Trip for Four Under 5k

[christineann]

We ate granola bars in the room for breakfast - we're not big breakfast eaters, and it gave us a few more minutes of sleep since we stay at the parks until closing and make rope drop in the mornings.

We also did all our meals at CS restaurants. We looked at the menus before we went and picked the restaurants in each park that offered the most variety. We don't do ADRs, as we spend most of our time doing rides and shows, and we don't want to be on a schedule. A lot of the meals can be split - we do that not so much to save money (though that's a plus) but because the portions are large, and we don't want to waste food or lug around leftovers.

We got Dole Whips for a snack late one morning because we had never tried them before (!) and found that we weren't hungry for lunch, so we ate an early dinner. That was an unexpected savings.

We stayed at the Best Western at DTD, which offers bus service and doesn't charge for parking. We parked our car and never used it (except for the day at Universal/IOP).

We didn't feel deprived or that we were missing out on anything by doing our trip this way. We got to do everything we wanted (rides, rides, and more rides) and had a great time!

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[crusoe2]

I have never used a travel agent but I have planned several budget trips myself. I actually prefer doing the research and booking everything myself. Based on the wealth of information I've read here on the Disboards, I doubt a travel agent could do much better with finding discounts and ways to cut expenses.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the Orlando Hotels and Attractions board is a great place to start. They will have info on accommodations and restaurants.

You can look at Disney restaurant menus both here on the Dis and at www.allearsnet.com. I always check to see what the current menu options and prices look like before we go. It helps with planning where we'll eat and how much to budget.

I would also recommend registering on Mousesavers.com if you haven't already. You will receive a newsletter on the 15th of each month and there is a link in it to get even better prices than usual on park tickets from Undercover Tourist. We've used UT a couple times and they are very reliable and give great customer service. Mousesavers will also have lots of good info on closures and rehabs in the parks, deals at offsite accommodations, etc. either on the website or in the monthly newsletter.

 

[Swirly girls]

I'm looking for some help keeping our trip under 5000. We are a family of four flying from Oregon. Two teenagers and two adults. We will be traveling in the beginning of May 2014. We will go from a Saturday to a Saturday, with four days at WDW and two days at Universal.

These are the prices I have so far:
700- Hotel (Fairfield Inn Lake Buena Vista)
1500- Flights
500- Rental car
1200- WDW Tickets
600- Universal Tickets

All this adds up to 4500, which doesn't include food (I'm assuming about another 1000). I mean, preferably we would like to keep this as close to 4000 as possible, but we definitely need to keep it at a 5000 max.

Any ideas on how to make this possible?

Try Expedia or a similar website to book your car rental....we did that on a vacation we took in October to Disney world ect.... We got a almost brand new, Nissan Altima, fully loaded with Navigation for under $300 for 10 days.

 

[Diegosmom]

I just price a week in May using the spring deal (I know next probably wont be the same but there will probably be some sort of deal).

Its $1721 for a sat to sat stay with 4 day tickets at the all star.

This is less then what you are showing for hotel and tickets...

Then you can get rid of the rental car because you will use disney transportation (and magical express) saving you $14 a day on parking.

Then use something like this for your 2 days at universal.

http://*********************.com/universaltickets/

course you still have to factor in food...but maybe there will be free dining next year.

 

[pocomom]

Dh and I did Universal before the whole family did the Disney. We easily could have spent less than one day at Universal- for us it was just harry potter and a couple of roller coasters that were worth it (does anyone else think ET is just plain weird?) If you HAVE to do both maybe think about just one day at universal? The extra day in Disney parks won't cost as much per ticket (or build in a relax day). The other cost you can really do something about is food, Are the kids old enough to do Universal on their own together? My husband and I dream of the day that for just one day of the trip we sleep in , go to the pool generally laz around and let the kiddos run around the park though since our youngest is three and currently a crazy boy, it might be a couple of decades
Can you ditch the rental car? If not, you need to add in parking too

 

[disney1990]

I'm looking for some help keeping our trip under 5000. We are a family of four flying from Oregon. Two teenagers and two adults. We will be traveling in the beginning of May 2014. We will go from a Saturday to a Saturday, with four days at WDW and two days at Universal.

These are the prices I have so far:
700- Hotel (Fairfield Inn Lake Buena Vista)
1500- Flights
500- Rental car
1200- WDW Tickets
600- Universal Tickets

All this adds up to 4500, which doesn't include food (I'm assuming about another 1000). I mean, preferably we would like to keep this as close to 4000 as possible, but we definitely need to keep it at a 5000 max.

