WDW under $6000.00?

[cristen]

I am sorry. I am making it tough on us because I want to go next April or May. I don't know how long I was thinking 10 days to do it all since it is our first time. Maybe you guys can let me know exactly how many days it takes to do it all. I will definately eat in the room if we get one with a kitchen. The kids at that time will be 6, 2, & 1. I know the small ones will get in free. But like I said the cheapest for airfare is about 350.00 a piece. That is on travelocity & cheap tickets. Then for the hotel for 7 or more days I am thinking will be another 1500.00-2000.00. Then the hopper passes for the three of us that have to pay is another 1000.00. Am I wrong? Thanks again.

 

[ceecee]

If you want to do it under $6000.00 that should be easy enough. All-Stars are really reasonable and with your kids that young should be okay- no kitchens but ours had a small table. You can rent a refrig. or use cooler for milk and have in room breakfasts. Shorten the trip to a week and you should save alot and be able to see quite a lot in that time.

 

[NancyIL]

I think 5-7 days is sufficient to see most of what WDW has to offer. Easter is on April 20 in 2003, so I'd wait until May to go. It's too early to get cheap airfare for that timeframe. All-Stars will be your least expensive option, since they allow 4 in a room plus a baby under age 3 - but the room will be somewhat "cozy"! The room should cost no more than $100/night during regular season. If you are a AAA member, you may be able to save more on the room and tickets (at your local AAA office). With kids that young, I'd buy a regular 5-day park hopper and skip the water parks for now. Your kids will enjoy the pools at your hotel. For the 2 extra days, buy one-day tickets, or spend one or two "down days" at your resort.

Any chance you or your spouse is a teacher/nurse/government employee? The Swan and Dolphin have a great $129 (in 2002) discount for people in those professions. The Dolphin will accommodate 5 in a room, and it has a wonderful location close to MGM and Epcot. Check here for more info: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=169829

 

[PlutosMom]

If I may, I'd like to add something to consider: shortening the trip and consider this the "first in a lifetime series" of WDW trips! This way you'll be able to set aside some of the expense for your next trip! Certainly I don't know your children, but mine are now 15 and 16 and a 7-day stay is still plenty/sometimes too long for them. And they love WDW! I'd guess that no one has the time or patience or money (!) to do it all at WDW in 1 trip (regardless of length), so I'd suggest narrowing your focus a bit, as suggested above, by focusing only on the parks and the special events within them (parades, Fantasmic, age-appropriate rides, a Character meal, etc.). That should increase the enjoyment and memories, giving you good reason to plan a return visit!

I have learned a lot, and SAVED a lot, by closely following these DIS boards along with the mousesavers.com site AND carefully planning ahead (WDW trips create a new level of "impluse spending" if you're not planned and diligent!). Keep following the boards, use the search tool to find all info related to an issue/topic and you'll be fine. Good Luck!

 

[marn913]

When I went in 1999, we traveled with a group of friends and rented a house in the Kissimmee area. There are great rates if you take the time and really look around. We had a three bedroom house fully furnished and with washer/dryer and pool for about $700/week. If you are traveling with your family it may be a good option since most Disney hotels will run you that much or even a lot more if you want the "home away from home" style with a kitchen. The downside is that you will have to rent a car (which can be fairly cheap if you compare rates really well!) - and will have to travel to the parks each day (15-20min if you aren't in rush hour). But depending on your family - having the extra space and comfort of a home can be very nice. This also makes it easier to save money on food since you can eat breakfast and a late dinner at home and then only have to grab snacks/lunch at the parks. In Kissimmee you are also close to Sea World and Universal Studios, so those parks may also be an additional option if you save enough money on the hotel cost and food. Good luck!

 

[Disneydenise]

You may want to consider purchasing AP's instead of Hopper passes. Then you need to come back before they expire. You will need to take it easy with the little ones. They will need a nap each day. When our children were little we went to the moderates (no AS back then) and we would plan a trip to end on the last day of our AP's. It does save you some money. We also would drive but that was hard to do. 2 YO son got out of his car seat and would be a pain. It was fun to go year after year. We didn't do much else because I would be saving for the Disney trip.

 

[st_claire]

Here are a few tips that might help you out. Try an airline like jetblue or southwest, they both have websites. I always fly jetblue, each seat as its own tv and good snacks and they are really cheap.

If you want to save on accomodations, see if you know anyone who owns a timeshare. Interval International is a big timeshare company and if you own one you can rent rooms at really cheap rates without using your week.

