WDW on my budget -- can it be done?

[chimilady]

I don't think it would be so bad to fly. The baby would be free, so you will only have to pay for a family of 5. I can get tix on Southwest normally for $89 each way, sometimes on sale as low as $69 each way. That would be 1K for your family to fly, baby on your lap. Personally, if I were in your situation, I would fly and stay on site.

1) if you take southwest, each fare paying passenger (5 people) get to check 2 bags for free. I could pack 2 kids in one suitcase, so I'm sure you can pack 4 kids in 2 suitcases, and then bring your own dried goods/shampoo, etc. so you don't have to stop at any stores down there.

2) Magical express - so you don't have to deal with bags once you land. You and the excited kids can just go get in line and go to your hotel.

3) All of your transportation is already taken care of if you are onsite. You will have no need to drive. This is huge.

4) If you stay on site, you get the extra magic hours, and could possibly get free dining if you go in September. Free dining could be huge, because kids over 9 get charged adult prices for buffets. Free Dining would also allow you to do character buffets, which would be nice.

So 1K for flights
$2425 for POR (assume you get free dining)
plus whatever your admission tickets are. If that's cutting it a bit close, I would shave a day or two off, and go for 5 days instead of 7. I can't imagine keeping 4 kids quiet and calm in the car for over 20 hours. that would never fly with my family.

 

[RumpleMom]

Check the price of the Autotrain from Lorton, VA to Sanford, FL.

Sometimes kids are free or half price. The price includes dinner and breakfast the next morning.

You could then only drive one way.

 

[tlh0726]

Remember when Disney offer a deal it usually involves having to buy X number of days worth of tickets per person.

Yes tickets are a great option, but it you purchase them you cannot get the free dining if it is offered without buying more tickets.



Gettysburg PA area.
What works for us is driving straight through on the way down leaving around 230 to 3 am, kids go back to sleep after a little while, you get a good portion of the driving in before the kids are up. Even with stops you are there at a decent time early evening.

On the way home we take 2 days. we go to a park, eat before we leave around 4 pm, drive for about 6 hours, grab a hotel, sleep, get up and head for home.

We did the straight through on the way home once and said no way will we do it again. The last 3 1/2 hours were horrible. Your tired from vacation, it's getting late, been sitting to long, etc etc.

Even when we fly we end up getting a rental car, we do not want to deal with waiting for the bus with tired sleepy kids and then having to fight with a stroller on and off the bus. Wheel your kids right out to the car, popped them in the seats, get back to the hotel, put them back in the stroller and push them to the room. Ours have slept through the entire process numerous times.

 

[Jenny-momof3]

We're a family of 6 as well. We stay at POR just fine and my kids are older than yours. We've also rented 2 rooms at POP ( much cheaper than a family suite), rented DVC points at multiple resorts, rented a 5 bedroom pool home at Windsor Hills and a 3 bedroom condo at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. We will rotate all of these options again except for Windsor Hills. The pool house was nice...but it felt like I was just borrowing someone elses house for that week. I like the resort feel when I'm on vacation.

We drive straight through and have always done this. It's 15 hours for us and my kids do great! We only stop when we need gas...so about every 5 hours. We get out of the car for 20 minutes tops! Go to the bathroom, change the baby, grab a quick bite to eat and back in the car. If we stop much longer than that the kids just get too cranky about getting back in the car! We don't even take tons in the car for them to do either....a few dvd's, their Ipod's for the older 2, a few toys for the little ones. But snacks are a must! We joke that our kids eat their way down to Florida and back!

We eat breakfast fro the most part in our room while we're getting ready or waiting for the bus. Pop tarts, fruit, granola bars,etc. We're on vacation so I'm not really picky at all about what they eat. We eat out every lunch and dinner...mostly counter service. Sometimes somebody just wants a soft pretzel instead of a meal..that's fine too. For a cheap meal we buy a pizza, a bag of chips and use our refillable mugs for dinner...right around $20.

We have annual passes so I don't factor that into the cost of each trip. But we do 3-4 trips a year....between 8 and 14 days. Almost always during peak season...Spring Break, 4th of July, Thanksgiving and sometimes right before Christmas. Gas runs us $400 round trip, hotel anywhere from $800-$2000 depending on where and how long were staying. And food about $75-$100 per day.

