to college this fall and we would really like to go to Disney before family vacations no longer appeal to him. BUT obviously the expense of a Disney vacation for a family of this size is HUGE. I am pretty frugal and always research my options well regarding pricing. That being said, I would still like to know if anyone has any suggestions on some serious penny pinching in regard to hotel/park tix which is the bulk of our expense here. Reading suggestions, websites, personal experience...whatever you can share, I will appreciate. I love having a large family but Disney vacations are affordable for a family of 4, not 7.

 

[Marionnette]

We are a family of 7. According to Disney's logic, 4 adults and 3 children. Tix to the park would cost over $2000. The cheapest hotel I can find (we would travel in July/Aug timeframe) which would uncomfortably fit 7 would be in the $1000 range (this is taking nothing into consideration, maybe proximity to the parks, just trying to fit 7 in 1 room). We would drive down from Boston as the airfare would be in the $2000 range as well. We haven't had a Disney vacation in over 10 years (when there were less mouths to feed). The kids ask DAILY when we are going and the last 2 kids have never been. My oldest will be heading to college this fall and we would really like to go to Disney before family vacations no longer appeal to him. BUT obviously the expense of a Disney vacation for a family of this size is HUGE. I am pretty frugal and always research my options well regarding pricing. That being said, I would still like to know if anyone has any suggestions on some serious penny pinching in regard to hotel/park tix which is the bulk of our expense here. Reading suggestions, websites, personal experience...whatever you can share, I will appreciate. I love having a large family but Disney vacations are affordable for a family of 4, not 7.

Some prices are just going to be what they are. Ticket prices are pretty much controlled by Disney. You can get a bit of a break by purchasing from authorized resellers like undercovertourist or USSSA. Or you could enroll the kids in a YES program and get discounted tickets. You can cut back on the cost by eliminating hopping or reducing the number of days.

For accommodations, look into renting a 3-4 bedroom condo or vacation home instead of a hotel room. It will give you a full kitchen and the free use of a washer/dryer in most cases. You can find lots of available units on skyauction.

ETA:It looks like USSSA has changed their website and they now require information about participating players' names, teams, etc. You will not be able to purchase their tickets unless your child is competing in one of their tournaments.

 

[kymom99]

Do you have your mind set on onsite? I have never stayed in any of the larger accomodations, but I believe they are pretty expensive. The cabins at Ft. Wilderness might work. Some people on here recommend renting points for DVC.
The next best option for your size family would be off site in a rental house or condo. I use VRBO. You can get a 3 bedroom condo at Windsor hills for around $125 a night in the summer. Also I found a 4 bedroom house in Lindfield Estates for $111 a night. it has its own pool, but the community doesn't really have any amenities. Then you have parking fees at the park, but cooking your meals would save a small fortune. There really isn't any way to save a lot on park tickets. You can use UT but your savings won't be all that much.

 

[moxiecola]

After I posted the question, I thought the same thing to myself. It is what it is and the numbers aren't going to change. The price I quoted about tix is the Undercover Tourist price w/o park hopper for a 6 day pass (4 day is only $100 cheaper total which is no savings in the big scheme of things). I have priced out the condos as well as hotels. I will look into that website suggested.
We really aren't planning on staying IN the park. Our family has outgrown the room sizes available at an affordable price. Although we would like to stay as close as possible. We have rented a house from Windsor Hills in the past, which would be my first choice again if the price is right.
Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[Darcy03231]

We're a family of 6 and live in NH. Here's what we do:

1. Rent a vacation home. Last time we rented a 5 bedroom/3bathroom private home with a pool (used www.vacationrentals.com) in Clermont. We paid $700 for the week inclusive of taxes and fees (went toward the end of August).

2. We eat most of our meals in and take water/snacks to the parks with us.

3. We have a Southwest Visa and a Disney Visa. Anything that can be put on a credit card is and the balances are paid off weekly. We then use the points for airfare or tickets. We fly so we rent a van when we get there. I play with the codes to get the best price I can.

4. Buy a $50 Disney gift card each week and put them away. I've found it doesn't seem to hit the budget quite so hard when I do this. If you don't want to commit to the Disney gift card, get a prepaid Visa and load $50/week on it. If I get any extra money (rebates, eBay, overtime, etc.) I put that away in a separate account to go toward vacations. You'd be surprised how quick all of those small deposits add up. I also deposit any money that has been budgeted for groceries, utilities, etc.

