WDW w/$3000 budget, can it be done?

[Taweavmo4]

Seems there are many Disneyworld veterans here, we're newbies and need some advice!

We are considering taking our four kids to WDW for spring break this year. They are 11, 7, 5 and 2. We can get Magic Your Way tickets for 4 days at $1100 through underground tourist. I found a suite offsite that has rooms big enough for our large brood at $119 a night.

Is it totally unreasonable to think we can do this for $3000 or less? We are from Texas and would be driving. Also, I will have to bring alot of the kids food since they are on a special diet. However, I've heard that Disney is great when it comes to allergies and such...so we'd probably be able to eat out some. We can go w/out sourveniers and such, the kids are used to being frugal

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm wondering if it is even worth penny pinching at Disney, or if we should save for another year to be able to splurge and have a great time.

 

[lisaross]

personally, if u could save for another year and be able to Splurge, i think its worth it..maybe u can also wait and see if any great deals come out - like free dining (usually for the end of the summer to early fall)

Seems there are many Disneyworld veterans here, we're newbies and need some advice!

We are considering taking our four kids to WDW for spring break this year. They are 11, 7, 5 and 2. We can get Magic Your Way tickets for 4 days at $1100 through underground tourist. I found a suite offsite that has rooms big enough for our large brood at $119 a night.

Is it totally unreasonable to think we can do this for $3000 or less? We are from Texas and would be driving. Also, I will have to bring alot of the kids food since they are on a special diet. However, I've heard that Disney is great when it comes to allergies and such...so we'd probably be able to eat out some. We can go w/out sourveniers and such, the kids are used to being frugal

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm wondering if it is even worth penny pinching at Disney, or if we should save for another year to be able to splurge and have a great time.

 

[twooley2]

Is this including the tickets and the accomodations?

 

[gabriellyn]

Absolutely you can do this! Personally, I wouldn't delay - you never know what the future holds. If you can do it now, do it now. Since it will be your first trip, you will be so busy with everything you won't even notice what splurges you might be "missing". The biggest costs are the tickets, hotel and the food, which you have covered. To me, Disney-frugal is just as fun as Disney-splurge, because, after all, it's Disney!

 

[think-like-tink]

We went ALL out last year and it was a blast. However, this year will be a no bells and whistle trip. We are staying at Shades of Green, bringing our own snacks, and eating one hot meal (dinner) a day. I am just fine with it. We did Character meals everyday last time. This time I am looking forward to NOT having to be somewhere on time.

Anyway, yes I think it can be done

 

[delmar411]

yes definitely. Esp since you are bringing most of your food with you and not flying. You'll just have to control spending costs when you are there. It is very easy to spend a lot of money if you aren't careful.

 

[Taweavmo4]

Not knowing what the future holds is one reason we thought of this trip....I've had some health issues recently that scared me silly. My husband and I figured we should quit talking about Disney and just do it, to create some really special memories for the kids.

$3000 would be our total budget for everything, it will be tight for sure. Having four kids also makes things a little harder...the world is designed for families of 4

 

[delmar411]

Not knowing what the future holds is one reason we thought of this trip....I've had some health issues recently that scared me silly. My husband and I figured we should quit talking about Disney and just do it, to create some really special memories for the kids.

$3000 would be our total budget for everything, it will be tight for sure. Having four kids also makes things a little harder...the world is designed for families of 4

We do it with 6 people as well which is why I said yes it's possible.

$3000
-$1100 tix (tickets really kill us too since we need so many)
- $833 room ($119*7...guesstimating here although you mentioned 4 park days)

leaves: $1067
- $300 spending (simply cap it at $50 per person)
- $767 food/gas/incidentals (eat breakfast in room, bring in lunch, eat CS dinners or go off site for a good meal at the same price as CS)

don't forget you won't be going to the grocery store that week at home so you could include that week's grocery budget into this vacation budget as well.

 

[NaplesRI]

I agree that you can do it as long as you are careful on how much more you spend once inside the park. Snacks and souvenirs can add up fast.

One thing we did last year is bought Disney items in advance at the local Dollar Tree store, brought them with us, and left 1 a day for our grandson as a gift from Tinkerbell. Harder to do with 4 of varying ages but it could be a way to cut down on their wants at the parks. Even though they may be used to being frugal, the excitement of Disney takes us all over!