Any ideas on how to make this possible?

Fairfield includes breakfast so that will save a bit. I agree the car rental is too much. If you want to do one day at Universal, take a cab over, it will be cheaper.

 

[budafam]

Drop the car rental completely... with Magical Express, Disney transportation and transfers available to Universal, there's no need for that expense. Also, no park hoppers... order groceries for in room breakfasts & lunches to take with you in the parks. All of our trips have been less than $2000 with a family of four (yes, including airfare from Wisconsin)!!! PM me if you have any other questions

 

[theworldneedscolor]

I don't see how I can not rent a car and stay off property. We wouldn't be able to use Magical Express, and if Mariott or Bonnet Creek has shuttles to the parks, it seems like they would be inconvenient and unreliable.

 

[lisaross]

I would skip the car rental..forgot where u are staying, but stay in a disney hotel - use magical express than take a cab to Universal and a cab back to the airport - thats what we did a few years ago....

Can u try and go in the summer? free dining?

 

[SaraJayne]

I don't see how I can not rent a car and stay off property. We wouldn't be able to use Magical Express, and if Mariott or Bonnet Creek has shuttles to the parks, it seems like they would be inconvenient and unreliable.

If you are staying off site, a rental car is a must.

 

[hsmamato2]

If you are staying off site, a rental car is a must.

true...if it were me, planning this far out,I'd search every option, make a res. based on easy cancellation policy,and wait and see if Disney has a promotion for when I want to go,and then stay onsite at a value (Pop)
My preference is onsite,but hoping for a deal of some sort before I'd book...
Then you can take ME to hotel, and possibly just taxi over to Universal for a day to see HP land....My fam could easily do the one day hop thru Uni parks and feel completely done.....Just get there really early....and do the good rides,(ET IS SO creepy LOL)
This would save you car rental/parking costs, you could eat cereal in your room,and eat cs the rest of the time....

 

[Jenny3]

I agree with many of the previous posters... check out the Orlando board for hotel ideas. We just stayed at the Point Orlando Resort and got a great deal for a one-bedroom with living room, w/d, full kitchen and huge bath, $89/night in November. It's a mile from Universal, new and clean, and was fantastic!

Also for your rental car, start looking a few months out. We had a compact (new Toyota Corolla) for $81 (6 days/5 nights) booked through AAA with Advantage. Check the rates daily, book when you see a good rate (you can always cancel and rebook). The Transportation board is great for this!

You may also want to consider doing a few nights on-site in Disney (use ME, no need for a car), then moving to the Universal area with a car and staying off-site. There is a LOT to do in downtown Orlando besides Universal; I think you would have a lot of fun in that area!

Good luck!

 

[SaraJayne]

true...if it were me, planning this far out,I'd search every option, make a res. based on easy cancellation policy,and wait and see if Disney has a promotion for when I want to go,and then stay onsite at a value (Pop)
My preference is onsite,but hoping for a deal of some sort before I'd book...
Then you can take ME to hotel, and possibly just taxi over to Universal for a day to see HP land....My fam could easily do the one day hop thru Uni parks and feel completely done.....Just get there really early....and do the good rides,(ET IS SO creepy LOL)
This would save you car rental/parking costs, you could eat cereal in your room,and eat cs the rest of the time....

My preference is to stay on-site, also. But we've only had one trip where my husband and both kids have all gone at the same time and we stayed off-site for the extra room (which was wonderful).

So I can certainly understand why some prefer off-site (cheaper and MUCH more room compared to the cramped Disney hotels).

 

[Auggietina]

Oregon to Orlando for Universal?

My 16 year old is begging for me to take her back to Orlando. She could care less about going back to Disney. It's all about Harry Potter world. We only spent 1/2 a day there and she could have spent a whole other day there

 

[DisneyEater]

I would skip the car rental..forgot where u are staying, but stay in a disney hotel - use magical express than take a cab to Universal and a cab back to the airport - thats what we did a few years ago....

Can u try and go in the summer? free dining?

I agree with this. You are looking at $100 in cab fare per day at universal (or if you stay overnight 1 night there it would be less) vs. the $500 car rental. You could probably get close to the $700 staying onsite at a Disney value resort for the 6 nights and there may be some type of deal going on that would make it better. Also check the DTD disney hotels as they have bus service to the park. You would have to pay for a cab to the hotel if you went that route because they don't get magical express.