5. We go without a lot of "stuff" to be able to vacation each year. We don't drive new cars, we don't buy stuff we don't need, we don't eat out a lot, go to the movies, etc. All of that money is put toward vacations.

Good luck!

 

[frenzy70]

I also recommend VRBO. I had 6 people and we rented a house with its own private full sized pool for around $130 a night. My kids loved it. It was very upscale and had the pluses of a kitchen and laundry when we needed it.

 

[kcsqueen]

We have learned some little cost savers that have saved us quite a bundle on our last few trips to Disney:

Since you are planning to go in summer, bring your own water bottles, freeze them over night and put in a small cooler. Or last year, I purchased Brita filter sport bottles. Go to any counter service, ask for ice water, and pour into the Brita filter and the yucky taste is gone. I found this easier and lighter on my back, no heavy bottles to carry.

We also split one adult counter service meal between 2 people. With all the snacking that happens for us at Disney, we were never starving when it came to meal time.

We never ate breakfast in the parks. We are a family happy with cereal, bagel, muffins with some fruit for breakfast. Those items are easy enough to prepare in any hotel room. Even precooked sausages are easy to heat up in a microwave.

To save on purchases: the kids received one gift card with a certain amount. We made them aware how much and it was up to them now they spent it but once it was used up then there was not more not matter what.

 

[Vernie822]

I'm the oldest of 5, so I feel your pain. Our last 2 trips as a family of seven (8 for one, because we took my Grandma) we stayed offsite.

You could always rent DVC points to stay onsite if that's something you're interested in, but I'm sure it's much cheaper to stay offsite.

You can split QS meals here and there, only have a few TS meals in the parks, etc. I know when my fiance and I went, we ended up splitting QS meals because the portions were so large. Especially if you have a bigger breakfast that morning.

 

[ValpoCory]

I would rent a 2 bedroom villa from a DVC owner. If you are within 7 months of your trip, you can usually find one for $350 to $500 per night, depending on how hard you work to find and vet a DVC owner. But even that is expensive, compared to what you can find off site.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Wow! Seven has got to be tough to travel.

I'm with the others on this Board. You're not going to get a significant discount on any of your tickets so you have to focus on the other costs: transportation (you're already driving to save $), lodging and food. If you rent a local condo you'll have sleeping space and the ability to cook meals and prepare lunches to bring into the parks. It's your best option.

 

[ValpoCory]

Also, pay attention to the Disney Gift Card Deals thread. We track different stores who offer you Disney Gift Cards for under face value, which can save serious money. Black Friday deals are common, for instance.

If someone in your family works for a big company that is associated with Disney or the theme parks, like IBM, Coke, or GM, etc., then they may have the ability to buy tickets at a straight 12% discount. I work at IBM, and our intranet has a link to the WDW Ticket Store with "Specially-Priced Theme Park Tickets".

 

[Dawnlight]

I have no idea if it would be cheaper, but how about driving down in a camper and staying at the Disney campground (to enjoy benefits of on-site guests)?

We're a family of 8, so I know how difficult and expensive it can be to travel with a larger family.

 

[ValpoCory]

Whatever you do, don't stay at the new Polynesian Villas & Bungalows 2 Bedroom Bungalows. That is, if you are on any budget or any kind.

Those cost between 841 and 1439 points per week. At the going rental rate of $12 per point, that's between $10,092 and $17,268 per week, or $1,442 to $2,466 per night, depending on the time of year you are traveling.

For that much money, I better be staying in the Cinderella Castle suite.

 

[Lilliputian]

We have 5 kids and will have 6 on our next trip. It is going to be expensive. When you multiply the cost of the tickets by that many, it adds up.

Driving will save you a lot, compared to a smaller family. Even if you have to stop overnight in a motel while driving, you still save a lot on airfare, and then you can stay offsite without renting a huge car.

