We are missing wdw!!! HELP!

[WyndyB]

Our family went to wdw the first time in June for 9 days. We could not fit in all in. Imagine that! We are really wanting to go back what kills us is we see people that post on here go several times a year or every year. Our entire trip cost about 5,ooo including air fare. The problem we have is we live in Nevada. Air fare is expensive . Does anyone have any tips on how we can go and afford it. We really want to go back because we really enjoyed flordia and when we were at wdw we felt we were in a different world. Please help!!!!

 

[spatenfloot]

How many people in your family and are you close to Vegas? Do you NEED to stay on Disney properties?

 

[WyndyB]

How many people in your family and are you close to Vegas? Do you NEED to stay on Disney properties?

Thanks for that important question we dont really neend to stay on site. We live near Reno. I dont care where we stay as long as we can go ! There are 3 of us.

 

[megan4777]

Our family went to wdw the first time in June for 9 days. We could not fit in all in. Imagine that! We are really wanting to go back what kills us is we see people that post on here go several times a year or every year. Our entire trip cost about 5,ooo including air fare. The problem we have is we live in Nevada. Air fare is expensive . Does anyone have any tips on how we can go and afford it. We really want to go back because we really enjoyed flordia and when we were at wdw we felt we were in a different world. Please help!!!!

I would look at the amount you spent on food and souveniers and cut back there first. We spent $400 this trip (7 days...DH, me, 2.5 yr old and 4month old) and that was with 5 sit down meals. I would make a grocery stop and get sandwich stuff and maybe some snack stuff. We didn't eat sandwiches daily but maybe 2-3 times during the trip. We would get nachos or fries with everything and share them. You can also share desserts.
I would look at you food first and then souveniers. We ate quite a bit and were never hungry.
good luck...i know how you feel.
We're going to try to go in 2 yrs.

 

[staci]

have you checked southwest for airfare? we got some pretty good deals out of chicago.

eating in the room is definitely a moneysaver. on our honeymoon we usually ate fruit and granola bars for breakfast, ate a good sitdown lunch, and then just munched in the room for dinner (microwave popcorn, maybe a small pizza, etc)

 

[ShariVT]

You didn't say how soon you wanted to go back so I used early feb. You also didn't say if anyone was under 9. So for air fare it is 863.10 and to stay onsite at a value with 6 day passes and dinning assuming you have a child under 9 is 1821.00 so for under 3000 and around 2000 if you don't want the dinning.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Most people who go often live closer than you do, but there's always a way if you're willing to try. If you don't have a rewards credit card, now would be the time to get one that has no annual fee. Use it for everything, pay it off every month. Apply the rewards towards FF miles on your preferred airline. Even if you only get one free ticket out of it, that's less money being spent on the transportation portion of your budget. Check out FlyerTalk.com for ways to combine incentives and get the most from your FF programs.

If you've got to purchase airline tickets, consider flying on a Wednesday or Thursday. They are less-frequently traveled days and the cheaper fares are easier to grab for those days as compared to a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Flying at the less-desireable times (as in 6:00 am departures or 11:00 pm arrivals) can also net you a cheaper airfare. Avoid peak travel periods like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and President's weekend.

Southwest flies out of Reno and has routes to Orlando. Download DING! to your computer for non-published fares at great prices. Use SideStep.com to search for other low airfares on other airlines.

Stay offsite. You get more for your dollar offsite in terms of space and ammenities. Choose a resort that offers a kitchenette in the room and you should be able to shave some $$ off the food budget as well by eating a few meals in the room. If staying onsite is important to you, consider renting DVC points from a member and staying at a Disney Home-Away-From-Home resort like Saratoga Springs. Check the DVC Rent/Trade Board to get an idea of how it all works.

Go during value season (or at least avoid peak and holiday seasons). Not only does Disney lower their room rates, so do the neighboring hotels, condos and vacation homes.

If you intend to travel to WDW on a yearly basis, plan the trips so that they are one week less than a full year apart. Buy AP's for everyone and use them on both trips. One AP is cheaper than 2 7-day MYW Hopper tickets. An AP will also entitle you to purchase membership in the Disney Dining Experience. With the DDE, you get 20% off your bill at select WDW restaurants. It's a pretty good deal if you plan to visit often and will be eating at sitdown places.

Cut back on the souvenirs. Most frequent guests don't spend near the amount on souvies as the "trip of a lifetime" guests do. Once you have one pair of Mickey Ears, do you really need another?

Dine frugally. Share meals. Bring your own water to the parks and drink it instead of buying soda pop. Eat your large meal at lunch (the menus are the same as dinner but the portions and prices are smaller). Skip dessert and appetizers. Use the DDE card if you get it.

It is possible to get that budget below $5K for 3 people. The trick is just knowing where and how to economize. Good luck with your planning!

