Trying to save money...what should I do?

[twob4him]

So what do you think? I am considering an August trip. Right now Disney is offering a room discount (35%) but do you think they will have free dining at the beginning of Aug??? (5th -12th)

Should I book a room only now then add a package if they add free dining later? I am also considering getting a quote from AAA? Not sure if they can get a better price. (Right now a trip for a week for the 5 of us is running $4690 including flight, tix, room and food. Seems a bit steep.)

 

[a1tinkfans]

Well not sure if Free Dine Period will go that early, historically it hasn't but with all these pins/codes out there who knows. I think it will go after 8/15 actually......
As far as booking, yeah, go room only, you can ALWAYS add whatever you need later on and it is the least expensive way to "hold" what you want. Just as important, if not More once booked, you will have access to the dining reservations 180 + 10, so you need to book those dinners/etc to get in anywhere....free dine can get hectic for the popular places....well, ...some ARE getting Free Dine Pins for Aug, but so far I am hearing Quick Serve. Realize that any "freebie" means you pay Rack room rate which is much more than the % off...you need to watch for that....need to do the math.
Good Luck!

 

[Ka' eo]

So what do you think? I am considering an August trip. Right now Disney is offering a room discount (35%) but do you think they will have free dining at the beginning of Aug??? (5th -12th)

Should I book a room only now then add a package if they add free dining later? I am also considering getting a quote from AAA? Not sure if they can get a better price. (Right now a trip for a week for the 5 of us is running $4690 including flight, tix, room and food. Seems a bit steep.)

That is steep. Can you go a little later? It seems airfare/car etc is cheaper the last 2 weeks of August. It is less crowded too.

We had a $4500 trip planned with 8 nights at the poly all reserved at 40% off. But we decided we wanted to spend less and get some work done on the house and perhaps take a second trip somewhere, soooooo now we are going for $1,600. We had FF miles to get a few free nights offsite, and then decided to just stay offsite. I booked the Sheraton Safari for $75 a night. It is a 2 room suite that sleeps 6. Do you know about give a day, get a day? You can volunteer and get a one day ticket towards a week MYW ticket. We got a car rental for $140 and airfare is looking cheap on Jetblue, SW etc in August midweek. Just some thoughts. Oh, we have $600 in Disney Reward Dollars to spend that we earned for food/souvies in the park.

I have been an onsite snob since my parents took us to stay at CR when I was little. This is our first offsite, but I am looking forward to the trip and we'll have a blast. We might even do Seaworld and Busch Gardens. You can get 14 day passes to them both for $99 online!

If you hate my ideas, that's ok.

 

[brymolmom]

So what do you think? I am considering an August trip. Right now Disney is offering a room discount (35%) but do you think they will have free dining at the beginning of Aug??? (5th -12th)

Should I book a room only now then add a package if they add free dining later? I am also considering getting a quote from AAA? Not sure if they can get a better price. (Right now a trip for a week for the 5 of us is running $4690 including flight, tix, room and food. Seems a bit steep.)

Wow - break down that quote. Is that at a Moderate? Maybe try 2 Value rooms? Take off park hoppers (not 100% necessary if you're trying to cut costs - and with 5 tickets it adds to a good chunk), Try to go later to take advantage of free dining. Is that quote with basic dining plan? You could investigate quick dining plan instead to keep costs lower.

 

[crusoe2]

That is steep. Can you go a little later? It seems airfare/car etc is cheaper the last 2 weeks of August. It is less crowded too.

We had a $4500 trip planned with 8 nights at the poly all reserved at 40% off. But we decided we wanted to spend less and get some work done on the house and perhaps take a second trip somewhere, soooooo now we are going for $1,600. We had FF miles to get a few free nights offsite, and then decided to just stay offsite. I booked the Sheraton Safari for $75 a night. It is a 2 room suite that sleeps 6. Do you know about give a day, get a day? You can volunteer and get a one day ticket towards a week MYW ticket. We got a car rental for $140 and airfare is looking cheap on Jetblue, SW etc in August midweek. Just some thoughts. Oh, we have $600 in Disney Reward Dollars to spend that we earned for food/souvies in the park.

I have been an onsite snob since my parents took us to stay at CR when I was little. This is our first offsite, but I am looking forward to the trip and we'll have a blast. We might even do Seaworld and Busch Gardens. You can get 14 day passes to them both for $99 online!

If you hate my ideas, that's ok.