 

[chimilady]

My 16 year old is begging for me to take her back to Orlando. She could care less about going back to Disney. It's all about Harry Potter world. We only spent 1/2 a day there and she could have spent a whole other day there

My first trip to Orlando was for the opening of the Harry Potter world. I love Disney and all, but I'm all about Potter. We spent 4 whole days there on our first trip and could have easily spent more!

For food, I highly suggest the 3 Broomsticks, not for food, but for desserts and butterbeer. The food is not great and overpriced.

 

[danceintherain]

I'm curious, do you think a travel agent would help us get better deals? Or is it easy to do a budget trip on our own? If any of you have experience using a travel agent, please do share. We have looked at Glass Slipper Concierge and Small World Vacations, so information specific to those would be awesome.

Since you're planning on staying off-property, I'm going to say no.
I've used a TA once before, and she wasn't able to get me anything I couldn't get for myself. It did save me a few early morning phone calls, but I prefer having the control myself.

Definitely sign-up for the Mousesavers Newsletter. They often send out deals for off-property hotels. My family and I stayed at the Doubletree Suites near DTD a few years back for only $79/night on a Mousesavers deal. We stayed in a 2 room suite that slept 6. We took the LYNX from the airport to save money on transportation ($2.50/person/way) and used the provided buses to/from Disney. The service wasn't quite as good as on-property, but regular enough that we didn't have to worry about missing our bus.
If I had wanted to add Universal into that scenario, I probably would have just rented a car for those particular days.

I will say that in my research for an upcoming trip that includes Universal I saw a Last Minute deal for a week-long rental of a minivan for only $225, so I'm almost certain that you'll be able to rent a car for less than $500, if you're willing to put the time in.

 

[chicagoshannon]

I'd stay in a condo. A lot of people get deals on eBay. We've used Floridasunvacatons before. We've enjoyed Windsor Hills. I think Bonnet Creek will be above the hotel price you've found.

I wouldn't stay in a value resort with 2 teens. The beds are only doubles and the rooms are small.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

Other posters are prompting you to stay on-site at a value to save money. I would not recommend this for the reason the previous poster mentioned--the beds are double and the room itself is tiny. I can't imagine cramming 2 teens and 2 adults in one of those rooms.

My tips:

1) Follow the transportation board for the month you are going to find the best deal. I did this for my past Sept trip and got a full-size rental for about $140 for a week. This size car would be perfect for your family. It was alamo and I used some codes I found on the board. Be warned that you would find the good deals until a month prior to your departure (or less!), but you an re-book for no charge.

2) Stay off-site as planned, either at a hotel with free breakfast or at a condo, like Wyndham Bonnet Creek, where you can prepare your own food. I've stayed at that Fairfield you mentioned. It's perfectly fine but the breakfast is lacking if you like any type of protien in the morning. $700/week is pretty low and you won't find much lower than that if you include taxes. We paid $120/night for a 3 bedroom in bonnet creek for our last stay and totally loved it. That would be more than the Fairfield, though.

3) Modify your ticket plan. Get 4 day MYW Disney tickets. Subscribe to the MouseSavers newsletter and you will get an email once a month with a private link to the cheapest disney tickets you can buy. 4 Day tickets are $266. So that's $1064 total, less than the $1200 you mentioned. For Universal, buy a 1 day park to park ticket (I did this in September and got to ride everything I wanted to in both parks), or a 2 day base ticket. Get the ticket with the MouseSavers link too. Currently going for 126, so that's about $500 for your family. $100 cheaper than the $600 you mentioned.

4) Bring your own snacks into the parks and eat counter service. If you have a rental car, you can really eat for cheap outside the parks in the area.

Good luck!

 

[KCmike]

I was thinking the same as another poster....
Stay onsite and use magical express to get from Airport to Disney. If you want to do Universal then just take a cab or rent a car for one or two days from Downtown Disney or they will drop a car off at your hotel.

Again like many other posters have said you can drop off the park hopping and the water parks if you added those as well. Big savings and people don't need to park hop because it takes so long to get from one destination to the other. It's not Disneyland! (which I love).

You might check into the quick service dining plan just to run the numbers. I don't know if your kids are big eaters or picky. We are debating the dining plan this time around because we spent so much on food the last time.

Good luck!