ETA: we park our car once we arrive and rarely drive it again til we leave. We love the buses and have no complaints. But I know we're in the minority with that one. We've taken a City mini double stroller with no issues and also a single stroller with no issues.

 

[julirina]

when it comes to WDW lodging, there are three things you might want:

1: To be onsite.
2: To have a reasonable amount of space.
3: To spend a reasonable amount of money.

In general, you can have two of those three, but most people can't get all three at the same time.

Very valid point! I would have to say that #2 and #3 are the most important to us. The more I think about staying at POR, the more it sounds like it wouldn't work for us. I'm just thinking about trying to get 4 kids (and 2 parents!) bathed/showered, dressed, or to sleep at different times all in one tiny room and it just doesn't seem feasible. A condo or rental home with multiple bedrooms sounds much more comfortable, especially if the cost is comparable. That being said, the availability of free dining might be enough to make us want to stay onsite, in which case we will probably opt for an ASMu suite.

The same can be said for flying vs. driving -- which is more important, time or money? But as my sister so wisely pointed out to me, knowing that my kids don't travel well in the car -- "You still want to love each other when you get there."

So many things to consider! I feel like it might take till September just to make up my mind.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

We are going in march. POR 3 adults 3 children (7, 3, 7 months) m-f (weekend adds a lot to the price. 1200 for all airfare Chicago to Orlando. 2000.for room and tickets (with room discount) 515. To add quick service dining plan. Free luggage on Southwest.

 

[arthur06]

You could also rent DVC points from an owner. I know that September is Adventure Season (cheapest). A 2br at OKW would run about $2,100. Tickets thru UT for a 7 day non park hopper are roughly $1,300.

If you drove it you would spend maybe $200 on gas, and with a kitchen at OKW, you could cook and spend $300 on groceries with $100 for one meal out or something to that effect.

If it was me, I would look into Bonnet Creek before I spent $2,100 at OKW.

 

[Marionnette]

The same can be said for flying vs. driving -- which is more important, time or money? But as my sister so wisely pointed out to me, knowing that my kids don't travel well in the car -- "You still want to love each other when you get there."

So many things to consider! I feel like it might take till September just to make up my mind.

Flying will have a huge impact on your budget! If you do, you'll probably be looking at fares in the range of $200 pp RT. The 15 month old could be a lap child on most airlines and wouldn't need a ticket. But even 5 tickets will knock $1K off of your budget.

Then you're going to need to rent a minivan when you're there if you're staying offsite because they may not have transportation to the parks or it might not work by your schedule. Plus you'll need to factor in parking costs. Right now, it's $14/day.

You're smart to get started with your planning now! Start a spreadsheet with all of the various costs and compare your options. You can definitely make this trip happen for $4K but you will have to make some sacrifices in order for it to work within that budget.

 

[ekatiel]

Very valid point! I would have to say that #2 and #3 are the most important to us. The more I think about staying at POR, the more it sounds like it wouldn't work for us. I'm just thinking about trying to get 4 kids (and 2 parents!) bathed/showered, dressed, or to sleep at different times all in one tiny room and it just doesn't seem feasible. A condo or rental home with multiple bedrooms sounds much more comfortable, especially if the cost is comparable. That being said, the availability of free dining might be enough to make us want to stay onsite, in which case we will probably opt for an ASMu suite.

The same can be said for flying vs. driving -- which is more important, time or money? But as my sister so wisely pointed out to me, knowing that my kids don't travel well in the car -- "You still want to love each other when you get there."

So many things to consider! I feel like it might take till September just to make up my mind.

An ASMu Suite for 6 nights with 7 day base tickets will run you $2804.11 in mid-September. That's a HUGE chunk of your budget. Assuming free dining, that will leave you with $239 per person for plane tickets (5 tickets, since the baby is free). That's with no souvenirs and no tips for dining (which you wouldn't need b/c you'll have the quick service plan for free). We LOVE character meals, so we upgrade to the regular dining plan when staying at a value. Not sure that's in your budget, though if you want the space of a value.