You can easily get coloring books and Disney crayons there, as well as varing other items. Sometimes they have the Disney magic towels (facecloths) too.

You can do it- it will be wonderful!

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

We usually go every 2-3 years. We stay onsite and do everything we really want to do. Last year we splurged and stayed at AKL. Talk about heaven!!!!

I'm having huge Disney withdrawal right now, as it is been a full year since we went. It doesn't help that so many people I know are there this week (our kids have off 3 days from school).

I just got this crazy idea to forego our regular trip to the beach this year, and instead, use that money, plus money we usually spend at amusement parks, etc., to do a budget trip to Disney. Our budget is also 3K, and we also have 4 kids.

We are staying at a house (with private pool and jacuzzi), that is 4 miles from Disney. We'll drive, so we'll have our car. I plan to have us eat 2 meals at our house. The house is $700, tickets with DOD discount are around $1500. It will cost around $400 to drive down. We will have to pay for parking. That only leaves us with $300.

I have about $200 in Christmas Visa gift cards that I will save to use. I also will have about $200 in my points that I can trade in for gift cards to Rainforest, etc.

So, it can be done. We aren't doing extras this time. Our "extra" is adding the water park option, so that will be a novelty. We're keeping this a secret from the kids!!!!

Do it if you can!!!

 

[KKB]

We have done it twice for darn close to that budget. And we flew.
But it will be tight staying on property with a family of 5. You would have to either do a Family suite at All Star Resorts, a room at Port Orleans with a trundle or 2 rooms at a value resort; all of which will typically run you around $200/nt total. If you want to stay on property, see if you can go during free dining, typically Aug/Sept. This will save you a ton. We took the kids last year in Sept (yep, missed school...and we are both teachers!)
A MUCH cheaper way is to get a room off site (of course, you will need a rent a car, too, then). My cousins rented a house in a gated community with several bedrooms and a pool for about $350/week!
One way we saved $ was to have my mom go along one trip & both my folks one trip. Then we got 2 rooms and she paid for one, which really helped keep us close to $3K. We did not do much spending $...the kids saved allowance/bday $ and I think we gave them $50 each which was PLENTY.

 

[sammielynn]

I really think you can do it. If you are staying off-site I think you can do better than $119 per night. I have a 3 bedroom condo rented for a week in May and it is $49 per night + 13% tax and a $75 cleaning fee. Check out www.vrbo.com for some great condos.

 

[mrsklamc]

Yes you can absolutely do it! I think you could probably land a two or three bedroom condo or townhouse for that price for more comfort than a hotel, plus a kitchen and laundry facilities. Now there are some here that don't WANT a kitchen and laundry facilities but I imagine with allergy issues and 4 kids you are never totally off food and laundry duty! Personally I love it, we throw a frozen pizza in the oven or microwave canned ravioli, it's not the healthiest week of our lives but for one week it doesn't kill us and saves a ton of money!
Plus with 4 kiddos you can pack a lot less if you have laundry facilities.

We stayed here, and it is VERY close:
www.5mins2disney.com

if they aren't available on your dates you can view other windsor hills properties at www.windsorhillsrent.com.

 

[taximomfor4]

sign up on the disney website, and play around with some possible reservations. I did that, and was lucky enough to get a discount code sent to my email. It gave us free quick-serve dining plan if we booked 5nights at rack rate with 5day tickets as well. It was for 8/15-10/2. Our budget for dh, me, 3 adult-priced kids (ages 11-17), and 1 child (age 7) was only $2500.

So for my family of 6 (I have more adult-priced children than you though so yours would be a tiny bit cheaper), I booked 2 rooms at a value resort (standard view) for 5 weeknights (8/15-8/20) , 5-day tickets, and the free quickserve dining. Total cost $2355.

We did the math, and figured out that we can actually do $3000 budget soooo 2 days later I upgraded us slightly, to a Family Suite at All Star Music for the same package deal...it increased our total to $2502. We are collecting gas cards (my father in law wins lots of them) so won't need to budget much for the drive (16 hrs each way). We will take lots of photos instead of buying souvenirs.

HTH you some

 

[SandrA9810]

i know you mentioned spring break, but i'd hold off to the begining of summer. You're already used to the heat, and it'll be a lot less crowded than spring break. Plus you don't have to work around school schedules. And well it'll probably be a lot cheaper than that week. Gas prices should be down a slightly bit more, and so will the hotels along the way.