Just wondering where you got such a great rate for a suite at the Sheraton Safari? What I've found is over twice that much. TIA

 

[twob4him]

Our last trip was a blast...we did stay off-site. (check my trippie!!!)

The only reason I even considered this trip was the discount to be able to stay at Ft. Wilderness Cabins. The breakdown is as follows (and this is completely off the Disney website..rack rates so to speak):

Flight round trip for 5 people with fees = $870

FW Cabin with MYW base ticket and regular dining = $3806

(The cabins are normally $265/nt but they were $165/nt)

Tix are directly from Disney (We have 3 adults, 2 kids cause my 11 yr old counts as an adult!)

Dining is dining...trying to get that for free

And so I think maybe I should book a room only and make my ADR's, rejoin TGM and sit tight. If they don't offer codes or anything...just cancel the trip and ressies. PLAN???????

(Oh and I do know about give a day get a day but with park tickets from four days to five....its not much of a difference. I think it was $20. I considered sewing blankets but materials for three blankets would run me $50 plus 8 hours times 5 people!!!!!!ACK )

 

[Mathfailure]

For our family, using the room code and not "free"dining is the way to go. I do not want to pay 40% more on my room to eat on the plan. By paying rack rate, I would be behind.

We do not go to Disney to eat We are content with eating breakfast in the room, counter service mostly in the parks, with maybe one table service meal. My kids do not enjoy sitting in resturants when they know they could be playing, and neither do we!

I guess just keep running the numbers and figure what is most important for you on this trip.

I am on the fence with parkhoppers. I do not like to spend so much time traveling one place to the next, just do a park a day. My husband on the other hand

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Cathy...we need to chat. You figured out your GAD math wrong my friend!!!! If you want to book a package, you book with just a 1 day ticket. Save those tickets for a future trip (which I know you will take ). Then use your GAD tickets on day 1, walk into the park and immediately upgrade them to 5 day tickets. You'll save 84ish on the adult tickets and 75ish on the kids!!!! It's like a $400 savings...not $20!!!

 

[jessica52877]

Can you stay in a cabin and get free dining? I thought they did away with even the cabins being included in free dining.

I have always wanted to stay in a cabin though.

 

[lisabarr]

and the blankets take, at most, an hour for each one and we got the fleece on sale for about $4.25 for a yard and a half.

 

[twob4him]

OK Kristine you so just saved me like $400!!!! So that is awesome. I signed up for a walk-a-thon tonight and I am waiting for approval...lol...I told my hubby he was doing it too! He protested until I said it was non-expiring and a free $79 ticket!!!

Ok so now I am waiting for a quote from Dreams Unlimited. Their quote beat mine and it included trip insurance.

OK so this may actually work.

 

[Ka' eo]

Just wondering where you got such a great rate for a suite at the Sheraton Safari? What I've found is over twice that much. TIA

I got it on Expedia about a week ago about for mid April (during our school vacation week). I also googled expedia coupon and found a $50 buck coupon to apply to the room. It is only costing us less than $400 for 5 nights.

 

[twob4him]

For those of you still following along...I decided on one more thing!

...to drop the regular dining plan! Regular dining was running about $186 per night for the 5 of us....wow

Ummmmm we only spend about $150 per week on groceries for our family of 5....my hubby uses coupons.

So there was no way I could justify $1300....I just realized that for this trip that dining out isn't our focus...especially in the summer heat when we are camping! After all the cabins have a kitchen and grill! So I am thinking instead to doing a garden grocery order ($200) and we will just plan to have a disney meal or two out.($300) As my friend mentioned...it will be hot and we won't want to be eating that much or running around to meet ADR times!

OK so now our vacation costs are

Cabin $1488
Flight $852
Tix for 4 day base (including GAD) $686
Food $500
Golf Cart $432 (week)
Fun Activities (bikes, canoe, ponies, hayride, pontoon, etc) $170
Miscellaneous $200

TOTAL $4328


Yikes that is still a lot o money

(anything you think I am missing?)

 

[jessica52877]

on the golf cart price! It is cheaper to rent a car! I think it is something you would need though.

Great idea on the cooking at the cabin.

