This may be the cheapest Disney trip ever...

[AndreaDM]

Other than outright winning an all expenses paid trip that is. DH has a convention in June at CR and the company is paying for 5 nights (arriving Sat and leaving Thur), his flight, all his food and some of mine and DD7. Woohoo! The 3 of us did the GAD project so we will all go to Epcot the day before the convention begins since that's where DH wants to go with his free ticket. I will upgrade mine and DD's to 4 day passes for a total of $270. We also purchased Airtran vouchers at a charity auction for $425 total for 2 r/t tickets anywhere Airtran flies so we redeemed them for our tickets. So, other than a few meals and souveniers we will be spending only $695 out of pocket for a 5 night vacation! No rental car, we will use DME. I know, poor DH has to "work" for 3 of those days, but part of the tour he's on includes behind a behind the scenes tour at AK and an Illuminations dessert party at Epcot. It's a Garden Center convention/tour so he's actually all excited about it. Meanwhile, DD and I will have fun doing all our princess stuff and riding rides that he'd rather skip anyway. Only 2 more months, I can't wait! Almost makes up for DH having to work 70+ hours a week this time of year...

Just had to share since this is the budget board!!

 

[labdogs42]

Nice! It is so cool when we can get a hot deal on a Disney trip, isn't it? I was pretty proud of putting together a trip for three for less than $2000. You beat me by a mile!

 

[AndreaDM]

Well, I'm sure total cost is well over $2000, but it's just that WE aren't paying for it! But, DH is a very hard worker and has been with the company for over 11 years so he deserves this!

 

[Gwendolyn]

Ohhh congratulations on such good deals!

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

that is soooo cool. Is your husband only in his convention during working hours? If so, there are LOTS of things you can do on site in the evenings that's free or low cost without going into the parks. If you are there on a night that Bob The Entertainer is at Port Orleans, I encourage you to go over for this show. It's family friendly and so much fun! It's free. You all could go to downtown Disney. Rent a surry bike and take a ride. Ride the monorail around and see the sites.

 

[AndreaDM]

Yes he is only required to be there during working hours, but they have optional seminars/dinners in the evenings. I think he will go to one or two of those, one speaker is the lady who is in charge of all the annuals at Disney so I think he wants to hear her. The last night we are there is the dessert party at Epcot which they are inviting families to go to as well, so we won't lack for things to do!

We had origionally planned to use the GAD passes for a weekend trip in Oct., we wouldn't plan on going in June, but to stay at CR for free, well, couldn't pass that up!!

 

[lovetoscrap]

that is soooo cool. Is your husband only in his convention during working hours? If so, there are LOTS of things you can do on site in the evenings that's free or low cost without going into the parks. If you are there on a night that Bob The Entertainer is at Port Orleans, I encourage you to go over for this show. It's family friendly and so much fun! It's free. You all could go to downtown Disney. Rent a surry bike and take a ride. Ride the monorail around and see the sites.

The Boardwalk is fun for at night too-- they have entertainers that perform along the Boardwalk. And check out Fort Wilderness and their free movies and the campfire where you can buy a kit to roast marshmallows.

 

[AndreaDM]

Yeah I think we are having dinner at Trail's End the first night there then staying for the campfire. Seemed like a relaxing way to start the trip.

 

[dallastxcpa]

You can also look in to the Disney YES program. It would be fun for your DD and could save you enough money to also get your DH a ticket. There is a thread on this forum.

 

[DawnM]

Great! I love DH's trips where we can tag along. They don't happen as much anymore with budget cuts, but we took a wonderful trip up to Montreal 2 years ago and went through Niagara Falls and Hershey, PA for a couple of extra days as well. Very inexpensive with Dh's work paying for all the gas and most of our hotel stays!

We have also gone to NYC a couple of times and the beach.

Dawn

 

[MarthaJr.]

Congrats! Hope you all have a magical time!

 

[savannahcat]

Company trips like this are how we got hooked on WDW! Ten of the trips in my signature were work-related for DH, and because the kids were so small, we only had to pay for my airline ticket and the adult park tickets.