A friend of ours owns one and he's getting us a place with 1 bedroom that sleeps 2, a living with a pull out couch that sleeps 2, 1 bathroom, a kitchen, and a washer and dryer, all for $274 a week.

He also could have gotten a place with 1 bedroom for 2, another bedroom for 4, the living room with the pull out for 2, the kitchen, washer and dryer, and 2 bathrooms (one with a whirlpool tub) for $399 per week.

Anyway, that seems to be alot less than disney charges for similar rooms. Hope that helps.

 

[cristen]

Thanks for all your tips! I appriciate it. I think I will shorten the trip. I neer thought of cutting out the water parks. You're right they will enjoy the pools just as much. I have the WDW vacation video & of course the tape makes you so excited to do EVERYTHING! Unfortunately we don't have Southwest here in Denver. That makes me upset because I do see you guys talk about how cheap it is to fly with them. & I just found out about Jetblue from Mousesavers.com. But I went to check & it was 198.00 one way. We don't get much choices flying out of Denver. Everything is pretty expensive wherever you go. But I wil keep checking. I do have another question. When you use codes can you use several at a time? Like can you use a special code for AAA & one for AP? Or get discounts for disney club members then AP? Thanks again for all your help!!

 

[westcliffemom]

I got airfare out of Denver for $195 each roundtrip on Continental to Tampa (actually flying Northwest- don't ask!). What I did is keep checking everyday on all the websites to see the best deal I could get. Tampa seems to be cheaper than MCO, and it's not that far of a drive to Orlando.

There was a special code in the Denver Post a few months ago for Disney, so I used it to get two rooms (5 of us) at the All Stars for a little more than $100 a night total for the two rooms. Keep your eye on the travel section!

This is the second last trip on our annual passes, so we don't have ticket costs this year. I joined to Disney Club to get discounts on the annual pass.

I also used the Disney Club to get discounts on National car rental. I check them everyday to see if they go down, and rebook when they do.

Oh, and one year, we drove down to Albequrque (sp) to use Southwest (5 hour drive for us), but it was such a great deal, like $150 each! It was worth it, but we'd rather fly out of Denver.

Hope you can save money on your trip!

 

[NancyIL]

You can use only one discount code per reservation, but it would be great if that weren't the case!

 

[goofy4mickey48]

have you tried hotwire or priceline for air tickets, I've used both and gotten some good rates, also there's a website tug classified? Im not sure of the exact address, where you can rent time shares like Vistana resort , through the owner, Ive seen some listed at 800.00 per week good luck! goof

 

[RUDisney]

$6,000 should be a cake-walk for you. Look into renting someone's DVC points for your stay. You'll be on-site plus have a kithen/kitchenette. Even if you rent a studio, you'll have free access to a W/D at the pool area.

Let's say you spend $1,500 for these studio accommodations for 8-days.

Then, add on 6-day hoppers for 2 adults, 1 child (these include admission to the water parks): $776 rack rate (you can get a Disney Club, AAA, or military (if applicable) discount on these.)

Towncar Transportation: $100 (includes tips)

Airfare: Still early, but is Colorado Springs a consideration, or Cheyenne if Denver doesn't discount? Let's say that you can get tickets at $250 each, so that's $1,250

These all totalled are $3,626. You already said that you would eat some meals in the room. With such youngin's, I'm sure that you will just for your own sanity even if you and DH have takeout from one of the "better" restaurants.

Could you go cheaper than this? Probably, but my way keeps you out of the All Stars and buys you a kitchenette with a microwave, toaster and fridge.

We're saving money on airfare by going on a Friday night instead of Saturday morning. We are staying at the Hampton Inn by the airport (free shuttle) for $45. This includes breakfast on Saturday morning. Cost difference per ticket was $131 and we don't have to drive 2 hours to Philadelphia for a cheaper seat.

You can definitely "do Disney" within your budget.

 

[cristen]

thank you I didn't think about Cheyenne. Colorado Springs sometimes is cheaper, but for the most part is more expensive. I didn't know that renting a studio would be that cheap. This is going to take a lot of researching, I can see. I am glad you guys are out there to help.

 

[MOM POPPINS]

Another vote for Priceline for air tickets. I got mine this time for 120 each for 6 tickets. I looked on www.biddingfortravel.com and checked departing Colorado board and have seen others get similiar prices from your state... to bid go to www.priceline.com

 

[Minnie's Mate]

We used to stay off-site to save money until we found this site. With the info I have been able to gather from this board, we have been able to stay on-site every trip since 1999. I really prefer staying on-site for the convenience.