Oooh-- I just looked up air on Expedia, and they've got a delta flight from Philadelphia (with one stop) for $208 pp including taxes. I'm not sure how cheap flights there usually are, but anytime we can snag something for under $250, we do so these days. The dates I put in were departing on 9/11 and returning on 9/17. You should also go to Delta's site and see if they're a few bucks cheaper. If you're set on flying, you might want to go ahead and book the flights. --Katie

 

[englishteacha]

We always stay offsite because we have to travel during more expensive seasons (school vacations). We've rented a 3 bedroom condo just a few miles from WDW for $50-60 a night (PM me if you want the info! We rented through a private owner.). It was much less expensive to fly down, rent a car, and stay offsite than any of our onsite options were. And we had a TON of space, could do our laundry, and cook if we wanted to. With so many people, it might be considerably cheaper to drive down and stay offsite, especially if you plan on having some breakfasts in the condo and maybe pack a lunch or two!

 

[mrsklamc]

The pool house was nice...but it felt like I was just borrowing someone elses house for that week.

This is what I mean about people's vacation styles being different. We also feel like we are borrowing someone else's house for the week...and that's why we LIKE it.

For a rental car/mini van- I recommend finding the best possible price for a reservation w/ codes and such, and then using priceline the week/day before to see if you can do better.

 

[kkandaj]

You could rent a 2 bedroom condo (1 king bed, 2 queens) with a fold out couch in the living room, full kitchen, laundry, mini golf, craft center, activity room, shows movies on some nights, 5 pools (a couple pool bars) and a lazy river for under $600 for a week at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. They also have free shuttles to all the parks (other than water parks). It is not considered onsite because it isn't officially Disney. You do have to go under the WDW signs and is right next to some of their resorts. There is an huge thread about this place in the "offsite" area of the DIS.

We are going in May and I checked rates for 2 and 3 bedrooms. The 2 bedroom rate was $560 and the 3 bedroom is $795. (This all depends on who you rent from.) We went with the 3 bedroom because we have 5 adults and 2 kids going. I would go with a 2 bedroom if I was in your situation. Our week in May is low season and September will be also.

I can't imagine paying $2100 for a 2 bdrm, just so it's ON Disney property. OMG! I had no idea they were that expensive!!! You would think by the price difference that WBC would be a pit, but it's a BEAUTIFUL resort!! (I know the pp even mentioned WBC, I am just stunned and with the price of the on property villa. I almost wanted to throw up when I saw that. lol)

I have $200 budgeted for groceries, which will be more than enough and $200 for counter service meals in the parks.

Our rental van rate is $302 from Sat-Sat, just so you have an idea of what rates are. We will have to pay $14/day to park, IF we drive to the parks. From the thread on the DIS, it seems like their shuttles run every 30 minutes on the dot.

If you are trying to fly, I would definitely look at a place like Bonnet Creek!

 

[TML2012]

I agree with one of the earlier posters. If you stay off site, Windsor Hills is a great option. It is very close to Disney and is very reasonably priced. You can rent a 3 bedroom condo in September (low season) for about $90 per night and if you rent for 7 nights or more you get 15% off. We stayed at 3 bedroom condo in Windsor Hills about 3 1/2 years ago. It was clean and spacious and it was great to have access to a full kitchen (especially for breakfast). We rented through Florida Sun Vacation Homes and found them to be reputable. I recommended them to a friend and his family loved Windsor Hills so much they have stayed there 3 times since then

 

[verlee]

I did not see anyone mentioned this.... Wyndham Bonnet Creek is a timeshare condo you can rent that is on disney property (but not run by disney) with daily transportation to the parks. If you fly you will need to hire a car or rent one to get to the resort. We rented from redweek.com and we got a great deal. It ended up being only $70/nt for a beautiful 2 bedroom condo. It has a full kitchen so you can cook meals and pack lunches (which we consider as spending no money because we would be cooking at home anyway). There is a entire thread dedicated to it if you are interested. We loved it. Dh and I often imagine ourselves on our balcony at WBC looking over the little lake watching the day begin. You are not totally immersed in Disney but the comfort is totally worth it, not to mention saving money

Opps, I see someone did mention WBC. Oh well it is worth repeating!

 

[tink2dw]

Your Tickets - 15 month old is FREE

I'm not sure but your 3 year old, if they have just turned 3, they maybe FREE, too, you will need to ask about that here on the DIS.

Anyone Over 9 years old is consider an Adult by Disney and is charge Adult Prices for tickets.