 

[cindycastle30]

Get rid of the golf cart if you are really wanting to cut costs. My family spent 9 nights at the cabins at the end of August last year no cart and it was fine. We requested a cabin in the front of the loop because of my one sons special needs so we wouldn't have to walk all the way through a loop. To pay that kind of money for a cart to get your from your cabin to either the bus depot or the boat is a waste. The campground has internal busses that take you were you want to go for FREE, the waits are not that long at all for these buses they run all the time. For the $60 a day it was worth my time waiting, you still have to wait for the bus or boat to get to the parks regardless of if you have a cart or not. If you decide you need to have one you can always add it on after a few days. We figure that we are able bodied enough to walk the parks all day and wait in lines so why be lazy with a cart. Stepping off of the soap box now! The cabins are probaly one of the best places to stay on sight, they are a little pricey but it is so great to have all the space and privacy. We really enjoy the fact that we dont have to walk hallways at the end of the day to get to our room. The bus drops you off near your cabin loop and then just a short walk to your cabin. If you have ever stayed in a value resort the walk is a lot shorter than it would be from the bus stop at the all stars to a room. Have a fun trip.

 

[twob4him]

Get rid of the golf cart if you are really wanting to cut costs. My family spent 9 nights at the cabins at the end of August last year no cart and it was fine. We requested a cabin in the front of the loop because of my one sons special needs so we wouldn't have to walk all the way through a loop. To pay that kind of money for a cart to get your from your cabin to either the bus depot or the boat is a waste. The campground has internal busses that take you were you want to go for FREE, the waits are not that long at all for these buses they run all the time. For the $60 a day it was worth my time waiting, you still have to wait for the bus or boat to get to the parks regardless of if you have a cart or not. If you decide you need to have one you can always add it on after a few days. We figure that we are able bodied enough to walk the parks all day and wait in lines so why be lazy with a cart. Stepping off of the soap box now! The cabins are probaly one of the best places to stay on sight, they are a little pricey but it is so great to have all the space and privacy. We really enjoy the fact that we dont have to walk hallways at the end of the day to get to our room. The bus drops you off near your cabin loop and then just a short walk to your cabin. If you have ever stayed in a value resort the walk is a lot shorter than it would be from the bus stop at the all stars to a room. Have a fun trip.

OH that is really good to know!!! Everyone makes it sound like you really need a golf cart. I would like one just cause they are fun to drive around in but I will definitely consider cutting it out!! Thanks so much for your input!!! We don't mind walking but when we stayed at POR we had a hike to get to the bus and in the heat it was terrible!

 

[eeyorethegreat]

OH that is really good to know!!! Everyone makes it sound like you really need a golf cart. I would like one just cause they are fun to drive around in but I will definitely consider cutting it out!! Thanks so much for your input!!! We don't mind walking but when we stayed at POR we had a hike to get to the bus and in the heat it was terrible!

We stayed at Ft Wilderness cabins way back in 2003. We loved the cabins loved the feel of the resort. There have been improvements to the pools since then. I won't go into the sorted details (we were travelling with a family member-never again) but we rented the carts on the insistence of said family member. They might look fun to drive around but really after the first couple times it isn't all it is cracked up to be. Our cart was SLOW. I swear we didn't get to point A to point B any faster using it than we would have by using the bus (or in some cases by walking). I second the PP who says save the cash for something else and drop the cart use the intermal bus system. It really is very effcient and you won't have to pay anything extra to use it! And if you are all healthy and up to the walk skip the bus one in a while and take in the scenary as you walk to your destination. Seriously, we did the cart thing once we wouldn't pay for it again.

 

[twob4him]

OH thank you so much! Ok no golf cart!!


- $432...cha ching!

Saved more money!!! yaaaaa



New Total:

Cabin $1488
Flight $852
Tix for 4 day base (including GAD) $686
Food $500
Fun Activities (bikes, canoe, ponies, hayride, pontoon, etc) $170
Miscellaneous $200

TOTAL $3896

 

[cindycastle30]

You also might not need to use all of your fun money (bikes, boats) my kids had more fun chasing around the frogs and lizards all for free. We thought about maybe doing boats but in 10 days we never had the time. Another thing that worked well for us wat to freeze waterbottles to bring to the parks with us, each kid had a small backpack that they would put their water bottles in, kept them cold for most of the day, the freezer was a perk for the cabin. For meals check out the take out at the campground you can get a chicken dinner for your family for under $30, this was another thing we wanted to do and never had the chance to try. The chicken is the same as the Hoop de Do chicken and that was really good. Good choice dropping the dining plan we only do it if it is free paying for 5 "adults" and 1 child on the dining plan is so much $$$, even though we enjoy it I think we could live with out it. Most meals are large enough to share, we still shared meals on the dining plan since we could always order more if we were still hungry. I really think you will enjoy the cabins they are so wonderful, much better than a hotel room any day.