We live about 7 to 7-1/2 hours north of Orlando, so we are able to leave extra early in the morning and make as few stops as possible and arrive around lunch or a little after. This gives us time to check into our hotel and go to the parks on our day of arrival. With our AP's this year we have made four trips already and will be returning for a long week end at the end of September and eight days at Christmas.

If you decide not to shorten your trip, consider annual passes. We buy three (two adult and one child) it runs in the neighborhood of $1000.00 to $1100.00. The break even point is between seven and eight days in the park.

With the annual pass, you can often get a discount that can be as much as 40% off rack rate on a Disney hotel. You actually don't have to have an annual pass for each person in the party to qualify for the AP discount. One would be sufficient. And you don't actually have to have it when you make the reservation.

The AP rates don't come out until a couple of months in advance, but you might make the ressie and wait to see if one comes up. If there isn't an AP discount for your time frame, you can cancel the ressie and get the deposit until 45 days prior to check-in time. If you go in May, you probably will be able to get the AP discount.

If you are military, DOD, retired military, or retired DOD you can ask for the Shades of Green discount at the Disney deluxe's. Normally, this discount is only good at the Shades of Green (a nice deluxe in its own) but SOG is closed for expansion. If you are government, nurse or teacher, you would qualify for the $129.00 @ Swan/Dolphin. With any of these options, you probably won't need to rent a car and that will save alot of money.

At that time of year, you might also be able to get a code discount for a Disney Deluxe or Moderate for a little around the S/D teach rate per night, maybe another $20-40 per night for a deluxe.

I never knew there were so many ways to save on Disney Properties until I found this board. Another recommendation is to bookmark MouseSavers and go there often. The address is: http://www.mousesavers.com/ .

For breakfast, you can bring cold cereal or pop-tarts and save the cost of breakfast. There are plenty of other ways to save and still have a great vacation. Also check with Dreams Unlimited.

One final suggestion, if you are looking at packages, reconsider an ala' carte trip. My experience is that it is almost always cheaper to book everything separate than to buy a package.

I realize that because of distance, you might not be able to return within a year, but it sounds like you would like to make this "a trip of a life-time", but trust me, you will want to go back again.

 

[nikitta28]

I agree with above, if you want a killer room (hot tub, full kitchen , washer dryer-2bedrooms) rent someones DVC points. It takes alittle trust on both ends but hey - This Nov I'm renting someones points to stay at OKW 2 bedroom suite as above for $1020 for 5 nights (this is sun to thurs -weekend nights are more expensive) If you balance in the convenience of eating breakfast and a few meals in the room and the luxury of having your own bedroom for privacy with the little ones- I think its well worth it. BTW the room costs $2,600 if you check the price online through disney. Remember esp. with the little ones you wont need passes for every day. If you go for 10 days some days youll just want to hang at the pool, or go to a character breakfast and to downtown disneyin the evening. If you stay at a place like OKW they have crafts and stuff for the kids- a video at night- even free video rentals for your own hotel room. Email if you have any questions
nikitta28@yahoo.com
Nancy

 

[Kellyh123]

You can find cheap airfare now for your time frame. We are going in June and I started looking a couple of weeks ago. I picked two airlines that I new I would fly and checked their websites about 3 times a day. The flights were always around 250 to 280. Yesterday I checked and the flights were 137. I bought our tickets. When I checked back later the prices were back up. We are going from Houston to Orlando. Just keep trying and good luck!

 

[cristen]

thank you

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says....................................I would buy AP's and plan one two trips 11 1/2 months apart. You pay for two airfares, but have "free" tickets on the second trip. Maybe shorten the first trip to seven days, as a scouting expidition, and 9 or 10 on the second trip.
Can't get into your exact budget, but our first two trips, two years apart ( No Ap windfall) , one for 7 days and one for 10 days, was $6700. Our trip in 2001 and our trip in 2002, with AP windfall, will be a ten day trip and a eight day trip for $6000, and included 3 nights at AKL!

 

[TomM]

Travelocity is not always the cheapest rate nore priceline. I got roundtrip ticket to Anchorage from Indianapolis for $190 less than the travel sites were posting, just by checking the airline site directly. Good Luck, have fun.
TomM