I loved those trips, but the training center that DH frequented in Orlando has since moved to Chicago. Now we have to feed the addiction from our own pockets!

 

[pmickus]

We are doing the WDW/Harry Potter tour this summer for under $2000. Auto Train $500 (one way we are driving back and visiting relatives on the way), 3 days CSR $350, 3 days Caribe Royal suites $300, Universal tickets $400, 1 night at Universal Hotel $250, GAD ticket for MK free and purchase ticket to Epcot $305, Kennedy Space Center - Free tickets from my Senator, Disney Quest $160. To offset the price I have $700 in Disney Rewards Dollars.

Total - $1550, leaves me with just under $500 for food.

 

[mom2travel]

That sounds awesome!

DH and I are planning an adults-only WDW trip in the fall because I have a conference at CR. Our hotel is paid for, my airfare and some meals, and we'll use DME. We have SWA rewards vouchers to use for his airfare. So we just need to decide what kind of park ticket to buy and pay for a few meals (and gifts for the kids - so sorry they need to stay home and go to school! ha! )

Have a great trip!

 

[pmickus]

Hopefully the fall trip is during Epcot's Wine and Food Festival. i would spend every night walking around WS drinking a glass of wine and tasting all the different foods at the kiosks. No need for ADR just enjoy the cool evenings and all the Festival has to offer. My husband and I secretly would love to do this again.

 

[scanmom]

I wish my work would pay for seminars, there is a seminar for my field (ultrasound) every Feb at the YC/BC and one in the summer that is usually at the CR. I have never been, because it is $500.00 just for the seminar fees!!!
Now, we did take a cheapo trip to Disneyland in Ca. in Oct 2001. We got a great deal because no one was travelling after Sep. 11th. We had a suite that was a block from the parks (6 nites), breakfast every morning, 5 day park passes, and a coupon book. Total for the 6 of us was $635.00 for the package... and that was including a $15.00 fedex fee, since we booked last minute. We drove and spent about $100-$150 in gas, and had a hotel on the way, and on the way home, that were cheapies, $50.00 each. We packed a lot of our food (we always did when the kids were younger), and we usually don't count food expenses unless we eat at a very expensive restaurant (which we didn't), since we would have had to eat wheather we were at home or on the road. So we paid about $900.00 total for a 6 nite trip for 6 people! I would love to find that kind of deal again! But I certainly don't want the circumstances that created the opportunity for the deal.
Another decent deal, to DLR, was 2 yrs ago, my DD was in her Sr. year of HS, we had bought AP's for DLR in March that year (there was a special that made the AP a better deal than the PHP), and right before the passes expired I found a deal on Expedia and she and I went for a mom/daughter trip. We flew from Tulsa (usually hard to get deals from there), had 4 nights in a comfort inn (decent, but not fancy), breakfast with waffles every AM, and a rental car... grand total for both of us was $422.00. Now, this was a deal because we already had park tickets, but still. and this was also a last minute trip. It was so much fun.. I happened to see the deal online, talked to DH, then went into DD's room and asked her what she was doing that coming weekend. She said nothing, and I asked her if she wanted to go to DL with me! She thought I was joking, and got super excited when she realized I wasn't! We had such a great time on that trip!

 

[AndreaDM]

I happened to see the deal online, talked to DH, then went into DD's room and asked her what she was doing that coming weekend. She said nothing, and I asked her if she wanted to go to DL with me! She thought I was joking, and got super excited when she realized I wasn't! We had such a great time on that trip!

I did the same thing some years ago when a friend flaked out on a trip to Vegas. This was before 9/11 and through a charter flight so names on tickets could be changed for a $25 fee. My friend backed out a few days before the trip (I had paid for both tickets and she was going to pay me back) and I couldn't find anyone else to go on such short notice. So, I woke my oldest DD up early that morning and told her she didn't have to go to school that day, we were going to Vegas! She was soooooooo excited and we had a blast. I normally wouldn't advocate taking kids there, but I couldn't find another adult to go plus I made it a very kid friendly trip, no gambling for me obviously and we saw lots of shows and did the Hoover Dam tour. There is nothing like surprising your kids with a trip that's for sure!!