 

[ellyn2000]

Try value season, value resort and minimal spending (souveniers, t-shirts, etc...) and you can really have an affordable vacation. I would try to stay @ a Disney resort (value) as opposed to off site because I've done both and the perks of being on site are far greater for us.(No rental car and more frequent bus transportation.) We buy any souveniers/t-shirts/pins that we have to have @Premier Outlets near WDW. Do you have AAA or some other discount available? I'm booked for Thanksgiving 2006 (8 days/7 nights, CSR w/6 day hoppers for about $1,700. (3 adults) through AAA. It would be several hundred less for All Stars or Pop Century. I don't have to pay airfare as we drive, but you can get real deals @certain times of the year. You can book a year in advance and put money aside monthly to have it paid before you go. I even save our food and gas budget and set it aside in envelopes. Good luck!

 

[spatenfloot]

I also recommend checking Southwest Airlines for fare specials. The DING programs has good rates for shorter term planning too. If Reno or Orlando is the weekly featured destination, you can save tons.

There are plenty of Orlando rental deals around that should be less than staying onsite even with a car rental. Another good option is to rent points from DVC members but I am not sure if that would be much cheaper than a value resort.

 

[WyndyB]

I was looking at our package for 3 adults that we bought this year it was 2300. with meals paid for 7 days . We stayed at pop century. the only other thing we did was air fare and rental car plus a side trip to daytona beach . also about 500 dollars for extras. I didnt feel that we overspent, but it was so expensive. I guess if I lived near flordia it would save me 1000 for air . Mind you I felt like we lived like kings thanks to AAA. maybey I could have saved on souveniers. but I dont see any other savings thats why i posted this thread. to Disney.

Try value season, value resort and minimal spending (souveniers, t-shirts, etc...) and you can really have an affordable vacation. I would try to stay @ a Disney resort (value) as opposed to off site because I've done both and the perks of being on site are far greater for us.(No rental car and more frequent bus transportation.) We buy any souveniers/t-shirts/pins that we have to have @Premier Outlets near WDW. Do you have AAA or some other discount available? I'm booked for Thanksgiving 2006 (8 days/7 nights, CSR w/6 day hoppers for about $1,700. (3 adults) through AAA. It would be several hundred less for All Stars or Pop Century. I don't have to pay airfare as we drive, but you can get real deals @certain times of the year. You can book a year in advance and put money aside monthly to have it paid before you go. I even save our food and gas budget and set it aside in envelopes. Good luck!

 

[WyndyB]

Can I ask what is DING program?

I also recommend checking Southwest Airlines for fare specials. The DING programs has good rates for shorter term planning too. If Reno or Orlando is the weekly featured destination, you can save tons.

There are plenty of Orlando rental deals around that should be less than staying onsite even with a car rental. Another good option is to rent points from DVC members but I am not sure if that would be much cheaper than a value resort.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

If you find you really love it and just have to get back, you can often find a way to make it fit into your budget by giving up other things and using the multitude of tips found here on the Dis and other websites. The more you go the better you get at scoping out the bargains. We just came back from a short trip that was pretty inexpensive. We budget and save all year to be able to go, we've made it a priority now. Good luck.

 

[ceecee]

What hotel did you stay at? I would definately say you could go for a lot less than $5000.00 for 3 people. Unless of course you stay at the Deluxe resorts.

 

[WyndyB]

we stayed at a value resort POP but what cost the most was airfare and souviniers

 

[travel with kids]

WyndyB--One thing that we HAD to do so we did not spend a mint on souviniers was make a budget for the kids. They had $10.00 each day. We actually put a ten dollar bill in 7 envelopes (for each child). If they wanted to spend it that day they could or they could save it and then have more money the next day, etc. For DH and myself--Dh always needs a new t-shirt (usually his one and only item) and I usally get something that will remind us of our trip. (usually under $20.00). I also am a HUGE scrapbooker. We take a ton of pictures and then I make our memories last forever.

I hear you about missing WDW. It is truly magical. We have been on many other trips, but our year does not seem complete if we can not visit WDW.

 

[my3kids]

What about going to DisneyLand? We're on the east coast so we've only gotten to DL once, but we LOVED it! Because of the smaller size we really did feel like we could do it all. Same great service and theming in the hotels, much better weather, and I bet from Reno you could get air service into one of the LA airports relativley inexpensively. If not, it is closer to drive to So. CA than FL.

 

[staci]

Can I ask what is DING program?

If you sign up on the southwest website, you can get specials direct to your computer. They usually only last for a few hours but they can have great savings. I think usually the range is about 30-100$ for a one way ticket. They seem to be random deals, and are usually good for about a six week period in the near future.

It seems like some areas have better deals more often than others.

 

[tinaluis]

The biggest cost-savings for us is staying off-site. We'll be staying in a 2 bedroom timeshare at Cypress Pointe Grand Villas at the end of November for about $38/night which includes a full kitchen and washer and dryer. Also, Southwest for airfare is a huge moneysaver for us. We're able to fly from Chicago to Orlando for $577/rt for 5 of us!!!!! We do rent a car and we got a great rate of $17.50/day through Thrifty with all taxes included. We buy 10day no expire park hopper tix and stretch them over 3-4 trips and we also have APs for Universal/Islands of Adventure. In total, our upcoming trip cost us $1,341 for 2 weeks (exclusive of tickets which we purchased last year). We also begin planning our next trip as soon as we get back. It really helps to have a trip to look forward to, even if it is 12-18 months away.