 

[Fabinva]

I'd drive and rent a house in to keep cost down and be more comfortable.
Our first trips we spend a lot staying in Disney property (deluxe) and flying, we felt cramped in the room (two kids) and were always on the go for that reason. My husband and son get bad ear aches during and after flight, often lasts days so we've been driving from Northern Va last two visits and also rented house, the kids loved having their own rooms and the private pool, it was more relaxed when we got back from parks with each of us having our own space and we also saved money eating at home, we did breakfast and frozen dinners or make a sandwich, while on vacation I do not cook.
On driving, we tried the drive all night and could not make it, too tiring. The last time we left close to 4am and drove straight, much more doable. Once we got there we stocked on drinks and groceries, got a good night sleep and woke up ready for the parks.
We buy our tickets through AAA (diamond parking) or Undercover Tourist.

 

[torinsmom]

If you're going in September, check here and see if there is a YES class that falls within your travel dates. Registration will be open in the next few weeks. Through this program, your child(ren) 5-12 would take a class behind the scenes one morning(with a parent chaperone) and you would be able to get discount tickets for at least 2 other people in addition to the students. The discount is around 40% http://www.disneyyouth.com/individual-enrollment/catalog/?location[]=WDW&filter=startDate

YES 7 day base tickets are $188, so you would be paying $188x4 or $753 + 1 regular 7 day hopper for the additional child at $264, so $999 for the tickets. You may be able to get AL your tickets at the discounted price.

I would drive, break the trip up with a stop half way. Flying will just be way more expensive and you will need to stay onsite($$$) or rent a car if you fly.

This is where we are staying in July. $450/week for three bedrooms in a gated community(Emerald Island) that is 10-15 minutes easy drive from the parks. This unit is right across a parking lot from the clubhouse and pool. For 8 nights, the total for us is $560 with everything included.

So, with tickets and condo, you would be at $1500. Then you add in gas both ways, plus one tank around Orlando, around $450 and two nights' stays en route for around $150, and you are at $2100. You still have $1900 to play with.

Staying offsite, you can save a lot of money on food. We had breakfast in our condo/house every morning, and came back for lunch some days as well. We got lots of easy foods, like sandwiches, lasagna, pizza, etc, as well as ceral, pop tarts, pancake mix, etc at the grocery store right down the street. We also ate offsite some evenings before we went back to the parks as well.

Even if you don't do YES, you could still do this for well under $4000 by staying offsite. I think you will be much happier being able to spread out and everyone will get more rest. With little ones, the full kitchen and washer/dryer can also be great to have.

 

[torinsmom]

Your Tickets - 15 month old is FREE

I'm not sure but your 3 year old, if they have just turned 3, they maybe FREE, too, you will need to ask about that here on the DIS.

Anyone Over 9 years old is consider an Adult by Disney and is charge Adult Prices for tickets.

No, just turned 3 year olds still need a ticket. If they arrived the day before the child turned 3, they would not need a ticket for the whole trip.

 

[gomomgo]

Have you checked out the transportation board? Look in the thread for 2000+ round trip dricers. There are some very dedicated and experienced drivers from PA. Seems like they have all the right tips if that's what you decide to do. Definitely worth checking out.

 

[got4boys]

Yes to Bonnet Creek and to the YES Program. It is definitely the value season the week after Labor Weekend. You should be able to get a 2 bedroom there from an owner for approximately $550 - $575 for the whole week.

If you do the YES program (which should be available during that time) - and decide to do Water Parks or Disney Quest and going to be there a week, buy the 5 day Premium Tickets - approximately $200. This allows you to use the 5 visits to the Water Parks and Disney Quest.

You definitely can do Disney for that many people for under $4,000 including there and back. We have the same issue. Our break even point to fly and drive is $850 (which includes gas, a hotel there and back) for the 6 of us.

Have you tried Allegiant Air to fly? If you book during their Early Bird Savings the rates, you can get the rates for almost as much as can drive. For example, since September is off season, take a look at the comparable fares for first week of June from Allentown PA... Right now if you play with the numbers...if is less your driving cost. (Estimate $805 to fly for 5 tickets as 15 mo does not need one). Note it does fly into Sanford and not Orlando and would need a rental car.

So your cost is $575 + $1,000 tickets + $805 airline + $400 rental = $2,780... That leaves you over $1,200 for food.... YES it can be done!