We stay in houses in Windsor Hills. You probably can find a 3 bedroom townhome or condo that will work, but it's going to be a bit more of a squeeze. Something with bunk beds that sleep more than 2 per room in one room will fit you in best if you want to go with the cheapest possible. Or a timeshare that has a fold out bed in the living room. We love staying a 5 bedroom, 5 bath home with our own full-size pool, but we go on longer (2 weeks to over a month) trips, so a small space would be very confining after a while.

Having a kitchen can save you a lot on food. You can eat some meals in your house, and you can pack food for the parks for some of it. We prefer to pack simple lunches and save our money for yummy snacks, but packing a lunch is a little more work than packing snack food. Remember to take ice packs, lunch boxes, etc. with you if you do want to carry food into the parks. For food you eat in your house, you can cook meals ahead of time and freeze them so that you don't have to cook on vacation. A casserole served with raw veggies or fruit you buy once you get there is a nice vacation meal. You can also buy frozen pizza, chicken nuggets, or whatever you like to eat. It won't be the most delicious week of meals you ever had, but that's probably not why you're going to WDW.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Whatever you do, don't stay at the new Polynesian Villas & Bungalows 2 Bedroom Bungalows. That is, if you are on any budget or any kind. Those cost between 841 and 1439 points per week. At the going rental rate of $12 per point, that's between $10,092 and $17,268 per week, or $1,442 to $2,466 per night, depending on the time of year you are traveling. For that much money, I better be staying in the Cinderella Castle suite.

Sorry to hijack but I just don't get these!

Doesn't the murky swamp water negate the whole purpose of an overwater bungalow?

I'd have no problem shelling out that kind of cash for direct water access to crystal clear water but a runoff black swamp? Um no

 

[danygirl]

The one way to save on tickets in my opinion is to do water parks and more. In the summer you could do four park days and then the other days go to the water parks, play mini golf etc

 

[disney world dreamer]

keep it simple.

since you'll have your own car i'd suggest staying offsite and far enough offsite that its CHEAP.
when we don't stay on disney property we stay in davenport florida.
it takes about 25 minutes to get to the parks but hey if we stay on disney property it can take 20 minutes to get to MK if we stay at pop century or art of animation.
we've stayed at 3 hotels in davenport... days inn, holiday inn express, and travelodge. all 3 have a free breakfast although many times we enjoy going to waffle house which is fairly cheap.
i will say that since travelodge changed from a super 8 the workers have changed from friendly to rude so next time we'll consider staying at one of the other places i mentioned.

don't go overboard on your park ticket options.
i'd suggest just getting the base ticket if you are concerned with the budget.

when in the parks only eat at quick service restaurants.

limit the amount of souvenirs.

 

[worm761]

I am with the others. Either rent DVC or stay at a condo/villa off site. Bonnet Creek has great reviews though I have never stayed there.

Cook breakfast in the room. Take some lunches to the parks with you. Have gift cards for the other lunches and dinners in the park. You can still have a great time and not eat a single TS meal. They are nice but not necessary if you are trying to save money.

I would suggest that if the kids want to go then anyone over the age of 13 should start a Swagbucks account (using a referral from one of you!) and start earning some money towards the trip. You can cash out for PayPal if you are over 18 or you can cash out for Target or Walmart and buy Disney gift cards there.

Perk is another one someone or a few can do in the house. I don't know the age limit on this one but I do know you can have more than one account per household.

MTurk is another way to earn a bit of money towards a trip. You have to be 18 to do it but it can be mindless and done while listening to the TV or radio. I just deposited $20 into my Disney fund from here this morning.

 

[Darcy03231]

I would also start out with a base ticket. You can always add hopping if you need it when you get there. I've found that with staying off-site we tend to stay in one park a day anyway. It wasn't until the last day of our trip that we even thought about hopping and then just decided it wasn't worth the cost. That would save about $50 per ticket.

 

[JanaDee]

Whatever you do, don't stay at the new Polynesian Villas & Bungalows 2 Bedroom Bungalows. That is, if you are on any budget or any kind.

Those cost between 841 and 1439 points per week. At the going rental rate of $12 per point, that's between $10,092 and $17,268 per week, or $1,442 to $2,466 per night, depending on the time of year you are traveling.

For that much money, I better be staying in the Cinderella Castle suite.

Oh. My. God. All to be over nasty brown swamp water? People are crazy.