I've driven from orlando to dallas. And can do it in two days easily. So you'll have to plan for one night stop over each direction.

What kind of special diets do your kids have??? There's a lot of people here with various allergies. I'm sure some can recommend good places to eat outside of disney too.

Don't forget the added cost of parking at disney, that's 14$ a day. That's almost 60$ for your stay.

I'll be back... Armed with various info. And yes, i believe you should take this trip this year. But on a budget with 6, you want to be able to make the most of it. And cause the baby is still free and allows for more accomadations because they're generally not counted towards the limit.

 

[Colinsmom]

$3000
-$1100 tix (tickets really kill us too since we need so many)
- $833 room ($119*7...guesstimating here although you mentioned 4 park days)

leaves: $1633
- $300 spending (simply cap it at $50 per person)
- $1333 food/gas/incidentals (eat breakfast in room, bring in lunch, eat CS dinners or go off site for a good meal at the same price as CS)

This math is way off - 3000 - 1100 - 833 = 1067. Don't forget parking at the theme parks, too.

 

[roadtripper]

Looks like you have a great plan! Don't forget to factor in 14/day parking at the parks if staying offsite. NaplesRI gave a suggestion we've used too-- (Dollar Tree Disney) gifts from Mickey and Minnie every night back at the room for good children! Worked like a charm--avoided "the gimmees" at the parks. I gave my children about 20 Disney dollars the first trip, and when it was gone, it was gone. They were 8 and 6. DD bought a refillable mug and a Mickey Bar, DS bought one of those light up toys (a great thing to pre-puchase at the Disney store if there's one near you.) I also bring glow bracelets from home, snacks while in the park, water bottles, etc. I budget about 100/day for food for our family of four; your mileage may vary. Have a great trip!

 

[DawnM]

We are a family of 5 and do it for $1500. Now, most people do NOT want to do Disney the way we do.....but here is what we do.

$200/wk SkyAuction.com condo. 2 bedroom, sleeps 6.
$ 80- dog sitting for neighbor girl
$200- gas to get there and back and get around down there
$750- Y.E.S. 5 day hoppers with water parks and more
$200- food (we don't count our Disney rewards money as we use that
for park food if we have any.....otherwise we eat from the
grocery store and take a cooler into the parks.)
$ 70- parking for the 5 hopper days.....waterparks and disney quest have free parking

This is how we do Disney.....we like to go a lot and we couldn't go as often if we spent more. We are debt free other than the mortgage and we intend to stay that way. And no, I am not saying that those who spend more are in worse financial situations.....it is just that we HAVE to be frugal or we can't go.

We have this cooler:

http://milo.com/igloo-maxcold-max-pack-cooler

It is large enough to carry a good lunch with waters and snacks for later for a family of 5 (and prob. your family). It was $27 at Target and has saved us hundreds on various trips. I personally am fine with tap water with some kind of powder flavoring to add, but DH is really picky about his water and wants bottled and ice cold. So, if you are ok with tap, it is free at the parks and you can bring along those powdered drink mix add ins and have even more room in your backpack.

Best wishes!

Dawn

 

[DawnM]

Also, you may want to do the Give a Day, Get a Day program for those of you who are 6 and older and get $85 off each of your passes.

Dawn

 

[dizneemom]

I definitely think GO!!! Life brings unexpected surprises and your kids are only this age once. It will be tight but can be done. If you can-just get base tickets and do one park per day. Also, you may want to look at renting a house w/ your own pool and hot tub. We have done it many times and we saved $. We made 2 of our meals there and helped so much (Breakfast & early dinner). We ate lunch at the parks. We would hit the parks early, leave early afternoon for resting and swimming, and would head back late afternoon until close. It worked great. Also, windsor hills area is very close to the property and is extremely nice. I have been looking in to some condos and townhouses at www.vacationcentralflorida.com and their prices seem really great. Also, sign up for their email alert. Sometimes their prices go to $299 or $399 for a whole week. (I am not affiliated w/them in any way and have not used them) Check them out though. If you do want to buy souvineers, I say get them at the outlet store. It is all Disney for really cheap. I think it is on vineland rd. Anyway I think it can be done!!